124: Chapter 124 Jiang Jiuyou "got on the bus"?

Iron Wall walked to a distance of twenty meters and stood still.

He cleared his throat and spoke in his usual officer's tone:

"Mr. Chen, the threat of the Bishop of Ashes in Sector 068 is imminent. I believe we should focus on the big picture—"

"What is the big picture?" Chen Chen interrupted him.

Iron Wall was stunned for a beat.

"Establishing a joint command center to integrate all combat power in Sector 069. I have fifty armored vehicles and one hundred and thirty formally trained soldiers who can temporarily serve as—"

"Wanbing."

Shen Wanbing raised her hand.

A holographic projection popped out from her command terminal, unfolding a huge data panel in mid-air.

Crimson system fonts floated above everyone's heads, clear as day.

[Second Map Ranking Mechanism: Faction Comprehensive Value]

[Evaluation Dimensions: Population, Territory Area, Vehicle Quantity and Quality, Total Resource Reserves, Average Level of Core Members]

Shen Wanbing's voice spread to every corner of the field through the vehicle's loudspeaker.

"The second map is no longer ranked by individual combat power. The top-ranked will be the faction with the most population and territory. In other words—"

She pushed up her glasses.

"Lone wolves and scattered soldiers are at a dead end."

The crowd was in an uproar.

Iron Wall's expression changed.

The "joint command" rhetoric he had prepared had its foundation pulled out by this information.

Because joint command implied equal negotiation.

But Faction Comprehensive Value meant—whoever was the boss would have the higher ranking.

Everyone else would just be working for the boss.

"Where did this information come from?"

A bald, burly man stepped out from the independent convoy, his voice loud.

"Who knows if it's true or false? Why should we—"

Snap.

An extremely soft gunshot, flattened by a silencer.

A Gauss projectile shot out from the second-floor firing window of the Ghost Fortress, grazing the bald man's scalp.

The airflow overturned the few remaining hairs on his head.

Five hundred meters away, a ten-ton weathered boulder was pierced head-on by the projectile.

The rock didn't shatter—it was directly pierced, its center evaporated, and the remaining rock body collapsed with a roar after losing support, splashing a three-meter-high cloud of gravel and dust.

The bald man's legs went weak.

Behind him, seven or eight independent leaders who had stepped forward all shrunk back half a step in unison.

Qin Hongye's cold voice crashed down through the loudspeaker.

"Within two thousand meters, I hit wherever I point. If anyone else has an opinion—"

The sound of the bolt being pulled was faithfully amplified tenfold by the loudspeaker.

"—I'll listen to you through my scope."

Dead silence.

Not one of the two hundred people dared to make a sound.

Even the hands of the four guards behind Iron Wall moved away from their guns.

Jiang Jiuyou stood two meters behind Chen Chen, her ice-blue pupils scanning the area.

She took a step forward.

Her silver-white hair was brushed behind her ear by the wind, revealing her extremely aggressive, cold face with phoenix eyes.

Her military boots clicked on the gravel, drawing everyone's attention.

"Jiang Clan Secret Department: forty talent holders, nineteen vehicles—"

"As of now, the entire unit accepts incorporation by Chen Chen."

The crowd exploded again.

The second-ranked person in Sector 069, the controller of the Jiang Consortium's Secret Department, announced her submission in front of everyone.

Iron Wall's face turned ashen.

Jiang Jiuyou didn't look at him and continued: "The Secret Department will retain its independent organization and operational autonomy, but strategic decisions and resource allocation will all be decided by Chen Chen alone."

She tilted her head and glanced at Chen Chen.

"I personally—am only responsible to you."

Beautiful.

Chen Chen gave her a score in his heart.

By retreating to advance, she both preserved the integrity of the Secret Department and beat Iron Wall to the punch in showing loyalty.

The merit of being the first to follow the new leader was hers.

Iron Wall's Adam's apple bobbed three times.

He glanced at the more than one hundred sallow and emaciated soldiers behind him, then looked at the matrix on the roof of the Ghost Fortress emitting a faint blue light.

