After Surviving the Apocalypse, I Built a City in Another World-Chapter 1912: Celebrating Two Years (Part 1)

While Valov was acting like a predator getting ready to bite its prey, the aforementioned prey was now celebrating its two years in existence.

Time ran quite quickly after landing on this plane. From a little village with a few buildings to a large, bustling town. Every month, there was a major change happening, and visitors would always have something to look forward to on top of the things they were already fond of.

For the two-year-anniversary celebration, it was set to start in the afternoon and then end at midnight.

Mathilda, as always, began the celebration with a speech at the plaza. Work hours were finished a few hours earlier that day, and the speech was schedule to a time when most people were already off work.

Her speech was very impactful and meaningful, not forgetting to mention the recent reunification and how many people had found their loved ones over the past couple of months.

She also emphasized the advantages brought not only by Alterra to others, which was a given, but also what Alterra gained from others.

Alterran and the region were just one big family, she said, and may it grow bigger and stronger, and live well in this world along with everyone else.

This time, the theme of the speech was a bit different from the previous year. Before, the theme was the praise of people’s resilience and grit, while at the same time emphasizing the goal of being unified against the common threats outside.

At the time, they were still quite weak, and internal strife could’ve caused a lot of losses.

This year, Alterra’s message was different. Their audience was also a bit different.

They had a lot more visitors and foreigners this year, and the alliance itself was still new. Although people were unlikely to betray Alterra, even if just for what they could get alone, things could change in time. It was best to establish and strengthen the ideological connection early on.

The main theme for the speech, therefore, was the importance of connection, growing together, and loyalty. One that was long-term and would span several generations, if not forever, and that was the way to go.

Everyone felt it in their hearts, and—no matter whether they agreed or not—they would remember it.

...

After the speech, the actual activities began. This included various performances held in the theater, the streets, and parks. There was a list of performances and locations, much like how it was in Minnieland in Terran.

For example, at so-and-so time, there would be an acrobatic performance in the so-and-so garden, a puppet play an hour later elsewhere, or a pop-up performance in another.

There were also ’meet and greets’ for popular ’mascots’ like Fufi, Snow, and the family on one side, and then Pang and a few others elsewhere. To prevent overcrowding, the mascots’ appearance was simultaneous, but would span several hours.

Everyone’s phones—assuming they managed to keep them— were all working and fully charged, and each one took hundreds if not thousands of photos that day.

Other than these shows, various stalls, arcades, and the like also spread like organized mushrooms around the event areas.

Oh. Before all these, the whole thing was opened up by daylight fireworks, lit up after Mathilda walked down the stage.

Boom!

It wasn’t a loud explosion in Terran standards, but people’s hearings were strong, so it was quite loud in perspective.

They all looked up, seeing flare-like smoke coming from the ground. It spurt vertically, tens of meters above the ground, stopping at some point and—poof! —created a massive colored cloud that seemingly split the afternoon sky.

They were like massive cotton candies in the sky.

These were called daylight fireworks, which were inspired by potion bombs. It would be thrown up in the air, and coloured smoke would appear in the sky. It was very pretty.

It was also quite large in scale, as if it could cover a portion of the sky, especially when one was viewing amidst taller buildings, and it occupied a lot of visual space.

"WowW!"

"So wonderful!"

And unlike the explosive fireworks, these tended to stay in the air for a bit longer, lingering and slowly descending, making a lasting impression on everyone who saw.

This was the first time some people had seen such a show, even some Terrans.

Who’d have thought that the excessively fast regeneration rate of plants in their farms caused an abundance of some products, so they could literally splurge on some useless things.

Rather, it wasn’t useless. It was going to be a happy memory for many people, a topic of conversation for many, possibly fueling them through hard times.

This was the opening event. Later at night, there would also be a big performance at the Center, and it was very, very lively. After two years, the performative arts of Alterran dancers, singers, and actors had risen up to another level.

After all, they had time to practice now. And because Alterra was so peaceful, they could easily focus on their craft, unlike other places that still had to keep thinking about how to survive daily.

When all basic needs were met, especially safety, people would always step into the next stage of needs and happiness.

Further, Alterra’s reputation had spread throughout their region, and many people whose jobs were already rendered useless in this world—especially artists—suddenly found meaning again and did whatever it took to get to Alterra.

People worked hard to even get there, so they worked especially hard to express their talents, be remembered, and gain glory. And this was indeed what had happened.

One of these was Mariah, one of the premier performances in the night show.

She was one of the people who came along with some of the early refugees from the Fire Plague. She was once a top-brass opera singer back in Terran, but could only survive through blood after coming here.

She had heard that artists could make a living here and had been saving up since then, and when the Fire Plague happened, she decided to risk it all.

Now, she could perform on the stage again, singing her heart out. Her voice echoed in people’s heads and resonated in their hearts.

Even those who did not understand the words found tears in their eyes.