Xiao Sa expressionlessly looked at Chen Haoyang. The person who had called out in dissatisfaction was someone that Chen Haoyang had chosen to save. He also had the highest rank out of everyone who was still alive.
Chen Haoyang was anxious and hurriedly stood out. Compared to the words of strangers, his words would carry more weight. “This is State Councillor Bai’s son, and this is Major General Xiao Sa. They came over this time in order to take over the army, but they didn’t expect to face a rebellion. Liu Chaohui had improper intentions and has already been executed. Everyone should pay close attention. Major General Xiao Sa will be our immediate superior from now on.”
“Salute—” Chen Chaohui spoke energetically even as cold sweat welled up and dripped in his heart. Heavens knew how much courage he needed in order to come up with his previous statement.
“How come I never received this news? What kind of proof do you have? Something happened to Colonel Yan as soon as they arrived. Who knows if this is all some plot?” Jin Dacheng’s words were harsh, and the people who looked to him for orders were all instantly on guard.
Chen Haoyang’s expression was dark. He quickly gave Jin Dacheng a look and secretly cursed this person for failing to live up to his expectations. Wasn’t he usually pretty good? But he just had to choose today to trip him up. Xiao Sa and Bai Jing were not easy opponents at all.
After noticing Chen Haoyang’s look, Jin Dacheng’s expression changed, and his att.i.tude became more righteous. He angrily accused Chen Haoyang, “Chen Haoyang, it appears that you are on their side. Liu Chaohui is now dead and has no way to prove anything. Even if it costs me my life, I, Jin Dacheng, will make sure no stones are left unturned during this investigation. Colonel Yan must not die in vain.”
Listening to his tone of voice, those who didn’t know better would definitely think that he was extremely loyal to Yan Liang.
Chen Haoyang was choked by his words. He really wanted to slap Jin Dacheng’s face. Things had already come to this point, what was there not to understand? The leaders of the army were dead, and the only people who had the authority to speak were Jin Dacheng and himself as they were now the highest ranking officers in the army. When faced with the temptation of power, it was fine if someone had never had a taste, but now that it was only a step away, n.o.body would be able to resist it. If he had not seen Xiao Sa’s group’s ability himself, perhaps he would also have given it a try.
He could only regret that he had originally wanted to leave himself another escape route and had purposely pointed out a few more people to leave alive. He had not expected that they would then be responsible for destroying his own way out. He spoke coldly, “Adjutant Jin should be careful when speaking. Colonel Yan’s matter occurred during the a.s.sa.s.sination attempt on Young Master Bai. We have an alibi, but there is no way to explain why you arrived so late. Where did you go?”
Jin Dacheng was infuriated, and he let loose a torrent of abuse. “Chen Haoyang, you’re just throwing around malicious accusations. My staff can all testify that I was resting in my room at the time and came out because of the ruckus. I never expected that strangers would have arrived at the army and that everyone was at each other’s throats. What kind of intentions are you harbouring?”
Chen Haoyang sneered. Now that things had come to this, he also did not need to be merciful. “It seems you also know how to throw accusations around. Colonel Yan personally welcomed Young Master Bai, and I was ordered to accompany him. Jin Dacheng, what are you trying to insinuate? Do you think that just because Colonel Yan died, you can take over his position? Don’t forget your background. Now that the world is in chaos, respect will go to anyone who can allow us to live on. Everyone is clear about your capabilities. Don’t try to do a job that you are incapable of doing. Everyone’s lives are not here for you to play around with.”
As soon as Chen Haoyang’s voice fell, people at the scene became agitated. The words that he had spoken were truly vicious, yet reasonable. Now that the matter involved their lives, the looks in everyone’s eyes as they gazed at Jin Dacheng changed. Could that really be why? Jin Dacheng was normally a very easy going, nice person. Now that he turned aggressive, his abnormality was there for all to see. The people around him had never been his subordinates, and now that the army was scattered, n.o.body would genuinely respect him.
Bai Jing smiled playfully and calmly looked over at Jin Dacheng. People’s hearts were really the most unreliable thing after the apocalypse. According to Zhang Baoqing, Jin Dacheng was supposed to be incredibly honest. “Enough. There’s no need to argue. Jin Dacheng, right? I won’t nit-pick with you this time. The transfer doc.u.ments will be sent down later. If you aren’t satisfied with that, you can take people to leave now. In my army, I don’t need people who live off of me while secretly helping outsiders.”
Jin Dacheng turned red. He could see that the general situation had shifted against him and naturally did not desire to bring trouble down onto himself. However, he was really unwilling to have to bow down just like this. He spoke in a well-intentioned tone, “If Young Master Bai has transfer doc.u.ments, I’ll naturally obey orders. I was just too anxious earlier, I’ll have to ask Young Master Bai to forgive me.”
