Chapter 63: The Beginning of the Rectification

Chapter 63: The Beginning of the Rectification

It's no wonder the people of Shangnan Prefecture didn’t anticipate such a situation.

After all, this kind of ceremony to welcome a new leader was originally a flashy tradition started by past commanders. Many of them came just to enjoy the momentary adulation and praise, then took out their attitudes to start addressing the 'culture,' delivering lengthy speeches.

Generally, to better maintain the operations of the Shangnan Military Department, high-ranking officials would assign new tasks or monthly goals to the leaders of each district on this day, merely ceremonial. Anyway, it was all just talk, and the hard work was done by the people below.

But this guy? He couldn’t even be bothered to show up and keep up appearances?!

He didn’t even give out any assignments!

"Who came up with this ridiculous idea?!"

Someone in the crowd cursed loudly.

Why didn’t he just skip it like he was supposed to?!

Now, we've been stood up by the new commander?! What kind of major is this? How can he be so lazy?!

The small adjutant standing at the front, responsible for hosting the event, tightly gripped the loudspeaker.

Remembering the 100,000 yuan Xu Qingran had slipped him, he resisted the urge to curse behind his back.

He should have known earlier—a commander who would set his own office on fire, how normal could he be?!

He just didn’t expect him to really dump such a mess on him! Having worked here for many years, he understood the 'ferocity' of the Shangnan people best. These people were fully armed today. What if they got angry and took it out on him?

The small adjutant was still considering whether to make a quick exit, but he found that the expected situation didn’t happen.

After the crowd vented their frustrations, they threw all the prepared props to the ground, making the most of their trip. After venting on the spot, they stormed off, cursing.

Before leaving, they didn’t forget to pack up the food meant for the new commander and take it back.

The small adjutant, hiding behind two burly soldiers responsible for maintaining order on the field, adjusted his glasses and only dared to peek out to observe the scene outside.

He heard someone laughing bitterly.

"Ha, good job, Silver Dragon Corps! The people you send keep getting worse!"

"Is this slacking off? Is it slacking off? Not even assigning work tasks?"

"Good, he’d better keep slacking off forever, stay out of our Southern Prefecture’s affairs, and give us less trouble!"

Some were furious.

"Damn, we've been tricked!"

"He doesn’t even dare to show his face, must be an ugly, fat, bald old man!"

"He’d better never show up, or if I find out who he is, I'll make him pay!"

Meanwhile, Xu Qingran, who was being cursed, was happily eating hot pot.

The people from districts 6-7 treated him like a boss, instinctively standing up to arrange chairs and respectfully inviting him to the table.

Only when they stood obediently by the side did they suddenly realize why they were so submissive to a new recruit!

Xu Qingran casually asked them, "You haven’t been drinking during work hours lately, right?"

They felt a chill down their spines at his words, shaking their heads in unison: "Nope, nope, we gave it all away, every last bit!"

...No choice—they couldn’t fight back, so they had to comply.

They had thought about calling Brother Ma for backup, but if they really called him over, first, they couldn’t explain the situation with Little Sweetie clearly. No matter who killed Little Sweetie, they would be held accountable! Second, their relationship with Ma Biao wasn’t that close to begin with; they only knew him because the rest stops in their patrol area offered some benefits.

Moreover, it was said that Ma Biao was mainly in charge of South City’s District 1 and 2, which had been facing severe Class I Devil Swarm disasters recently.

Adjacent to these were District 3 and 5, both of which had already been completely overrun, forcing residents to flee to Districts 1 and 2. But recently, there had been signs of Class I and lower-tier Class II devil swarms invading these areas as well.

So Ma Biao and his troops had been holding the defensive line every night.

After all, Districts 1 and 2 were the oldest residential areas in South City, bordering the western districts, and were once considered the last bastions of South City. Unfortunately, the military guards in the western districts didn’t have a good relationship with South City, and they weren’t likely to lift a finger. In fact, South City even suspected that the devil swarms invading these two districts were pushed over by the western districts.

