Before Yuqi could make any moves, the sound of the door being knocked made her instantly jump out of Xiaoyun''s lap.

"Ahem, come in."

"The report, boss."

"Thanks. You can just leave it by the desk."

After the worker put the paper on Yuqi''s desk, they quickly walked back out and closed the door.

"Qiqi——"

"Don''t call me that. I need to get back to work."

Xiaoyun let out a sigh, as the atmosphere was now ruined, forcing him to go back to work as he began reading the report on the table.

---

When the day ended, Liuqian finally called him about the money that the war bond raised.

Over 10 million was raised in total, more than one-tenth of the government''s revenue for the entire year in a single day.

Even Yuqi was a little surprised by the amount of money raised, but she didn''t try to take it away from Xiaoyun.

As promised, she only took the amount needed to fund the parade, leaving the rest for Xiaoyun to expand the military.

Without any hesitation, Xiaoyun immediately ordered all the weapons that the army had requested and raised the soldier''s base salary.

The next day, the war bond raised another 5 million food stamps, more than enough for Xiaoyun to put an end to it.

Using the extra money raised, he put it all into the militia before running dry, with no money left to allocate for anything else.

Still, he had practically solved the military budget for the entire year while still in March, albeit with a debt that he still had to pay after three months.

---

The day of the parade...

"We''ll be waiting for you!"

All of the girls yell in excitement as Xiaoyun waves back at them before getting inside the car with Kate.

As Kate started up the car, several armored cars started up, surrounding Kate''s car in the middle.

After driving past Luoping''s entrance, the group of cars headed straight to Guangzhou.

Thirty minutes later...

As Xiaoyun''s car arrived at Guangzhou''s entrance, hundreds and thousands of people were already standing at the wall.

The border guard didn''t stop to check, letting the groups of cars drive straight through to the training field.

"So many soldiers..." Kate murmured, as the entire field was already filled with soldiers, all standing with their rifles and equipment.

After arriving at the parking lot, Kate stopped the car before getting out with Xiaoyun.

The soldiers in the armored car also got out, surrounding the two in the middle as they headed to the backstage.

"It took you long enough. You''re almost late," Yezi pointed out after checking his phone.

"Still five minutes before starting... Is everyone here and in position?"

"Everyone is here. The police are in position." Yiming replied.

"Great. Then let''s go start it now."

Xiaoyun took a deep breath as he mentally prepared to stand in front of all the soldiers on the field.

Besides the trader, few of them were more hidden.

They were spies from other factions, noting everything from the tanks to the artillery to even the number of rifles.

Although Yueyue had a list of them, she purposely allowed them to stay after Xiaoyun found them to be harmless ''traders,'' as everyone believed.

After almost half an hour of soldiers marching down, they finally arrived at the open field, with even more people surrounding them watching nearby.

The soldiers get into formation as Yiming and Yezi both walk up to Xiaoyun with a glass panel that contains a flag inside.

"Xiaoyun, this is your decision," Yiming murmured, holding onto the frame tightly.

"Everyone is waiting." Yezi hurried as he started to notice the soldier getting a little impatient.

Right before Xiaoyun''s eye were two sets of flags.

On the left was held by Yezi, a completely new design symbolizing independence from the past.

On the right was held by Yiming, the original flag of the country they all once lived in.

It was a decision that Xiaoyun couldn''t make when planning the military parade, especially after he met up with Han Bang.

---

The night before the parade...

Just as Xiaoyun was about to go to sleep, resting early for tomorrow''s parade, the doorbell woke everyone in the house up.

After peeking at the peephole, it was Han Bang standing outside, alone in his army uniform.

"You guys can go back to sleep. It''s just Han Bang outside."

With the girls going back upstairs to their bedroom, Xiaoyun slowly opened the door.

"What''s wrong, Han Bang? Is there some emergency?" Xiaoyun curiously asked as he led Han Bang inside the house.

"Commander, I just have a question that has been bugging me and everyone in the army."

"What is it?"

Seeing Han Bang seem to hesitate, Xiaoyun decided to hand him a bottle of water.

"There''s no need to throw in flowery language. Just tell me directly. I won''t punish you even if it''s bad."

After hearing Xiaoyun''s assurance, Han Bang finally spoke up again.

"Are we fighting for the country or the people? I know this sounds a little random, but a lot of people in the army had been starting to question."

Xiaoyun froze for a second before realizing what Han Bang was trying to imply.

"Is there a faction in the army again?"

"No... It''s not a faction. We all just wanted an answer since... Yiming''s army isn''t part of us." Han Bang pointed out.

"Can we not just all fight together? We are all under the same people living in the same country."

"Yes, but——"

"How many people have the same idea as you?"

Han Bang fell into silence again, but he eventually answered Xiaoyun''s question.

"About two-thirds of the army. But they are all waiting for your answer... Whatever you pick, commander, we''ll all follow your decision."

This time, Xiaoyun fell into silence as the thing he had always tried to avoid to answer had finally caught up to him.