“Lieutenant—Conveniently, I Have That Authority”
The surroundings suddenly fell silent.
Everything had happened too quickly. Neither the Transferees nor the Guard Corps members watching had managed to react.
Mingmei stared down at the girl currently gripping Wang Tianci by the neck. She blinked again and again in disbelief, still unable to believe that the person standing before her was really her friend.
“Son!”
“You damn woman, let go of my son!”
Mu Yan, who had originally been watching the spectacle smugly, finally realized that her son was the one suffering. She let out a shrill scream and lunged toward Wendy.
“Jiang Qiao, how dare you!”
“Do you know who my Wang family is? You actually dared to hit my son! Don’t you want your military position anymore?”
The other Guard Corps members had already been pushed to the limits of their patience. Now that one of their comrades had made the first move, they simply stopped holding back.
When Mu Yan picked up a plate and tried to smash it over Wendy’s head, several soldiers immediately restrained her.
Hearing what Mu Yan had said, Mingmei found it so ridiculous that she actually laughed out of anger.
“Seriously, Auntie? Don’t forget, your Wang family wasn’t even on the list of Transferees. We were the ones who rescued you. You weren’t even on the official Transferee list, and you actually think you’re some big-shot family?”
“And you think you can have our military positions revoked? How ridiculous.”
Mingmei didn’t say the second sentence loudly. She merely muttered it, but her voice was still loud enough for everyone nearby to hear.
Mu Yan’s face immediately turned pale, then flushed red.
Wendy continued holding Wang Tianci by the neck, watching as he was forced to swallow the food that had been contaminated with the dust from the soles of his shoes simply because he needed to breathe.
She then sneered and released him.
“You fucking Jiang Qiao, you stinking bitch! You… how dare you touch me! I’m going to report you to your superiors! You’re using private punishment against ordinary civilians! You’re not fit to be a member of the Guard Corps!”
Wang Tianci scrambled to his feet, his face flushed red. He felt that he had suffered the greatest humiliation of his life.
He viciously lunged forward, raising his hand without hesitation and trying to slap Wendy across the face.
His father usually punished his mother this way.
His father had told him that slapping a woman was the most humiliating way to punish her.
He wanted this damn woman to pay back the humiliation he had suffered!
Wendy’s gaze turned completely cold.
She seized Wang Tianci and slammed him hard against the dining table beside them.
His head collided with the steel tabletop with an extremely loud bang, and Wang Tianci cried out in pain.
Mu Yan, who had barely reacted to being restrained herself, immediately went berserk when she saw her precious son being grabbed again. She began screaming and struggling wildly.
“You dead woman, let go of my son!”
“Bah! What kind of bullshit Guard Corps are you? It’s only been a few days, and you’re already bullying us ordinary citizens! You’ll get what you deserve sooner or later!”
“Enough!”
Mu Yan was in the middle of an enthusiastic tirade when a sudden roar made her entire body jolt in fright.
“Do you think you’re still able to sit here safely and eat because of yourselves? Do you think you’re still alive and standing here shouting at us because of yourselves?!”
“Do you know how terrifying those monsters outside are? Do you know how many of our comrades have died in the mouths of those monsters?”
“You know nothing! Every day, all you have to do is stay inside the submarine! You don’t have to do anything! We trade our lives for your safety, and you still complain that you’re bored, that the food isn’t good enough, that you don’t have enough freedom!”
“Yes, our food is better than yours because we were the ones who barely survived! Because every day we have to train, patrol, and face those terrifying monsters!”
“You want to eat what we eat? Fine! I’ll give it to you! But then why don’t you go die in my brother’s place?!”
A pale-faced Guard Corps member suddenly lost control of his emotions. Roaring furiously, he tried to charge toward Mu Yan, but the other soldiers reacted quickly and grabbed him.
“Ge Jiang, calm down!”
Ge Jiang’s body swayed after being restrained, and his lost reason was slowly pulled back.
He looked at Mu Yan, who was trembling in fright, then at the hand he had raised into the air.
In the end, he backed away several steps and collapsed dejectedly into a nearby chair.
The people who had previously been whispering among themselves fell completely silent.
Several Transferees who had just been stirred up by Wang Tianci and spoken out in his support now lowered their heads in embarrassment, wishing they could bury their faces inside their clothes.
Wendy handed the restrained Wang Tianci over to two nearby Guard Corps members.
Then she slowly crouched down and looked directly into Wang Tianci’s furious eyes.
“You asked what gives me the right to lay hands on you?”
“Because I was disemboweled while trying to kill monsters and nearly died in the sea, and the meal you just smashed was the first meal I had after narrowly escaping death.”
The girl’s voice flowed through the ears of everyone present like a gentle stream.
There wasn’t the slightest emotional fluctuation in her voice, as though she were merely stating a simple fact.
Yet the previously silent crowd collectively sucked in several sharp breaths.
Everyone turned to look at the Wang family, their eyes filled with contempt and anger.
