A city in recovery was not always a joyful sight.
The streets and alleyways of Wanjing had returned to peacetime, but not to what could be called normal life.
Walking down any street, one would see flower baskets, funeral wreaths, and mourning processions. Some shops were welcoming rebirth, while some families were seeing off their elders.
This war had brutally reduced Earth's permanent population from over five billion—this world's total population had been lower than that of the other timeline—to just over two billion. Even the Eastern Kingdom, which had been preserved most intact, had lost far too much over these three-odd years.
"...Sigh. This really kills the mood for shopping."
Looking at the black-and-white photographs on the community notice board, at those names called glorious that had brought even more grief, Lu PingAn, who had come out to relax, found himself with a headache.
He was helpless, yet powerless.
A Plane War was not merely an arena for the strong. In this deadly struggle without a single safe zone, no one could be absolutely confident of surviving.
In the naval battles at the front, in the deathmatches on the Pacific Ocean, a single wave or the eruption of a Dragon Serpent could drag down a warship. Dozens, hundreds, even thousands of soldiers aboard might be gone in an instant.
When the rear blockade line was breached, a squad of foreign invaders or a lone Rule-level Demonic Creature could turn an entire city into a literal ghost town.
Even though the Eastern Kingdom had done better than any other nation—at least it had not lost entire regions, states, provinces, or cities like so many countries had—ordinary people were still far too fragile against the monstrous creatures from beyond.
"It's actually much better now. Mostly because the news of soldiers who