Anyway, Ma Biao and his men had been overwhelmed with these issues lately. Today, because of the sudden change in plans, they attended the welcome ceremony for the new colonel and couldn’t come as originally scheduled.

After considering all these factors, Sun Hongbing and the others didn’t have the heart to report Xu Qingran, that annoying newbie.

Here, Xu Qingran was somewhat satisfied with Sun Hongbing and his team’s work attitude. Aside from their tendency to mess with new recruits, they at least did their jobs most of the time, give or take. After all, they were patrol guards, so he didn’t hold them to too strict a standard. His main reason for coming today was to chow down—

Oh no, it was to ask them for the military guard distribution across South City’s districts.

In short, which districts were disaster areas, which hadn’t been harassed by Class I invasions, and the approximate personnel distribution at each substation.

Sun Hongbing handed him a handwritten booklet he had prepared earlier, asking suspiciously, "Xu, what do you need this info for?"

His tone carried a hint of wariness, clearly worried that this new recruit from another star system might be planning something after getting a grasp of South City’s military defenses.

Xu Qingran flipped through the booklet casually, his eyes curving with satisfaction as he said, "Of course, I’m gonna—kick some doors down."

Sun Hongbing: "??"

Once he got the booklet, Xu Qingran didn’t stick around to finish the hotpot.

He stood up, took out his phone, and first took a few photos of the table filled with octopus and vegetables. Then he opened the video recording and filmed the steaming pot and Sun Hongbing and the others standing by the table, their mouths glistening with grease.

After finishing, he nodded: "When Brother Ma shows up, you’ll be in on it too."

With that, he put away his phone, waved at them, and left.

Sun Hongbing and the others were dumbfounded.

What the hell! You can’t pull this crap on us! This is slander! Defamation!

The bearded older brother, Lao Liu, smacked the head of the guy next to him, glaring and cursing: "This is all on you! Why’d you have to suggest hotpot today!"

·

Xu Qingran hopped on a small train from the 6-7 rest stop to other stations, beginning his tour of South City.

In South City, aside from the small checkpoints, there were several military sub-camps.

It was said that the guards there were mainly responsible for surprise support and thorough cleanup of each disaster zone.

There was a saying that in every disaster zone, there was a largest and most troublesome Mother Entity, whose powerful energy provided an inexhaustible, self-perpetuating force for the devil swarms in the entire area. So if it could be dealt with, it would greatly suppress the growth of other devils in that region.

But in other star systems, even with talented leaders like Shen Tingyu and well-equipped military forces, it could take months to locate, lock onto, and extract the source crystal from the largest Mother Entity in a small disaster zone before dealing with it.

For example, in Red City’s South District 13, where Xu Qingran had just arrived, one of the most notoriously tough districts. From Silver Dragon to Golden Wing, it took roughly a decade to successfully kill the largest Mother Entity. Not to mention in the Dragon System, a lawless exile zone, successfully killing a Mother Entity was extremely difficult.

So the idea people here have is to rely on 'quantity' to win.

This quantity refers to the frequency of attacks and the number of people involved. They believe that by increasing the frequency of full-scale operations and focusing their attacks on the target Type I mother body, they will eventually get lucky and hit its source crystal, thereby destroying it.

When Xu Qingran heard this idea, he neither agreed nor disagreed.

The chance of randomly hitting a small source crystal on such a large chimeric Type I is almost zero. Not to mention that the source crystal on a Type I can move and change its position in real-time, the more crucial point is that such a powerful mother body has a heightened perception unlike other chimeras.

It can predict attacks about a second before impact and dodge them in advance.

So even if you are lucky enough to locate the source crystal, it will be dodged by the opponent first. Moreover, as a large mid-to-high-level alien, the source crystal's defensive capabilities are also formidable. Even a 3S level would need to expend several mental attacks to truly shatter that source crystal.

