Only team captains were granted aether letters, and the team captain assigned here was likely very busy with his own fights outside!

With the fake guards already there, this meant that there were already plenty of breaches. After surviving for so long, everyone knew that they did not depend on or wait for others this time.

The enemies must have wanted to kidnap them and turn them into hostages and shields. They would definitely make effective ones, since, unlike most territories, Alterra really did place emphasis on life.

Not to mention people, even the sentries wouldn’t hit them if they surrounded themselves with Alterrans. What better meat shield to drag around than the ’weakest’ Alterrans?

In a sense, this was really a good strategy!

The bastards even managed to copy the appearances of the uniforms, not knowing that because the Alterran uniforms were extra functional, there were inevitable variances in appearance that could be noticed by some sharp-eyed people.

In any case, there was no way they would let them do what they wanted!

BANG!

BANG!

"Earth users! Organize yourselves into batches!"

BANG!

"Do we only have one metal user here?"

BANG!

CRASH!

"An arm! An arm went through!!"

"Reinforce! Reinforce!"

BANG!

BANG!

"At least three earth users should work at the same time!"

"Don’t get distracted!"

"Non-earth users, prepare to give some consumables to them!"

BANG!

"Hold on! Hold on!!"

Tim was one of the earth users reinforcing their wall. His level and strength were barely enough to defend against one or two casual hits from the enemy, but someone else was ready to replace his reinforcement while he regenerated. This was the same with other earth users.

Create the best wall they could, regardless of their strength, rest, then do it all over again. Anyway, everyone, even those not participating in the war, stocked weapons and consumables in their spaces.

It was just a habit everyone had. Even in times of peace, if they didn’t have weapons or consumables in their spaces, it felt like they were floating unstably in midair, ready to fall at any time—it was very uncomfortable.

Like this, even after ten or so minutes, they were managing to keep the enemy at bay. There were a few hundred people squeezed into their evacuation center, and at least half of them were already at level 10.

Since most were Terrans, this also meant there were hundreds of elementalists in there.

Even if they were weak, they could fight them with quantity!

Tim was very glad he managed to awaken before this war.

Because of his injuries, Tim had been unable to fight like the others, so his level naturally stagnated. He made a living as a cashier in a shop near Hana’s.

However, before the war, they underwent the ’Level 10 Program’ which was basically one of the barracks’ programs to help people reach level 10.

This was inspired by the Little Valors and the Young Sentinel practical classes and training programs, wherein they already keep some ’weak’ monsters, all below level 10.

At some point, someone recommended expanding this to normal citizens, though obviously not for free. It also required some contribution points, but it was affordable to anyone who had fought a few beasts during their stay.

Tim had fought quite a bit before he became an invalid, and he had collected a few points from there.

Like this, he (and Baron, who happened to be a batchmate) reached level 10. He awakened the earth element, while Baron seemed to have awakened a mutated element, though they really didn’t know what it was exactly.

Alterra’s top taxpayer was simply smug that he finally reached level 10.

BANG!

Back to the present, Tim and several other earth users continued with their reinforcement, though after twenty minutes or so, every one of them was pale, panting, and drenched in sweat.

Those who couldn’t help readily donated their consumables, and those who were reluctant were peer-pressured into it.

Heh, want to be protected without giving anything? Ptooey!

Others also guided the tired elementalists, giving them water, snacks, and so on.

Hana, whenever it was Tim’s turn to rest, carefully took care of him as well. His tired, injured legs, she would massage them. She looked like a virtuous girlfriend, and he felt bad about doubting her earlier.

He apologized as he touched her face. She smiled, rubbing her face on his calloused palms. "It’s alright," she said. "I didn’t have the best track record."

Not far from them, someone was inspired by Hana’s massage and grabbed his earth elementalist brother in the same batch as Tim. He made the man sit on a surface and started massaging his shoulder.

"Oh, my hardworking brother, keep working, gogogogo!"

The earth user brother rolled his eyes, but didn’t reject his kindness. He was, after all, really sore!

Anyway, everyone worked hard this way. No one wanted to be taken! Getting killed by enemies (with a fight) was not too bad. It was worse when it was their own sentries killing them!

They considered sentries their allies, and getting killed by one felt like betrayal and damaged the heart!

Then...at some point, the attacks just stopped.

People’s hearts were still tense, not daring to put down their guards. What if the enemy was preparing for a major attack outside? What if they called on their own elementalists?

As such, the earth users did not stop reinforcing it. Since there were no new attacks, the earth wall got thicker and thicker, and the metal user added reinforcement every few layers. He added on all three dimensions, too.

They only stopped when a small letter floated into the ventilation duct. They stopped because they already had the intuition that it was from an ally!

The door was fully enclosed, so nothing could get past it. As for the vents, only those who knew the goings-on of the evacuation center would be able to find the inlet.

It was natural for safety reasons. Even if each bunker had its own filtration system, the designers were still sure to hide things that could be used against them.

/Threat neutralized. Good job, and stay as you are now./

The people of Evacuation Center #04—all exhausted to death—beamed, meeting each other’s eyes.

They really did it!