Around one in the afternoon, Chu Guang finally walked out of Shelter 404. He had stayed up late to go through the inventory the previous night. So he allowed himself the rare luxury of peacefully sleeping till noon. But when he finally came out, what greeted him was a scene of chaos.
At this time of day, the slaves... ahem, the players should be working hard to earn the fake coins and contribution points. However, at the moment, none of them were doing their daily missions.
Many of them were running around shouting, while the rest were in busy discussions.
Chu Guang narrowed his eyes.
Something was very, very wrong.
"What is going on?" Chu Guang stopped Yaya and asked. She was carrying a large basket of mushrooms and was in a rush.
"Ahh... Administrator... It's the eve of Lunar New Year," Yaya replied excitedly.
"..." Chu Guang looked at her without saying anything.
"Yaya, don't break the NPC. He might not know what the Lunar New Year is," someone said in a hushed voice.
Chu Guang decided to ignore the sentence. However, his mind was already dismantling the situation.
Ohh... I lost track of dates on the blue planet. So it's the Lunar New Year already? Then why are these critters spending time on the game? Shouldn't they be celebrating with their friends and family? Don't tell me...
"Dear administrator... This... this is a Lunar New Year celebration from my hometown before the Great War. It is based on the Lunar calendar." Yaya tried to explain the event in a way that the NPC would understand.
Chu Guang decided to ignore the plothole and nodded. "Alright. Carry on."
Yaya thanked Chu Guang and ran away. Chu Guang started observing the situation.
Soon, the players split into multiple groups. One group started cleaning the surroundings while another group left the boundary of the shelter. Chu Guang suddenly had a thought and rushed to Xia Yan.
"Has there been any sales recently?" Chu Guang asked with concern.
Xia Yan, who was nodding off, suddenly stood up and looked at Chu Guang in confusion.
"Did you make any sales today?" Chu Guang repeated the question.
"No. But a few came asking for paper."
"Paper?"
"Yes. I gave them what was in the store."
"Close the store. You are not going to sell anything today." Chu Guang ordered. Now that the players were in a festive mood, Chu Guang was getting a bit worried.
"Yes. Sir." Xia Yan obeyed the order and got out of the store in a second. She acted as if she were worried that Chu Guang might change his mind.
Chu Guang shook his head and went to keep an eye on the players.
The first one that attracted Chu Guang's attention was Tomato Eggs, who used to be a chef. He and a new player were rolling a wooden barrel into the area.
"What is this?" Chu Guang questioned Tomato Eggs.
"Administrator, a while ago, I tried to make wine and later forgot about the barrels. This is one of the barrels from then. There is more on the way." Tomato Eggs answered excitedly.
Chu Guang slowly started feeling a headache. If these guys get drunk, that can be dangerous. Should I just ban alcohol? No. None of these guys have a social life and decided to spend their Lunar New Year in a game. I should be more considerate.
Chu Guang continued surveying the situation.
There were multiple batches of players busy making decorations for the event. At some point, red colour had started appearing here and there. By then, the Bull and Horse club returned with a bunch of players. There were six players following the group while struggling to draw the body of a gigantic wild boar. Seeing the wild boar, a smile appeared on Chu Guang's face. But soon, it was replaced with another worry.
Chu Guang rushed to the warehouse.
There was already a group of players arguing with Luca.
"What is going on?" Chu Guang asked Luca.
"Master, they bought all the salt and spices we had. But now they are asking for more."
"What did you tell them?"
"I pretended that I didn't understand them."
Chu Guang gave a thumbs-up in his mind. Finally, Luca was acting like a responsible NPC. Xia Yan should learn from Luca. He was clearly showing the wisdom that comes with age.
Chu Guang still decided to sell more ingredients to the players from his hidden stash. He didn't feel a bit guilty about inflating the price using the excuse of a sudden increase in demand. The players accepted it as a game mechanic and bought it without complaints. He also told Luca that he could take a day off from his duties once the players are done with their shopping for the event. Luca didn't understand what was going on. But still, he agreed.
When Chu Guang returned, the situation outside had changed.
A large group of players were rolling on the floor laughing.
"I am sorry. But I swear it is not poisonous." Yaya was in tears.
Chu Guang approached to see what was going on. What he saw was a group of mice acting weird on the floor. Those were not the vicious mutated mice, but smaller ones, which were still at the bottom of the food chain.