The small train stopped at a rest station that led to a certain military sub-camp. Xu Qingran glanced at it but didn't get off.

He didn't plan to stop at the military area first.

There are too many people in the military area, and it's not something he can control by just throwing punches and kicks. While it's not impossible to beat them all up, it's pointless, and if they're too injured to work, the residents here will suffer.

So his current goal is simply to check the guards at each district station, including the patrols.

After leaving District 7, the first station Xu Qingran disembarked at was the safe zone of District 4.

It was early evening, and the street vendors were packing up to go home.

He saw a few guards from the District 4 rest station wandering the street, horsing around like mischievous kids. As they passed a stall, they accidentally knocked over a basket with their rough movements, and oranges scattered all over the ground.

"Oh my god!" The stall was tended by an elderly woman.

She cried out, covering her face, hunched over and stumbling to the middle of the road, picking up the fallen oranges one by one. The guards who caused the trouble acted as if they didn't see it, laughing and walking away, their silver-black boots deliberately or accidentally crushing a few oranges.

The old woman was so angry she almost fainted, pointing furiously in the direction the guards had gone and shouting, "Hey, you guys, if you're not going to help pick them up, at least don't be so rude!"

The guards, who were laughing and joking, were irritated by her scolding and turned around, glaring at her fiercely, "Old woman, show some respect."

After saying that, they deliberately crushed another intact orange underfoot, speaking arrogantly, "What if I step on it? You didn't put your stuff away properly, and you're blaming others. If you keep talking, I'll throw you into the disaster zone to feed the devils!"

The old woman was both shocked and angry, but as a powerless ordinary resident, she could only endure and swallow her frustration.

The guards turned around laughing and were about to continue down the street when they noticed a tall figure standing in front of them. The person was wearing a ridiculous cartoon monster mask, with a calm and emotionless gaze, just standing there motionless, watching them.

The inexplicably superior look in his eyes made them uneasy.

The guard who had just scolded the old woman stepped forward with his chest puffed out, "You kid—"

As soon as he opened his mouth, one of his legs was suddenly kicked hard by the other person, hitting a nerve and forcing him to kneel down weakly.

The brown-haired young man looked down at him coldly and asked, "Don't you apologize for doing something wrong?"

"Is this the discipline you should have as soldiers?"

The guard who had been caught off guard cursed under his breath, pretending to get up while asking, "Who the hell are you? What right do you have to tell me what to do?"

"I hate being lectured the most, and I hate following any damn rules!" He stood up, swung his fist, and aimed for the eyes of the person in front of him.

But as expected, he didn't hit.

Even the subsequent attacks were all dodged, and instead, he was easily caught off guard by the other person, who grabbed his arm and released a mental power that was clearly higher in level, suppressing him and then giving him a fierce shoulder throw.

The guard was thrown to the ground, his head hurting, and before he could get up, the leg that had stepped on the fruit was stepped on by another foot, pinning his ankle.

Suddenly, the sound of bones cracking echoed, and a heart-wrenching scream reverberated through the entire street.

A cold, ruthless glint flashed in Xu Qingran's eyes as he spoke coolly, "Do you really need a leg that's just for wasting food?"

The other vendors on the street looked startled, staring dumbfounded at the scene.

The other guards finally sprang into action. Confronting a dangerous figure like Xu Qingran, they immediately drew their knives and closed in on him. Xu Qingran also had a weapon, but he didn’t use it. With a quick glance, he easily detected the movements of those attempting a sneak attack, dodging them with a deft maneuver.

Spinning around, he sent one person flying with a precise kick.

After the kick, as if he had eyes in the back of his head, he turned and directly grabbed the two hands stabbing toward him, forcefully knocking their wrists, disarming them. The AB-level guards, now disarmed, were no match for him and were quickly taken down.

Five or six attacked at once, but none could defeat him.