Chen Haoyang’s face changed slightly. Although he had blindly made up his introduction of Bai Jing based on the information he had been given, setting aside Jin Dacheng, he himself did not believe that these people had really been sent from above. If word were to get out later that they had been lying, the army would definitely fall into chaos. He should have dealt with Jin Dacheng earlier – the world was now so chaotic that as long as they could put on a veneer of legitimacy, n.o.body would have taken the trouble to investigate.
Bai Jing nodded calmly. His gaze darkened as he exchanged glances with Xiao Sa. He was very glad that Xiao Sa had not remembered his words about the underworld just now. They both understood in their hearts that this person could not be left alive. As the saying went, biting dogs don’t bark. There was nothing to fear from a true villain, but hypocrites were worthy of caution. Jin Dacheng was really too resilient. It would be disastrous for a person like this to remain in the army.
Nevertheless, they were not in a hurry. It was not an easy feat to keep people alive in times like this, and too simple to make people die. They now urgently needed to stabilize the army’s morale. Bai Jing knew that he was no good at management and simply gave up being the leader. Xiao Sa was also very straightforward and made good use of the ident.i.ty Chen Haoyang had a.s.signed him in his introduction. His gaze was chilly as it swept the area, and his icy voice rang out through the entire area. “I am Xiao Sa, a rank two ability user. From today onwards, I will be your top boss. Now, everyone should listen to my orders. First, clean up the scene. Cao Lei will temporarily stand in as the commander for all ability users. He is a rank two ability user, and I believe that you will all make the right judgement. Everyone else will be rea.s.signed when we reach Pingyuan County. Don’t let me notice any more confusion in your hearts. So tell me, who are you?”
Everyone looked around and whispered quietly, “Soldiers…”
“Speak up, I didn’t catch it.”
“Soldiers—”
” Louder.”
“Soldiers—”
“Louder!”
“Soldiers——” In that moment, their voices were loud, and the soldiers all stood up straight, their gazes firm and solemn. The emotions in Cao Lei’s heart also surged up, and his eyes stung. This finally resembled what an army should look like. It had been so long since he’d seen it.
Xiao Sa nodded in satisfaction. “Good. Remember your duties, remember your tasks, and recover your spirits. I do not need soft weaklings in my army.”
“Yes——”
“Disband.” Following Xiao Sa’s command, all the soldiers returned back to their tasks with vigor. After that cry just now, the soldiers seemed to have rediscovered their backbone, and it seemed as though they had completely renewed their morale.
Bai Jing was very calm. He felt that Xiao Sa’s appearance just now was very cool, and very dignified. But also, he discovered for the first time that it was also necessary to feed people’s spirits. Unexpectedly, Xiao Sa really had the ability to fool others and make them believe in him.
Chen Haoyang was tongue-tied and very uncertain. Could it be that Xiao Sa was really someone who had been sent down from above? These doubts and confusion twisted up into awe, and it was not until much, much later that he learned that Xiao Sa had never been a soldier at all. Back then, he had really managed to scare him! He was clearly from the triad, but he managed to act exactly like a real soldier.
On the same day, Bai Jing contacted B city, Old Father Bai was really having a hard time, and the father and son pair reconnected easily. However, Bai Jingchen was quite dissatisfied with Xiao Sa. In his eyes, if someone was to be the head of the army, it should be his own son. Unfortunately, Bai Jing really did not have the ability. Bai Jingcheng then thought to send someone over so that he could have a finger in the pie, but it was too far away and would ultimately be of no use to him. With no other alternatives, he could only send down the order, and Xiao Sa was properly appointed as a Major General of the army that very night.
Once the transfer doc.u.ments were sent over Xiao Sa officially became the head of this army division. Cao Lei and Qin Yi really found it hard to bear, and their gazes whenever they looked at Xiao Sa were always tinged with hints of green envy. Bai Jing covered his mouth and laughed secretly, letting them argue as they liked. Xiao Sa was not truly a soldier, and the two of them needed to teach him about the workings of the military every day. But what kind of character did Xiao Sa have? The pile of regulations that represented the army meant as much as a dog fart to him, and he would never take them seriously. In any case, he learned with gusto and occasionally made a few contemptuous remarks, and then purposely found some loopholes in the military regulations, making the two who were teaching him so angry they wanted to vomit blood. They really wanted to tear Xiao Sa apart, having never seen such a cheap person who still managed to fake obedience so well.