Chu Guang looked at the players for an answer.
In a few minutes, Chu Guang understood the situation. Apparently, Yaya got some new colourful mushrooms. She swore that they weren't poisonous and roasted them over the flame. However, the players weren't confident about the rainbow coloured mushrooms and decided to test it out on a mouse. The mouse that ate the rainbow mushroom started acting weirdly. So they caught more mice and fed them the rainbow mushrooms. Now, over a dozen mice were acting weird.
"Hey... Does it look like these things are imitating us?" someone asked.
Hearing this, Chu Guang took a closer look at the mice.
There was one which was sitting on a stone and sleeping while laying its head on a nearby bigger stone. Another one was walking around on its hind legs with a stoic expression on its face. There was another even weirder mouse. It was also on its hind legs. But it took very tiny steps such that it looked like it was rolling around on a wheel.
Chu Guang struggled a lot to suppress a laugh that almost left his mouth.
"See, that mouse looks like it's cooking. It's definitely imitating Yaya," someone said.
"Now that you mention it, this one looks like the NPC at the store and that one looks like..."
The players continued their heated discussions.
"Wait... Why is it that those two are holding hands?" Teng Teng asked while pointing at two mice.
"Maybe... they are friends."
"Now they are kissing."
"Close friends."
"..."
"..."
Chu Guang's face turned red, and he was about to explode in laughter when something caught his attention. His face turned pale in an instant.
"Where is Mosquito?" he almost roared.
"Huh... I saw him just outside the trench on the eastern side," someone answered.
Chu Guang ignored the mice and briskly walked to the eastern side. Just a few seconds ago, he saw a mouse energetically making something. He didn't understand what was going on. But he had a bad premonition. So he wanted to check on Mosquito right away.
Within a few minutes, he found Mosquito.
"What are you doing?"
"Administrator! Ahh... I had this great idea for a firework. If we mix different metals with gunpowder, then we can have explosions in different colours. Also, I can modify my missile to become a rocket. Combining these two, we can have fireworks at night."
On seeing the rocket that didn't look any different from a missile, Chu Guang took two steps backwards. "Are you going to use up all the gunpowder for fireworks?"
"Well... We just got rid of the Marauders' camp. So we don't have to worry about them. So I thought we didn't need to save on gunpowder for a while."
"There will be more enemies in the future. So we need to be prepared."
"... I am researching a guided missile." Mosquito immediately changed the script.
"..."
"Please check this. This is a handheld mini missile. You can hold here and point at where you want to attack. Then all you have to do is light the thread at the bottom and kaboom. It is lightweight too. Just try holding it." Mosquito extended the 'missile' to Chu Guang.
Chu Guang jumped back. "Don't point that thing at me."
"Then how about this? This one has a lot of explosives. When the first one explodes, it will spread the other explosives around, and then there will be a second round of..."
"Stop. I don't want to know." Chu Guang waved his hand and practically ran away. He was worried that something might go wrong if he stayed anywhere near Mosquito anymore. Then his attention fell on Ample Time, who was rushing with a brick.
"Where are you going and what are you going to do with the brick?" Chu Guang stopped Ample Time and asked.
"That... I think you should see it." Ample Time signalled towards the crowd that was watching the mice.
Chu Guang rushed to the spot without wasting any time. This time, what greeted him was a completely different scenario.
Yaya was on all fours on the ground and busily digging a hole with her hands.
"What is going on?" Chu Guang asked with a dark face.
"She ate the rainbow mushroom to prove that it wasn't poisonous." Ample Time explained.
"..."
"She isn't listening to anything we say." Ample Time added.
Chu Guang rubbed his forehead and looked at the brick in Ample Time's hand. Then he slightly nodded.
Ample Time stepped forward without wasting even a second. He happily swung the brick and hit Yaya's head without any hesitation. Then he carried Yaya to the nurturing cabin for recovery.
Chu Guang very much wanted to put an end to all the ruckus. He also felt pain on seeing the amount of resources being consumed for the celebration. But the fact that the players were all online, yet it being New Year, made him hesitate.
In the end, he said nothing and returned inside the shelter. He instructed Little Seven to keep an eye on the players.
Hours passed.
In between, Yu Xiaoyu and her family arrived to deliver a deer they caught. They were also baffled by the liveliness of the camp. Chu Guang invited them to stay for the celebrations. After much deliberation, they accepted the invitation.
