In the Name of Divine Abilities

Lu Zhao exhaled a breath of stale air and felt refreshed all over.

The pain from Spirit Refining had vanished. When he circulated his technique again, all he felt was a cool sensation flowing through his mind.

"Does this count as minor mastery of Spirit Refining?"

June 6. Light rain pattered down.

Liang Fei walked briskly into the duty squadron's somewhat aging office building.

Although the building was far less imposing than the station headquarters, he couldn't help the corners of his mouth turning up when he thought about how he had finally taken a frontline post. He would soon earn himself a solid merit for the flood-control assignment.

The Federation assessed officers for promotion primarily on two criteria: first, Life Development, and second, meritorious service.

A second-tier extraordinary would automatically be promoted to a field-grade officer after meeting the minimum time-in-grade requirement.

An officer who met the minimum time-in-grade requirement-four years for a captain-could also be promoted with one second-class merit or higher, or multiple third-class merits.

Liang Fei was already forty-three this year and had been a captain for eight years.

He had no talent for Life Development, and he didn't want to risk his life earning merits, so the position of frontline commanding officer of the reinforced platoon was an opportunity for him.

Flood control was a top-priority assignment. As long as it was completed successfully, he could reliably earn a second-class merit every year.

In Liang Fei's view, the assignment was far too easy. Wasn't it just a matter of assigning people to watch the water levels and aquatic beasts, then reporting to the local authorities in a timely manner?

If Lu Zhao could do it, so could he.

He entered the office and swept his gaze over the somewhat cramped space. There were three people in all.

Zhang Zhenghong, Zhang Yanfeng, and Liu Qiang.

The first two didn't matter. Liu Qiang was Zhang Like's nephew, and getting the work done would inevitably require dealing with Zhang Like.

"Xiao Liu."

Liang Fei plastered a smile on his face and deliberately softened his voice.

Liu Qiang looked up, his face expressionless, and merely nodded. "Platoon Leader Liang."

Liang Fei asked in a show of concern, "How are preparations for this year's flood season coming along?"

Chapter 40: Extraordinary Democracy

Didn't Brother Lu hand over all the documents to you before he left yesterday, including the flood-season prevention plan, the personnel duty roster, and the supply inventory?

Liu Qiang nearly rolled his eyes. He suppressed the urge to complain and answered:

"Reporting to Platoon Leader Liang, preparations and deployment are currently underway. Three shifts of sentries have been assigned to guard the main waterways and key underground river junctions around the clock. Deployment is expected to be completed by the fifteenth."

"The first test calls on the emergency contact lines with the local police bureau, the water resources bureau, and the three downstream towns will take place this afternoon. The signs marking emergency evacuation routes and temporary shelters were all updated last year."

His answer was clear and comprehensive, leaving Liang Fei no opportunity to find fault.

Just as Lü Jinshan had anticipated, it would be difficult for anything to go seriously wrong with flood control under Lu Zhao's arrangements.

At this point, the plan had already been finalized. As long as it was followed, even putting a dog in charge wouldn't cause a problem.

After listening, however, Liang Fei frowned slightly, seemingly dissatisfied with Lu Zhao's work.

"Hmm... it sounds like everything's arranged, but there are a few things we should add."

He drew out his words and raised his chin slightly. "When we work, we can't just follow the established routine. We also have to adapt to local conditions and respond to changing circumstances. See? The rain has already started, hasn't it?"

"Shouldn't we... hmm... add a few temporary observation posts? Or increase the frequency of patrols? Let the higher-ups see how proactive our reinforced platoon is!"

Liu Qiang couldn't help looking at him as though he were an idiot.

All the designated posts had been selected based on experience from previous years, and the workload was already heavy. Yet Liang Fei wanted to increase patrol frequency on the spot.

Liu Qiang took a deep breath and tried to make his voice sound less sarcastic.

"Platoon Leader Liang, the current plan was drawn up by Officer Lu, and we don't have the manpower to spare."

Liang Fei felt embarrassed and thought his authority was being challenged. His tone hardened.

"If you don't have enough people, can't you request them from other companies? I think you're just set in your ways and lack initiative!"

Liu Qiang was young after all, and his tone began to grow sharp as well. "Our station only has a thousand people, and we're responsible for a huge area. The mobile and support companies are also preparing for flood control. They need to work with us on rotations too."

Seeing the conflict about to escalate, Liang Fei knew there was no benefit in arguing with Liu Qiang. Even if he wanted to make an example of someone, Zhang Like's nephew wasn't a good choice.

He said, "Get me the detailed duty roster."

Liu Qiang was only a soldier, after all. He could only acknowledge the order and get to work.

