August 15, 1899 — Busan, Korean Empire
The salt air of Busan Harbor was thick with the scent of coal, brine, and something newer—oil. Dockworkers shouted instructions in Korean and Japanese as cargo from newly arrived freight trains was loaded onto steamships bound for Osaka and Nagasaki. The freshly completed terminal, clad in white limestone and polished iron, gleamed beneath the afternoon sun.
Above the commotion, from the second floor of the stationmaster's office, Minister Hojin Park of Korea's Ministry of Industry looked over the growing port through a window streaked with soot and seagull droppings. At his side stood Daniel Reaves of Hesh Corporation, reviewing a sheaf of documents marked "Busan Terminal Integration Plan: Phase Two."
"This port," Reaves said, adjusting his spectacles, "is going to be one of the top five trade hubs in all of Asia by 1905."
Park gave a half-nod. "As long as war doesn't return."