Little Seven was also decorated with red paper. Chu Guang very much wanted to capture the moment in a photograph. Unfortunately, he didn't have a camera.
The real celebration started near sundown.
The players lit up vibrant red lanterns around the shelter. The entire area was decorated with paper cuttings. It looked like a different world compared to the wasteland outside.
Yu Xiaoyu opened her eyes wide in awe. Xia Yan and Luca were also amazed by the decorations. They never thought that they would get to see such festivities in their lives. By then, Yaya also returned. The rainbow mushrooms were confirmed to be mildly hallucinogenic but harmless. However, Chu Guang banned the foraging of the rainbow mushrooms.
Soon, everyone sat by makeshift tables for dinner.
It was a sumptuous dinner with fish and meat. Even alcohol was served in limited quantities. The players did their best to get Xia Yan drunk. In the end, Chu Guang interfered and saved her.
At midnight, there were fireworks set off by Mosquito. The exploding rockets made the sky bright repeatedly. It was a beautiful sight. Everyone enjoyed the sight. However, Chu Guang's heart hurt from thinking about the wastage of gunpowder. Still, he wasn't too disappointed. For once, it felt like he was back on the blue planet.
A bit far from the settlement, the poor people of Baker Street saw the sky lighting up in different colours. They immediately ran inside and hid in their homes. Many rumours were sure to spread in the following days.
Outside the settlement, someone was surrounded by a group of Marauders. It was a new player named Poop Factory. He had gone out earlier to pee in the wind. Then he saw a light in the woods and went to inspect it. What he saw was a bunch of Marauders who had come to scout the shelter.
The Marauders immediately surrounded Poop Factory.
"I am warning you. I am a very talented player. If you kill me, I will come to haunt you." Poop Factory started talking random stuff in a pathetic attempt to scare off the Marauders.
The Marauders looked at each other, wondering what language their prey was speaking.
Then, a rocket that was slightly bigger than the other rockets flew off-course and fell right in front of Poop Factory.
"Ahh... Poop!" Poop Factory's heart nearly stopped as he mentally prepared for the big explosion.
Bang...
It wasn't a big explosion as Poop Factory expected. It wasn't much different from a slightly bigger firecracker.
"What is this?" One of the Marauders picked up one of the balls that were spread around after the explosion. They were initially scared by the explosions. But once they realised that it wasn't deadly, their courage returned.
Poop Factory looked at the balls with sparks of fire on them with a pale face.
"..."
BANG, BANG, BANG...
The loud noises and light from the second round of scattered explosions completely blinded the Marauders. Poop Factory, who had closed his eyes and plugged his ears, wasn't affected much. He ignored the Marauders and ran to the shelter while thanking Mosquito in his mind.
***
The next day, Chu Guang looked at the pile of red envelopes.
"Master... Why did they give you all these covers?" Little Seven asked in confusion.
"I don't know." Chu Guang didn't bother to explain. He was well aware that the players did that to increase their favourability. However, he had piles of silver and copper coins, and the few that the players had given him meant nothing to him.
However, Chu Guang was impressed by the effort some had put into their envelopes. There were many envelopes with beautiful decorations and designs.
In the end, he decided to discard the coins and save the envelopes.
---
I helped Auntie Lin hang paper cuttings on the blast door. She told me before the war, families would gather, eat dumplings, complain about relatives, and give children little red envelopes filled with money. We don’t have money like that anymore. Just chips and ration credits.
Tonight, the Administrator came by in person. No speech over the broadcast tower. No strategic briefing. Just him walking the corridor, handing out small red packets with handwritten notes inside. Mine said:
“Survive. Grow. Build.”
Not credits. Not orders. Just words.
Old Zhao, who used to grumble that the Alliance was just another faction with better propaganda, raised a toast with fermented corn wine. Even he smiled.
We ate dumplings stuffed with mutant pork and dried greens. The kids laughed when one burst open and splashed hot broth onto the table. For a moment, nobody talked about patrol rotations. Or the Torch Church. Or the outer-wall skirmishes.
I stood near the airlock and listened to the wind howling outside the steel plating. Out there, it’s still the wasteland.
Ash storms, ruined cities, things that hunt in the dark.
But inside?
Inside, there were red lanterns made from scrap plastic.
Inside, there was music from a repaired pre-war speaker.
Inside, there was hope stubborn enough to survive radiation.