Liang Fei then made an inspection tour of the reinforced platoon's offices and visited every squad leader in the platoon. These men weren't as rash as Liu Qiang; at least they maintained a cordial front.

At noon, Liang Fei proposed going down to the grassroots units to inspect the flood-control work. He gave work guidance and changed the locations of several observation posts.

For example, one observation post was moved fifty meters to the right.

Even when someone warned him that it was too close to the river and would be submerged when the water rose, Liang Fei paid no attention.

Instead, he scolded them. "If it gets submerged, can't you run? You don't show any initiative at all."

After half a day of such meddling, Liang Fei had thrown nearly every part of the flood-control work into disorder. But as soon as he left, the soldiers on the ground carried on according to the original plan.

The situation wasn't limited to the reinforced platoon. It was the same in the mobile and support companies.

On June 7, flood-control preparations were being carried out at a hectic pace.

At the same time, all the company-grade officers were called away to vote in the annual excellence awards.

Since the border station was relatively small and had no large auditorium, these group activities were all held in the cafeteria, the largest space available.

Everyone formed a long line and handed their ballots to Lü Jinshan in person.

Lü Jinshan, in turn, had to read the results aloud on the spot.

Personnel decisions were made entirely by the higher authorities, while the vast majority of other matters could be handled through self-governance. This was also a result of the restructuring ten years ago, intended to ensure that grassroots units could operate independently when the next Great Cataclysm struck.

Extraordinary power was also a factor, and it was necessary to

"One vote for Liang Fei."

"Three votes for Mo Kun."

Lü Jinshan took Zhang Like's ballot and saw the name [Lu Zhao] written on it. His brow furrowed slightly, and he had already sensed that something was wrong.

He said, "Three votes for Lu Zhao."

A field-grade officer's vote counted for three, while the station chief's counted for five. Only thirty people at the entire border station could vote, so in theory, he only needed to win over ten people and gain the support of two field-grade officers to secure an absolute advantage.

In the past, Zhang Like would not have openly gone against Lü Jinshan, because aside from the excellence awards, there were other matters entirely under Lü Jinshan's control.

The second officer stepped forward and submitted his ballot.

"Four votes for Lu Zhao."

A string of votes for Lu Zhao followed. By the time all the company officers had voted, Lu Zhao had reached twenty-three votes.

Twenty of the border station's company-grade officers were company platoon leaders and company commanders; not many were responsible for logistics and administrative work.

Only Lü Jinshan remained. He looked at Liang Fei's fourteen votes, then at Mo Kun's six.

The atmosphere grew somewhat strange, and everyone watched him.

Their gazes no longer held the fear of the past, only scrutiny and probing.

Lü Jinshan voted for Lu Zhao and announced, "Twenty-eight votes for Lu Zhao. He has been elected this year's outstanding officer."

Everyone was stunned. Even Lu Zhao was surprised.

He quickly understood, however: Lü Jinshan was retreating in order to advance. If he voted for anyone else, he would lose in the end, but by voting for Lu Zhao, he could at least preserve his authority as a leader.

At ten o'clock, the vote ended, and everyone returned to their posts.

The door to Lü Jinshan's office was shut tight, and the faint sound of things being thrown came from within.

On June 8, Platoon Leader Liang did not come to work.

It wasn't until the ninth, a week later, that Liang Fei once again went down to inspect the grassroots units, to show that the leadership was taking the matter seriously.

He eagerly visited several of the posts he had personally "adjusted and optimized" a few days earlier, wanting to see how his orders had been carried out.

When he arrived, Liang Fei's expression gradually darkened.

Seeing their immediate superior arrive in person, the soldiers of the reinforced platoon came to attention and saluted in a desultory manner.

"Liu Qiang!"

Liang Fei's eyes locked onto Liu Qiang in the crowd.

"You tell me! What's going on here?"

Liu Qiang answered, "Sir, we didn't have any extra time to build new posts, and the locations you chose might be submerged when the water rises."

Liang Fei's face turned livid with anger. "Construction of the posts started three days ago! How could there not have been enough time?"

Liu Qiang and the five soldiers present kept their heads down, as though they hadn't heard him.

No matter how Liang Fei shouted, they paid him no attention. The reinforced platoon had merely misinterpreted Platoon Leader Liang's orders, resulting in deviations in how the assignment was carried out, but they had not strayed outside the scope of flood-control work.

Liang Fei cursed at them for a long time, but no one paid him any attention.

"This is insubordination! I'm going to report you! I'll have every one of you replaced!"

Chapter 41: The Bottom Line

Liang Fei made a huge fuss over the matter, and word soon spread.

Zhang Like arrived at Lu Zhao's office.

As usual, he gave a perfunctory knock, then pushed the door open and walked straight in.