The fishy smell of seawater mixed with the hot exhaust fumes from the cargo ship immediately stung my nose. The roar of the giant crane's engine clashed with the deafening clang of metal containers, creating a symphony of constant chaos. Amid the din, the coarse shouts of the dock foremen echoed ceaselessly, berating every laborer deemed too slow.
Right now, at the far end of the pier. Mark, dressed in dirty clothes, was staring at the palms of his hands, which were beginning to develop calluses. This was Mark Valerius's new world. A real-life dystopia he would once have never deigned to glance at, not even from behind the tinted glass of his soundproof luxury sports car.
In the past, if he'd been forced to drive through a coastal area like this, he would have cranked up the car's air conditioning and turned his face away in disgust. But now, fate has dragged him down from the ivory tower of power straight to the depths of the earth.