Maybe that’s what the dragon means.
Not fire.
But the refusal to go extinct.
Happy New Year, Wasteland.
We’re still here.
---
They said it’s the Year of the Snake or something?
Have I seen a snake? I think some were recorded in the old history books or something, but they sure look like long ropes…
Red cloth streamed streets of Dawn City, a stark contrast to the usual multicolored banners placed all over the place. For the next few days, everything would be a sea of red… Just like the year before.
Autumn Leaves had seen it the year before, and the same thing was happening this year. Her sister, Autumn Weed, had been busy preparing for the festivities as soon as they received Little Seven’s announcement at home.
As for herself…
Slapping on the ‘Festival Management Committee’ armband on herself, she prepared to head over to the central plaza to ensure everything was ready.
As a long time committee member, she had been placed in charge of the main areas this year, mainly the festival plaza where there would be some sort of parade or dance of some sort organized by the residents of Shelter 404.
A month earlier, she received instructions from the committee, stating that Mosquito had been placed in charge of the parade. Thinking back to the strange factory at the edge of the industrial zone, she couldn’t help but shudder. She always heard strange screams coming from it, and she often saw guards heading over with strange notices in their hands.
Recalling the face he had when he first came to submit his proposal to the management… Which had surprisingly been approved instantly by Little Seven in the system, she couldn’t help but feel the need to double check the venue again.
When she finally arrived at the plaza in the middle of Dawn City, she saw a peculiar sight.
The street leading up to it was covered in swarms of people, most screaming and jostling about, trying to force their way closer to the square.
“AHHHHHH!!!!”
“That’s Tomato Eggs! He cooks the best food!”
“Old White, please look at me!”
“UWU”
It seemed the Burning Corps, that had just returned from the frontlines a few days ago, had already gathered in the plaza.
Looking at the huge sea of people blocking her way, a sense of dread filled her heart.
How am I supposed to go in there?
Just as she was about to start tapping people on the shoulder to show them her armband, she heard a strange cackle behind her.
Hearing the familiar sound, Autumn Leaves’ eyebrows started to twitch as she turned to look at the person behind her.
“Comeon, dear esteemed administrator… I swear there’ll be no accidents tonight! See, I even called back Old White and the others for this! It’s gonna be a blast!”
“... Little Seven, increase surveillance, send more drones up there if you have to. Make sure there really are no accidents.” Chu Guang’s voice rang softly after.
Mosquito! Lord Administrator!
As the sound of stomping grew closer with the azure exoframe approaching, people standing around seemed to also sense something and they turned to look behind them.
“AHHHHHHH!”
“SIR ADMINISTRATOR!”
“Quick, quick, make way!”
“Hey, that’s Mosquito! Sir, Mosquito hasn’t paid me back for my wagon he blew up the other day!”
“Move, move, move!”
Chu Guang turned to look at Mosquito with a raised eyebrow. Seeing the same weird grin on his face, Chu Guang sighed, “Little Seven, make sure he pays the guy back…”
“Got it, master!”
Spotting Autumn Leaves nearby, Chu Guang no longer bothered with Mosquito as he turned to look at her.
“Are you already inspecting the plaza for the parade tonight?” Chu Guang asked.
Nodding slightly, Autumn Leaves couldn’t help but notice the group of people behind the administrator.
Yin Fang? That mad scientist barely leaves the Shelter! Even he’s out today!
The others seem to be pilots of the Goblin Corps…
Gesturing for her to follow him, Chu Guang led the way into the plaza as the crowd separated to make a path for them.
Finally arriving in the center of the plaza, Autumn Leaves bowed shyly to the exoframe before running around to mark everything on her checklist.
It took her a full two hours to complete her checks, and by then, it was nearly time for lunch.
The crowd around the plaza had dispersed some time ago, when the administrator and the Burning Corps left, giving her some peace and quiet at last. There were only a few other members of the committee running around, along with the teams preparing for the parade that night.
Checking her list for things to do, she decided to head over to North Gate Market to finish the rest of her task before evening.
By the time she arrived, the rest of the members had already completed half the tasks.
Sweeping the streets, putting up banners, even helping some store keepers to prepare food for the festivities that night. Everyone had something to do.
Looking around, Autumn Leaves decided to grab a quick bite before dragging Aunt Sheep’s cart out to help her prepare sheep stew for the night.
