So, how do we solve this?
Is it ideological propaganda? Or some other method?
Shen Heng pondered.
Suddenly, the terminal on my wrist vibrated.
He looked over.
All that could be heard was the sound of Ringing Sound.
"General Zhou Zhenguo sent over the title of a report!"
"Read it," Shen Heng said, a hint of doubt in his eyes. Title? No content.
"Report on the Necessity and Recommendations for the Reorganization of the Supervision Bureau and the Military," Ringing Sound read aloud the title of the report.
Upon hearing this, Shen Heng paused slightly in his steps.
Although there was only one title, he immediately understood what Elder Zhou was thinking.
By establishing systems, two different systems can be integrated, thereby eliminating the barriers between them.
But how do we integrate them?
Ordinary soldiers mainly rely on modern weapons such as firearms and missiles, while the members of their Supervision Bureau rely primarily on their abilities.
Even if we combine the two, if they still operate independently, wouldn't that be much different from how things are now? We can't just change the name, can we?
If that's not the case, then how do we reorganize?
Shen Heng continued forward, pondering these thoughts.
Suddenly, the scene before him made him temporarily put aside the question he was pondering.
He stopped and looked up at something not far ahead.
Han Ling and the others were standing beside the Stone-Armored Beast, each with a different expression, gazing in the same direction.
Following their gaze, they saw Zhou Xuan standing in front of the Stone-Armored Beast, looking very serious.
The Stone-Armored Beast was squatting on the ground, its head, which was much taller than Zhou Xuan's, was looking down at the human in front of it with a somewhat blank expression.
"Stand up! Stand up!" Zhou Xuan shouted, palms facing upwards, his arms raised in the air.
The Stone-Armored Beast did not move.
"Stand up! Stand up!" Zhou Xuan repeated, raising his hand even higher.
The Stone-Armored Beast remained motionless, merely tilting its head, its eyes filled with even greater confusion.
Zhou Xuan thought for a moment and changed his approach.
He squatted down, then stood up, then squatted down again, saying as he did so, "Stand, look, stand up like this!"
The Stone-Armored Beast, watching him bob up and down, seemed to understand something.
It hesitated for a moment, bent its hind legs slightly, and then lay down.
"I'm not telling you to lie down, I'm telling you to stand up!"
Zhou Xuan panicked and, imitating the Stone-Armored Beast, sat down on the ground, braced himself with his hands in front of him, and then stood up.
"That's right, stand up!"
The Stone-Armored Beast looked at him, then at itself, seemingly engaged in some complex thought.
Beside them, Han Ling had some black lines on her forehead, Qin Yu's eyelashes trembled slightly, Zheng Guomin's eyelids twitched, and Wu Hao's lips twitched.
The reactions varied.
But Zhou Xuan didn't care at all and continued to demonstrate with great enthusiasm.
After struggling for a while, the Stone-Armored Beast finally managed to understand what he meant.
It carefully adjusted its posture, used its hind legs to push off, and slowly lifted its forelimbs, covered with shovel-shaped protective plates, until finally the entire beast stood up.
"Yes, yes, that's it!" Zhou Xuan's eyes lit up, and he raised his hand again, "Shake hands!"
He stretched out his hand and waved it in front of the Stone-Armored Beast.
The Stone-Armored Beast looked down at the hand, then looked up at Zhou Xuan's face, its eyes filled with confusion once again.
"Shake hands!" Zhou Xuan stretched his hand forward again, then pointed to the Stone-Armored Beast's forepaw. "Claw, extend it, shake hands!"
The Stone-Armored Beast looked down at its own claws, then at Zhou Xuan's hands.
It hesitated for a long time.
So long that Zhou Xuan thought it was about to lie down again.
Then, the Stone-Armored Beast slowly raised its claws, cautiously stretched them forward, gently touched Zhou Xuan's hand with the tip of its claws, and then quickly withdrew them.