The journey back was different from their trip over. Because they had been a small team when they headed for the army, they could take the highway and have Xiao Sa use his abilities to cross over any breaks in the road. Now that they were bringing the army, they naturally needed to make some detours. Things were peaceful for two days, but many people began to follow behind them. Xiao Sa didn’t mind. As long as it did not negatively affect them, he would naturally allow them to tag along. The base’s reputation needed to spread – only when they had enough people would the base become stronger.
The journey went by smoothly. Xiao Sa had allocated people well, and other than Jin Dacheng, who met with an unfortunate death, n.o.body else was even injured when they encountered zombies. Some people had doubts in their hearts and were suspicious about Jin Dacheng’s death, but so what? With Xiao Sa leading them, they were never short on food, and there was no need to conserve bullets when they fought. Their clothing and everything else they required were distributed evenly amongst the army, and the ability users did not focus solely on protecting those of a higher rank. They had enough to eat and enough clothes to stay warm – compared to their previous panicked struggle, they had everything they could ask for. Suddenly, Xiao Sa’s standing unhesitatingly began to rise up in all the soldiers’ eyes.
And, if they were to be honest, they had not been so comfortable or so relaxed since the apocalypse started. They made the journey very slowly, and Xiao Sa would order them to rest in every village or town that they came across. They would only move on after they had loaded up everything that could be carried. That sense of harvest made it so that all the soldiers, and even the group of people that followed behind them, were very happy. The army took the bulk of the meat, but the followers were also able to get some sc.r.a.ps.
But sometimes, there were people who could not be indulged. Three days later, some daring people intercepted materials intended for the soldiers from right under their eyes. Xiao Sa’s expression remained calm, and he said nothing when he heard Yu Yue’s report, acting as though he did not know about it. While everyone was running around collecting supplies, he was busy collecting jade. He felt a tiny bit of grievance in his heart – Little Jing had been in meditation these past few days and had not paid any attention to him in a long time. Knowing that Bai Jing was anxious to power up, he had no choice but to tolerate it while steeling himself to collecting the materials that made Little Jing ignore him. It really left him with a bad taste in his mouth.
On the fourth day, more of their followers turned bold, but the soldiers dared not lash out. Since Xiao Sa had taken over the army, they had had enough to eat, enough to wear, and had lived well. Because of this, the soldiers’ strong sense of responsibility began to rekindle, and they felt that it was their duty to protect the people. So, they endured and gave in. Even though in their hearts they felt oppressed, they told themselves that they were correct to simply endure.
Only, they had not realized that the thing human beings liked most was to take a mile when given an inch.
On the fifth day, a dispute finally arose. Some fierce-looking bully who was an earth ability user brought along a beautiful woman, and wherever they went, large amounts of goods disappeared into thin air. She s.n.a.t.c.hed a large amount of rice and grain from the soldiers. Needless to say, the woman was a s.p.a.ce ability user, and her s.p.a.ce was not small.
“Stop right there. Take everything back out.” Zhou Wei became angry then. If even this had to be tolerated, was there anything that would be unacceptable? Even though they were soldiers, their tolerance was limited.
The woman lost her head and panicked, beginning to cry on the spot. Her eyes were full of tears as she wailed and kicked up a fuss. She implied that the soldiers were not protecting the people, and hinted that they now wanted to shoot her just because she had taken a tiny bit of supplies. The little bully immediately followed up and shouted at the top of his voice, “Aren’t you soldiers supposed to be protecting the people? We’re out of food. So what if we take some supplies?”
Zhou Wei’s expression turned black in anger, and the expressions of the soldiers around him did not look much better.
Yu Yue noticed this situation and jokingly shared it with Xiao Sa.
Xiao Sa’s lips curved slightly. He had been waiting for exactly this moment. Some of the soldiers’ habits were very good during peaceful and prosperous times, and they were also very useful during war, but now that it was the end of the world, it was better to change some of their unnecessary tendencies towards kindness.
He gave a few indifferent commands. Yu Yue accepted the orders and arrived at the place where the incident was taking place. The woman was crying and shouting, and the man was still shouting abuse, pointing at his chest and inviting the soldiers to beat him up. He swore and claimed that since he would be unable to live on without food anyway, then he might as well die a clean death. Who told him to be unlucky in his life? If the army wanted to kill him, he could do nothing else but to die.
Other than the soldiers who now looked a little pale, everyone else around them began to criticize both sides. Some of them carried a sense of wishful thinking – since those two people had been able to obtain such a large amount of food, didn’t that mean that they could do so too?
Of course, there were also people who worried that the soldiers would grow angry, and worried about what would happen to them if the soldiers no longer cared if they lived or they died. Others had a wait-and-see att.i.tude. Seeing that the situation was now in a deadlock, Yu Yue came over and spoke up, “Yo. It’s quite lively here.”