"...The military remnants, all will be merged in."

Seven words.

Each word seemed to be squeezed out from between his back teeth.

Chen Chen nodded.

"Three rules."

He didn't raise his voice, but the vehicle's loudspeaker delivered his voice to the ears of everyone present.

"First, resources are to be unified and handed over, to be distributed by Shen Wanbing."

"Second, absolute obedience to allocation, regardless of your previous status."

"Third—"

He patted the void-rending ship-slaying blade at his waist.

"Those who disobey will be killed."

The words landed.

No one spoke.

Chen Chen tilted his chin toward Shen Wanbing.

Shen Wanbing turned and walked toward the expansion bay of the Ghost Fortress.

The bay door opened, and the things piled inside were clearly seen by the people outside—

Cases of pure water.

high-level mutant meat steaks stacked like walls.

Energy bars, nutrient solutions, military rations—packed full, stacked from floor to ceiling.

An independent survivor, so thin his cheekbones protruded, swallowed hard with a "gulp."

He hadn't had a full meal for three days.

Chen Chen scanned the people whose eyes were turning green with hunger.

"Those who are obedient will be fed until they are full."

Someone knelt.

One, two, then dozens.

A large group in the independent convoy knelt first, followed by the ordinary military soldiers—they knew better than anyone what it was like to fight on an empty stomach.

Iron Wall closed his eyes.

"Register in groups and receive today's ration quota according to convoy number."

Shen Wanbing's voice was clear and efficient, and the holographic panel of the command console had already switched to the personnel organization chart. "All team captains, report to me within half an hour."

The meeting broke up.

No, it didn't break up—it was settled.

From this moment on, the order of Sector 069 had only one center.

Chen Chen stood in front of the Ghost Fortress, looking at the dense crowd of people lining up for rations below.

"Jiang Jiuyou."

Jiang Jiuyou was about to walk toward her own convoy.

Hearing her name, her footsteps paused for a beat.

"Get in."

Two words.

Jiang Jiuyou turned around, her ice-blue pupils meeting Chen Chen's.

She didn't ask why.

Her military boots stepped on the boarding ramp as she walked into the Ghost Fortress step by step.

Warm air blew against her face.

The constant 24-degree air was wrapped in a faint scent of meat and metal cleaner. The leather sofa shimmered with a soft luster under the cold LED lights, and a holographic command console floated with a real-time heat source distribution map of Sector 069.

Jiang Jiuyou's footsteps slowed by half a beat.

The best vehicle in her Secret Department convoy, a B-rank modified off-roader, couldn't even boast a complete seat cushion in its cabin.

Jiang Yanxue leaned on the sofa, her dark red pupils scanning Jiang Jiuyou as the Shadow Instant-Kill Blade resting on her knees shifted direction.

Su Xiaoqi popped her head out from behind a storage box, her mouth stuffed with meat steak, and mumbled, "The silver-haired big sister is here again!"

Blood Rose leaned back in a corner of the sofa and raised an eyebrow.

Jiang Jiuyou ignored everyone.

Her gaze swept across the first floor, finally landing on the stairs leading to the upper levels.

"Fourth floor," Chen Chen's voice drifted down from above the stairs.

Jiang Jiuyou tugged at the collar of her military coat and walked up the stairs.

Passing the second floor—the quilt on the c-rank mental soothing bed wasn't folded, and there were long hairs of two different colors on the pillow.

Passing the third floor—the refinery and manufacturing station took up half the bay, and the air still held the burnt smell of metal after high-temperature forging.

Fourth floor.

A 360-degree panoramic observation window.

The entire Gobi Desert was in full view.

The crowd lining up for rations below looked like ants, and Iron Wall's armored convoy looked like toys.

Chen Chen sat in the driver's seat, one leg resting on the edge of the control console, spinning a mid-tier vehicle core in his hand.

Jiang Jiuyou stepped onto the final stair.

Inside the pilot tower, the two of them were less than two meters apart.