The afternoon sun shone over the quiet Sector 06. As always, the weather was clear.
Li Shudong, patrolling the position, tightened the oxygen tank on his back and glanced again at the gray, gloomy sky overhead, wishing it would rain.
It would not clear away that suffocating smell of mildew, but at least it would make the air look cleaner.
He was a soldier of the First Corps and had only enlisted before the New Year.
Though the day the tide would erupt was drawing closer, he was not particularly afraid. If anything, he felt a trace of anticipation.
He had heard that once the tide was over, the First Corps would be reorganized into the Alliance First Army, divided according to the Human Alliance era's structure. If he could distinguish himself in this battle, he might become a squad leader or even a platoon commander.
Fighting a bunch of brainless mutants had to be easier than fighting the Velanders.
At least, in theory.
Just as he was thinking that, a drawn-out "beep—" suddenly sounded from behind his head.
He instinctively turned around and happened to see a huge loudspeaker extending from one of the windows on the wall of a nearby high-rise.
More accurately, it was not one loudspeaker, but a whole string of them.
Dozens of loudspeakers, large and small, dotted the wall like climbing vines, all pointed directly toward the city center.
Just as he was wondering what they were for, the string of loudspeakers seemed to finish its sound check and finally began broadcasting.
Clear, standard Human Alliance language drifted out of the loudspeakers. It sounded like they were playing the Survivor Daily.
Li Shudong was not the only one stunned. Wang Dashan, standing beside him, was dumbfounded too.
"...Why are they suddenly playing the news?"