Guanyu County, southern border of North Star.
Guan Tong walked down the street, feeling as though he had returned to an old haunt.
"Here again."
When he first traveled abroad to Andai State last year, he had come here first before crossing the border into Antu City.
What was the same as last time was that this little county was still deserted. Moreover, due to the earthquake, many houses and roads had collapsed.
What differed from last time was that when Guan Tong reached the river marking the border, he found that all the automated checkpoints and security posts had disappeared.
It was probably because of the UHC's establishment.
Guan Tong thought to himself. He had long known that after the UHC was established, its member states had opened their borders and withdrawn their defenses.
This was, in truth, a state in which everyone had relaxed. Since all borders were open, it meant that, to a certain extent, everyone had loosened military restrictions.
It was like why nations around the world established all sorts of communication channels and mediation organizations, emphasizing discussion and negotiation. One important reason was to reduce military spending as much as possible and devote more resources to technological development and improving people's livelihoods.
Otherwise, if every country guarded against every other country and the arms race escalated without end, it would only lead to economic decline beneath the shadow of war.
Especially after entering the Apocalypse Rules Era, humanity's universally recognized enemies were the Fire Thieves and the Apocalypse Rules, not other groups of humans.
That was also why the UHC's founding had received such an overwhelming response. People had spontaneously named this year the "First Year of Unity," showing that humanity as a whole no longer wished to keep fighting among themselves.
Against such a