Such a scene, with weapons and potential for bloody violence, should have been terrifying for the ordinary residents. But as they hurriedly packed to escape, they found themselves drawn to the masked young man.

Oddly, even without speaking, he exuded a peculiar charm.

Despite his fierce demeanor, he also radiated a contradictory warmth. Moreover, his fighting style and movements stood out from the rest. From dodging to counterattacking, his movements flowed seamlessly, as if choreographed for a movie, so captivating that people couldn’t bear to look away.

After Xu Qingran had knocked down all the guards, applause broke the silence of the street.

It came from the old lady who had been threatened.

The guards of South City were a mix of bravery and cowardice.

Brave in attacking anyone they disliked, regardless of strength. Cowardly in submitting once they realized they were outmatched.

Thus, the once-arrogant guards, now battered, were helping the old lady they had bullied clean up. Xu Qingran even ordered them to tidy her stall and help push the remaining fruits home.

Of course, not every resident deserved help.

For instance, a nearby uncle, after dropping his stall items, called over the guards now under Xu Qingran's command. "Hey, you, what are you standing there for? Come and help me!"

The guard, having just picked up nearby oranges, was irked by the uncle's arrogance. But remembering Xu Qingran's look when he beat them, he could only resign himself to being ordered around. After walking a few steps, his shoulder was suddenly tapped by a hand.

Turning his head, he found it was Xu Qingran, and his body reflexively trembled. "Don’t hit me, don’t hit me, I’ll go right away."

But Xu Qingran's hand on his shoulder pressed harder, stopping him. "No need."

After dropping these two words, Xu Qingran walked toward the uncle's stall.

Upon closer look, he was holding a stick he had gotten from somewhere.

The uncle, halfway through packing up, looked up and found that the guard he called hadn’t come. Instead, Xu Qingran stood by his stall with a stick in hand, silently staring at him.

Having witnessed Xu Qingran's ruthlessness, he didn’t dare to be too impolite. "Sir, what’s the matter?"

He didn’t know Xu Qingran, but seeing his strong suppression of the soldiers, he thought he was their leader.

Xu Qingran's beautiful eyes slightly curved as he asked, "Uncle, did you drop your things yourself, or did my guards do it?"

The uncle paused, thinking they were all busy cleaning up earlier and hadn’t noticed him in the corner. "What are you talking about? Of course it was your people. How could it be me?"

"Look at my vegetables and fruits, all ruined by you. You have to compensate!"

Xu Qingran smiled without speaking.

In fact, he had seen the uncle accidentally drop his own things, then realizing there was free labor, he actively dropped more. He just wanted to see the usually high-and-mighty guards work as laborers for him, satisfying his malicious intent.

Xu Qingran did not forget that the military personnel in the Southern Province were theoretically under his command now.

He disciplined those with poor attitudes and a lack of discipline, but he would not let them be unjustly oppressed or bullied.

Therefore, Xu Qingran did not respond to the old man's request. Instead, he asked again in the same calm tone, "Uncle, think it over before you answer. Did you accidentally drop these things yourself, or did my soldiers do it?"

The old man's expression showed a bit of impatience. Just as he was about to reply, he looked up and met Xu Qingran's smiling eyes, and inexplicably shivered.

Suddenly, he noticed Xu Qingran's fingers lightly tapping on the stick.

The words on his lips hesitated, and finally, he answered guiltily, "Ah, I was just rushing to pack up and get home before sunset, and accidentally dropped them! Can't you help me out, considering my age?"

Xu Qingran glanced at him and pointed to a small basket for the soldier who was still obediently waiting for his decision: "Help him gather those radishes and onions."

Then, he said to the old man, "You can handle the rest yourself."

His eyes were cold, seeing right through everything.

Now, the old man truly felt a bit scared.

Because the items Xu Qingran asked him to pack up himself were the ones he had deliberately dropped to give the soldiers extra work. Clearly, this sharp-eyed officer had seen through his little tricks.

