The next morning was typical, with everyone at the dining table eating Leyan''s breakfast.

As Xiaoyun settled down and started eating, Leyan noticed the blood stain on Xiaoyun''s shirt.

"Hey honey, what''s the blood on your shirt?" she inquired, concern etched on her face as everyone just noticed it now.

"Oh, it''s nothing. Just a morning nosebleed," Xiaoyun replied as he made an excuse.

"Want me to make some tea?" Leyan''s worry lingered.

"It''s fine. Probably just something I ate a few days ago," Xiaoyun reassured Leyan''s worries.

As breakfast continued, Yueyue abruptly rose from her seat. "Mom, I need to go to work now! Sorry about the plate," she swiftly apologized, grabbing her bag and darting out of the house.

"Yueyue didn''t even finish her breakfast," Leyan remarked as she cleared Yueyue''s plate.

"I heard she''s recruiting police agents for her department. Makes sense for her to be there early," Yuqi explained as she finished her meal.

"I''m off to work now," Yuqi said, getting up and taking her dishes to the dishwasher.

"Me too," Nami and Shuli both got up and followed suit.

Just before leaving, Nami turned back to Lily.

"I almost forgot. Lily, can you go to school alone?"

Lily, displaying a hint of annoyance, retorted, "Of course, I''m already a middle schooler! I don''t need to go so early like you guys."

"Okay, my little girl is all grown up. See you tonight then," Nami said, patting Lily''s head before rushing to join the others at the door.

"Hmph! Don''t pat my head like that!" Lily protested as Nami departed with the two waiting at the door.

"When is Nami going to grow up?" Leyan sighed as she settled back into her seat.

"Probably never," Xiaoyun quipped.

A few minutes later, Wuli and Xiaoyun finished their breakfast.

"I''m off to work now," Wuli announced, eyeing Xiaoyun.

"Why are you looking at me?" Xiaoyun asked as he noticed Wuli kept looking at him as if she expected him to be leaving.

"You forgot? You''re supposed to go to the command center and discuss further plans with Yezi," Wuli reminded Xiaoyun.

"Oh, right. Let me finish this noodle," Xiaoyun responded, slurping down the last few bites.

Tianci quickly rushed the last few bites she had left and followed Xiaoyun to put away the dishes.

"Love you, babe." Xiaoyun kissed Leyan as the four stood at the door.

"Love you too, honey. Stay safe!" Leyan waved goodbye as the four walked farther and farther.

As Wuli and Xiaoyun walked outside the house, Wuli noticed Tianci had been trailing Xiaoyun the whole time.

"Are you planning to bring her with you? You sure you want her to hear sensitive information?" Wuli decided to ask.

"I-I promise I''ll keep my mouth sealed," Tianci assured the two nervously.

"Come on, Wuli, that''s such a ridiculous question. You hear her story. She got no one else to talk to other than us." Xiaoyun dismissed Wuli''s worries.

All nine of the Major, including Yezi, were caught off guard by Lingang''s suggestion.

"That''s a bit too extreme... we aren''t bandits, Lingang." Xiaoyun was taken aback by the suggestion as well.

"But, sir, if we want to grow fast, this would be the fastest and the most efficient way at once. Why do we need to search when we can use our trader network to seek out our trading partner to join us directly?"

"Lingang is right. If we want to keep our growth like in the past, this would be the fastest way."

Out of all the people, it was Wuli supporting Lingang''s plan.

Xiaoyun started seriously considering the plausibility of Lingang''s plan, but what Lingang said next removed all of Xiaoyun''s worries.

"Sir, who will resist the temptation not to join us? We got food and an army to back it up. I see this as a matter of marching with our units to display our strength.

At the end of the day, We don''t need to cause actual violence. If they refuse to join, we can just move on to the next one."

As everyone considered Lingang''s suggestion, Yezi decided to speak up.

"Lingang, I know you don''t have access to the trader''s datasheet, but I can tell you that most other settlements and traders are in the countryside. So your suggestion has no difference to Cheng Ding''s plan."

"There is a difference. I''m suggesting concentrating on our units rather than spreading them out. We should focus on big settlements and convince them with our firepower and number." Lingang defended his suggestion.

"I decided we will be going with both plans for now." Xiaoyun gave his final decision.

Xiaoyun finalized the strategy by assigning four Majors to lead their regiments for smaller settlements and promoted Lingang to temporary Lieutenant Colonel to lead three Majors at once to handle the larger settlements.

Despite Yezi''s concern about the soldiers'' readiness, especially with some of them only having less than a month of training, Xiaoyun continued with the plan as the mission, in Xiaoyun''s view, was more of a march than actual combat. And it was still good training to feel the harsh environment outside.

Moreover, since the city''s massive zombie departure, the only army that could threaten him was the military, which had radio silent and severely retracted their forces back to their base.

As all eight of the Majors left the town, only two regiments were left with Wuli and another Major, whose entire regiment consisted of fresh recruits with no combat training.

Although Wuli complained about being left out on purpose, Yezi reminded Wuli that questioning higher-up orders was not allowed.

"Xiaoyun, who''s this person that had been standing next to you the whole time?" Yezi curiously asked as the four of them stood on the wall watching the regiments leaving the town.

"She''s Tianci, my personal bodyguard." Xiaoyun made up a position for Tianci on the spot.

"I see..." Yezi looked at Xiaoyun with a smirk as if he was implying that it wasn''t just a personal bodyguard.

Tianci''s face started blushing as she understood what Yezi meant.

"Don''t get it twisted. It''s purely professional." Xiaoyun tried to defend himself, but it just made it worse.

"Sure... do Leyan and Yuqi know?" Yezi lowered his voice.

"Yeah, of course they do." Xiaoyun instantly replied.

"No wonder why you said it''s purely professional." Yezi patted Xiaoyun on the shoulder as if he felt bad for Xiaoyun.

"Why are you looking at me like that? Stop pitying me. I got six wives that already love me." Xiaoyun pushed Yezi''s hand away.

"Because everyone knows—— wait, what do you mean six wives? Don''t you only have four?" Yezi noticed something important that Xiaoyun leaked on accidentally.

"Ahem, how''s the logistics going?" Xiaoyun changed the conversation as he noticed Wuli''s face blushing as she returned to the three of them.

"It''s going very smoothly. No ammo and gun shortages, but we are running low on our uniform stockpiles." Yezi face instantly turned back to being fully serious.

"I''ll tell Yuqi to order more," Xiaoyun answered back.