Zhou Xuan was stunned for a moment, then a huge smile spread across his face.
"Haha! It understands! It really understands!" He turned to look at Han Ling and the others, "Did you see that? It shook hands with me!"
Seeing Zhou Xuan's expression, Han Ling's forehead creased with even more frustration. She turned her head away, no longer looking at Zhou Xuan.
Qin Yu followed her example and turned her head away.
Zheng Guomin's eyelids twitched twice, but he still kept watching.
Wu Hao's lips were already stiff and frozen at the corner.
Zhou Xuan paid no attention and turned back, just as he was about to give a new command.
"What are you doing?"
A voice came from behind.
Zhou Xuan turned around, his eyes lighting up as he said:
"Captain, you're back!"
Upon hearing this, everyone looked over as well.
Shen Heng and Han Ling nodded, their gazes sweeping over the crowd before settling on Wu Hao, who seemed about to speak, before finally turning to the Stone-Armored Beast.
Upon seeing the person he knew best finally return, the Stone-Armored Beast immediately lowered its forelimbs and trotted over.
"Hey, what are you doing? We were having a great time just now!" Zhou Xuan looked over as soon as he heard the Stone-Armored Beast making a sound, and finally looked at the Stone-Armored Beast hiding behind Shen Heng with some regret.
"Still playing around? Do you think you're training a dog?" Shen Heng said, a few black lines appearing on his forehead.
"Eh, isn't that right?" Zhou Xuan said somewhat awkwardly.
"He's already at the Third Tier, so his intelligence isn't low!" Han Ling said.
"Uh, hehe, I see!"
Zhou Xuan smiled slightly, just like before.
After saying that, he turned to look at Shen Heng.
"Captain, are you really going to bring this Stone-Armored Beast with you?"
"Hmm." Shen Heng shifted his gaze from the Stone-Armored Beast to Zhou Xuan. "Is there a problem?"
"This..." Zhou Xuan scratched his head, "We can't just trust it blindly, can we? After all, it's Calamity Beast; what if it suddenly goes berserk or something..."
"I know," Shen Heng said calmly. "So, in the short term, if there's a battle, we'll keep it in one place until the battle is over, and then come back. In the meantime, if it makes any unusual moves, we'll kill it immediately."
After speaking, Shen Heng paused and looked at the Stone-Armored Beast.
"It's just a Third Tier Calamity Beast; it can't cause any trouble."
The Stone-Armored Beast seemed to sense something and shrank back slightly.
Zhou Xuan thought for a moment and nodded, "Uh... that's true."
He turned to look at the Stone-Armored Beast, his eyes lighting up again:
"Captain, if we can trust it, can it be my mount?"
"..."
Everyone was speechless.
Shen Heng did not answer the question. He glanced at Zhou Xuan, then turned his gaze to the crowd and said:
"Get ready, we're leaving the city in three days!"
Upon hearing this, the expressions on everyone's faces immediately became serious.
Zhou Xuan also forgot about his mount, and his face immediately fell. "Huh? We just got back!"
"That's how war is," Shen Heng said calmly.
Zhou Xuan opened his mouth, as if to say something, but in the end, he swallowed it back and nodded with a bitter expression. "Alright..."
He suddenly remembered something and spoke again:
"Oh, right, I'm about to break through to the Fifth Tier."
Upon hearing this, everyone turned to look.
Shen Heng also looked at Zhou Xuan, but his gaze didn't show much surprise. He knew about the progress of the others in the team.
"Can you break through before we set off?" Shen Heng asked.
"Well..." Zhou Xuan tilted his head back and thought for a moment, "It should be okay!"
Shen Heng nodded.
The group exchanged a few more words about the tasks to be completed in a few days and the precautions to take.
Finally, Shen Heng looked around at everyone, his gaze lingering on Wu Hao for a moment, and said:
"You all go and cultivate first. I want to ask Wu Hao about his situation this time."