After eating a bowl of dumplings from Uncle Pork’s stall, she quickly ran over to help Aunt Sheep.
…
As evening fell, Autumn Leaves ran over to the plaza again for the start of the festival.
A massive podium had already been built, and it seemed the administrator was going to give a live speech in the square of Dawn City like every other festival. Drones controlled by Little Seven were flying around, some carrying lights, and some carried powerful cameras so that the administrator’s speech could be broadcasted to the other cities.
With the last rays of the sun fading, the festival finally began.
“Everyone, today is a day of celebration…”
“...”
“...”
“...”
“Enjoy the festivities!”
At the end of his speech, the parade began.
Planes appeared in view in the distance, as everyone raised their heads to look at the little dots growing in size in the distance.
There were Viper transport planes, Mosquito W-2 gliders, and even a bunch of other strange looking vessels.
Flying in a V formation, they quickly approached the plaza. As they got close, everyone saw tinier dots jumping out from them.
“Look! That’s the Burning Corps’ exoframes!”
“AWOOOO!”
“Hehehe!”
Autumn Leaves turned to look beside her, only to see a green-haired reporter pointing a camera into the skies. She was waving it around, trying to look for someone.
Turning to the other side, she saw a group of shelter residents laughing happily while slapping each other on the shoulders.
In the darkness of the night, those tiny silver dots didn’t look too conspicuous. She couldn’t really see what they were up to either.
The next second…
Boom!
Boom boom boom!
Streaks of light flew out from the tiny dots in parachutes as beautiful fireworks blossomed in the skies. Blue flames lit up the darkness high above as multicolored flowers bloomed everywhere in the distance.
Different colored flowers painted beautiful pictures in the night sky.
Well, that was until it happened.
“Hey, it’s coming, look, look!”
The larger dot in the skies suddenly pulled a long strange rod-like thing from his back, before aiming it into the distance.
“It’s coming!” Mosquito’s yell suddenly came from the side.
A brilliant green burst emerged from the long rod-like thing. As it burned a bright neon-green, it streaked through the night sky in weird patterns. It coiled around before making a wide 360 circle. After spinning and curving in the air, it eventually exploded to form the face of a snake.
“HELL YEA!” Mosquito’s excited cries filled the air, before it was quickly drowned out by loud cheers.
“Oh my?!”
“What is that?!”
“That… That’s a snake!”
In the midst of the screaming, a few other figures also pulled out long rod-like things from their backs. They were getting closer, and the figures could be seen a little clearer.
All of them fired in different directions, as massive flaming green snakes streaked into the distance.
As the skies lit up with the strange new fireworks, a loud cry filled the air.
“Happy Lunar New Year!”
---
The snow had finally stopped falling over the outer walls of the New Alliance.
For three days straight, frost had clung stubbornly to the watchtowers, turning the steel rails and concrete barricades into pale white ribs against the wasteland sky. But on the eve of Lunar New Year, as if even the weather respected the calendar, the clouds parted. A cold but clear night stretched above the city, and lanterns began to glow one by one along the inner streets.
This was no longer the ragged settlement it once had been.
Red cloth banners hung across reinforced checkpoints. Solar-powered lanterns flickered beside sandbag walls. Someone had even painted the words ‘Welcoming Spring’ in bright gold across the steel gates of the northern entrance. It was slightly crooked, but no one minded.
This year, the New Alliance celebrated not as survivors.
They celebrated as a civilization.
…
In the central plaza, once a muddy distribution ground for emergency rations, long wooden tables had been assembled from salvaged planks. The logistics team had worked for weeks to secure enough preserved meats, hydroponic vegetables, and precious grain reserves.
Steam rose from metal hotpots lined up across the tables. The scent of broth, real broth, not the thin recycled ration stew of early years, drifted through the air.
Yaya was already at work, standing on a crate to oversee her mushroom trays.
“These are the premium glow-cap ones!” she declared proudly. “They boost stamina by at least five percent!”
“Stop exaggerating, dumbass” Mosquito muttered, adjusting the mechanical arm he had been tinkering with all afternoon. “You just added more chili oil.”
Across the table, a squad from the First Corps was arguing about who had eaten more preserved beef slices. Someone from the Goblin Corps had brought experimental dumplings filled with mutant crab meat. No one knew whether they were safe. That didn’t stop people from lining up.
