Zhāng 70

Paige took the cup of tea Commander Ye handed her. She blew on it but didn't drink it.

She had just eaten breakfast before coming, so she wasn't hungry or thirsty.

"Refusing was a good choice. I'm not planning to transfer for now," Paige said.

Where else could someone get two salaries without having to work?

Even though she wasn't short on money—she had donated enough to the military base to equal several lifetimes of salary—it still felt good.

Besides, the higher the position, the bigger the responsibility.

She was planning to take it easy, so how could she be a high-ranking officer? Having a high-ranking officer protect her was good enough.

With someone in front to handle things, she didn't have to deal with all the small issues.

"Just came here for that? If there's nothing else, I'll leave now. Haven't seen those brats in a while. I wonder if they've made any progress. I did give them some tasks last time."

Paige finished speaking and got ready to leave.

"Don't be in such a rush. There's more I want to tell you," Commander Ye said, stopping her.

"Speaking of those kids, they've actually improved quite a bit. Before, running ten kilometers a day would have them howling. Now that your name is hanging over their heads, they carry weight and run more than ten kilometers without complaint.

Hahaha!"

Commander Ye laughed, thinking about the constipated expressions those rookies had when they heard Paige's name.

He didn't expect that after only one day at work, Paige would already have such influence.

But remembering how she could fight tens of thousands on her own, he couldn't help but feel a little intimidated.

Luckily, she was on their side.

Commander Ye pulled his drifting thoughts back and said to Paige:

"Because you reclaimed many cities, the top leaders sent a lot of troops to help guard them. I mentioned that before, right?"

Paige nodded. She knew.

"Many rookies from Jinling City were sent out for field training, and a lot of other troops were added in as well.

They're experienced officers sent down to help defend the cities with us."

Commander Ye carefully chose his words.

Paige looked confused. "Experienced officers? Then why aren't they at the frontlines? Isn't this city the last line of defense?

They sent rookies to the frontlines and kept experienced ones in the rear? Which idiot came up with that?

And your leaders actually agreed? If they make decisions like this, better change the whole leadership. They'll ruin everything."

Commander Ye was speechless for a moment. Clearly, this powerful expert didn't understand how the real world worked.

Nowadays, it's hard to get things done without some connections.

Commander Ye smiled and said, "They're not really that experienced. They've just got a lot of theory knowledge, but not much field practice.

The higher-ups were worried that if they got sent to the front too fast, they'd crack under pressure and mess things up. So, they were sent here first to get used to things."

"But the frontlines aren't intense right now, right? That means it's a good time for practice.

They're wasting time just sitting around back here," Paige said with disdain.

If they were afraid to die, just admit it. No need to make up so many excuses.

Commander Ye saw that Paige still didn't quite get the situation, so he said directly, "That guy you scolded on the street yesterday?

His dad is one of the top guys' close aides. He just graduated from military school and thinks too highly of himself.

If you run into him again, try not to start any more conflicts. Just consider it a favor to the Commander and to me. We still need to give his father some respect."

If Paige's true identity weren't a secret, things wouldn't be this awkward. But for now, they could only rely on her official cover.

And for a chief instructor who works two days and slacks off for twenty, it doesn't sound too convincing when said out loud.

Also, when people say that most of Hormel City was taken down by Paige alone, most don't believe it.

When did conquering a city become something a single person could do?

So, a lot of people firmly believed that Commander Ye was lying.

They figured Paige was just like everyone else, giving a few commands and getting lucky with a big win.

They thought anyone could've given those orders and done just as well.

That's when Paige finally realized—so this guy isn't just afraid of dying, he also has someone backing him up.

Even in the apocalypse, there's power struggles at the top. After all, everyone wants more authority and influence.

But when it comes to fighting PN Soldiers, they never get confused.

Whenever the base is in danger, everyone drops their differences and fights the outside threat together.

So what's going on now?

The PN Soldiers have already invaded, and yet their own people are still fighting over power?

If there's no territory and no people left, what's the point of having power?

To be a commander with no troops?

Paige couldn't understand it and felt like her entire worldview had been reset.

Forget it. After all, this world is made up of people. No matter how messy things get, at least there won't be zombies.

Maybe people here just think differently than she does.

Since that's the case, why bother pushing it?

"Fine. As long as that guy doesn't mess with me, I won't bother with him," Paige agreed.

"Then I'll be on my way."

This time, Paige walked off without even looking back.

Commander Ye let out a sigh. He didn't want it to be like this either, but being in the system meant he had to follow the rules.

Paige wasn't exactly furious. After all, she didn't have deep emotional ties to this world yet.

As for the ones she wanted to protect, there were only a few. No matter how chaotic the world got, she'd keep them safe.

So Paige headed to the training ground to check the results of their recent training.

"Same rule as always. Either I climb or you do," Paige stood on the platform, took off her jacket, and started warming up.

The soldiers below started groaning the moment they saw her.

"Reporting! This isn't fair," one soldier bravely spoke up.

It was obvious that all of them together still couldn't beat Paige. This wasn't just a beating, it was humiliation too.

"What's unfair? You think ganging up on me is wrong? I don't care," Paige replied casually.

New recruits: You don't care, but we do.

"Reporting, instructor... how about we change the rules?

Last time, all of us lasted two rounds against you.

If we can last three this time, can we skip the punishment of crawling out?" a soldier asked timidly.

"So, after all this training, this is the only progress you've made?" Paige said, clearly unimpressed.

"Reporting, instructor, it's because you're too strong. No matter how hard we train, we still can't beat you," one soldier quietly tried to flatter her.

"No one is unbeatable. If you can't win, it just means you haven't worked hard enough," Paige didn't buy the compliment.

Even if it was true, everyone here was just human. Just because you lost once doesn't mean you should give up.

"Instructor, no matter how good a person is, they can't compare to hot weapons.

The gap between us and you is like the difference between a person and a hot weapon — it's impossible to cross.

You're that strong, but could you survive an attack from a hot weapon?

No matter how strong we get, if we get shot, we still die," someone said loudly.