Chapter 233 - 200: Bai Yu [Wu Yue]

Chapter 233: Chapter 200: Bai Yu [Wu Yue]

"He really is dense!" Bai Yu thought. She felt a bit happy, yet somewhat sad.

Wu Yue was highly capable and had distinguished himself in battle. Because of this, when General Lin retired and Wu Yue took over as Garrison Officer, the others hadn’t resisted much. After all, they had all braved life and death together.

However, after he took office, everything he had previously demonstrated began to crumble, leading to widespread dissatisfaction today. He sensed this discontent, yet he made no effort or arrangements to unify the ranks.

In times of war, people needed a strong, decisive leader—someone who could lead the charge, forge ahead, and rally everyone to follow orders during critical missions. But in a peaceful transition period, they needed a leader who was gentler and more level-headed, yet still possessed the same rallying power.

Unfortunately, Wu Yue had disappointed them.

Bai Yu exchanged glances with the secretaries; in truth, none of them were genuinely thrilled.

As the Garrison Officer, Wu Yue’s three most crucial secretaries weren’t from his trusted inner circle, yet he made no arrangements to replace them. At the same time, he refused to entrust them with heavy responsibilities. Months after taking office, they were still trapped in the office, reduced to mere clerks.

How hard did someone have to work over the six years since the catastrophe to become the Garrison Officer’s administrative secretary today?

If that hadn’t been the case, how could someone like her—a newcomer from the Defense Army—have gained their loyalty in such a short time? Even if she was highly capable, the ranks certainly didn’t lack strong individuals.

Standing in the corridor, Bai Yu stared at the recommendation form in her hand, a bitter smile surfacing on her lips.

If only General Lin were still here...

She pushed the door open and stepped out. On the training ground, someone she had recently befriended came over and asked in a low voice, "Did it go through?"

"It did," Bai Yu replied bitterly.

But she would rather it hadn’t.

When General Lin was around, the Guard Army had a total of eighteen Garrison Commanders. Seven of them were women, and they all marched to the frontlines without ever shirking their duties.

However, in the two months since General Lin’s retirement, the female commanders had averaged only one field mission each.

This was because General Wu would say, "Let’s take care of our female comrades. This mission is quite dangerous, so let’s have so-and-so go instead."

If a female Garrison Commander fought for the mission herself, he would inevitably assign another Garrison Commander to her team.

Was it considerate? No, it felt like an insult.

The Guard Army’s mission system was designed to ensure maximum efficiency during wartime. Thus, missions for upper-level Garrison Commanders were directly assigned by the Garrison Officer. Now, however, everyone just felt frustrated.

Bai Yu felt frustrated as well.

Whenever she walked into General Wu’s office, her heart would swell with surging ambitions. Her eyes would burn brightly, unable to hide her lust for power.

Because it seemed altogether too easy to grasp.

Yet, her heart would also seethe with anger precisely because it was "easy to grasp." She would wear a smile, but her cheeks would flush red with suppressed rage.

She didn’t even need to hide it, though. The man simply couldn’t comprehend the pure ambition radiating from her; to him, the word "woman" was her biggest defining label.

Now, the higher-ups were preparing to decentralize power by establishing the position of Guard Order to serve as deputy commander. Truth be told, aside from eagerly fighting for the spot, everyone breathed a collective sigh of relief.

Over the past two months, it wasn’t just the female Garrison Commanders who were miserable; the men were suffering too!

Going on missions together was fine, but dispatching Water and Fire Abilities on the same team meant two people deploying, yet their combined combat power only equated to one.

Wu Yue only saw the illustrious military merits they had achieved when collaborating, but he never realized that some Superpower channeling within those achievements required a much stronger Catalyst.

Anyway, Bai Yu let out a long breath. "Let’s all just do our best!"

The man offered a bitter smile. "My recommendation letter still hasn’t been signed!"

Although his combat prowess was slightly inferior to Bai Yu’s, his command and coordination skills were exceptionally outstanding. Yet, since General Lin’s departure, it seemed he had absolutely no place to utilize his talents.

"It doesn’t matter," Bai Yu said, her eyes blazing with fighting spirit. "Since the higher-ups have already started arranging for a deputy commander, they must have noticed the problems too. Our chance has come!"

Her gaze burned with an intense desire to become stronger. "Come on. About that Wood and Fire synergy you mentioned earlier—let’s find someone and practice together!"

***

Huai Yu’s anger came and went quickly. Around noon, she finally let out a long breath and benevolently told Zhou Qian, "We’ve finished planting these sweet potato vines. I’m going to stimulate the growth of the potatoes this afternoon. You’ve worked hard, Brother Zhou Qian, so go get some rest."

She chattered on, "Honestly, aren’t you afraid of the sun? It’s so hot, yet you didn’t even take a break. Do you want to eat meat for lunch? I’ll stew some dried wild pheasant!"

Zhou Qian was speechless. She had already said everything there was to say; what was left for him?

But there was chicken!

So, he simply smiled and said, "Digging up this little bit of land is nothing to me. I’ll go back and take a shower first, then I’ll come over for lunch."

Today’s lunch was braised chicken with potatoes.

The potatoes had been dug up right after their growth was stimulated. Each one was the size of two of Huai Yu’s fists, practically bulging out of the soil.

If she had sprouted them and left them for a few days before stimulating their growth, it wouldn’t be the potatoes that grew larger, but their sprouts.

The pheasant was the spicy dried chicken they had sun-dried previously. Without a refrigerator, this was the most perfect way to preserve it, though using it to braise potatoes meant the meat wouldn’t be as tender.

However, for Zhou Qian and Huai Yu—one who rarely got to eat food with basically zero Mutant Value, and the other who rarely got to eat meat—this was absolute bliss. The two of them held their large bowls and eagerly wolfed down the food, completely satisfied.

But speaking of which...

"If you bring Lin Xuefeng back, are you planning to viciously slap Wu Yue in the face?"

Huai Yu froze, then looked annoyed a moment later. "Why didn’t I think of that!"

But she quickly shook her head. "Forget it! Wu Yue is already the Garrison Officer, and we don’t even know if Lin Xuefeng’s body is in good condition. I’m not going to fight over these things. As long as he’s alive, that’s enough!"

When she wasn’t talking about her ex-boyfriend, she returned to her innocent and romantic self.

Yet, when coupled with the image of those who marched to their deaths in the Wilderness, this innocence carried a bloody cruelty.

Terrified that she might act on impulse, Zhou Qian could only give her a preemptive warning. "You know you can’t just casually stroll into the Wilderness, right?"

The perimeter was heavily guarded.

Unless one had an Explorer certificate or was on an official mission like them, they wouldn’t be let through. After all, there were simply too many reckless people eager to challenge the Wilderness every year, and the nation currently couldn’t afford such a waste of human life.

If it hadn’t been for this restriction, Lin Xuefeng wouldn’t have tried to bypass it through the Rose Corridor on that rainy night.

Huai Yu nodded and stretched lazily. "I know. We’ll cross that bridge when I actually need to go in. There’s bound to be a way."

Thinking of the Rose Corridor, she felt quite confident at the moment.

Zhou Qian paused, then asked, "And you know that once a person’s Mutant Value breaches the critical limit... they basically can’t be saved, right?"

Huai Yu nodded again. "I know.

"But Brother Zhou Qian, you’re being too pessimistic! People are born needing hope. Think boldly! Lin Xuefeng is so amazing—what if he can survive?

"After all, it’s only been six years since the catastrophe. All known facts require a much longer time to be fully confirmed."