Xia Pingan's nap turned into a long sleep. Although the shelter could not provide a comfortable bed, he still slept in the shelter. He stayed in the shelter for a whole night, more than 14 hours.
During this night, everyone in the shelter waited anxiously. On the electronic display in the shelter, there was only one message that was constantly being broadcasted.
[The situation outside is under control. The space invasion creatures are gradually being eliminated. Please wait patiently!]
At 7 o 'clock the next morning, there was finally a different message on the electronic display in the shelter.
[Order in Xianghe City is being restored. The space invasion alert has been lifted!]
The green light on the shelter's safety door lit up, and the safety door reopened. Everyone in the shelter dragged their limping bodies and walked out again as if relieved of a heavy burden.
[The space invasion level is F +. The invading creatures are Demon Rats and Sandworms. There are 137 Demon Rats and 5 Sandworms. We have killed 133 Demon Rats and 5 Sandworms. Four Demon Rats escaped through the river. We have sent out teams to pursue and search for them. We welcome everyone to provide clues.]
[The space invasion alert in Xianghe City has been lifted. Power and water supply have been restored. Other public services are gradually being restored. Some areas are still under lockdown. There are follow-up anti-epidemic and disinfection procedures. Please cooperate.]
[The casualties of our personnel in this space invasion are still being calculated. You can pay attention to the follow-up news bulletin.]
[Great Yan Republic National Committee of Order.]
The moment he walked out of the shelter, Xia Pingan's phone vibrated again. Xia Pingan took out his phone and saw the message on the security application for the air defense room invasion.
Then, just as Xia Pingan walked out of the safety passage and onto the street outside, he received another message on his phone. It was from the boss of the repair shop.
[Yesterday, Demon Rats broke into our company's workshop. The company received a notice from the higher-ups. We will be closed today and tomorrow for disinfection and epidemic prevention. The factory is on holiday today and tomorrow. Work will be normal on Sunday. Have a good rest. If there is anything, contact the factory immediately.]
Just as he finished reading this notice, Xia Pingan's phone rang again. It was a call from Xia Ning.
"Brother, are you okay?" Xia Ning's tone was filled with concern and anxiety.
"I'm fine. Don't worry. What about you?"
The person on the other side of the phone let out a long sigh of relief. "I'm fine too. As soon as I received the notice yesterday, the school organized everyone to enter the shelter!"
"That's good. I'm also resting at home today. I'll cook a delicious meal at home. You can come back tonight!"
"Okay, hehe, brother is the best!" Xia Ning giggled on the other side of the phone, as if he was not affected by the space invasion at all.
After ending the call, Xia Pingan put away his phone and let out a long sigh.
Yesterday's space invasion must have resulted in casualties, but life was like this. Most of the time, you didn't have the time to grieve for others, nor could you predict when an accident would happen.
The various countries also hoped to minimize the impact of the Space Invasion on a city or region, so they did not hide it or exaggerate the tragedy and loss.
Every time there was a space invasion, the news would report it as if it was a disaster brought about by an avalanche or a traffic accident.
People died in the hospital every day. The number of people who died in a small space invasion was not more than the number of people who died in a city's hospital every day. And the number of people who died in traffic accidents in the Fire Country every year was more than the number of people who died in a space invasion.
Many of the people who walked out of the shelter returned to their vehicles in a daze and tiredness. If the vehicles parked on the road were not moved in time within a few minutes, the tickets they received today would make the car owners tremble in pain.
Traffic police and tow trucks appeared on the street one after another. They began to direct the traffic and clear the obstacles on the road. The traffic in the city gradually recovered.
If one didn't pay attention, most people wouldn't notice the changes in the surrounding environment. The casualties had been sent to the hospital or taken away. The corpses of the demon rats were cleaned up, leaving not a single hair behind.
Only in some special areas, one could see the cordon pulled up, the broken glass on the ground, and the potholes on the road that had not been repaired.
From time to time, one could see anti-epidemic personnel and anti-epidemic vehicles on the road. The municipal government had already repaired the damaged streets. The insurance company would deal with the loss of vehicles. When fire engines or ambulances passed by on the street with sirens, everyone would silently make way for them.
Many people who hid in the shelter for a night might have to go back to work after coming out today.
It was not that people were numb, but they had to get used to such a life and space invasion.
Xia Pingan got on the Route 11 bus again. After waiting for a while, the driver came back. The bus gradually moved on the road.
…
Twenty minutes later, the Route 11 rail bus arrived at the old city in the south of Xianghe City. It stopped at an old bus stop. Xia Pingan got off the bus and bought some noodles, soy sauce, and dinner from a small supermarket on the roadside that was already open for business. Then he returned home.
Xia Pingan and Xia Ning lived in an old neighborhood that was neither new nor old. The neighborhood's environment was not beautiful, but it was convenient. The neighborhood was very lively, and the rent was not expensive.
More importantly, there was a police station at the entrance of the neighborhood. There were often police cars and policemen loitering at the entrance of the neighborhood. The neighborhood's security was good. After their parents passed away, Xia Pingan and Xia Ning lived here.
