After the soldier left, Yang Bin took a stroll around the entire base.
Fang Sijie would be running things eventually, but Yang Bin couldn't just offer zero input. That would make him look low-class.
The military base wasn't perfect by any stretch, but there were plenty of things worth borrowing.
One lap around, and he'd picked up quite a few ideas.
Afterward, Yang Bin headed straight for the central management office.
He wanted to see how the supply distribution process worked.
The base center was nothing like Ma Zhongguo's setup. Ma Zhongguo's core zone was private territory. Here, the center actually served the people living in the base.
But just as he arrived, a voice rang out beside him.
"Captain!?"
Yang Bin looked over, puzzled-and immediately saw a stunningly beautiful face lit up with surprise.
"Don't call me captain. You're not on my team."
"Didn't you say I could be a substitute first? Substitutes are still team members, so calling you captain is fine, right?" Lin Yifei said, unable to hide her excitement.
"Captain, why are you suddenly here? Did you finally decide to join us? I'll arrange the best quarters for you immediately."
"Relax. I'm not here to move in. I came to pass along a message." Yang Bin said flatly.
"We killed Ma Zhongguo. Things are a mess over at that base now. You guys should go take over."
"!!!"
"You actually killed Ma Zhongguo!?" Lin Yifei's eyes went wide, shock written across her face.
"Why's that surprising? I told you last time-if he came at me again, I'd put him down."
"Unfortunately, the idiot sent Wang family guys with rocket launchers to blast me the very next day."
"So. I put him down."
"......"
This guy just described something that massive like he was talking about the weather!?
That was Ma Zhongguo. The leader of Star City's largest faction. And he made it sound like wringing a chicken's neck.
Lin Yifei stared hard at Yang Bin, searching his expression for something-anything.
She found nothing. His eyes hadn't changed at all. Still that same lazy, unbothered look, as if killing Ma Zhongguo genuinely ranked somewhere between a minor errand and a mild inconvenience.
"Can you come with me? This is too big. I need to discuss it with Regiment Commander Zhao and the others." Lin Yifei's tone turned earnest.
"Nah, you go talk to them. Message delivered. Whether you act on it is your call. I've gotta head back."
"Then... can you wait for me? I'll bring some things over."
Hearing this, Yang Bin figured she felt bad about him running all this way and wanted to make sure he didn't leave empty-handed.
"Sure, I can do that." Yang Bin nodded.
This woman. Knows how the game works.
"Great. Go sit in the hall over there for a bit. I'll be quick."
"Cool. Oh-one more thing, since you're being so reasonable about this. If the military takes over that base, evacuate Star City as soon as possible. Too many zombies here. You can't hold it." Yang Bin said abruptly.
Lin Yifei paused, then nodded with weight behind it.
"Understood. I'll pass that along."
She turned and strode toward the meeting hall at the base center, simultaneously ordering soldiers to notify Regiment Commander Zhao and the other officers to assemble immediately.
Ma Zhongguo was dead. News like that was a bombshell.
The military had to move fast.
At the meeting hall, it wasn't long before Zhao Hu and several other military leaders filed in.
"Miss Lin, you called us here in a hurry. What's going on?" Zhao Hu spoke first.
"Something critical."
"Ma Zhongguo is dead."
"What!?" Every pair of eyes in the room locked onto Lin Yifei.
"Where did you get this? Is the source reliable?" Zhao Hu's expression hardened.
"The source is reliable. He wouldn't travel all this way to joke about something like this." Lin Yifei said evenly.
"Miss Lin-who is 'he'?"
"Star Fall Squad captain. Yang Bin."
"Him!?"
"Are you saying Ma Zhongguo's death was his doing?"
"Yes."
"......"
"Miss Lin, it's not that we doubt you. But you know as well as we do-that base has tens of thousands of Evolvers. How could a handful of people possibly kill Ma Zhongguo?"
"If it were anyone else, maybe not. But them-I believe it." Lin Yifei's voice carried absolute certainty.
"This..."
"Regiment Commander Zhao, what's your take?"
"I trust Miss Lin's judgment. But the stakes here are enormous. Miss Lin, is he still on base? I'd like to meet him. Ask him directly." Zhao Hu said.
"He's here. But when I invited him just now, he declined. He probably doesn't want deep involvement with you. I'd suggest not approaching him-it'll only make him pull back further."
"I can personally guarantee this is real. He's not the type to use a lie that flimsy. It's beneath him."
"Then why come tell us at all?"
"He wants us to take over the official base. Ma Zhongguo's death has thrown it into chaos. If no one steps in quickly, over a hundred thousand survivors could become collateral damage."
"This..."
The room shifted. People straightened in their seats.
"Miss Lin, what exactly are you proposing?"
"Take everyone. Move immediately. That base is more than ten times the size of this one, and the supply stores are far richer. It's better in every way."
"More importantly-over a hundred thousand survivors. That's the real resource. Ma Zhongguo was too selfish. He only invested in his own inner circle and left the rest to rot."
"If we don't repeat his mistakes-if we distribute crystals to those survivors and push for universal evolution-that becomes an overwhelming force."
"Easy to say." An older regiment commander frowned. "But what if this is fabricated? What if Ma Zhongguo set this up as bait? We march everyone over there and walk straight into a trap."
"Ma Zhongguo doesn't have the pull to make that man act in someone else's play. I've said it-I guarantee this. Trust me on it." Lin Yifei's tone left no room for debate.
"Alright. I believe Miss Lin." Zhao Hu stood.
"Old Xu-recall every team currently clearing zombies outside. All of them."
"Battalion Commander Song-notify everyone on base to pack up. Prepare to move."
"Battalion Commander Zhang-take a scout team and head to that base immediately. Get a full picture of the situation, and map the zombie presence along the route."
Zhao Hu was the type who moved the moment a decision was made. No hesitation, no second-guessing.
"Yes, sir!"
Several officers snapped salutes and filed out of the meeting hall.