In the Name of Divine Abilities, Section 31

The soldiers all spoke at once, their voices full of reluctance to see Lu Zhao go and disgust for Liang Fei.

A top leader's lackeys had never been popular. They had to do plenty of dirty, thankless work for their bosses and offend many people along the way.

Liang Fei had targeted Lu Zhao and made trouble for others too. His reputation among the rank-and-file officers and soldiers had long since been in tatters.

Lu Zhao raised his right hand slightly, and everyone fell silent at once.

"This is an order," he said. "Obeying orders is a soldier's duty. I'll discuss the details with the higher-ups. All of you, return to your posts."

"And don't mind Liang Fei when it comes to the flood prevention plan. Report any problems to me whenever they come up."

The others were clearly dissatisfied, but Lu Zhao's authority overrode everything else. They had no choice but to stand at attention and salute. "Yes, sir."

That was the source of Lu Zhao's confidence. In the reinforced platoon, his word carried more weight than any written order, driving into the heart of every soldier like an iron rod.

Lü Jinshan could transfer him away with a written order, but he couldn't erase his authority.

Unless he dared replace the entire reinforced platoon.

But Ant Ridge Border Station was only a battalion-level unit, and many of its units were understaffed. Where would he find enough people to replace the reinforced platoon?

The handover went quickly. By three in the afternoon, Liang Fei had brought all the documents to Lu Zhao.

Lu Zhao sat at his desk without mentioning how to handle the flood prevention plan. Leaving Liang Fei standing, he asked, "Staff Officer Liang, before you became a training and operations staff officer, I assume you never worked in a duty company?"

Liang Fei replied, "I was a commissioned officer as soon as I graduated from military academy. I served as a training and operations staff officer..."

"So you've never served at the grassroots level." Lu Zhao cut him off forcefully, then asked, "Have you learned how many villages and towns there are around Ant Ridge, or where the flash floods usually pass through?"

Liang Fei frowned and hesitated for just two seconds.

"Answer me, Captain Liang."

The calm voice carried an inexplicable force that left him struggling to breathe. Holding his breath, he answered, "No..."

Lu Zhao took a file from a drawer and instructed him:

"This shows where the surrounding villages and towns are, as well as the places the water beasts have passed through over the years. Our main job is prevention and observation. Hunting them down is the local police's responsibility, so you must notify them promptly."

"And..."

The greatest challenge at Ant Ridge Border Station wasn't drug traffickers, but the flash floods that came every July.

In summer, the southwestern monsoon brought heavy rain from the sea. The water level in the Miye Three Rivers rose sharply, causing some waterways to connect with Ant Ridge. Unlike the lands of the Divine Land, where the Federation regularly cleared out demonic beasts, the Miye Three Rivers were entirely lawless territory. By a rough count, over a thousand factions of all sizes held territory there.

Beneath the three great rivers was a water beast lair that nurtured countless demonic beasts. Every flood season, they would be swept into Ant Ridge.

For the Miye Three Rivers Region, a few hundred or even a thousand demonic beasts coming ashore didn't matter. As long as it wasn't a beast tide, ordinary demonic beasts couldn't eat that many people.

It was like man-eating tigers in ancient times. In the worst cases, they could devour an entire village, but that was of little consequence to a dynasty.

But the Federation couldn't simply ignore them. Any demonic beast that made it inside would pose a serious threat to public safety and affect people's livelihoods and work.

The border station's job was to provide early warning and stop what it could. If it couldn't stop them, it reported them inland so the local police could handle them.

And each year's casualty count depended on how accurate and timely those warnings were.

For the time being, the work had fallen to Liang Fei, and Lu Zhao still hoped he would fulfill his duties.

After explaining everything, Lu Zhao handed Liang Fei a thick stack of documents and reminded him again, "The preliminary work has basically been arranged. You only need to follow the plan."

"We may have our differences, but in the end, we serve the people. I hope you can at least put the safety of their lives and property first."

If Liang Fei only wanted to pad his résumé, Lu Zhao could do him that favor.

Otherwise, he could only leave him a commander without troops.

Liang Fei nodded in acknowledgment, though how sincere he was remained unknown.

Lu Zhao picked up his few office supplies and left the office. His promotion took him to a brand-new office building.

The training and operations staff officer had a private office, where the air conditioner hummed, dispelling the stifling mountain heat.

News that the handover had gone smoothly reached Lü Jinshan.

He had naturally been keeping an eye on the duty company and had contingency plans for any conflict that might arise.

The best outcome would have been for Lu Zhao and the soldiers under him to kick up a fuss. Then he could use force to suppress them, and if Zhang Like joined in, he could take them all down together.

In the Federation, rank-and-file soldiers didn't defy their superiors. If it did happen, they would be suppressed.

By the same token, Lu Zhao and Zhang Like probably weren't that stupid, so Lü Jinshan naturally held out no hope.

After giving his report, Adjutant Chen Hongtao said with some concern, "Station Chief, Lu Zhao really hasn't made any further trouble, but Liang Fei has no frontline experience and was brought in as a last-minute replacement. I'm afraid something might go wrong."

He paused and studied Lü Jinshan's expression.

By now, displeasure had already shown on that round face, but Chen Hongtao had to continue.

Flood prevention was the border station's foremost task. It concerned the lives of the people and agricultural production in the three nearby counties and eighteen townships.

These were no longer the prosperous days of ten years ago. Grain output had been hovering around the red line, and all agricultural production was extremely important. The provincial administrative bureaus had emphasized it repeatedly every year.

No matter how much political fighting Lü Jinshan did, surely he couldn't play games with people's lives?

As deputy station chief, Chen Hongtao was theoretically Lü Jinshan's equal, and he lived up to the position he held.