Xia Pingan's parents were immigrants. When they immigrated from Huaxia to the Great Yan Republic of the North Guang Continent, they also bought a house in Xianghe City with a mortgage. However, after their accident, the mortgage was taken away by the bank.
The social assistance agency of the Fire Country once arranged for Xia Pingan and Xia Ning to be adopted. However, Xia Pingan and Xia Ning refused to be adopted. They did not want to be separated.
After his parents passed away, Xia Pingan dropped out of school and went to work in the garage to earn money. These years, the two siblings didn't live well. The house that Xia Pingan rented in this community was only a small house with an attic of more than 60 square meters. In the past, there was a leak in the attic. After telling the landlord a few times, the landlord found someone to fix it. But every two years, it had to be fixed again.
Xia Pingan supported Xia Ning to study art. However, studying art was very expensive.
Their main income now was the money that Xia Pingan earned from his work.
Fortunately, the social welfare of the Fire Country was good. Xia Ning did not spend much money when he was in junior high school. He also had medical insurance when he went to see a doctor. As citizens of the Fire Country, Xia Pingan and Xia Ning were born in the Fire Country. Since they were born, they could receive a portion of the population's maternity benefits every month until they were 18 years old. Xia Ning also received an education subsidy when he went to university.
…
Xia Pingan greeted the security guard in the lobby of the apartment building. After that, he walked upstairs along the corridor. The paint on the railings in the corridor was peeling. Xia Pingan took the things that he bought from the supermarket and climbed all the way to the seventh floor. He took out his key and opened the security door before entering the house.
The house was more than 60 square meters. There were some old appliances that the landlord had brought. There were two bedrooms, a kitchen, a living room, and a bathroom. Xia Ning's bedroom was on the first floor. Xia Pingan's bedroom was in the attic. The two siblings lived here and tidied up the small house neatly.
In the living room, Xia Ning folded paper cranes of various colors. On the walls of the living room, there were many paintings of various animals and landscapes that Xia Ning had painted. These decorations made the whole house feel warm and homely.
Xia Pingan was starving. He hadn't eaten anything for almost 20 hours. The first thing he did when he got home was to cook a bowl of noodles for himself in the kitchen.
After eating this bowl of noodles, Xia Pingan felt alive again.
Outside the window of the living room, he could see a beautiful mountain range in the distance. The peak of the mountain range was still covered in white snow. In Xia Pingan's eyes, this ordinary scenery was something that he never got tired of. He even felt that it was a bit magical.
Only Xia Pingan could feel this magical feeling!
Xia Pingan could eat a bowl of ordinary noodles with the scenery of the mountain range outside with great relish.
The mountain range outside was the Qianlong Mountain Range of the Fire Country. The reason why it was called Qianlong Mountain Range was because it was composed of many small mountain ranges. The Qianlong Mountain Range stretched for more than 4,800 kilometers and almost ran through half of the Beigang Continent. The best ski resort in the Fire Country was in the Qianlong Mountain Range.
In Xia Pingan's eyes, the Qianlong Mountain Range actually had another name — the Rocky Mountain Range!
Ever since 1421 AD, when Eunuch Ma led the Chinese fleet to discover this new continent and named it Guangzhou, in the past few hundred years, whenever there was a natural disaster or a change of regime, there would be a large number of Chinese immigrants coming here to find a way to survive, and to live and prosper.
The earliest people to come to this continent were all gold diggers. The legend of striking it rich in Guang Continent had influenced countless people.
There were even more people who dreamed of coming to this continent to dig for gold.
After a few hundred years of vicissitudes, the Great Yan Republic of today had a territory of 22.78 million square kilometers and almost occupied the entire Beigang Continent. It was a powerful country with a population of 680 million. The Fire Country was also one of the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council.
The Divine Continent was still the Divine Continent, and China was still China. However, the world outside of China was very different.
That's right, the name Eunuch Ma gave to Guang Continent was "The river flows from the valley into the bottomless abyss" and "The Valley of Brilliance" (Note 1). It was actually the Grand Canyon of Colorado …
The Valley of Brilliance still had the inscription left behind by Eunuch Ma when he first discovered it.
With the scenery of the Rocky Mountain Range, Xia Pingan finished his noodles. Just as he finished washing the dishes in the kitchen, the doorbell rang. "Ding dong … Ding dong …"
It's still too early for the landlord to come and collect rent!
Xia Pingan muttered to himself. He wiped his hands in the kitchen and walked to the door. He did not use the peephole, but instead, he "looked" through the security door.
With just one glance, Xia Pingan's heart skipped a beat.
It was the man standing outside the door. He was wearing a black leather trench coat and a pair of sunglasses. He looked very cool.
Seeing this man, Xia Pingan's mind was filled with the image of this man killing the Devil Rats and killing the insects. This man was a summoner who belonged to the National Committee of Order.
The man took off his sunglasses, revealing an angular and resolute face in his thirties. His deep black eyes met Xia Pingan's calmly through the thick security door.
…
Note 1: American scholar Henriette Mertz, The Almost Faded Record.
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