Holding Both Military and Civil Power

Five days passed in the blink of an eye.

The Redstone Archipelago kept turning through round-the-clock, high-intensity construction, like a vast machine freshly fired up that never stopped from morning till night.

Yang Wenqing had barely left the temporary command post in those five days. Expanding the City Defense Bureau, dividing the Government Affairs Council's administrative districts, establishing its branch bureaus, and assigning personnel—all of it needed his approval before it could move forward.

None of these were small matters. The City Defense Bureau's structure would shape the Redstone Archipelago's long-term defenses, and the location, staffing, and authority of every branch bureau had to be coordinated and confirmed with the Provincial Police Department one by one.

The Government Affairs Council's administrative divisions involved civil administration, population registration, tax collection and conscription, and responsibility for public order at the local level. Each link depended on the next; overlook one, and it could grow into a serious problem later.

Fortunately, he had capable people at his side. Zhou Mu and Yuan Qi had spent years working their way through the City Defense System and knew every procedure and sticking point. Yang Wenqing only needed to make decisions on matters of principle. They handled the coordination and execution, shielding him from at least eighty percent of the tedious liaison work.

This time, Yang Wenqing did not hold back. He claimed forty percent of the branch-bureau positions allotted to the Redstone Region in one sweep, sending batches of the personal guards stationed aboard his flagship out to local posts.

He filled the Municipal Bureau's Public Security Division, Action Office, and Major Crimes Unit with Yang Family members as well. It was favoritism, but it also ensured this fledgling system could move quickly under his orders.

Under the war-zone system, authority was naturally divided between