Moon star calendar 757, the month of lingering winter.

Since the arrival of the Demon Army, nearly four months have passed. During this time, the Federation has adopted the "air-space integration" combat mode, and has been blocking the Demon in the Devil's waters, unable to get close to the mainland at all.

However, the fierce fighting day after day inevitably resulted in casualties. So far, the Federal Air Force has lost more than 80 fighters and killed as many as 170 pilots.

For the general public, apart from the daily news about the war in the radio and newspapers, there seems to be little change in other aspects. At least there is no such ‘war and chaos’ posture, and the social order is still in good order.

Oh, there are two differences.

The first point is that there are more and more ‘militias’ carrying guns around.

The government-led ‘National Armed Plan’ often organizes civilians to participate in military training. It is either engaged in armed cross-country or various tricks of shooting.

In addition, the militiamen are also responsible for patrolling the streets. No matter day or night, you can always see groups of militiamen wandering the streets and lanes with serious expressions.

The second point is that the production in the factory is getting busier and busier.

In the past, most factories implemented the ‘three shifts’ production model, but now, the number of orders placed by government departments has skyrocketed. Various factories are busy expanding production. Due to the shortage of manpower, they have all changed to ‘two shifts’.

No way, who made it a ‘wartime production system’? The Federal Department of Labor has relaxed a lot of control over ‘working hours’. As long as overtime is not too severe, civil servants turn a blind eye to it.

The only people who are still as happy as before are the students in the school. They have no less vacations at all. Even because the parents are busy with work and don't have much time for discipline, the children's life has become faster.

Tim, a second-year student at the Iron Helmet No. 3 National Middle School in Bailing Republic, is one of them.

"Boom!"

Early in the morning, the knock on the door awakened the teenager who was sleeping in the bed, and a familiar and gentle introduction into the room.

"My dear, we went to the factory to work overtime. You stay at home and do your homework! The food is already prepared in the kitchen. If you are hungry, just heat it up..."

"Okay, mom!"

The boy covered his head with a soft quilt and replied dullly.

"Karen, there is not much time left, we have to send'Jamie' and'Mayves' to the'custody house' as soon as possible, and then go to the factory to work..."

"Understood, you go to hug'Jamie', grab the bottles of the two little guys, I'll bring'Mayvis'..."

Then there was a rush of hurried footsteps, mixed with the voice of a child "babble", and finally with the sound of a "pop" closing the door, the room was quiet again.

A teenager in his 10s, at the age of thirsty sleep, Tim quickly fell asleep in a daze.

The so-called "custodian" is a welfare institution established by the federal government for ordinary civilians six years ago.

For children aged 0-8, when their parents are working, they can send their children to nursing homes and entrust staff to take care of them. The nursing homes not only provide three meals a day to ensure that they are rich in nutrition, but also have fun for the children to play. field.

Most importantly, the above services are all free.

However, to enjoy this free service, there is a prerequisite, that is, both parents must have formal jobs. If the mother is a housewife, the nursing home will refuse to accept her child.

In this way, the federal government encourages civilians to participate in labor and eases the problem of labor shortage.

...

I don't know how long I lay on the bed, when a loud whistling sound suddenly sounded in the sky, awakening Tim's sweet return to the cage.

He murmured, "It's a silver angel again," stretched out his hand and rubbed his sleepy eyes. When he was about to change his sleeping position, something suddenly sounded.

"Oops!"

The teenager opened the quilt with a "swish", and put on a squirrel wool sweater in a panic. Before he could wear his pants, he opened the bedroom door and rushed into the living room like a gust of wind.

The magic clock hung on the wall clearly indicates the current time-9:35.

"Damn it, I overslept again... The appointment with Locke and the others is 10 o'clock, only 25 minutes..."

The teenager got dressed as quickly as possible, finished his personal washing, picked up 2 bacon and mushroom rice **** in the kitchen, and then rushed out the door with his schoolbag.

On the streets at the end of the lingering winter month, there is a lot of unmelted snow, and the low green plants on both sides of the concrete road seem a little bleak in the cold wind on the plateau.

Although today is the weekend, there are still not many pedestrians on the street, and it looks quite deserted. There are only magic trucks full of goods, rushing past and rushing to the other side of the city.

When Tim ran near the bus station out of breath, he immediately heard a crisp "jingle".

A 10-meter-long magic bus, with a gray exhaust pipe erected at the rear, sprayed out a puff of slightly gray exhaust gas, and the huge blue-painted body was slowly moving forward, the side of the body It is written with a striking number-8.

"Hey, Mr. Driver, wait for me!"

The young man shouted loudly with all his strength, while waving his arms, while leaping wildly.

"Bar... Bar..."

With the running posture, the schoolbag behind him kept swinging up and down, slapping his buttocks regularly, as if he was teaching this playful teenager who didn't do his homework honestly.

Fortunately, the driver looked through the rearview mirror and saw the embarrassed figure of the young man. He stepped on the brake, and the magic pneumatic brake made a "hiss" sound and hugged the 1-meter-high wheel tightly.

Tim scrambled and climbed onto the bus, digging in his trouser pocket several times, only to find that his ‘student ID’ had been left at home.

He looked at the middle-aged driver, crying and said:

"Sorry, sir, I may have forgotten to bring my student ID."

In federal cities, students are a group of preferential treatment. With their student ID, they can take public transportation such as buses and subways for free.

Of course, the total population of Iron Helmet is only 150,000, and the economy is not a developed small city. There are only buses and no such tall things as subways.

The driver smiled and waved his hand:

"Forget it, go and sit in the carriage... I recognize your schoolbag, and my son is also in the Third National High School!"

"Thank you, sir!"

The teenager thanked him politely. After he sat down on the seat, he had the opportunity to eat a bite of the cold rice ball.

...

Thirty minutes later, this No. 8 bus arrived at ‘Beishan Park Station’ in the north of the city.

As soon as Tim jumped out of the car, he immediately heard the complaints of his friends:

"Asshole, we have been waiting for you for at least 20 minutes!"

"Why don't you have a sense of time at all, you clearly said that you will gather at 10 o'clock..."

Tim lost a lot of caution before using the promise of "please eat a little cake" to quell the dissatisfaction of his partners.

Afterwards, a tall teenager, the "Rock" in the teenager's mouth, said excitedly:

"Guys, let's take the risk!"