On the last day of August, Yan Ming came to Arthur's office.
"There are some things I think I should ask you in person."
"Go ahead."
Arthur raised his head from the pile of documents and looked at his companion.
"Is it a lack of funds or materials? It can be solved with just one communication."
Yan Ming shook his head:
"Neither. It's about recruiting new people. After the exoskeleton plan spread, more and more people wanted to join, including young and middle-aged people with normal jobs, as well as active city defense forces..."
"You mean too many? How many people have signed up now?"
"Two hundred thousand."
Yan Ming gave a somewhat outrageous number and added:
“And it keeps growing.”
Arthur fell silent behind his desk...
Although two hundred thousand may not sound like a lot, it is actually a terrifying number.
The registered population of Hope City is eight million, with a one-to-one male-to-female ratio, meaning there are four million males.
Then exclude those who are too young, too old, or have important positions and cannot leave without permission...
There are still 200,000 people.
Arthur actually couldn't figure out whether everyone had no interest in living in this world, or really felt that mechas were a man's romance, or whether they had unparalleled trust in him as the Speaker, but since the facts had come out, he had to respond.
Yan Ming saw that Arthur was silent for a long time, and asked anxiously:
"Is there any way? Not responding for a long time will affect everyone's enthusiasm."
Arthur still said nothing.
"How many exoskeletons have been produced at the factory now?"
Yan Ming changed the question, as if to test whether Arthur was offline.
"Except for those already in use, there are nearly 50,000 new ones."
"so much?"
Yan Ming was shocked for a moment. He knew that not all applicants would be selected, and he also understood that not everyone could get an exoskeleton. Although this thing had already started mass production, it was not yet so cheap.
But he still didn't expect the productivity of those three factories to be so strong...
If there are 50,000 exoskeletons, then a powerful elite force can be obtained by choosing one from the four, but the training time is another problem.
And Arthur's wide-area enhancement also takes time. It is impossible for a recruit to join the army on the first day, become a soldier king on the second day, and return to the city on the third day. That is a bit fantasy.
After thinking for a moment, Arthur finally said:
“Active city defense troops and retired soldiers will be given priority, and the others will be sent to logistics and to supplement the city defense.
"We are definitely going to fight our way out, so you can put some newcomers in the city defense, but don't take all the veterans away at once."
Yan Ming had no objection to this decision. He just nodded and planned to go back to implement the plan. When he was about to leave, Arthur stopped him:
"In fact, there is another way to get more people armed and unleash the greatest combat power in a short period of time, but I'm still a little confused about it."
Seeing the other party's serious expression, Yan Ming sat back in his chair and looked at the Speaker, or... the new title that has been circulating in the city recently, "City Lord".
“I believe you have guessed the reason… The potential for war comes at the expense of the future, and it may even push humanity to the brink of a cliff.
"The reason I asked you is because you are the person with the longest service time and the most combat experience that I have ever seen besides Wencheng. I think you should have some experience."
Yan Ming thought in silence for a while, then said very seriously:
“Before I awakened my powers, I was just a soldier. When I first awakened my powers, I had trouble even turning into a nail clipper, so I was sent back to the city wall.
“I have defended the city walls for ten years and have seen many very dangerous battles.
“I remember one time, there were so many strange beasts that they broke through the defenses and fell off the city wall, into the city, and then started to tear it apart on the spot.
"At that time, we all thought that Hope City was doomed, but in the end, we managed to hold on."
Yan Ming looked at Arthur, his eyes full of trust:
"So if you ask me about my experience, I can only say it doesn't matter. You also said before that the evolution speed of alien beasts is very fast, so is there a possibility that we are already on the edge of the cliff?"
Arthur thought about it and nodded again, but his expression became a little strange:
"Then you'll have to work overtime next time."
Yan Ming was immediately confused:
"Shouldn't I be working overtime anyway?"
Arthur handed over a piece of paper with the process plan for the commendation on September 1st.
Today is August 31st...
The expression on Yan Ming's face froze.
Let me ask, what is the purpose of commendation other than praising these outstanding people?
Of course it is to boost morale.
So when morale is boosted, what do those of the right age do?
The answer is to sign up and join the [Extinction Legion].
Yan Ming swallowed his saliva. Perhaps... the extent of his overtime work would be far beyond his imagination.
---
Early that morning, Ain and a few of his "friends" went to work as usual.
Entering the factory on time, Ain discovered that the workers who had already arrived seemed to have strange looks in their eyes.
This shouldn’t be the case… Ain thought to himself, while reaching out to touch his face.
It's very flexible and the facial features are all there.
No problem, there is absolutely no problem with the health of this body. He has optimized the erosion technology to only damage consciousness and not take away anything else.
After confirming his identity, the smile on Ain's face became particularly natural.
"What's the matter?"
He looked at his fellow workers.
The workers didn't answer, but just looked at the same place.
Ain subconsciously turned his head and looked to his side, and saw four sturdy but kind-looking men.
"Dude, are you Ain?"
"Um."
The strong man looked at the other people and asked one by one:
"Cheng Fan? Feng Yi? Zheng Xing?"
Several people nodded.
"That's right, come with us."
Ain showed a puzzled expression at the right time:
"What's the matter?"
The strong man slapped his head and smiled with two rows of white teeth:
"Look at my poor memory. I forgot to tell you that my name is Liu Xiaoheng, and I will be responsible for taking you to receive the commendation."
"What commendation?"
"Ahem, that's it."
There were two coughs at the stairs. Everyone looked in the direction of the sound and saw the slightly old factory manager walking down:
"It's like this, Ain, and the rest of you have done a great job recently, and even exceeded the production target, so I hope the city officials will give you an award."
Ain looked at the workers who were not selected, and finally understood the emotions in their eyes. It was obvious envy, and a little bit of...jealousy hidden deep inside.
"So... when?"
"Now."
The expression on Ain's face froze.
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