Children darted between tables, waving red paper flags printed with the Alliance emblem. For many of them, this was the first Lunar New Year they could remember without gunfire in the distance.
That alone was worth celebrating.
…
Just before dusk, drums echoed through the streets.
The Burning Corps had volunteered to perform the lion dance. The costume was patched together from old fabric armor and reinforced tarp, but under the lantern light, it looked magnificent.
The lion leapt between stacked supply crates and bounded over low barricades. Each stomp was deliberate. Each head shakes fiercely. Sparks flew from makeshift firecrackers, carefully supervised by the engineering division to avoid accidental detonations near ammunition storage.
When the lion bowed in front of the main administrative building, cheers erupted.
Even the usually stoic militia members on guard duty allowed themselves small smiles.
For one night, vigilance relaxed into celebration.
Red Packets in a New Economy
Inside the administrative hall, Chu Guang stood before a long table stacked neatly with red packets.
They were simple, thick recycled paper dyed crimson, but embossed with the symbol of the New Alliance.
“Line up properly,” he said calmly, though there was warmth in his tone. “No pushing. Everyone receives one.”
The red packets contained chips, not the inflated S coin remnants of Boulder Town’s collapse, but stabilized silver coins backed by real resource reserves. It was modest, but symbolic.
The New Alliance had learned painful lessons about speculation, debt, and hollow prosperity.
This was different.
This was earned stability.
As each citizen stepped forward, workers, engineers, militia, former refugees, they bowed lightly before accepting the envelope. Some clutched it tightly. Others immediately joked about pooling their money for drinks.
Elisa stood nearby, watching quietly.
Last year, she had been unsure whether there would even be a city left to celebrate in.
This year, she allowed herself to hope.
A Toast Beneath the Lanterns
When the moon rose high above the city, Chu Guang stepped onto the small stage erected in the plaza.
The chatter slowly faded.
He looked out at the gathered faces, scarred veterans, idealistic young recruits, former aristocrats who had chosen reform over exile, children who had grown taller in just one year.
“We built this city from ruins,” he began.
His voice carried clearly in the cold air.
“We have faced hunger. Betrayal. Collapse. We have buried friends and dismantled systems that nearly destroyed us.”
The crowd was silent.
“But tonight,” he continued, “we celebrate something greater than survival.”
A pause.
“We celebrate unity.”
He gestured to the banners, the lanterns, the steaming tables.
“No inner city. No outer zone. No faction divisions. Only citizens of the New Alliance.”
Somewhere in the crowd, someone shouted, “Long live the Alliance!”
Laughter followed, but there was sincerity beneath it.
Chu Guang raised his cup.
“This year, may our walls stand firm. May our fields yield harvest. May our people prosper, not through exploitation, but through shared effort.”
He lifted the cup higher.
“And may we never forget why we chose this path.”
The plaza echoed with cheers as cups clinked together.
…
Soon, the time had come.
The engineering division had prepared a surprise.
At precisely midnight, a streak of light shot upward from beyond the northern wall.
Then another.
And another.
Improvised fireworks blossomed above the wasteland, red, gold, and bright green against the endless dark.
For a brief moment, the ruined world beyond the walls disappeared beneath color and light.
Even the distant silhouettes of abandoned skyscrapers seemed less threatening.
Children gasped. Adults stood shoulder to shoulder. Some held hands without realizing it.
In that glow, the New Alliance did not look fragile.
It looked unstoppable.
As the celebration gradually softened into smaller groups and private conversations, warmth lingered in the air despite the cold.
Yaya insisted everyone try her final batch of dumplings.
Mosquito argued about optimizing drone-mounted lantern displays next year.
A militia captain quietly thanked a former labor leader for his efforts in rebuilding housing districts.
Elisa walked along the inner wall, looking out at the dark wasteland.
It was still dangerous.
Mutant Human tribes still roamed. Those other factions out there still schemed. Resources would always require careful management.
But tonight proved something important.
They were no longer reacting to crisis.
They were shaping their own future, a new dawn.
As the last lanterns flickered in the early hours of the morning, the sky slowly brightened.
The first sunrise of the lunar year cast a golden sheen over the concrete, steel, and red banners.
Guards rotated shifts. Cleanup crews gathered plates and crates. Someone was already discussing agricultural expansion plans for spring.
Life resumed, and it resumed with momentum.
The Lunar New Year in the New Alliance was not just a festival, it was a declaration.