“Mr. Yu.” Zhou Wei saluted. Because Yu Yue had no rank but was a specially a.s.signed military personnel, they all used the honorary t.i.tle of ‘Mister’.
Yu Yue nodded and glanced around. The little bully saw Yu Yue and kicked up an even louder fuss. “The army really doesn’t want to let the commoners live! Ah, you’ve come at just the right time. I want to find your leader…”
“Bang!” Yu Yue really couldn’t care less. He rubbed at his ears; the noise really gave him a headache.
The man’s blood splashed onto the ground, and the woman who had still been crying became stunned. Zhou Wei had also not expected Yu Yue’s reactions to be so fast. This was not the first time they had killed, and they always felt guilty when it happened, but this time, their hearts felt light and happy. Even though they knew that it should not be thus, they still felt a sense of relief.
“He was killed…”
“Why are you killing people? He didn’t break any laws.”
The speaker had obviously been teamed up with the bully now lying dead on the ground. Yu Yue turned his head and laughed softly before asking disdainfully, “Why? Obstruction of public service shall naturally be handled in accordance with the law.”
The soldiers were shocked. But before they could recover, they saw Yu Yue looking at them sternly, “Remember your ident.i.ty. A soldier’s duty is to obey orders. The army’s dignity can not be trampled upon. Anyone who obstructs public service should be killed without mercy. Don’t let General Xiao down.”
“Yes!” The soldiers’ response rang out loudly. Yu Yue then turned to the woman, “Take your stolen supplies out.”
The woman saw that there was no escape but decided to just brazen it out. Her tears continued to flow as she cried bitterly for help, but she no longer spoke the sharp words from before. “I promise I won’t do it again. But we don’t have any food now. Please, just let me go this time…”
“I’ll say it again. Take everything out.” Yu Yue was not moved at all. He could guess most of what was going on in this woman’s mind. As long as she did not take out the supplies stored in her s.p.a.ce, there was nothing anybody could do about it. Killing her would cause everything in her s.p.a.ce to disappear. Since that was the case, she felt that there was nothing fear.
The woman stayed quiet and just continued to cry with her head bowed.
The soldiers frowned. It was really difficult to deal with this kind of situation.
“Bang!” Another shot rang out, and the woman could not believe it even as she died. There were so many things in her s.p.a.ce. How could anyone kill her?
After the woman died, the people around them became confused. It was obvious at a glance that they had collaborated with the woman. Their plan had been a good one – having the woman collect the supplies and s.n.a.t.c.h food away from the army, but they had never expected that there would be people out there willing to kill s.p.a.ce ability users. What’s more, their food had all been stored in the woman’s s.p.a.ce. Now that the woman had died, how could they not be in a mess?
Yu Yue’s heart was very calm. He felt no pressure at all killing women. After experiencing the killing and slaughter along the way, he had long been unable to differentiate right from wrong. Perhaps the woman had not been at fault, but who asked her to step in front of the gun? It was necessary to make an example of someone in order to scare everyone back in place, and at the same time, they also needed to carry out some ideological re-education for the soldiers.
People in their current times had no moral restraint. Yu Yue was very confident that if he had given even a single inch today, there would be a battle tomorrow. The matter of collecting supplies was a very vivid example of this. It had only been a short few days, but people had already dared to act so recklessly. He remembered that Zhang Baoqiang once said that before, in C City’s survivor’s base, n.o.body had dared to contradict the army, but the minute the army was distracted, the people had gathered together in mobs in order to take whatever they wanted. However, even if they did not show it on their face, the army soldiers would still feel uncomfortable if they were not given a plausible excuse or spark to kill civilians.
Yu Yue was internally complaining. It really seemed that sometimes, it was hard to be a good guy. Who told Xiao Sa to be so successful in building up his own positive image? He was now tied to that reputation, but this was not necessarily a bad thing. Now that he saw the awe in the soldiers’ eyes, Yu Yue was very clear that in the future, anything Xiao Sa ordered, regardless of whether it was black or white, would be treated as a decree. Or perhaps, this was exactly the effect what Xiao Sa had wanted to achieve. Previously, the soldiers would feel guilty if they indiscriminately killed innocents, but now, these people were interfering with their official duties and killing people became a matter of course. It was just like how anyone would find excuses for their wrongdoings, they were now filled with courage and righteousness, and the army’s morale no longer needed to be carefully nurtured. Everyone would naturally gather together as they mutually supported each other and provided much needed spiritual support, and it would even make everyone feel more united. It was much more effective than strong-arming and coercion, and it would even make everyone more loyal…