Having witnessed Xu Qingran's ferocity in combat, he couldn't guarantee that Xu Qingran wouldn't go crazy and even beat up the residents here. So, he bent down and obediently began cleaning up the mess. The soldier who was called to help, seeing Xu Qingran and the old man's reactions, roughly guessed the truth of the matter.

Feeling conflicted, he tidied up the basket of items, sensing that his initial resentment toward Xu Qingran had suddenly diminished a little.

Hmph, just a little.

...

And so, Xu Qingran began his observation and disciplinary operations at various checkpoints.

Taking advantage of the fact that soldiers from different districts rarely met, he would go to each place with a straight face, pretending to be a new recruit, and then teach those who were lazy or had bad attitudes a lesson according to his 'rules.'

There were also a few soldiers responsible for patrols or cleaning who were more diligent in their work. Xu Qingran would observe their shortcomings and, like during the military academy exercises, teach them to play to their strengths and avoid their weaknesses based on their spiritual energy levels and individual circumstances.

He discovered that most of the military personnel in the Tianlong system were actually quite competent.

However, they either entered the military directly from local exams or had attended some inferior military schools, so their basic training was not very thorough. As a result, when they faced external threats, they only knew how to fight and charge, with no real skill whatsoever.

Therefore, when Xu Qingran encountered those who were diligent and obedient, he tailored his approach based on their work.

When he encountered those who were lazy and had bad attitudes, he made them take things seriously. Occasionally, there were a few genuine troublemakers who lacked talent, were unwilling to work hard, and had no goals. They joined the military clearly just to enjoy some privileges in the Southern Province.

These were the kind who were not afraid of being beaten and even tried to secretly murder Xu Qingran, the irritating thorn in their side. For those who had likely killed elsewhere, Xu Qingran did not hold back and eliminated them all under the pretext of 'self-defense.'

—Those who had already classified themselves as social outcasts had no reason to be kept.

After staying at several stations, Xu Qingran's biggest realization was that the relationship between the residents and the military personnel in the Southern Province was mostly not good.

Both sides had their own issues to some extent, so sometimes, in addition to rectifying the attitudes of the misbehaving soldiers, he would also teach the local troublemakers a lesson. He would discipline them when necessary, treating everyone equally, regardless of age or gender, if they were equally troublesome and malicious.

After a round of this, the atmosphere in the areas that had seen Xu Qingran's 'madness' improved significantly.

However, these small stations were just tasks he handled in passing during his inspections.

His real goal wasn't to deal with these scattered soldiers, but to find the key players who could more effectively help him address the issues of the masses.

Time flew by, and a month had passed.

The southern region of Taiyue Planet has also entered winter.

In the south, winter is snowless, and Xu Qingran only wears an extra long coat to keep warm when he goes out.

The guards from Stations 9 and 10 saw him off onto a small train heading to a new area.

Seeing the terrifying new recruit finally leave, they all sighed in relief.

After the relief, they suddenly felt a strange emptiness.

Stations 9 and 10 are residential and disaster zones respectively, with the guards divided into two groups, rotating weekly to cover the areas.

They first encountered Xu Qingran in the residential area of Station 9.

It was already late at night, and everyone had obediently gone home, leaving only him wandering the streets, his figure looking both lonely and chilling. The timid IV-class demons around did not harm him; instead, they fled at the sight of him as if he were a plague.

They were puzzled but still brought this so-called new recruit back to the rest station.

At the 9-10 station, there was the station's notorious bully, twice or thrice Xu Qingran's size, who was like the leader of the entire station. Since no one could discipline him and he did have some skills, everyone had to endure his arrogant behavior.

This bully also had a peculiar preference—he liked men.

Especially men like Xu Qingran, who were fair-skinned, handsome, with a well-built and tall frame.

When Xu Qingran was first brought back, the bully had his eyes on him. However, unlike other men who appeared delicate and had a gentle demeanor, Xu Qingran had strong defensive instincts and counterattack abilities, making it hard for the bully to get close.