A declaration that even in a wasteland scarred by greed, collapse, and conflict, a society could rebuild, not on speculation or hierarchy, but on cooperation.
---
I woke up before the siren.
Old habit.
Back when I lived in the outer zone, before the New Alliance pushed the raiders back and stabilized the trade routes, mornings usually began with either alarms or shouting. You didn’t wait to see which one it would be.
Today, there was no siren.
Just the faint smell of broth drifting through the corridor vents and someone laughing downstairs.
It’s Lunar New Year.
I sat up in my small apartment in Residential Block B, real walls, real insulation, not patched tarp and scrap metal, and for a moment I just listened. There was no gunfire beyond the walls, no ration disputes in the hallway. Just the clatter of pots and the hum of generators running steady and clean.
I washed up, put on the new red armband the distribution office gave us, and stepped outside.
The whole block had changed overnight. Red banners hung between the buildings, strung carefully along steel beams that used to hold defensive wiring. Someone painted gold characters over the concrete pillar near the lift shaft. The paint’s uneven, but it shines when the light hits it.
Kids were already running around with paper lanterns, weaving between adults carrying trays of food toward the plaza. One of them nearly ran into me and shouted, “Uncle! Come early! They’re setting up the hotpot!”
Uncle.
No one used to call me that. Back then, I was just another laborer with a dust mask and a chip counter that never seemed to go up. Now I’ve got a stable job in infrastructure maintenance and a kid in Block D who thinks I’m part of the city.
I headed toward the central plaza. It used to be a supply distribution yard, all mud and tension. I remember lining up there for thin porridge and arguing about who got extra rations. Now, long wooden tables stretch across the square. Steam rises from metal hotpots, and the logistics team has somehow managed to secure preserved meats, hydroponic greens, even dumplings.
Yaya’s there, standing on a crate, proudly announcing that her mushrooms are festival grade. Mosquito’s arguing about whether next year they can program drones to carry lanterns in formation.
The First Corps are off-duty tonight. Setting their armor aside, they rolled up their sleeves. I see one of them laughing with a former factory supervisor who used to represent everything we hated about the old system.
Strange how things change.
When the lion dance starts, the drums echo off the concrete buildings. The costume’s patched together from tarp and old fabric armor, but when it leaps over stacked crates and bows in front of the administrative hall, it looks magnificent.
For a second, I forget this is the wasteland.
It feels like something older, something that existed before collapse and will exist long after us.
At dusk, we line up inside the hall for red packets. I never thought I’d see the day where credits didn’t make me nervous. After Boulder Town’s S coin disaster, after watching numbers inflate and then evaporate, I stopped trusting currency.
But the New Alliance’s silver coins are different. Backed by real reserves, they were issued carefully. There were no empty promises.
When I step forward, Administrator Chu Guang hands me a red packet himself.
“Happy New Year,” he says simply.
His voice isn’t loud. It doesn’t need to be.
I bow slightly and take the envelope. It’s not about the amount inside. It’s about the fact that everyone in line, soldiers, engineers, former refugees, even those who once stood on the other side of the barricades, gets the same red packet.
No inner district. No outer zone… Just citizens.
Later, under the lanterns, he gives a speech. Talks about shared effort. About how we built this from rubble. About not repeating the mistakes of greed and division.
I look around at the crowd while he speaks.
Some of us have scars that still ache in the cold. Some lost family in the riots. Some once profited from systems that crushed the rest of us.
Tonight, we stand shoulder to shoulder.
When midnight hits, the engineers launch fireworks from beyond the northern wall. Red and gold bursts light up the ruins outside. For a brief moment, even the broken skyline looks beautiful.
A little girl next to me grabs her father’s hand and gasps.
I realize I’m smiling.
Not the tight, guarded smile I used to wear. It was a real one.
When the fireworks fade and the lanterns sway gently in the night wind, I feel something I haven’t felt in years.
Stability.
Not just survival. Not just getting through another winter.
It was stability.
Tomorrow, I’ll go back to inspecting support beams and checking power lines. The wasteland beyond the walls will still be dangerous. Resources will still need careful planning. Politics will still be complicated.
But tonight, as I tuck the red packet into my jacket and walk home through streets glowing with lantern light, I know this:
We didn’t just rebuild a city.
We rebuilt the right to celebrate.
Happy Lunar New Year, New Alliance.
May this year be stronger than the last.
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