"By the way, sir, why are you asking about this?" the soldier asked in confusion.
"Nothing." Sun Hang waved his hand. "Return to your post. I don't need any assistance."
"Yes, sir." The soldier saluted Sun Hang, then turned and left.
Anomaly Hunters and the Xiazhou Federation's regular army had originally been two entirely independent armed forces. However, given Tianfu City's special circumstances, and the frequent conflicts between Hunters and the military over command authority, the Federation Council issued a document to better coordinate relations between the two: every Hunter sent to the Shu Province region to carry out missions related to the Eternal Night would be assigned a temporary military rank, along with battlefield command authority corresponding to that rank.
Whether it was due to their assessment of Sun Hang's combat strength, or because he was one of Tianfu City's few "local Hunters," the higher-ups had directly assigned him a temporary rank equivalent to colonel. That was why the soldier had addressed Sun Hang as "sir."
The Xiazhou Federation's military had once more commonly used the term "chief" for superiors, rarely calling them "sir." But after the Xiazhou Federation became the last nation of human civilization and took in refugees from all over the world, that unwritten convention had become optional.
Soldiers could call them chief if they liked, sir if they liked, and even "Sir" was no problem...
Judging by his features, that soldier seemed to be from the Siberian Federation, so it was only natural that he was used to calling superiors sir.
As for the soldier who had stopped Sun Hang's car earlier, he had initially called him "comrade." If he were the one addressing Sun Hang now, he would most likely call him chief.
Sun Hang's colonel rank was roughly equivalent to a full regimental