"I think we should have Lu Zhao provide guidance part-time and wait until the flood season is over before he devotes himself fully to his new post."

He had offered a compromise, a more reliable suggestion.

Lü Jinshan leaned back in his chair and waved it away. "The plan has already been properly arranged. What risks could there be? Don't tell me our border station can't function without Lu Zhao?"

Chen Hongtao's chest tightened at the sheer absurdity of the argument.

Of course the border station could function without Lu Zhao. But over the past two years, it was precisely because Lu Zhao and the reinforced platoon had held the front line that the Ant Ridge defense zone had made it through several sudden floods with zero mistakes and zero casualties.

Behind this "following the plan" lay Lu Zhao's formidable frontline command skills and his control over the reinforced platoon.

How could Liang Fei compare to a graduate of Imperial Capital?

Lu Zhao's vitality was over thirty. Liang Fei's wasn't even half that.

Chen Hongtao and Lü Jinshan were at an impasse.

This was their greatest disagreement in recent years, and also a consequence of the cracks in Lü Jinshan's authority.

The essence of power was the will to carry something through despite opposition.

Facing a lateral transfer, Lu Zhao had the reinforced platoon to carry out his will, while Lü Jinshan's ability to enforce his own was gradually failing.

Chapter 38: The banquet

Lü Jinshan clearly didn't want to hear any more of Chen Hongtao's suggestions. He laid down his position:

"Besides, Lu Zhao can't stay in the platoon leader's post handling flood prevention forever. We have to train new people sooner or later."

Chen Hongtao looked at Lü Jinshan's righteous expression and understood perfectly well what was going on. He opened his mouth, but before he could speak-

"Adjutant Chen, say no more. I've already made my decision."

Chen Hongtao had nothing to say to that. Although he and Lü Jinshan were leaders of equal rank, Lü Jinshan had a powerful backer, and Chen Hongtao couldn't stand against him alone.

He could only salute and leave the office.

In the station chief's office, all that remained was the tapping of Lü Jinshan's fingers on the desktop. His beady eyes gleamed with shrewd calculation.

What he wanted was to get Lu Zhao away from the front line and sever his connection with Zhang Like.

If they had dared rally all the grassroots officers yesterday, tomorrow those people would dare strip him of his authority!

Zhang Like was different from Lu Zhao. As a company commander and a company-level field officer, his formal appointment, removal, promotion, or transfer between units required a final decision from the department above.

Lü Jinshan could only make recommendations; he couldn't transfer Zhang Like laterally at will as he could Lu Zhao.

Lü Jinshan would rather risk a minor setback during flood season than wait to drive Lu Zhao off the front line. Even throwing him into the special investigation team would do.

Getting Lu Zhao away from the border station wouldn't necessarily offend the Chen Family. After all, he had worked hard for four years; even if he had no achievements to show for it, he had still put in the effort.

In the face of an imminent challenge to his power, everything else was insignificant.

The evening's fading light streamed through the window, bathing Lu Zhao's office in warm gold.

Zhang Like pushed open the door to Lu Zhao's office, gave the open door two perfunctory knocks, and entered without an invitation.

Lu Zhao looked up from a pile of documents. His gray-black eyes flicked over Zhang Like, the glance as brief as a passing breeze, before he lowered his head and returned his attention to the paperwork.

It seemed to be the border station's training plan. He had thrown himself into work on the very day he took over, and that kind of efficiency put others to shame.

Zhang Like sat on the nearby sofa, crossed his legs, and said, "Well, well, Staff Officer Lu's really moving up in the world. You've even started sitting in an air-conditioned office."

There was a hint of appraisal in his teasing tone. Sitting quietly behind the desk, Lu Zhao really did have something of the bearing of a man in power.

This kid really is like a brick. He's useful wherever you put him.

Lu Zhao ignored the teasing and picked up a form. "Commander Zhang, our station's assessment standards have been a little low these past two years. We've basically been sticking to the provincial administrative bureau's minimum standards, aiming only to pass. I think we need to improve the quality of our troops."

Zhang Like's expression froze slightly. Then he slapped the sofa armrest and laughed. "You sure learn fast, kid. You've picked up Liang Fei's whole routine in no time."

"At the celebration banquet later, are you going to have them toast you and dock the performance pay of anyone who doesn't? That would really show off your authority as a staff officer, wouldn't it?"

The training and operations staff officer's post had little authority in itself, but with Lü Jinshan's support, its power could expand to cover assessments and performance evaluations for all the troops.

Lü Jinshan had been clever to use the post to drive a wedge between Zhang Like and Lu Zhao. He might even be hoping to take Lu Zhao in as a lackey.

But from what Zhang Like knew of Lu Zhao, the fact that he hadn't shot Lü Jinshan already showed his wholehearted loyalty to the Federation.

Yet Lu Zhao's expression didn't change. "I'm not joking," he said in all seriousness.

"..."

Zhang Like stared for several seconds. He had thought Lu Zhao had actually learned to joke, but now his expression didn't look like he was kidding.

Given his temperament, it did seem like something he would do.

"Hold it, hold it. Don't actually do that. We finally managed to win over the grassroots officers. If you pull something like this, wouldn't you be raising a banner against yourself?"

Lu Zhao said seriously, "Troops grow dull without training. We can't train them with the sole aim of passing. Look at my reinforced platoon. They may not be comparable to Special Response or the regular army, but they're not bad."

"Is training fifty people the same as training a thousand?" Zhang Like said, at a loss. "And those fifty of yours were promising recruits I personally handpicked back then. The other nine hundred or so soldiers are just going through the motions. For most people, this is a job."