Until one night, the bully intentionally teamed him up with a slighter member for patrol in Station 9, while the rest were assigned to Station 10 for routine cleanup. Everyone was quite worried, as it was obvious what the bully intended to do.

Two hours later, the guards working in Station 10 saw them return.

But the scene was horrifying, a real shocker.

The team member who had been dragged along was walking at the front, shaking like a leaf.

Behind him, Xu Qingran was still wearing his silver dragon uniform and the handsome long coat that made him look even more aloof, dragging a massive, bloodied body with not a single part untouched.

Everyone was stunned.

No one knew what went down in those two hours, only that the top button of Xu Qingran's neatly worn high-collar uniform had been torn off. His eyes were as fierce and cold like he'd just crawled out of hell, and the body he dragged left a long trail of blood along the way.

Xu Qingran dragged the bully, who was possibly lifeless, into Station 10.

When he returned, he was empty-handed.

According to the team member's recollection, the incident unfolded when the bully deliberately found a reason to take Xu Qingran out, leading him to a deserted corner of the town to force himself on him, only to be killed in return.

Before the bully was taken away, the team member couldn't remember how many times Xu Qingran had plunged the knife into him on the ground.

He only felt that the scene was scarier than any horror flick he'd seen lately.

Thus, from that day on, Xu Qingran became the new 'bully' of their station.

His demands, they dared not disobey. But unlike the original bully, he mostly supervised whether they did their jobs well, forcibly improving their abilities in all aspects to ensure they could carry out the cleaning operations in Station 10 more quickly and effectively.

The days of being forced into training by Xu Qingran were very painful, but now that this formidable figure had finally left, they felt an eerie sense of loss.

After all, with him around, there was always a strong sense of security during the cleaning operations.

Although he was ruthless and spoke little, sharing space with him was often more comforting.

——He always felt that he was a remarkable and unique recruit.

·

Inside the small train, Xu Qingran took out his light pad and was checking the downloaded offline files. The brand-new technological item in his hand caught the attention of others in the carriage, but Xu Qingran, as if oblivious to those gazes, calmly attended to his 'official duties.'

During his tour in the southern city, he had taken a brief trip back to the eastern city headquarters. Since he went to Deputy Mao's office, no one doubted his identity. His main goal was to use the headquarters' network to download official documents so that he could review them while in other places.

At that time, sitting on the sofa, he nonchalantly asked Deputy Mao, "Why is it that only the eastern city in Upper Southland has internet access?"

Deputy Mao, sitting behind the desk, looked up from his book and answered seriously, "Actually, wireless stations were installed in other districts of Southland in the early stages. However, the situation in Southland is too unstable. Often, just after installation, they would be attacked or occupied by devil hordes."

Repeatedly, they were installed only to be unfortunately destroyed soon after. After repeated failures, the higher-ups considered installing networks here a pointless expense, so they simply stopped installing networks outside the headquarters. Even the telecommunications system is very weak, with poor signals in some areas.

Xu Qingran snapped out of his reverie and looked down at the files opened on his light pad for a while, then suddenly smiled.

What he was looking at were the requests sent by the leaders of various districts, such as majors and lieutenant colonels.

Perhaps because they knew these requests would never be approved, the content of the requests went from reasonable at first to increasingly exaggerated, as if they had thrown in the towel.

For example, the southern city's initial requests were quite modest.

Just ten thousand psychic guns and five hundred land armored vehicles.

Then there was the western city, wanting five thousand psychic guns, ten thousand psychic knives, and ten combat mechs.

The eastern city camp also made requests, hoping to deploy ten thousand elite guards to Upper Southland, ensuring that each one was fully equipped with basic necessities—such as psychic guns and knives, as well as complete military uniforms and protective gear.

Because these requests were never fulfilled, their annual demands escalated.

