"Xiaoyun, are you going to pick something?" Yezi hurried, noticing Xiaoyun seemed to be in his thoughts.

Xiaoyun finally snapped back to reality as he looked down at the flag before him.

All of the soldiers, including Yezi and Yiming, held their breath as they waited for his decision.

As he moved his hand towards Yezi, he could feel groups of younger soldiers exuding excitement, with older soldiers feeling betrayed.

On the other hand, when he moved it to Yiming, he could feel groups of younger soldiers disappointed, with older soldiers feeling a sense of pride.

In the end, Xiaoyun ultimately moved his hand onto Yiming''s side, grabbing the national flag and attaching it to the pole.

"Today, I proclaim the National Reclamation Government! We''ll unite all the country''s forces and defeat the zombies!"

As he handed the flag over to the flag bearer, he could feel the pressure building up, soldiers feeling disappointed as predicted.

Still, Xiaoyun knew he made the right choice.

Everyone in the crowd was saluting the flag as the national anthem began to play.

The soldiers saluted in unison, despite some of them not being happy with Xiaoyun''s choice.

They still respected Xiaoyun''s authority, just as Han Bang had described last night.

Yiming and Yezi let out a sigh of relief as they both worried Xiaoyun was going to pick something extreme.

All five current Colonels let out a sigh of relief as well, even though half of them were hoping Xiaoyun would pick the other one.

---

After the parade in Guangzhou ended, the soldiers had a one-hour break before it was one o''clock.

The entire army quickly got into the transport vehicles, driving straight to Luoping in a single file line.

This time, they didn''t start in the training field as they hopped out of their transport vehicle before arriving at the entrance.

Instead, they started marching alongside each other, with tanks and armored vehicles in the front, just like last time.

As the army arrived near the entrances, hundreds and thousands of people were already at the top of the wall, just like earlier in Guangzhou.

All of them were cheering, even louder than the crowds back in Guangzhou, as the first division drove past the entrance.

After almost an hour, the army finally arrived at the city center.

People filled the entire surrounding area, watching Xiaoyun''s army raise the national flag while the national anthem played.

With the same declaration at the end this time, the crowd burst into cheers as they now have a new name, albeit with the same flag.

---

When the military parade ended, Xiaoyun gave the entire army a rare night and entire day off, letting them all return home.

Some of them immediately headed straight to their home in Luoping, others to Guangzhou, and some to Qijing.

Still, they all remember Xiaoyun''s direction to return to Luoping''s training field the day after tomorrow for the big announcement.

"Welcome back!"

All of the girls beside Kate were standing by the door, welcoming Xiaoyun back from the military parade.

"Hello! Sorry, I''m just so tired."

Xiaoyun immediately fell onto the sofa, resting his back, which had been up straight for the entire day.

Xiaoyun thought to himself as he could feel almost everyone now knew who he was and what he looked like.

But fortunately, none of them approached him directly for an autograph, respecting his distance as they only waved or cheered for him.

After walking for five more minutes in the commercial district, he finally arrived at the restaurant.

As he entered, hundreds of soldiers were already inside, along with all five of his Colonels and his two generals.

"Good afternoon, Commander!"

"Good afternoon, everyone!"

Xiaoyun quickly moved past the crowds of tables before arriving at a closed-off section where nobody outside could hear.

"Nobody told me there would be so many people," Xiaoyun murmured as he sat down in the only remaining seat.

"Well, it''s a public business. We can''t stop people from coming in and eating." Yezi replied as he poured Xiaoyun a glass of alcohol.

Several drinks later...

"Commander Xiaoyun, why didn''t you pick the other flag?" Ningjing questioned directly as her face started to look a little red.

"It was the right choice. You all don''t mind me making that decision, do you?" Xiaoyun asked back lightly.

"Not at all, sir. We are actually happy you picked that one." Lingang replied as he picked up a piece of chicken with his chopstick.

"Really? I thought you guys would want me to pick the other one."

"No. We thought about it more and more and realized we were nowhere near strong enough to think about any of that stuff."

Han Bang replied this time, chiming in as he already had several shots of vodka.

"Li Miao, Zhen Ren, what do you two think?" Xiaoyun curiously asked.

"I don''t mind either, sir. Whatever you say, we''ll follow." Li Miao replied first.

"Same."

Seeing both of them willing to swing whatever side, Xiaoyun started to realize almost the entire table was willing to join whatever side he picked.

Still, he wasn''t about to change his choice of staying with the country.

"Yiming, why don''t you welcome some of your Colonel in here? I saw several of them outside." Xiaoyun curiously asked.

"You sure?"

Yiming asked in uncertainty, as he knew almost all of his soldiers would be on the edge of revolt if Xiaoyun picked the other choice.

"I''m sure it''s fine. We''re all brothers and sisters here. We shouldn''t have anything between us if we are to work together."

Xiaoyun got up from his seat and grabbed more chairs from the side as Yiming headed out to call several of his commanders.

A few hours later...

As the night sky appeared, almost the entire table was drunk beyond relief.

Everyone had gotten to know each other much better, especially Yiming''s Colonels, who respected Xiaoyun much more after talking in person.

Meanwhile, Xiaoyun was the only one sober the whole time as he increased his blood circulation to get the alcohol out of the system.

"What had I started?" Xiaoyun thought to himself as he thought back to the conversation.

Almost two-third of the table were secessionists, willing to join him if he decided at a moment''s notice, with the other third loyal to the country.

It was a sharp divide that he knew he had to carefully manage, much more than the petty military factional infight.