Chapter 882: A Cakewalk Victory

As a scout team was sent inside Macao to explore, it went much better than Xiaoyun had ever imagined.

There were barely any zombies.

Only a few were stuck inside their own room and apartments, which was easily taken care of as the army marched into the city.

When the scouting party encountered a survivor in one of the casinos, he was soon brought to the only settlement that remained in the city.

A one-hundred-person survival group who lived mostly off expired food and rationed goods.

It turned out those who chose to stay behind in secret had relatively untapped lives, as in, they lived normally without the fear of zombies at all.

The lack of electricity, running water, and a few occasional zombies that wandered across the bridges were the only issues they faced.

There was more than enough expired food and bottles of water for them to live almost indefinitely, regardless of whether they were discovered one day.

All one hundred of the people in the survival group were shocked to learn that the outside world was much worse than they had imagined.

They were still imagining a rescue one day. The military coming in one day to carry them off into some sort of safe zone.

After meeting the leader of the small survival group, Xiaoyun quickly reached an agreement to permanently incorporate the city into one of their settlement.

The only demand they made was for him to repair the electric station and restore running water, which was done within a day by a single repair team from Luoping.

Everything was going smoothly as the operation came to an end. An overwhelming success, as the newspaper puts it.

One that cemented Xiaoyun’s legacy as an ’effective’ commander, even as Xiaoyun himself felt like he didn’t do much in terms of actual work.

The sheer territorial expansion under his lead was undeniable. A near-full liberation of the Pearl River Delta.

With only one last city in the way.

---

Saturday.

"Sorry, Jixi, I really didn’t expect the army to clear Zhuhai this fast... I really meant to give you this chance to lead as a General."

"It’s okay, sir..."

As Xiaoyun and Jixi both stood inside the HQ tent, it was their last day in Zhuhai before heading back to Luoping.

"You know, I was thinking. With Zhuhai cleared, someone still has to lead the army to work alongside Han Bang and Yezi in the east."

"Commander..."

"Yiming is too old to go. I think somebody who’s been working with him the longest deserves a chance to prove themselves."

"Thank you, sir!"

"Not so fast. It’s going to be a while before we have enough supply to support three different Army corps with ongoing operations.

For now, you and your troops are going to head back to Luoping and sit for a bit... Yiming will draft the next stage of the battle."

"Yes, sir!"

"Good. You can leave now."

As Jixi exited the tent, a face immediately emerged from the back as Houqin stepped into the spotlight.

"Xiaoyun, why are you promising him a promotion? This whole operation had burnt through three months’ worth of ammo."

"That’s not my problem. Yiming can deal with it."

Seeing Xiaoyun let out an evil smirk, Houqin felt a chill down her spine as she took a seat next to him.

"He’s going to be really annoyed by your decision."

"Too bad he’s not going on a trip. That’s what he gets for retiring early... Anyway, you ready to leave?"

"I have been waiting for you to say this."

---

Sunday.

"Hello everyone, and welcome to the Midnight Current. If you haven’t noticed, we are having a tiny-tidy early morning episode today.

But that’s not important. What’s really important is... Let’s give a warm applause to the one and only, Governor Chen!"

As the audience down below started clapping, Xiaoyun emerged from behind the doors as he waved his hand.

There were cameras mounted everywhere, with armed police officers standing near the exit and soldiers sitting in the front rows.

"Sorry to have you show up on our show on the first day back from your trip. I’m sure you want to be at home with your family instead."

"No problem. I chose to come here myself."

As Xiaoyun sat on a comfy leather sofa, the news host was sitting behind a desk with a handful of notecards in hand.

"I’m sure I don’t need to introduce him to any of you, but to those currently listening in to the morning radio, we have Mr.Governor on the show today.

Good morning, Governor. I’m sure you had taken a pretty bumpy ride back to Guangzhou today."

"Yeah, it was pretty bumpy."

As the audience let out a small chuckle, the host continued.

"Now, Governor, do I need to explain the rules to you again? Have you been watching our show?"

"Just bring in the questions, Liang Han... I’m actually curious what people want to ask me about early in the morning."

"Ahem, that’s after the first rapid-fire session... Anyway, I’m honored you remembered my name. Are you ready for the burning questions?"

"Of course."

"Very well."

Music started to play as a large display appeared on the big screen behind them, showing the questions in a line.

"First question, Governor Xiaoyun, last week, you mentioned a trip to the capital. Can we ask what day you’ll be going?"

"The 30th. Four days from now."

"2nd question: on a scale of one to ten, with ten being the most... How much do you hate Paparazzi?"

"Ten." Xiaoyun instantly answered.

"I definitely agree with that. I was sweating when I saw your interview last Sunday, Mr.Governor."

As the host took a sip of water, Xiaoyun remained calm, barely affected by the question that had been fired at him.

"Now for the last easy freebie, Governor, how old are you?"

"When did you become the paparazzi?" Xiaoyun jokingly asks back.

"My daughter actually asked me to ask this question... Just as a reminder, you don’t have to answer if you don’t feel like it."

"Am I allowed to say forever eighteen?"

"If that’s your answer." Liang Han answers back, not daring to pressure Xiaoyun in the slightest.

"Then I’m twenty-one. Twenty-two? I’m not sure, but it’s close to that range." Xiaoyun answered.

"Well, that answer certainly excited a few of the women in the audience... Ahem, now on to more difficult questions."

Xiaoyun could see the host swapping his cards as Xiaoyun took a deep breath and mentally prepared himself.

"Governor, how was your trip to Zhuhai?"

"That was supposed to be a hard question?" Xiaoyun rolled his eyes as he looked back at the host in disbelief.

"Oh, it’s going to get harder. Don’t worry.... So how was your trip, Governor?"

"It went extremely well. Quite frankly, it went so well that I wasn’t even prepared to come back so early to talk with you." ℯℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮

"Thank you... Now the next question... Governor, could you definitively say Zhuhai is now safe?"

"I can drive there with no bodyguards. Assuming you don’t go hopping on some zombie-infested cruise or island."

"You heard it here, folks. Definitely don’t go to those places... Now, Governor, the next few questions might be considered classified.

So please only answer within whatever you feel is comfortable. I’m not trying to get into trouble or anything."

"No problem."

"First, Governor, why was Zhuhai so fast? Is there any explanation for such a rapid advancement?"

"Hmm..."

Xiaoyun paused for a bit, pretending to think before speaking up again.

"Well, the soldiers were fighting hard. They deserve all the credit for how fast the operation managed to go.

Secondly, the operation used a lot of helicopters. I can’t disclose how we used them, but it was relatively effective for its debut run.

Lastly, it’s a new Army Corps. The new soldiers want to prove themselves on the battlefield with more than capable officers.

If you look down here, I actually brought a few who had just been recently promoted for their heroic actions to save their comrades in difficult situations."

As the camera panned to the front, the soldiers quickly waved their hands with warm smiles on their faces.

"Thank you for your service."

Liang Han and the audience immediately started clapping louder and louder, with no signs of slowing down until their hands got tired.

"Now for the last question we have on hand... Governor, as you know, you had promoted your wife to be the temporary governor in your place while you’re gone.

How would you argue against the accusation of nepotism, and those who say she had been elevated due to her position as your wife?"

"That’s definitely a hard question, alright..." Xiaoyun murmured as he wiped his forehead for invisible sweat.

"You don’t have to answer if you don’t want to."

"That’s the first time I’ve heard bad advice from your show, Liang Han." Xiaoyun jokingly answered.

As the audience let out their laughter, the time finally gave enough room for Xiaoyun to come up with a satisfactory answer.