"Lingang, where are you at right now?"
As Xiaoyun asked through the walkie-talkie, he could see several soldiers and an officer standing next to a rocket launcher truck right in front of him.
All of the soldiers imdiately saluted towards him, with the officer looking a little confused by the sudden motion.
"I'm inside the city hall right now, commander." Lingang's voice responded.
"Okay. I'll et you there."
Entering the city hall, Xiaoyun could see more soldiers carrying buckets of water and mops cleaning the building.
None of them seed to care about him, which was expected as all of these soldiers wore a uniform different from the one he had t earlier.
After walking through the stairs, he finally arrived at the top floor of the city hall. With a short knock, the door was opened.
"Commander!"
"Lingang, is everything ready?"
"Yes... But Mr.Zhongxiong wants to et with you first."
Looking inside the room, he could see both Wen Pi and Zhongxiong inside, standing right next to each other in front of a map.
"Good morning, Mr. Wen Pi and Mr.Zhongxiong."
"Good morning."
As Xiaoyun shook hands with the two of them, he noticed a little frown on their face, as if sothing was bothering them.
"You guys want to et with ?" Xiaoyun asked.
"Yes. Mr.Chen, do you mind if I can ask you a few questions?" Zhongxiong asked as Wen Pi stood next to him in silence.
"I don't mind it."
"Thank you... Mr.Chen, you're the leader of your settlents, right?"
"You could say that. But I'm only acting as the leader because the people are willing to support ."
Xiaoyun's answer didn't really bother them as Zhongxiong moved straight onto his next question.
"Mr.Chen, do you know what's happening in the north?"
Xiaoyun nodded, rembering the military-controlled north and the news of the failure of the expedition at the capital.
"Ever since then, there has been a massive influx of refugees... Going as far as north as Heilongjiang to Hubei."
As Zhongxiong pointed his finger from the Northeast all the way down to Changsha, Xiaoyun started to realize what Zhongxiong wanted from him.
"They were all fleeing for safety, and I couldn't reject them as a soldier whose duty is to protect the people.
But even with all the rural lands being distributed and the food given to them, it's just not enough."
The second pause instantly confird Xiaoyun's prediction. He remained silent, knowing that the decision he made here would heavily impact Luoping.
"I was wondering if we could direct so of those people to you guys——"
"We already have a lot of refugees just within Guangdong alone. I'm afraid I cannot offer any help in this."
Seeing the firm voice in Xiaoyun's tone, Zhongxiong let out a sigh as he looked a little disappointed.
"Never mind... I guess I'll find a solution sowhere else."
Just as Zhongxiong was about to end the eting, Xiaoyun suddenly surprised them with another offer.
"Actually, I could hypothically offer so assistance with so spare farmland. But that will require a bit of supplies."
"What kind of supplies?" Zhongxiong asked curiously, Wen Pi and his eyes glimring with hope.
"Just so equipnt and food. Like farming tractors and a week's worth of food for them. I'll take care of the rest afterward."
The request instantly vanished their hope. Wen Pi looked down in silence as if Xiaoyun had made so impossible request.
"I'm afraid we cannot give you that," Zhongxiong answered.
"Why not? You guys had already given us both of them in the past as paynt. I don't see why you guys can't give it away now."
"We need so for our own use. We don't have any more spare ones to give away as paynt."
"Oh... I'm afraid I can't spare any help for you guys. Sorry."
As the negotiation fell apart, Wen Pi suddenly made a snarky comnt that irritated Xiaoyun a little.
"Is there no other way for you to accept more people into your cities? Just for our fellow countryn?"
"Mr.Wen Pi, please don't try to guilt trip . I can't make food up on a whim without soone else losing it."
A single look from Zhongxiong quickly made Wen Pi fall back into silence. His mouth fully zipped as if he knew he had spoken up at the wrong ti.
"Is there really no other way?" Zhongxiong asked, his voice starting to sound a little desperate.
"I'm afraid not. I can't force my citizens to cut back on food to help strangers who haven't contributed anything."
After a short silence, Xiaoyun started turning around towards the exit before signaling Lingang to follow.