At first, they had thought that although Wang Tianci’s family had gone too far, it was still wrong for the Guard Corps to attack Transferees.
But now—
“That guy really went too far.”
“That was the Guard Corps member’s first meal after barely surviving, and he smashed it.”
“I’d almost forgotten. Their family wasn’t even on the Transferee list. They were rescued. You remember, right? Officer Jiang had even taken such good care of their family. They’re really ungrateful.”
…
The tide of public opinion suddenly reversed.
The crowd began whispering again, but this time, they were talking about the Wang family.
Mu Yan immediately became anxious. She glared at Wendy and was about to say something when Wang Guangzong suddenly stepped forward and slapped her across the face.
“Enough! Aren’t you embarrassed enough already?!”
The slap was loud enough to attract the attention of every Guard Corps member and Transferee present.
Wendy raised an eyebrow and looked at Wang Guangzong, the father who had remained invisible throughout the entire incident.
He was no longer as arrogant as before. Instead, he put on an expression of kindness and benevolence.
But that appearance looked rather strange on his sharp, mean-looking face.
“My wife is too aggressive, and my son has been too spoiled. It’s my fault for failing to manage my household and failing to raise my son properly. We’ve caused everyone trouble.”
“Qiaoqiao, look, we didn’t know beforehand that this was your meal. Tianci was indeed in the wrong, but you also hit him. Why don’t the two of you apologize to each other and let this matter go? What do you say?”
Looking at his pretentious manner as though he were some benevolent elder, Wendy suddenly found it amusing.
“Mr. Wang, have my previous actions given you some kind of misunderstanding?”
Wang Guangzong didn’t understand what she meant.
She chuckled and gestured behind her.
Five Guard Corps members wearing sergeant insignia immediately stepped forward.
“Wang Guangzong, Mu Yan, and Wang Tianci have caused trouble, disrupted the order aboard the vessel, wasted apocalypse-era supplies, and verbally insulted and attacked Guard Corps officers. They will be confined to the detention room for three days to reflect on and repent for their actions.”
The five sergeants immediately stepped forward and restrained the three members of the Wang family one by one.
“You—you think you are somebody? What gives you the right to arrest us? You don’t have the authority to imprison us!”
The moment they heard they were going to be confined, the three members of the Wang family froze.
Mu Yan glared at Wendy with bloodshot eyes and began struggling wildly.
“How unfortunate for you,” Wendy said.
“I do have that authority.”
She crouched down slightly and smiled at the three of them.
The movement caused the lieutenant insignia on both of her shoulders to become clearly visible.
“I’m a lieutenant.”
Wang Guangzong and Wang Tianci’s eyes suddenly widened as though they had just heard something unbelievable.
Jiang Qiao was a young woman, and she had always helped them with everything. They had always assumed that she was merely a logistics soldier.
Mu Yan didn’t understand what was happening, but seeing the reactions of her husband and son, she immediately realized that the girl in front of them really did have the authority to punish them.
She stood there dumbfounded, her mouth opening and closing.
Looking at her equally panicked husband and son, her face gradually turned ashen.
“I helped you before out of goodwill.”
Wendy straightened.
“Since you don’t know how to be grateful and have become increasingly demanding, go to the detention room and reflect properly. Come out after you’ve recognized your place.”
She clapped her hands.
The five soldiers immediately escorted the Wang family away.
Wendy’s gaze swept over the insignia on her own uniform.
Jiang Qiao had graduated from the Central Military Academy, so despite being very young, she had already attained the rank of lieutenant.
The two stars gleamed brightly.
As Wendy looked at them, a faint smile imperceptibly crossed her eyes.
What an excellent hand I’ve been dealt.
“Whoa, Qiaoqiao, you’re amazing! I was actually worried you’d go soft on them again!”
Mingmei came over, threw an arm around her shoulders, and excitedly shook her.
But then her tone became hesitant.
“Although… you just locked them up like that. What about the captain…?”
Wendy didn’t answer.
Instead, she pursed her lips and gestured for Mingmei to look toward the cafeteria entrance.
Mingmei didn’t quite understand, but she followed Wendy’s indication.
“What? There’s nothing…”
Before she could finish speaking, a middle-aged woman in a dark navy officer’s uniform walked into the cafeteria accompanied by several Guard Corps members.
Her sharp, eagle-like eyes swept across the room before locking onto several people.
“Jiang Qiao, Ge Jiang, Mingmei, Luo Jing, Chen Qingyang—you five, come to my office. Everyone else, once you’ve finished eating, get back to your training or patrol duties. Don’t let me catch you wasting time on the surveillance cameras again!”
The other Guard Corps members immediately responded in unison.
They hurriedly returned to their seats, afraid that if they were even a second too slow, they would be called out next.
Mingmei’s entire body instantly trembled.
Before leaving, Wendy stood among the Guard Corps formation and looked back.
Feng Jianan was still standing inside the cafeteria.
