"I see..."
After all three were spoken, the attention shifted to the last person who was central to the event.
"Mingxu, can you describe your role?"
"General Yezi had assist in clearing the city outskirt... But the two of us had been discussing about using the tro station."
"What do you an by use?"
After a short silence, Mingxu finally spoke up again.
"General Yezi and I had been devising a plan to use the tro stations as bases for soldiers to resupply and for faster travel between areas.
At his request, I sent several scouts into the tro station first, having them explore one of the tunnels before returning.
When they ca back, they reported that not a single zombie was in sight, and records show that it was empty as well.
"Do you still have the record? And when was this exactly?" Xiaoyun asked as he got a little intrigued.
"Yes, but I will need to go back to my camp first. And this happened one week ago." Mingxu answered.
"I see... That's fine. Just bring the footage to later. You can continue."
Mingxu stood still for a second as if his face was a little hesitant to say the next part.
"What's wrong——If you're worried about punishing you over this, whatever you say next, I won't consider it."
After hearing Xiaoyun's promise, Mingxu finally revealed the info he had been hiding.
"I told General Yezi that it doesn't make sense for the tro to be empty. Even a little bit of blood stain on the floor would make more sense.
But he countered that I was worrying too much and that perhaps the governnt banned everyone from entering the tro."
As soon as Mingxu finished talking, Xiaoyun fell into silence, not wanting to say sothing he might regret later.
However, the situation in front of him didn't allow him to remain silent, as all four of them were looking at him.
"I'll analyze it after I watch the footage myself. Continue with what happened next."
Xiaoyun's answer seed to make Mingxu's face look a little disappointed, but he didn't dare to pressure him any further.
"Since he's the general, I accepted his idea... Then we began to start setting up a plan to explore the tro further——"
"Before we go any further, can you go back to your camp and bring in the footage? And all the plans that were made for this mission?"
"Yes, sir."
"And... Sorry, what's your na again?" Xiaoyun asked as he looked over to the senior-looking Colonel.
"My na is Tan Pi."
"Can you go with Mingxu and help him with bringing all the stuff over here?"
"Yes, sir."
With both colonels heading out together, Xiaoyun turned his attention to the two remaining colonels in the tent.
"Your na is Bai Bing, right?" Xiaoyun asked as he recalled the only possibility from the Colonel's list.
Seeing him nod, Xiaoyun suddenly took out an envelope from his jacket before looking over to Nanjing.
"Ningjing, can you go outside for a second?"
The request caught Ningjing a little off guard, but she agreed to it as she headed outside the tent.
With only Bai Bing and Xiaoyun in the tent, the atmosphere beca increasingly tense as the two remained silent.
"Commander, is there sothing you want to do?"
The dead silence finally beca too unbearable as Bai Bing asked his question out loud, not wanting to stay in the room in silence.
"Bai Bing, you have been at Luoping since the founding, right?" Xiaoyun asked as he began to open the envelope.
"Yes. I was——"
"A part of the original ten that first joined the militia under Yiming, rising in prominence alongside Lingang and Han Bang.
But the other two have overshadowed you despite both joining at the sa ti as them."
"Did I get that right?"
Bai Bing nodded in silence, his face looking a little puzzled that Xiaoyun was able to recall sothing so far back.
"Don't be shocked... There is a reason why you're promoted to Colonel over everyone else."
With the envelope opened, Xiaoyun handed it over to Bai Bing before standing up from his seat.
"This is your chance to prove that you're on the sa level as those two. Can I trust you?"
As Bai Bing accepted the piece of paper, he nodded with zero hesitation on his face.
However, looking down, he was a little confused as the paper was completely blank.
"Commander, what is this blank paper for——"
"I want you to walk out with it later and act normal. You have my phone number, right?"
Bai Bing nodded again as he folded the paper twofold before moving it over to his right hand.
"Commander... Are you saying that Ningjing and Mingxu are——"
"Do not make any assumptions... Tell , what are the three codes of the army?"
"Listen to command, protect the people, and serve the country."
"Good. Now go out and call Ningjing inside. You can go back to your camp for the day."
Bai Bing nodded as he headed out of the tent before Ningjing entered the room alone.
"Xiaoyun——"
"You heard everything, didn't you?"
Ningjing stood in silence as if she had just realized that she had done sothing that violated the rules.
But after a few seconds, she still decided to say it directly to his face.
"I did overhear everything. But Xiaoyun, why are you saying and Mingxu are——"
"What was one of the words that I told Bai Bing?" Xiaoyun interrupted, not giving Ningjing the chance to ask.
"The three rules?"
"No, before that."
"Don't make any assumption...? But you——"
"Ningjing, how well do you know your husband?"
Xiaoyun's interruption with his question caught Ningjing off guard, as it sounded ridiculous for him to ask sothing like this.
"I know what he is like. He would never do that kind of stuff." Ningjing argued back.
"What kind of stuff?"
"You're clearly trying to say that he's setting up General Yezi for failure. But he had no reason to——"
Before Ningjing could finish, Xiaoyun shook his head.
"You're misunderstanding . I trust you and Mingxu... I'm just suspicious of the soldiers."
"The soldiers? What does that have to do with anything?" Ningjing questioned.
"I'll explain it to you later."
As soon as Xiaoyun finished talking, the tent flaps opened, revealing Tan Pi and Mingxu carrying a cardboard box.
"Commander, here's the box of the footage and plans that General Yezi and I ca up with."
After putting the box down on the floor, Mingxu removed a computer and cara and put them on the table.
"This is the footage that our scout recorded. It might take a while to set up——"
"That's fine... Tan Pi, can you co out with for a second?"
Tan Pi nodded as he followed Xiaoyun out of the tent together, leaving Mingxu and Ningjing in the tent.
"Commander, what do you need to say to in private?" Tan Pi asked curiously as Xiaoyun led the two of them to an empty corner.
"Yezi had treated you well, have he?"
After a short mont, Tan Pi nodded in agreent.
"If I rember correctly, he added you to the list of promotions to beco Colonels——"
The short pause made Tan Pi's heart skip for a second, but what Xiaoyun said next cald him down.
"Of course, that was deservingly so. You have fought hard for what you are given.
I still rember your voice in one of the walkie-talkie transmissions in the defense of Luoping.
Explosive went off on your side section of the wall, and you were able to recover from the situation."
The mories started by Xiaoyun shocked Tan Pi a little as if he had never expected Xiaoyun to rember sothing so insignificant.
"That was so long ago... Almost a year since we are still trapped in Luoping."
As the two of them reflected on what felt like forever, they realized that it hadn't even been officially two years since the outbreak.
"Tan Pi, I'm going to be honest with you for a second. I think there are spies in our army."
"Spies?"
Xiaoyun's topic shift out of nowhere caught Tan Pi a little off guard, but he waited for his response first.
"Yes, spies... And they aren't just in the lower rank. I think soone in the higher positions is——"
The silence made Tan Pi a little nervous until Xiaoyun suddenly patted him on the back.
"But I trust you, just like how Yezi trusted you into this position. Do you understand ?"
"I do, sir."
"Very well... I need you to act normal and behave like usual. But I need you to be ready at a mont's notice."
"Yes, sir!"
Seeing Tan Pi excitedly saluting toward him, Xiaoyun's mind let out a sigh as it eliminated a worry inside his head.
"You can go back to your camp now. I'll go back to tent myself——"
"But commander——"
"I trust Mingxu and Ningjing... Do not make any assumption until I find out the truth myself."
The confidence made Tan Pi fall into silence as he watched Xiaoyun walk all the way back to the tent alone.
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