Hotwind Port had already gone several days without any decent ships arriving to unload, and the idle workers on the docks were eagerly waiting, unsure if they could still earn enough today to support their families.
After the Tang Army’s fleet annihilated the Allied Forces fleet, they had essentially gained control of the sea. The Elf Race simply couldn’t get their shipping into the port, let alone bring in any valuable goods.
With the port at a standstill, the workers on the docks naturally had no work, and without work, they had no steady inco.
The entire port’s economy was beginning to crumble, and many Elf families were starting to struggle for food. Everyone was trying to stockpile grain, and the entire city was becoming anxious and restless.
Curley walked numbly down the street, still unsure whether her two sons were even alive in this world. She held a basket containing so food she had managed to scrounge up.
Inside was half a block of black bread, so hard it could kill soone, so it had to be soaked in porridge before it could barely be swallowed.
Of course, she couldn’t know that one of her sons was currently wolfing down bread in a POW camp, enjoying the thick soup that surprisingly had luncheon at chunks visible in it.
The air raid siren began to wail again; Curley was accustod to these kinds of days and was too lazy to even bother hiding.
The roar of the anti-aircraft guns seed to be from just a block away. To ensure the city’s safety, the Elves had deployed dozens of large-caliber anti-aircraft guns on the streets. Although these cannons were almost useless, they fired a few shots at the sky each ti to give the local civilians a tiny bit of security.
A military truck stopped by the roadside, and a few Elf Soldiers holding their M35 Steel Helts jumped out of the truck, nervously carrying their rifles as they ran towards the corner of a building. No one knew what they were in such a hurry for, and Curley just glanced at them before losing interest.
She had to go ho and make dinner; neighbors Charlie and Flan were also coming to eat together. In such tis, sticking together might give them more courage and a better chance to survive.
Previously, you could still see children selling newspapers on the streets, but now you couldn’t. No one felt safe letting their kids wander the streets at such tis, so the reassuring cries of newspaper vendors had disappeared.
Without newspapers, the static-laden, chaotic sounds from the radio filled the air, virtually cutting off the civilians in Hotwind Port from outside news of the war.
The radio station had been bombed and destroyed a few days ago, along with the Lord’s Mansion of Hotwind Port and those governntal offices that civilians dared not visit even once.
Charlie, a small fry, was unlikely to get hurt easily. His job was just to sort so docunts, simple tasks in the office building next to the Lord’s Mansion. Though he was always on edge, it was relatively safe.
Boom! As Curley was about to reach her ho street, she heard a massive explosion from within the city.
It was truly an earth-shattering explosion, as if the entire world had detonated at that mont. Before the sound of the explosion even reached her, Curley felt the earth tremble and heard the glass on the buildings jingling.
Soon, a plu of black smoke surged into the sky, filling the air with an unpleasant odor, causing many to tear up from the choking smoke. Terrified, Curley rushed back ho.
Waiting at ho was Flan, in a state of shock. In such a world, the two won appeared very small and helpless. They didn’t know what had happened; everything would have to wait until Charlie returned in the evening to understand.
Sure enough, in the evening, they heard Charlie bring back the news: the Tang Army had bombed an oil processing facility in Hotwind Port. Chemical storage tanks were destroyed, causing an earth-shattering explosion, and naturally, air pollution was severe.
Fortunately, the toxicity wasn’t so terrifying. Despite several dozen deaths in the streets close to the explosion, the authorities had ordered not to discuss such matters.
"Don’t go out recently; stay at ho as much as possible... If you inhale too much of that stuff, you’ll definitely feel uncomfortable for a while," Charlie confidently explained to his wife and neighbor. "Make so masks later so I can wear one to work."
"I’ll make them today." Curley knew that Flan didn’t have any skills and imdiately took on the task. "I happen to have so old cotton cloth here."
With industrial developnt, things like masks had beco very common, so Charlie thought of this thod. As a man, he couldn’t possibly hide at ho; he had to go to work to keep his position.
On his way back, he had already seen several military trucks capturing young people. The Poplar Empire was conducting a full-scale mobilization, and all young people had to report to the draft office.
Only workers in factories responsible for production and staff within governnt departnts were not taken to serve in the military camp, so Charlie had to keep his job.
Bang! Bang! While the three were talking, there was a knock on the door. Charlie walked to the door, opened it, and saw a group of soldiers looking grimly at him.
"For the Empire, now, put on your clothes and co with us!" The leading officer saw the man and rudely commanded.
Charlie took out an ID from his pocket and handed it to the officer. The officer looked at the ID, checked the black-and-white photo, and continued to ask, "Are there any other n here?"
"No." Charlie stepped aside at the doorway, appearing cooperative.
The officer glanced through the crack in the door, seeing the two terrified won inside, gave a routine military salute, and turned to leave. "Thank you for your cooperation! Goodbye."
Such things happened daily, and Charlie was used to it. He often encountered soldiers blocking the roads, ordered to capture all n without special proof.
The so-called special proof was identification issued to production workers and others not needing to be conscripted. Without this, things would get troubleso.
After closing the door, Charlie breathed a sigh of relief. The atmosphere in Hotwind Port was growing increasingly tense because the Tang Army had occupied Saint Luo, which was already not far from here.
This place might beco a genuine frontline at any mont, and then it won’t just be Tang Army air raids. Every street here might beco an inferno-like battlefield.
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