Ever since the moment she had been violently shoved away, it seemed as though she had retreated completely into her own world.
Even now, with the Wang family already taken away and everyone’s attention in the cafeteria focused on her, she showed no reaction.
She simply stood there in a daze, like a confused child who had wandered down the wrong path.
The atmosphere in Liao Chengyu’s office was frighteningly cold.
The others kept their lips tightly pressed together as they endured her reprimand. Mingmei, in particular, wished she could shrink into a quail so that no one would notice her.
Wendy, however, didn’t feel much of anything.
She wasn’t the original Jiang Qiao, after all, and she had no particular fear of the superior-subordinate relationship with Liao Chengyu.
So she simply left a strand of consciousness outside and began checking the reconstruction situation in the cities that had recently been awakened.
“All right. You can leave now. Hurry and get back to this afternoon’s work. Everyone will have an additional three hours of training tonight. Anyone scheduled for patrol duty tonight will have it postponed until tomorrow.”
“Jiang Qiao, stay.”
Wendy raised her head upon hearing this.
Mingmei mouthed take care to her before quickly slipping away.
Chen Qingyang, the last one out, gently closed the door.
For a moment, the office was frighteningly quiet.
“Jiang Qiao, I understand that you’ve just experienced a life-or-death situation, and it’s understandable that you might lose control of your emotions after something like this.”
“But as a member of the Guard Corps, you attacked a civilian without authorization. Have you ever considered what punishment I might impose on you?”
After a moment of silence, Liao Chengyu slowly spoke.
Unlike her stern tone during the earlier collective reprimand, her voice was extremely calm now, without any discernible emotional fluctuation.
A hint of surprise flashed through Wendy’s eyes.
She had originally assumed that Liao Chengyu had kept her behind because, among all the Guard Corps members who had taken action, her behavior had been the most severe and she was therefore going to receive the harshest punishment.
But now it seemed that Liao Chengyu wasn’t nearly as angry as she had expected.
After thinking for a moment, Wendy raised her eyes toward the stern-faced woman sitting across the dark wooden desk.
The management policies from before the apocalypse clearly couldn’t adapt to the new order of the post-apocalyptic world.
The conflict between the two groups aboard the vessel had intensified.
Liao Chengyu herself had probably already intended to take action and restore order aboard the vessel.
If so, Wendy’s actions had happened to align perfectly with her intentions.
“The Guard Corps Regulations, Article 296: During the evacuation process, if civilians cause trouble and disrupt the management order of the escape vessel, the Guard Corps has the authority to impose controls on the troublemakers, including but not limited to verbal discipline, restriction of rights, and armed-force control.”
Liao Chengyu raised an eyebrow.
She took the Guard Corps Regulations out of her drawer and flipped to the corresponding page.
She discovered that what Jiang Qiao had said was indeed exactly what the regulations stated.
“You memorized the regulations?”
This time, it was Liao Chengyu who couldn’t quite control her emotions.
She looked at the obediently standing girl in front of her with some surprise.
She had always known that Jiang Qiao was a clever girl.
Back then, Liao Chengyu had already been a colonel. At the request of a friend, she had temporarily served as a shooting instructor at the Central Military Academy for one year.
Jiang Qiao happened to be one of the students she taught that year.
The girl’s unparalleled talent for shooting had left a deep impression on her.
At the time, the higher-ups had discovered that the apocalypse was approaching and had begun urgently establishing the Apocalypse Guard Corps.
Liao Chengyu was appointed captain of the Guard Corps at Base 028, and coincidentally discovered the application Jiang Qiao, who had just graduated, had submitted for the Guard Corps program.
So she recruited Jiang Qiao under her command.
As the favorite student among the only class she had ever taught, Jiang Qiao had initially received far more attention from Liao Chengyu than the other Guard Corps members.
She had intended to cultivate Jiang Qiao as one of her key successors.
However, as time passed, she discovered that Jiang Qiao had a fatal weakness.
She was too soft-hearted.
She couldn’t refuse people.
Whenever faced with a choice, she was indecisive.
During one military exercise, she had even hesitated because one of her teammates was too close to the enemy, causing her to miss the best opportunity to fire and resulting in both herself and her teammate being eliminated.
If she behaved like that even on a simulated battlefield, what would happen on a real battlefield?
The peaceful environment at school had once concealed Jiang Qiao’s fatal flaw.
She had excellent grades, enjoyed helping others, and was well-liked.
At military school, Jiang Qiao had been a dazzling star.
But the apocalypse was rapidly approaching.
On a cruel and bloody real battlefield, there would be no time to wait for a weak little flower to slowly grow.
After that incident, Liao Chengyu stopped placing high hopes on her former favorite student.
Jiang Qiao seemed to have noticed her disappointment as well and began deliberately avoiding her.
Yet this incident had once again drawn Liao Chengyu’s attention to Jiang Qiao.
After experiencing life and death once, her student Jiang Qiao seemed to have become… different.