The time has quietly approached the Spring Festival.

Early in the morning, Chen Shouyi walked out the door.

Today, the temperature was particularly cold, and the entrance of the apartment building's lobby was already hung with long icicles like sharp spears, some nearly half a meter long.

A gust of cold wind blew past, and Chen Shouyi, dressed lightly, couldn't help but feel a shiver.

The sky was gray and filled with dense fog, and the air was filled with a sour, pungent smell.

The age of steam!

Chen Shouyi sighed slightly,

nearly two months have passed since the last mutation, and a lot of steam factories have sprung up in Hedong City like bamboo shoots after a spring rain, with chimneys spewing white smoke day and night. Often after being out for just an hour or two, clean clothes would get completely covered in coal dust.

The once clean and bright tall buildings that could reflect a person's shadow have now turned dark and stained, completely losing their original luster.

Most of these office buildings are already in a semi-abandoned state, empty and with no property management to clean them.

When Chen Shouyi reached the gate of the community, he glanced at the bulletin board, which was always crowded with people.

There were even more job postings stuck on it.

In a prominent spot in the upper left corner, there was also a call-up notice for retired soldiers with the stamp of the subdistrict office:

All retired soldiers under the age of forty-five must report to the Hedong Military Region by March 1st.

The two-decade-long quasi-wartime state in the Great Xia Country has resulted in the military maintaining a force of six to seven million troops, while retired veterans number over ten times that, approaching a hundred million.

With a population of 1.7 billion in the Great Xia Country, this means that one in every seventeen people is a retired soldier.

And this number increases by two to three million annually.

In a city like Hedong, with a population of tens of millions, even after eliminating retired soldiers who are too old, it can easily recruit three to four hundred thousand soldiers.

Chen Shouyi sighed. The situation hasn't improved much recently, and instead, all sorts of crazy rumors are spreading in Hedong City, causing panic among people.

They say that the gods have already started an invasion, with some areas already fallen, and that there's extreme cold in the north, freezing many to death.

He doesn't know the specifics about the latter, but for the former, Hedong City has indeed seen an increase in refugees from other places recently.

…

Chen Shouyi walked out of the community and turned into a barber shop.

He hadn't had a haircut in almost two months, and his hair was already covering half of his ears.

Since it was still early, when Chen Shouyi went in, there was no one other than the barber.

The barber, a young lady in her thirties, stood up as soon as she saw Chen Shouyi and asked.

"What kind of hairstyle do you want?"

"A crew cut, leave half a centimeter," Chen Shouyi said as he sat on the barber chair.

"That's pretty short in this weather; it might feel cold," the young lady said, picking up the trimmer.

"It's alright, just cut it like that."

"Your hair is so tough!" the young lady complained after a while.

Without an electric trimmer now, it's all manual. As soon as the young lady started, she felt something was off. The hair was too tough, like steel wires, and after just a few cuts, her hand was already sore.

"I know, don't worry, I'll pay you well!" Chen Shouyi said.

His constitution is more than 7.5 times that of a normal person, which not only represents physical strength but also reflects the strength and resilience of various body tissues, the sharpness of the five senses, and other various aspects of the body.

Last month's salary had already been paid, with nearly a hundred thousand in cash. After leaving fifty thousand at home, he still had thirty thousand left, making him financially more comfortable.

"You said it, cutting your hair tires me out more than cutting three or four people's. How did you grow such tough hair!" the young lady said happily.

"Natural!"

Chen Shouyi and the young lady talked on and off, and suddenly the door was pushed open, with two more people coming in. Chen Shouyi glanced at them; one was a middle-aged man in his forties and the other an elderly man in his fifties or sixties.

As soon as they sat down, they started chatting.

"It's really chaotic lately, haven't you heard? The whole of Yun Mountain is now sealed off; who knows how many have died," the middle-aged man said in a low voice.

"Really? Yun Mountain is in the city, might it affect here?" asked the elderly man.

"It shouldn't, as it's quite far. It takes over an hour by bike," the middle-aged man replied.

"Alas, things are getting chaotic, who knows what to do next?" the old man sighed pessimistically. "Why on Earth are these creatures from another world coming here?"

"They must be bored after eating their fill. In the old days, they'd have been blasted. Didn't a few invading Barbarian Gods also die?" the middle-aged man said, then added in a low voice, "Honestly, I don't mind the Barbarian Gods from another world, as long as they aren't Evil Gods starting evil blood sacrifices. Life can stabilize; whoever we believe in doesn't matter!"

"Ain't that the truth!"

…

Chen Shouyi listened in silence. After his haircut, he fished out a hundred-yuan bill from his wallet and handed it over, "Keep the change."

The young lady took it with a joyful face. Now that there's a great depression in Hedong City, service prices have plummeted. A haircut, which used to cost at least twenty to thirty yuan, can now be done for just five yuan, making a hundred yuan twenty times the price.

Chen Shouyi brushed the loose hair off his shoulder, opened the door, and walked out of the barber shop.

In the distance, anti-aircraft guns started firing again, blasting bursts of black smoke in the sky. However, pedestrians on the road were used to it and hardly anyone looked up. With the many fierce birds from another world loose on Earth, the anti-aircraft guns sounded every few days.

…

When he got home, Chen Shouyi found Bai Xiaoling was there too.

Seeing Chen Shouyi with his shaved head, Bai Xiaoling stifled a laugh, "General Manager Chen, you're back?"

Chen Shouyi nodded and saw a lot of things in the living room, including a slab of pork, five or six chickens and ducks, and various dried fruits and fresh goods, prompting him to ask in confusion, "What's all this?"

Even though prices have dropped significantly in the city, it wouldn't be cheap, and some of these items aren't even available in the market.

"Officer Bai sent it over as New Year's goods. In such cold weather, it's a lot of trouble for her, a young girl, to ride a tricycle to deliver it," Mrs. Chen brought a cup of hot tea from the kitchen, saying, "You must be cold; have some hot tea."

Bai Xiaoling quickly took it, "Thank you, Auntie, but no need to be polite. It's my job; I'm dedicated to serving General Manager Chen."

"But we can't let a young girl like you do such hard labor. Next time, let Shouyi know, he's sturdy and can handle it," Mrs. Chen said.

Bai Xiaoling covered her mouth with a laugh, "That won't do! If the higher-ups get upset, I'll be out of a job. Auntie, you look a lot younger now!"

Mrs. Chen, delighted, asked, "Really?"

Since she started taking Divine Blood, her complexion had become rosier, her steps firmer, and even the wrinkles at the corners of her eyes had faded. Overall, she looked five or six years younger.

…

After chatting a bit more, Mrs. Chen and Bai Xiaoling left the living room to Chen Shouyi.

"Here are your house keys and related documents," Bai Xiaoling handed a document to Chen Shouyi.

He took it and found it was a property certificate with stamps from the military region and the city government.

"Villa 24!" Chen Shouyi said, puzzled, "Has the Safe Zone over there been completed?"

"It already was a bare shell; the delay was mainly to set up military defenses. Jiangnan University, major research institutions, important factories, and government agencies will be relocated there in due time," Bai Xiaoling explained.

Chen Shouyi nodded gravely.

The current mega-cities no longer suit the post-mutation environment. On one hand, exorbitant logistics costs severely impact both industry and daily life.

On the other, a scattered layout hampers the concentration of power to defend key strategic units.

The Safe Zone is designed for the potentially looming war.

"When can we move?"

"In seven days at noon. A steam truck will come, and you don't need to take furniture; new ones are already there."

ps: Sorry for the delay, had to delete many words.

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