Requests like one million psychic guns and knife weapons.

Ten thousand combat mechs, one hundred thousand armored vehicles, five hundred thousand reinforcements, providing the latest protective uniforms for every soldier in Upper Southland, and so on...

There were even requests for a ton of chicken, pork, and beef.

Five thousand pounds of bananas, mangoes, rice, potatoes, and even wholesale Voltman models... essentially, they listed anything they could think of in an exaggerated manner.

Xu Qingran couldn't help but laugh.

Only the northern city's annual requests remained consistent.

Three hundred thousand guns, three hundred thousand weapons, fifty thousand vehicles, ten thousand mechs, five hundred thousand sets of military uniforms, and other basic military supplies.

Xu Qingran perused these for a long time.

Until the small train's whistle announced the arrival at the station, he packed up his things, slung his small backpack over one shoulder, and prepared to get off.

Every time Xu Qingran left a station, he would randomly catch a small train.

Wherever the train's final stop was, he would get off there.

Today, the small train took him to districts 12-13 of the southern city.

It was also his first time coming to this station.

Xu Qingran had been interested in these two areas for some time.

They were both residential areas only affected by Class IV invasions, adjacent to each other. Surrounding them were Zones 10, 11, 14, and 18, all of which were fully disaster-stricken.

Geographically speaking, they were in a dire situation, surrounded on all sides.

But these two places, caught between enemies, had managed to hold out so far, still not being swallowed by the Class I army. This fact surprised him and sparked his interest in further exploration.

Xu Qingran stepped out of the carriage.

As he looked up, he saw a silver dragon soldier in the rest station's transparent control room, striking a coquettish pose, leaning over the microphone by the console with his buttocks raised, cheerfully announcing: "Welcome to the border rest station of South City Zones 12-13. Zone 12 is on the left, and Zone 13 is on the right. Visitors to Zone 13 carrying pork and alcohol, please respect local customs. We won't stop you from eating, but please refrain from any provocative behavior."

"If caught, you will be shot on the spot."

Xu Qingran had just looked away when he saw several uniformed soldiers stepping out of the last carriage of the small train.

There were both men and women.

The person who came out of the control room smiled at the red-haired boy among them and said, "Brother Lin, you're back! How's the situation in Zone 18? Is it bad?"

"Not too bad, just a Class I mother body that was quite active. It took us over half a month to finally deal with it, and the alert zone should still hold."

"If only we could get more military equipment and weapons from the Empire, I wonder if the new colonel can actually do something useful?"

"Forget it, last month Anan from East City complained to us that this colonel stood everyone up, didn't he? With that kind of character, there's no way he'll secure any benefits for us."

"Ha, we were just talking about that! Luckily, I was smart enough to see it coming and didn't go that day!"

The one bragging was a red-haired boy.

He had a fit physique, a healthy complexion, and particularly sharp facial features, with large, lively eyes, speaking with great enthusiasm. Judging from his shoulder insignia, his rank seemed higher than the others around him.

"Yeah, yeah, you were smart enough to see it coming, not because you couldn't get up and missed the train to East City the day before, which is why you were absent." The girl who responded rested her elbow on his shoulder, speaking while giving him a small, unceremonious eye roll.

The girl had the same hair color as him, tied up in a high ponytail.

She was even taller than him, with equally large and lively eyes, all her emotions clearly visible in them.

Clearly, they were siblings.

"It's quite despairing to think that the new colonel is also unreliable."

"Let's not talk about that. Brother Lin, I heard you're preparing to break through Zone 10 next week?"

"Yes, waiting for weapons and equipment... I'm going to check the situation at the camp with Aya later."

The red-haired boy greeted the soldiers guarding the rest station, then walked with the girl beside him towards the exit of Zone 12.

Along the way, they would smile and greet the residents who got off from other carriages.

An old lady carrying a vegetable basket gave each of them an apple, then walked to the door of the rest room and said with a smile, "Young man and young lady, the fruits from my son's orchard are ripe. I asked him for some and brought them for you to eat."

