Line up before the battle

“What’s the rush? There’s still plenty of time today.” Ping Chengcheng responded, displeased.

‘What’s his problem? Did he wake up on the wrong side of the bed?’ Ping Chengcheng hadn’t even provoked him.

Seemingly aware that his tone had been out of line, Ye Yin paused for a moment.

“As the general commander of this operation, you must attend today’s assembly.”

The girl pursed her lips. “Do I need you to teach me what to do?”

After speaking, Ping Chengcheng ignored him.

Ye Yin gritted his teeth, his hand tightening around the walkie-talkie in his palm.

‘Damn… this girl!’ He put down the walkie-talkie, unwilling to concede.

At the main gate of the city wall, thirty military trucks were lined up in a long column. Ye Yin, clad in exoskeleton armor, stood atop the cab of the foremost truck.

Personnel from various departments bustled around, moving supplies and military equipment. He let out a cold snort.

“Pick up the pace! Once you’re all done, go and collect the new Special Infected handbooks being distributed by the base.”

His gaze swept over the crowd, landing on a small girl mixed in with the combat personnel, panting as she struggled to carry a crate of rifle ammunition.

It was the same vendor girl from whom Ping Chengcheng had bought a gift by the roadside.

Qian Yu had been moving supply crates for a full two hours and was starting to feel dizzy.

Her breaths came in heavy gasps, a ringing sound seemed to linger in her ears, and Qian Yu’s movements grew increasingly sluggish.

“Hey, you over there, the kid.” A grating male voice came from above Qian Yu, startling her into freezing on the spot. ‘Who?’

She looked up and saw Ye Yin standing on the roof of the military truck, clad in high-tech exoskeleton armor.

She didn’t know Ye Yin, but she knew about the exoskeleton armor. She had heard there were only thirty sets in the entire base. Qian Yu felt that anyone who could wear one had to be a person of great importance—someone she could never hope to interact with.

At this thought, Qian Yu felt a little scared. “Um, what is it?”

Ye Yin’s stare was fierce, reminding Qian Yu of the expression worn by a certain type of person. She bit her lip, watching him cautiously.

Ye Yin let out another cold snort.

“Little brat, get over to the side and rest. Don’t get in the way. If you drop those supplies, you can forget about dinner tonight!”

Qian Yu was stunned for a moment, then nodded blankly.

“Okay, thank you.”

Ye Yin paid the girl no more mind. He stood on the truck, gazing distractedly at the tall city gate, muttering to himself.

“They’re really… letting just anyone in…”

He was in a foul mood, and his thoughts returned to that Ping Chengcheng.

“Ping Chengcheng… tsk… after everything I’ve done for this base…”

Suddenly, a curious girl’s voice piped up. “Um, are you talking about Sister Ping Chengcheng?”

Ye Yin looked down irritably at Qian Yu, who stood beside the truck. She was only about thirty centimeters taller than the tire.

“Little brat, why are you still here? Don’t you want to rest?”

Qian Yu shook her head. “No, it’s just that I thought I heard you, mister, talking about Sister Ping.”

Ye Yin let out a laugh. “Oh? You know her too?”

“Do you think she’s fit to be the general commander of this operation?”

Qian Yu thought about it seriously, and her eyes quickly filled with admiration. “Of course! Didn’t you see the news from the Media Department today?”

“During yesterday’s pre-battle meeting, the base’s general commander expressed great confidence in Sister Ping!”

“Hehe… and our base’s general commander is great, too. I think he said something like… in our base, gender, age, none of that matters. The capable will rise!”

Qian Yu beamed brightly, but Ye Yin’s expression turned ugly.

“But that Ping Chengcheng is just a little brat herself, not much older than you, you know?”

‘And… after all the contributions he had made to the base, he was being outshone by a girl who just arrived?’

Qian Yu blinked. “But… I heard Sister Ping knows a lot about all the different monsters and environments in the apocalypse. Shouldn’t that make her well-suited to be the operation commander?”

Ye Yin gave a cold laugh and leaped down from the three-meter-high roof of the military truck, his armored boots landing heavily on the ground with a loud clang.

“Do you know who I am? I’m…”

His towering figure loomed over Qian Yu, making her gulp and take a fearful step back.

Just then, a sudden cry of alarm erupted from the personnel moving supplies behind them, causing Ye Yin to look back in annoyance. His eyes then widened in astonishment.

An off-road truck, exuding the menacing aura of a savage beast and modified with an enormous spike on its front, was driving toward them.

Black plate armor added to its ferocious demeanor.

Ye Yin frowned. ‘How have I never seen this vehicle before? Who’s inside?’ Logically, there was no way he wouldn’t know about such an eye-catching custom vehicle! Unless…

‘This is its debut, fresh from the engineering team?’

The Kamaz came to a steady halt at the head of the convoy. Only then did Ye Yin get a closer look, and it wasn’t until he spotted a small Red Bull sticker on the rear, not completely covered by the black plating, that he recognized the truck’s model.

His heart jolted. ‘A Kamaz!’

Ye Yin knew there was a Kamaz owner in the base who had been trying to sell his vehicle ever since the S City base was established. For a time, he had been quite envious of the high-performance off-road truck, but the price was simply too steep…

Ye Yin was merely a minor supervisor in the Armed Operations Department. Forking over dozens of bags of rice all at once would have been a crippling expense.

Who had acquired this vehicle? Cheng Ye, the captain of the Patrol Team? Or Wang Ji, the captain of the Emergency Strike Team?

‘They must have really paid a fortune.’

‘Damn… I’ll have to find some time to ask to borrow it, take it for a spin!’

As he looked at the truck, a feeling of envy involuntarily welled up inside him.

As he was guessing, the rear cabin door opened, and a girl’s delicate yet lively voice rang out. “Hello there, Head of the Intelligence Group, Ye Yin.”

Hearing this voice, Ye Yin’s eyes nearly popped out of his head.

‘No way!’

“This is your truck?” Ye Yin asked in disbelief.

Ping Chengcheng tilted her head. She was standing in the doorway of the cabin, her arm linked with Song Ning’s.

“That’s right. Is there a problem?”

“Where did you get so much food to trade with that guy for it!?” Ye Yin refused to believe it! He was the head of the Intelligence Group! Was he really less wealthy than this girl!?

He couldn’t accept it!

Ping Chengcheng let out an understanding “Oh.”

“It was simple. On the way to the S City base, I just cleaned out the warehouse of a farmhouse restaurant.”

Only then did Ye Yin remember that rule: supplies gathered by survivors while outside the walls did not need to be turned over to the base.

“Hmph… Fine. Since you’re here, then, our general commander, do you have any suggestions for this operation?”

Ye Yin changed the subject.

Qian Yu, who was standing in front of Ye Yin, saw Ping Chengcheng and immediately began to jump with excitement. “Sister Ping!”

“Oh, right! I heard earlier… that during yesterday’s pre-battle meeting, the head of some… Ye Yin’s Intelligence Group, or something, didn’t seem happy about you being the general commander.”

“How despicable! You came all the way from a dangerous place like A City! Besides, you know so much about all those strange monsters. I saw in the handbook that you’re credited as the discoverer for most of the Special Infected!”

Qian Yu chattered on, her eyes sparkling like stars.

Ye Yin stood there, his face completely devoid of expression, but the fist encased in his exoskeleton armor was clenched as tightly as it could be.