It was midnight.
Screens across the Safe Zone lit up in unison, a countdown appearing at their centers.
[23:59:50] [23:59:51] [23:59:52]
People looked up at the changing numbers.
The last minute of the old calendar was slipping away.
Once this day ended, they would no longer be stuck in 2012.
They would leap across those stolen years and live in a new era.
As the countdown began, everyone in the central square shouted together.
"Three!"
"Two!"
"One!"
The midnight bells rang.
The date on every public screen changed at once.
[Earth Calendar: July 10, 2013.] [Revival Day.]
A moment later, sirens and military bugles sounded throughout the Safe Zone.
The blast-resistant glass was opened by remote control. Under the protection of the troops stationed in each district, United Government personnel fired illumination flares into the sky.
White light bullets rose beyond the blast-resistant glass and burst above the dome, showering down a brilliant rain of light.
Children jumped excitedly, reaching out to catch the glimmers drifting down.
For children born after the apocalypse, this was the closest thing to a real holiday they had ever seen.
Several Legion soldiers were surrounded by children, who competed to ask how big the Patterned Fox was, whether he really was as large as a mountain, whether he had nine tails, and whether Qin Siyang had driven a spear into his head.
A soldier who had taken part in surrounding and killing the Patterned Fox smiled. "Without Commander Qin keeping the Patterned Fox's vital point under control, we could never have accomplished that feat."
The children nodded solemnly at his words, then declared one after another:
"When I grow up, I'll be Qin Siyang!"
"I'm going to attack gods' vital points too!"
The adults nearby laughed.
Their laughter gradually faded,