"It was nice talking to you, Mr.Zhongxiong. I hope we can have a more productive conversation the next ti we et."
Before Xiaoyun's hand could reach for the door, an old voice from the table made him stop for a second.
"Wait, what if I give you more missiles?"
"Mr.Zhongxiong, I don't think you can feed people with missiles——"
"But how about nuclear weapons? Are you sure you don't know the location for it and keep it for yourself?"
The answer finally made Xiaoyun turn back around. His face looked a little curious as he walked back to the table.
"Nuclear missiles?"
Zhongxiong's nod shocked Xiaoyun a bit, but his face returned to calm as he quickly realized sothing was a little off.
"DF-5A equipped with nuclear warhead. Capable of being hitting as far as Los Angeles from here." Zhongxiong stated.
"What's the catch?" Xiaoyun questioned.
"There is no catch. You just have to get past the security and arm it yourself. It's even located right in Guangdong."
"Really... How co Yiming never told this?"
Just as Xiaoyun was murmuring the words to himself, Zhongxiong's face changed for a second.
"Wait, what na did you just ntion?" Zhongxiong curiously asked.
"Yiming?" Xiaoyun answered with a hint of confusion, unable to understand the big reaction from Zhongxiong.
"Major Yiming? The one in Shaoguan?"
"Yeah. You know about Yiming?"
"We just used to be the sa army group," Zhongxiong answered, his face seemingly looking a little nostalgic.
At the sa ti, Xiaoyun quickly connected the dots inside his head, rembering Yiming and Zhongxiong were both under the 74th Group Army.
The sa army group was supposed to head north to Beijing but eventually split off and chose to stay in Shaoguan rather than continue forward.
"Ahem, commander. The refugees."
Lingang's voice snapped everyone back into the conversation earlier. But no progress could be made as either side was willing to back down.
"Mr.Zhongxiong, I'm afraid I can't take in the refugees even if you hand a nuke right now."
"That's fine... We'll figure it out ourselves."
---
As Xiaoyun and Lingang exited the city hall, their army was already standing on the open field, waiting in square blocks.
"Commander!" The soldiers yelled in unison as soon as the two of them exited the building.
Xiaoyun didn't say anything back right away, opting to salute the soldiers first before Lingang followed suit.
"Is everyone ready to head back ho?" Xiaoyun asked out loud, pausing for a second for the soldier to respond.
"Yes, sir!"
"Great. Let's all head back ho as heroes!"
"As heroes!"
The loud noises instantly attracted all of Zhongxiong's soldiers nearby, who stood in silence and watched them get onto the trucks.
Even several officers on top of the city hall ca out to their windows, watching them leaving in an orderly fashion.
---
"Sorry, commander. We overslept a little."
As Pinli and Chengyi walked into the office room, Wen Pi and Zhongxiong didn't seem mad about it at all.
Instead, their face held up a smile, which scared Pinli and Chengyi a little as they thought back to the code of discipline they had to follow in the army.
"You two are Xiaoyun's best friend, right?" Zhongxiong curiously asked.
"Um... We were his dormmate before the outbreak." Pinli nervously replied, with Chengyi nodding in agreent.
"That's good... That's good..."
The mysterious murmuring by Zhongxiong confused the two of them a little, but they didn't dare to question it.
"Pinli, Chengyi, you two should be happy. You know sothing is about to happen for the two of you?" Wen Pi suddenly asked as he patted them on the shoulder.
"Huh?"
As the two of them looked back to Wen Pi in confusion, Wen Pi's arm instantly pulled their heads closer together, just inches away from touching.
"Don't act confused. You two had been fighting valiantly for the past month. You both deserved a promotion more than everyone."
"Thank you, Commander!"
Just as Pinli was about to accept it happily, Chengyi couldn't help but raise a little concern of his.
"B-But I only had been Commander Zhongxiong's bodyguard." Chengyi nervously questioned.
"That's even more important. No army can exist without a leader, and no bodyguard of the leader should only be a Captain."
Seeing Zhongxiong nodding his head slightly in acknowledgnt, both Pinli's and Chengyi's faces were overjoyed.
"Thank you, Commander Wen Pi! Thank you, Commander Zhongxiong!"
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