Han Bang froze for a second as he couldn''t believe his ear.

"Commander... you serious?" Han Bang asked in an uncertain voice.

"Do I look like I''m making up a joke?" Xiaoyun asked as he put up a fully serious face.

"Thank you, sir!"

As Han Bang bowed down in gratitude, Xiaoyun decided to warn him about something.

"No problem... But I need to tell you, I haven''t really set up what it means to be a colonel yet, so it''s just an empty promotion for now.

But this promotion means all the majors in Guangzhou would be under your command. Can you handle leading this many troops?"

Han Bang nodded several times in repeat as he couldn''t hold in his excitement.

"Great then... I''ll send you another letter next week or so about the soldier''s number and everything."

As Xiaoyun left the room, Han Bang excitedly jumped up into the air before calming back down.

"I''m finally above Lingang!"

---

"Xiaoyun, why did you promote him? Shouldn''t he be punished for failing to notice the corruption?"

Hearing Kate''s question, Xiaoyun shook his head.

"I already said it''s not his fault... It''s an issue that I need to address myself when I get back.

And for the promotion... I need someone to take care of Guangzhou when I''m not there, especially if I''m planning to make it bigger than Luoping.

Since he''s defending, I need a way to compensate him and not be left out when Lingang and the others are already assigned to Operation Northward."

Seeing Kate''s face wanting to say something, Xiaoyun quickly decided to add something.

"There are no other people to choose from... I need Yezi in base if that''s who you are thinking of suggesting."

"Okay..."

As the two headed back inside the civilian building, Xiaoyun took a turn and headed straight into the office area again.

Before Xiaoyun gets to the receptionist, he takes off his cover and hands it over to Kate.

"Hello, how can I help——M-Mr. Mayor?" The receptionist nervously asked as she instantly recognized his face.

"Can you bring me to the head administrator?"

The receptionist instantly nodded in agreement as she got up from her seat and led the two past the office block into a door.

"Mr. Lin, you there?" The receptionist asked.

"Yeah, I''m here. Come in."

As the receptionist opened the door, Xiaoyun was surprised to see a man barely in his twenties sitting inside the room.

"You are?"

The man froze for a second before immediately getting up from his seat and saluting at Xiaoyun.

"Good morning, Mr.Mayor——"

"Just walking around for now... Have you not noticed something about the city?"

"Like what?"

"There''s not a single zombie in sight... Even their body is all removed, and only a small blood outline remains.

They really had done a good job clearing the city in detail. A city that has millions of people."

"I guess..."

The two kept walking all the way until the sun was in the middle of the sky, and then the two headed back inside the civilian building again.

After a short lunch break, the two headed back outside again, this time in their car.

"It really does feel so empty. A little creepy even..." Kate murmured as she sat in the driver''s seat.

"Yeah..."

As Kate continued to drive the car around the city, the two noticed a group of people standing behind a truck.

"Let''s stop right next to them."

Kate hesitated for a second but stopped the car just as it was ten steps away from the truck.

"What you guys doing over here?" Xiaoyun curiously asked as he rolled down the window.

"We''re just gathering supplies... But our truck broke down right now." One of them explained.

"Broke down? Which part is broken?"

"Our driver is checking it right now... What are you guys doing here?" The man asked as they noticed the two inside a heavily armored car.

He could vaguely remember seeing it in a victory parade when the army in Luoping was coming back from a mission. But seeing the two not in a military uniform confused him.

"We''re just checking out the city... Do you guys, by any chance, know any salvage group?"

"We''re a salvage group... You want to join a salvage group?"

The man asked calmly, but his face told Xiaoyun that he would be extremely excited to hear a yes.

"Unfortunately, I can''t do that. But I was wondering if you could bring me to one of your guy''s bases.

I''m actually a journalist who''s looking for material to write about what it is like to live in Guangzhou."

The man turned around to talk to the other people for a second, then quickly turned back around.

"Of course. But can you put our name in the newspaper?"

With a nod from Xiaoyun, the men excitedly high-fived each other as if they had just made a national headline of some sort.

"Yo, Xiaopin, have you fixed the truck yet?" One of them asked loudly.

"Just give me a minute. I''m trying to fix it."

The noise appeared from the front of the truck, exactly where the engine is located.

"I''m not in a rush. You guys can take your time." Xiaoyun suggested.

"No, no, we can''t have you wait for something so petty like this... Xiaopin, hurry up!" One of them yelled out loud again.

"Okay, okay, I fixed it."

A young man who looked straight out of high school walked out from the front as he met up with the rest of the salvage group with his toolbox.