Miss Ping, Commander-in-Chief of Operations in City A

After listening to Ping Chengcheng, Lu Linyuan nodded in satisfaction.

Someone who had survived in the apocalypse for so long was simply different.

Lu Linyuan had established this base himself, sheltering many people.

It could be said that many of the people here were incapable of facing the truly cruel apocalypse on their own.

“Everyone.”

Lu Linyuan spoke suddenly, and all discussion ceased.

“Since Miss Ping’s arrival at our base, she first eliminated the Special Infected that breached our walls, and then she provided the target for this operation: the military armory and granary in A City.”

“Furthermore, I believe no one here would object to the statement that she is the most knowledgeable among us about the world outside, correct?”

Lu Linyuan spoke with eloquence and confidence.

Among the people in the hall, some agreed, some were defiant, and some were confused.

“But… no matter what, she’s still just a little girl!”

Ye Yin, the head of the Intelligence Group, stood up resentfully, glaring at Ping Chengcheng.

Originally, he had been the one with the greatest potential to compete for the position of general commander for the A City operation.

As the head of the Intelligence Group, he often personally led teams out to gather information, mapping zombie distribution and assessing dangers around the base.

It could be said that much of the food the scavenging teams collected was due to the efforts of his Intelligence Group.

Therefore, Ye Yin was extremely knowledgeable about the habits of zombies.

Ping Chengcheng was taken aback.

‘Is this guy sick in the head? Have I done anything to provoke him?’

‘This was Lu Linyuan’s own decision. What does it have to do with me?’

“Idiot…” the girl cursed under her breath.

Lu Linyuan looked at Ye Yin coldly.

‘Is he questioning me?’

“Watch your tone.”

“Age and gender are irrelevant. The capable will rise. Any of you who possess her abilities would be qualified for this position!”

“For the commander of this A City operation, I have but one requirement. And you? Tell me, what do you know?”

Ye Yin was choked speechless, his face and neck flushing red.

To be honest, in the three months of the apocalypse, the only Special Infected he had ever seen was the most common type, the Butcher.

In terms of knowledge, he was truly not her equal in the slightest.

In the end, he could only snort coldly with a defiant expression and sit back down.

From Lu Linyuan’s tone, it was obvious he wanted Ping Chengcheng to be the general commander of the operation.

Ye Yin was incredibly defiant, but what could he do? Lu Linyuan’s authority in the base was absolute. As long as he willed it, no one could refute his words.

Thus, Ye Yin didn’t dare to raise any further objections, and could only glare at Ping Chengcheng.

Ping Chengcheng.

Ping Chengcheng felt a bit exasperated, but she was actually somewhat interested in this so-called general commander position for the A City operation.

Of course, that was only because she wanted the operation to end as quickly as possible.

And it would allow her to plan a route to visit the laboratory where she had been reborn.

Drawing on her three years of experience surviving the apocalypse in her past life, and her knowledge of countless Variants and Special Infected, she believed she could steer this operation away from considerable risk.

“Alright, the matter of the general commander for this operation is settled. Ye Yin… you will serve as the deputy commander and help alleviate some of the pressure on Miss Ping. Miss Ping, you have no issue with that, I trust?”

After a moment’s thought, Lu Linyuan still appointed Ye Yin as deputy commander, mainly because he was slightly worried about the girl’s lack of command experience.

Ping Chengcheng grunted in assent.

Under the weight of Lu Linyuan’s authority, even those in the hall who were dissatisfied dared not speak out.

Lu Linyuan did not dwell on the matter, changing the subject to logistics that the base needed to attend to and outlining the personnel who would participate in the operation.

All in all, four hundred combat personnel would remain to guard the base, while one hundred would be mobilized for the operation.

They were specifically from the Scavenging Group, the Intelligence Group, the Patrol Team, and the Emergency Strike Team.

The Patrol Team and the Scavenging Group were the largest, making up more than half the total number.

The Intelligence Group and the Emergency Strike Team were the smallest, with fewer than a hundred members combined, but all of them were elite personnel.

“There is one more thing,” Lu Linyuan continued.

“Lao Gao, come up.”

He said calmly.

From the front row, Lao Gao—clad in a white lab coat and glasses, with a strange smile plastered on his face—ran quickly to the foot of the dais to face the crowd.

“I won’t waste time with a lengthy introduction. Hello everyone, I am Lao Gao, chief scientist of the Research Department.”

“After a great deal of hard work… the exoskeleton armor we have been researching for so long has finally seen a brand-new breakthrough!”

“Currently, we have produced a total of thirty sets of exoskeleton armor to be distributed to the teams participating in the A City operation!”

His expression was ecstatic, his face animated with excitement. When he looked at Ping Chengcheng, he gave her a quick wink.

The suit of exoskeleton armor he had given her a while ago was still the best; he had used the thigh bones of an Egg-Laying One to craft its components, increasing its performance by a third compared to the other suits!

Upon hearing Lao Gao’s announcement, the entire hall instantly erupted in an uproar.

Exoskeleton armor?!

Many of the team leader-level personnel had never even heard the term and were now whispering amongst themselves, trying to get information.

Those at the captain and minister levels, however, remained calm. They had heard of this long ago; the project had just been kept highly confidential.

The meeting concluded.

Ping Chengcheng’s Third Squad was allocated two sets of exoskeleton armor, which had already been transported back to the villa.

But Ping Chengcheng didn’t need one herself. She figured she would give one to Wu Sheng and the other to Zheng Zhiyi.

Of course, she didn’t really want to give one to Zheng Zhiyi, but it would be a waste not to use it, so she might as well.

The personnel in the hall began to file out in an orderly fashion, the girl still the center of attention as members of many departments watched her with curiosity.

Just when Ping Chengcheng thought she could leave, Lu Linyuan called out to her again.

The girl turned back, puzzled. “What is it, General Commander?”

Everyone nearby looked over curiously.

Why was the General Commander calling this girl over again?

Lu Linyuan nodded to Ping Chengcheng. “Come with me for a moment.”

He turned and walked toward a small meeting room inside the main hall.

Curious, Ping Chengcheng followed.

Inside the room, a single syringe lay on a long conference table.

Ping Chengcheng looked at Lu Linyuan, her gaze questioning.

Lu Linyuan explained, “As you know, I am also a Variant.”

“This is an inhibitor developed by the biotechnology team. It can suppress the bloodthirsty urges to a certain extent. Of course, the duration is a bit short, but it can be used in emergencies.”

Ping Chengcheng raised an eyebrow.

“Thank you.”

She took it from the table without ceremony and stuffed it into her pocket.

Lu Linyuan’s tone was probing as he asked, “How did you suppress your bloodthirsty urges before?”

Ping Chengcheng was growing impatient; she wanted to get home quickly. “Before… in the beginning, I rarely had those urges.”

“It was only when I first entered the base, when Xiao Lie forced me to drink some human blood to test if I was a Variant, that the bloodlust became truly pronounced.”

“Lately, I’ve been drinking blood to control the urges.”

Lu Linyuan was shocked. ‘Drinking blood? Does she kill people and then drink their blood?’

Ping Chengcheng saw through Lu Linyuan’s thoughts, scoffed, and turned to open the door of the small meeting room. “I don’t know where the blood came from. Your daughter gave it to me.”

The girl turned and left.

Lu Linyuan’s expression was complicated.

‘Never mind… as long as it’s under control, it doesn’t matter.’