Strangely, it was quite different from the interactions between soldiers and residents in other zones of South City.

Xu Qingran looked down and flipped through the manual Sun Hongbing had given him.

South City Zone 12 was one of the sub-camps of the South City military camp. Although it wasn't the military headquarters of Zones 10-18, it was said that the lieutenant colonel responsible for this half of the South City district was stationed there, overseeing the military defense distribution and personnel deployment of this half district.

Xu Qingran was deep in thought.

As he was putting the manual back into his pocket, a voice suddenly came from very close in front of him: "Hey, you look lost, don't you?"

Looking up, the red-haired guy who was heading to Zone 12 had somehow appeared in front of him. He probably noticed because Xu Qingran was also wearing the Silver Dragon guard uniform.

Xu Qingran thought for a moment and followed his lead: "I'm a new recruit who just arrived in Shangnan Province. I wanted to ask how to get to the camp in Zone 12?"

The red-haired guy looked him over, without suspicion: "Oh, you're the new reinforcement! Welcome! We're heading to Zone 12 now, so you can join us!"

Xu Qingran didn't hesitate.

They were still using the familiar off-road vehicle.

In the car, he found out that the two red-haired individuals were siblings—actually, twins. The male was named Lin Xuan, the female Lin Ya, both not only part of the military but also natives of Nancheng, their home in Zone 13.

From the passenger seat, Lin Ya complained: "Ugh, the fried veggies I packed aren't crispy anymore!"

"It's your fault for making me shove them in the bag!"

Lin Xuan clicked his tongue: "There's an air fryer at the camp. Just pop them in for a few minutes before eating, okay?"

"But I want to eat them now!"

Sitting in the back, Xu Qingran watched Lin Xuan and Lin Ya bicker like siblings, his mind wandering again.

If Xu Qingyao had grown up with him, maybe his fiery little sister would have been just like them.

The black off-road vehicle took the three of them straight to the sub-camp in Zone 12.

As they drove off, the sun slowly dipped below the horizon.

That same night, at the checkpoint between Zones 2 and 3 in Nancheng, the passage was alive with activity, armed soldiers constantly rushing from one end of the checkpoint to the other.

Their faces were grim, their steps quick, as if they were in the middle of a fierce battle.

Near the checkpoint in Zone 3's outer area, Ma Biao gripped a heavy spiritual cannon, aiming and firing at a Class I entity nearby.

He'd been holding the line here for four or five hours.

The past few days of heavy fighting had drained his spiritual reserves, each attack leaving him paler, sweat streaming down his forehead.

Nearby, another exhausted teammate collapsed, helped by others toward the checkpoint station.

Someone ran over to report to him: "Brother Ma, the guys' spiritual pools are almost dry. If we keep this up, we might lose people..."

Ma Biao's expression was grim, cursing before saying: "We're pulling back tonight!"

Back at the rest station, he saw the exhausted guards sprawled on the ground. Frustrated, he walked to a corner and hurled his hat.

It wasn't that he was angry at their uselessness, but rather anxious about the dire situation in Zone 3.

Zones 3 and 5 have fertile land, the local climate is particularly humid, with ample rainfall, so the land is highly nutritious.

This leads to the devil groups in Zone 3 having a very abundant energy source, their development and reproduction rates are much faster than other zones. Their daily cleaning workload is several times that of other zones, but even so, the reproduction of Class I entities here exceeds their expectations.

If they don't control those mothers soon, Zone 2 will soon be affected.

Ma Biao was feeling a headache when suddenly a soldier cautiously approached him, hesitating to speak: "Brother Ma, I've heard some news recently that might help alleviate the situation in Zones 3 and 5."

Ma Biao lit a cigarette and held it in his mouth, asking without much hope: "What news?"

"Well, I heard there's a... really strong new recruit who just showed up in Nancheng."