After waiting in the hallway for three minutes, the soldiers were able to catch all of the scientists in the security room.


    As Xiaoyun entered the room, he suddenly realized how important the key card was after walking past the control panel.


    It could have turned on the turret at the front gates and even self-destruct the entire base with an emergency button.


    "You guys might be surprised to see me here. But my name is Xiaoyun, I''m from Luoping——"


    "You''re the one that killed Professor Pan?" One of the scientists interrupted and asked.


    "Yes. I killed him because he vited thew——"


    "Whatw?"


    Xiaoyun didn''t answer the scientist, but his cold stare,bined with all the soldiers standing in silence, made them shut their mouths.


    "You know, you guys aren''t the first ones that I had caught conducting a human experiment——"


    "W-We didn''t do that. O-Only Professor Pan did it." One of the younger scientists pointed out.


    "Yeah, we never used it on any human. We only did the statistic..."


    "We''re just following orders. We never wanted to do this..."


    Seeing the scientist ming a dead man, Xiaoyun suddenly had a shback to when he met Tianci for the first time.


    As the scientists became increasingly energetic in arguing back and shifting their me onto the masked man, Xiaoyun''s face got colder and colder.


    "Is that all you guys got to say?"


    Suddenly, Xiaoyun fell back onto the chair seat, looked up at the ceiling, and burst intoughter.


    "You know, I used to believe that every person should be given a second chance... But I realized how much trouble and pain they have to go through dealing with my belief."


    Xiaoyun lowered his head back down and stared right at the oldest scientist in the eye. His arm was positioned straight forward as if he was holding a pistol aiming at their head.


    "Following order... Do you know who else uses this defense in the history book?"


    All of the scientists remained silent, but their faces showed nervousness as sweat beganing down from their foreheads despite Xiaoyun''s hand being empty.


    "PhD students can''t even answer me about basic history lessons. Isn''t thatughable? You guysmitted a war crime and can''t even admit it."


    Suddenly, a bright sh appeared before their eyes, followed by a loud bang echoing in the room.


    "Ah!"


    Several of the scientists screamed out in panic as their fellow scientists fell right onto the floor, with blooding out of their foreheads.


    The soldiers immediately raised their rifles, signaling all the scientists to stay still as they bumped their heads with it.


    "Some people just don''t deserve a second chance... Finish them off."


    "You can''t do this to us, you butcher——"


    As Xiaoyun stood up and turned towards the exit, the scientist''s voice was put to an end.


    "Sir, the order isplete!" The squad leader yelled out loud as he and the soldiers saluted towards him as if they had done something proud.


    Xiaoyun didn''t say anything back, but they all headed back out of the security room and entered the elevator.


    ---


    When Xiaoyun was out of the building, it was already six at night.


    With Xiaoyun''s order, all the soldiers set up camp in the nearby cleared building and stayed on the ind for the rest of the night.


    Onepany was assigned to gather all the dead bodies from the different buildings and put them all in a burn pit, with anotherpany assigned to transport all the different machines from theb into the back of the trailer trucks.


    By the time everything was packed up, and the ind was blockaded to prevent zombies from wandering in, it was already one in the afternoon.


    "So many trucks... Isn''t this too big of a target?" Kate pointed out as she looked through the rear mirror, driving her car with only her right hand.


    Hundreds of trailer trucks were present, all of them already equipped with full cargo and datebeled before the outbreak.


    "Like someone is really going to attack us. Come on, the entirety of Guangdong is practically under our control at this point.


    It''s only a matter of time before we clear all the zombies... It mighte sooner rather thanter."


    Seeing the confidence on Xiaoyun''s face, Kate didn''t try to drag it down this time. Instead, she turned her attention back to driving the car.


    One hourter...


    When Kate stopped the car, they were still a mile away from Luoping. But instead of continue driving back, Xiaoyun sent the trailer trucks to go back home.


    Meanwhile, the rest of the army continued heading up north, only stopping when they finally arrived at the Guangzhou outpost.


    But it was only a pitstop. After refueling, they began heading west to their final destination, Foshan City.


    ---


    "What''s your n for clearing this city?" Kate curiously asked as she didn''t notice Xiaoyun making any ns this time.


    "There is no need for ns. The soldiers themselves know the most flexible strategy to clear it.


    All we need to do is to supply them with weapons and send in reinforcement when needed."


    Hearing Xiaoyun''s words, Kate felt familiar, as if he had used the same strategy before.


    "Didn''t you do this back in Guangzhou?" Kate pointed out.


    "It''s simr, but not exactly... I gave them full control in leading which direction to go, rather than setting a rough outline."


    As the two took their first step onto Foshan, they were met by Zhen Ren himself, who had already set up a defense parameter at the entrance of the city.


    "How was yesterday?" Xiaoyun curiously asked as the majors, along with Zhen Ren, entered an HQ tent.


    "Not too many zombies came out to disrupt building the wall... In a week or so, we''ll be able to set up a permanent base to expand our influence into the city center."


    Hearing Zhen Ren''s optimism, everyone was a little surprised as he only had 5000 soldiers with him when he was sent to Foshan.


    They were all expecting that a zombie horde would have pushed them back to Guangdong and required them to save the day.


    "That''s good to hear... Zhen Ren, are you confident you can lead the charge to clear Foshan?"


    The sudden question caught Zhen Ren off-guard, but he instantly saluted towards Xiaoyun.


    "Yes, sir! I''m ready to do whatever is necessary to clear the city!"


    "Very well, then. Since we are all here, I have an important announcement to make for everyone."


    Xiaoyun reached inside his jacket and pulled out a piece of letter, then handed it over to Zhen Ren.


    "Inside the letter is your promotion to Colonel. Congrats!"


    Everyone in the room froze for a second but then busted into cheers as the majors started pping.


    "Me? But I haven''t done anything particr——"


    "Your action back in Qingyuan is already worth the promotion. Being able to save as many people as you can and salvaging a situation that isn''t your fault is extremely impressive.


    There is no need for formality. You earned it with your hard work, and everyone here would agree with me, right?"


    This time, Zhen Ren didn''t argue back, opting to ept the promotion after seeing all hisrades showing their support.


    "Now, with that out of the way, since you are now Colonel, you will be leading all majors on the field and be assigned as the Commander for this operation.


    Although it''s not enough troops to fulfill your division''s 20,000-member requirement, I''ll send more over when the recruits are fully trained."


    Xiaoyun''s announcement instantly turned some of the faces on the major darkened for a second, but they all pped again as Zhen Ren''s face was now even more excited.


    "Thank you, sir! I''ll not disappoint your trust!"


    "Don''t disappoint the people''s trust, not me. You got plenty of time, okay? Don''t try to rush it or make silly mistakes."


    Zhen Ren epted Xiaoyun''s lecture and took it to heart this time, not wanting to repeat the same mistake back in Qingyuan.


    ---


    After the announcement, Xiaoyun left the tent to let the majors and Zhen Ren iron out how to clear Foshan.


    "Another Colonel... Do you even have enough soldiers to fulfill that number size?" Kate curiously asked as the two walked around the camp.


    "Number doesn''t really matter. It''s just to have a clearer chain ofmand for them when I''m gone." Xiaoyun exined as he stopped by the concrete wall that still hadn''t dried yet.


    "Where are we going, then? I thought we''d be staying in Foshan for several days. Why don''t you just let it yourself?"


    Kate asked again, still unable to understand why Xiaoyun didn''t want to lead directly as themander.


    "We''re here to observe... They need a chance to prove themselves that they can lead an army themselves one day.


    There is no better than now... Besides, I don''t want to end up in a situation where ayman leads an expert."