When I first joined the mission, it was one of the biggest eye-opening experiences I had ever faced.

The soldiers themselves were nowhere near as 'disciplined.' It almost felt a little loose as they always seem to be so laid back.

Their army's structure was even more confusing, as they had no seniors, or 'superior' officers. Only soldier who were higher rank.

They had decentralized the army into extremely small units, all the way down to squads of ten that worked almost independently from each other.

There was no 'central' command. No superior directing us in the distance, telling us what to do.

A low private could suggest a new plan to a Corporal and have it be changed completely right on the spot.

The best example I could vividly remember was when my unit of twenty people fought alongside a squad of theirs.

Our original objective was directed to clear one of the street blocks near the Northern entrances to allow for further expansion later.

As we use our vehicles to bait out the zombies to the designated area, one of my peers suggested we could use the height differences on the highway bridges.

A word from a fresh recruit. A man who just joined only a month after me was being taken seriously by a completely different army.

Their squad leader brought it up to their Sergeant, leading the operation straight through the walkie-talkie within seconds.

Just ten minutes later, we were retreating out of the city, heading towards exactly what my peer had suggested.

At the same time, I was extremely impressed by how much they had perfected the constant hit and run, using vehicles to bait zombies out.

Every day, there were results with minimal losses. Every suggestion was being taken seriously and adapted on the spot.

It influenced some of the higher-ups so much that even our army began to shift towards decentralization, giving more freedom to the soldiers themselves.

Everyone had realized that a new era of progress was starting. One that chipped away at Changsha step by step.

---

Everything was going great until I myself wanted to leave. It wasn't because I was tired of fighting or because I missed my family.

Quite the contrary. Ever since I joined the mission, I have been given plenty of breaks in between.

I even got to head back home every weekend to meet up with Jieqiong and my family with the new decentralized system.

All we needed to do was to ask my superior, rather than write a whole letter to the logistics department for a day's leave.

So what was the reason for leaving? I just wanted to leave Zhongxiong's defense force. It really was just that simple.

I was more than willing to continue the fight at Changsha. It's just that hearing the soldiers from Luoping describing their life back home made me jealous.

They had free healthcare, free higher education, a pension fund, and all kinds of benefits for their citizens.

They even had a hefty death gratuity on top of the existing financial support for widows who remained unmarried and kids until they were adults.

I was fighting in Zhongxiong with almost zero benefits. The only one was death gratuity, which was barely enough to buy a month's worth of food.

Just a month of fighting later. I turned in my resignation letter and headed back home. I told Jieqiong and my parent about my plan to move to Luoping.

Crazily enough, there was zero convincing needed. We sold everything and brought our bikes back to hit the road.

Everyone was more than willing to move. As a matter of fact, we weren't the only ones who wanted to leave for Guangdong.

The roads were filled with people all wanting to head south. Everyone across Hunan had heard how Guangdong was the land of opportunities.

---

We were following the standard route, the one that had been used by thousands, if not millions, of people heading south.

The important part was to avoid Hengyang and Chenzhou, driving around them to avoid coming in contact with zombie hordes.

All we had to do was reach Shaoguan, based on what the mercenary soldiers had told me before I resigned.

Everything was going smoothly... Until it didn't.

It was right in Rucheng County where everything went wrong. Just forty miles away from Shaoguan.

An entire zombie horde suddenly appeared in the distance, forcing us to retreat north down a paved road.

Out of all the times things could go wrong, it turned out a zombie outburst had happened in the eastern part of Guangzhou.

We were stuck at Gaoyue village as our bikes ran out of gas. We had no other way to travel other than on foot.

But with the risk of running into the zombie horde again, we were stuck—a sitting duck with no way of leaving.

All we could do was pray, hoping that the army at Shaoguan would reach this point. Little did we know at the time that the army at Shaoguan could not go outside at all.

Why? Because the majority of the mercenary army at Changsha is supposed to be the army stationed at Shaoguan.

There was never going to be a rescue in the middle of nowhere. A journey that was so short, yet so impossible to get past.

Walking there was just completely out of the story with the risk of zombie horde... Fortunately enough, a car happened to drive by.

A family of four with a sedan. They were fully armed to the teeth when they exited. We quickly realized we might have attracted the wrong people.

Fortunately, they weren't bandits. They were willing to give us a ride as long as we gave them all of our belongings.

With no other choice, we accepted their offer.

They crammed all five of us in the back of their sedan, driving down the road until they dropped us off right at the entrance of the highway to Shaoguan.

I was a little curious why the four of them didn't want to join the settlement, only to get the response that "they didn't want to be judged by society."

The answer confused me as we waved goodbye. After the sedan had driven off, we began walking towards our final destination of the journey.

Shaoguan.

---

The rest of the story? We first got transported to Guangzhou, then we moved to Foshan for better job opportunities.

My dad and Mom are living in a condo without needing to work. Jieqiong and I alone made enough money to support them.

My younger sister went back to school, and Jieqiong was now a part of the civilian government.

Where did I go in all this? I signed up for the army, waiting for my time to be deployed in the 4th Army Corps.

Thank you all for reading this, and special thanks to Luoping Daily for giving me this opportunity to share my story.

Lastly, I hope to get the chance to see you one day, Mr.Governor.

---

As Xiaoyun closed the newspaper, it was already past noon.

Half of the people in the office were gone. Only a few people are still working in front of their computers with food in one hand.

"Finally, I'm done with the story... What an interesting read." Xiaoyun murmured to himself as he put the newspaper onto the table.

With the notebook and pen back inside his jacket, he slowly sat back up before heading over to the elevator.

Inside the car, his mind was thinking back to the story—the collapse of Pingdingshan and the first offensive towards Changsha.

The two disasters almost felt reminiscent, reminding him of what happened when he first tried to fight back against the zombies.

It was the same retreat and the same heavy losses. But the only difference was that his army was about to learn from the mistake and adapt.

All of the opposition against it was suppressed. He was able to unify everyone's voices in Luoping into one voice.

His voice. The voice to keep fighting. One that silenced all opponents and made him the sole speaker.

The crowdless king who wields unlimited power. An iron fist that held both civilians and the military under one.

"You look like a Chuunibyou right now."

As Kate's voice appeared in Xiaoyun's right ear, his face instantly changed back to normal as he started up the car.

"Who taught you that? Ahem, where are you at?" Xiaoyun asked as he drove out of the parking lot.

"Nami taught me it... And I'm right next to you by the way."

Looking over to the passenger seat, a transparent figure slowly appeared as she lowered her head cover.

"When did you enter the car?" Xiaoyun curiously asked.

"When you are sitting in the car idling. I opened the door, and you still just keep staring at the tree over there."

"Oh..."

As his face blushed a little out of embarrassment, he started pressing the gas pedal to drive past the bus.

"Where are we going now?" Kate curiously asked, turning off the invisible cloak completely.

"To clean up the mess Zhongxiong had left us."