Chương 172: Bonus Chapter: A Little Talk About "Politics" (Q&A with Yshua)

Hey everyone! In the comments recently, Yshua asked a fantastic question that cuts right to the core of the political and power dynamics in our apocalyptic setting. I started writing a reply, but it got so long and detailed that the comment section simply couldn't hold it anymore! 😂 So, I decided to make this a dedicated bonus chapter. For those of you interested in the deeper lore, military hierarchy, and how a pure pragmatist like Vince navigates the wasteland's power structures, this one is for you!

(And don't worry—this is purely a lore discussion and logical deduction based on the current world-building. There are NO spoilers for future plotlines here!) Yshua's Question: The military title is also a bond- what are the odds that there is a general living safely in a quarantine zone? If so, how does being a colonel change the relationship dynamic there? My Answer: What are the odds of a General surviving? In short: almost zero.

In the early stages of the catastrophe, the "species filter" was incredibly cruel, with strict age and physical thresholds. As mentioned in previous chapters, the oldest survivors in their area are around 50. The elderly were almost entirely wiped out when the disaster struck. In the military system—out of a standing army of two million in the entire country—generals are almost without exception over the age of 50. This is a strict legal and systemic requirement.

(Even if there are exceptions, it wouldn't be more than one or two.) Because of this cruel biological filter,"Colonel" has effectively become the absolute ceiling of surviving military authority in this wasteland. That's why the highest-ranking commanders we've seen so far (like Zhou and Ye) are all Colonels. If someone survived the initial chaos and established a large quarantine zone, the title of 'Colonel' wouldn't be a leash for Vince.

Instead, it would be an absolute green-light political VIP pass stamped on his forehead. First, let's establish a consensus: the limitations of carbon-based lifeforms against a 30mm autocannon. (A single 30mm round carries 100 times the kinetic energy of a 7. 62mm bullet, and the autocannon fires 5 rounds per second.) As an Awakened—at least before his body completely transcends flesh and blood—Vince's only option when facing an organized, heavily armed military force is to run.

(Maybe he could try guerrilla warfare, but even if he won, the quarantine zone would be destroyed—a lose-lose situation.) This means if Vince showed up as a terrifyingly powerful "wasteland warlord," the official system's first reaction would be extreme hostility and defensiveness.

If I were the supreme commander of a quarantine zone (A Colonel), facing a man like this leading hundreds of people, my thought process would be:"I know you're strong, but you're not stronger than the dozen wheeled IFVs and main battle tanks in my hands. We can cooperate, but I must have the decision-making power." (Soldiers naturally only trust soldiers.)"You can be appointed as the captain of some auxiliary defense unit, but your people must be broken up and integrated into the general survivor population."

(Civilian factions must be divided to maintain control.) Most ordinary people in the community would accept this absorption, as the crowd equals safety. And Vince? He would feel restricted. He wouldn't want to live there. He'd grab his core team and leave (maybe striking back at the higher-ups on his way out), but the resulting turmoil and insecurity would ultimately be borne by everyone else. The surviving remnants of humanity would become even more fragile.

BUT—the identity of "Colonel Lin," personally endorsed by Evelyn Ye (a former military star scientist and Colonel herself), changes all of this. To the old military system, a high-ranking allied officer returning from a bloody battle is a brother. Accepting you into the core of power is naturally much easier than accepting an unknown powerhouse. You hold a top-tier rank, and you've even organized a combat-capable unit along the way.

When you enter a quarantine zone, as long as Evelyn can verify her identity, you'll immediately get ammo resupplies. Stolen novel; please report. In the very next meeting, you and Evelyn will be given formal bureaucratic titles within the zone (e. g., Western Defense Commander or Independent Hunting Battalion Commander). To maintain the combat effectiveness and morale of your people, they can be assigned an independent living sector and a degree of autonomy over their supplies.

And you will have complete command over them. Whether you organize your own scavenging teams, go out hunting zombies, or even requisition vehicles, there will be zero pushback. Other commanders might even study your hunting tactics and exchange ideas with you amicably. (Because you are naturally "one of them," equals in the chain of command, and incredibly strong.) This drops Vince's "social cost" of integrating into an unfamiliar official faction down to absolute zero.

Furthermore, military rank directly grants "legitimacy" to violence: The military itself is the state's apparatus of violence. Killing on the wasteland is easy, but making people submit wholeheartedly is hard. (The world order has only been dark for a dozen days. Aside from natural sociopaths, human nature doesn't change that fast. The reliance on "legality and order" is bred into their bones.) The rank gives Vince's absolute martial power a cloak of "legitimacy."

If he kills a rebel leader, he isn't "murdering for loot"; he is "exterminating mutineers." This allows him to legally absorb scattered troops and take over arsenals without causing panic. Everyone will think it's justified, even his enemies (even though they lost). Anyone can accept their commanding officer being a Colonel much more easily than their commanding officer being a veterinarian. So, what if a General does exist in a quarantine zone?

(And in an orthodox military, a General would have natural command authority over a Colonel—meaning Vince's 'legitimacy' just met its superior.) I can tell you for sure: unless this General is an imposter, any General in that age bracket possesses extraordinary political and military intellect. First of all, he is not an idiot. (Otherwise, he'd never reach the rank of General by 50. Even the highest echelon of the privileged class would only climb to Colonel, because being a General attracts too much attention with zero benefit to the family.) So, if Vince was just a powerful vet, how would this General view this powerful outsider? The answer is the same. ANY person with political wisdom would make the same choice.

After judging Vince's stance—as long as he isn't a heinous psycho—any General would grant him a heavyweight, legitimate identity before his true background could be exposed to the public. (Wartime Colonel, Defense Captain, or Special Military Advisor?) Would this General try to use the traditional chain of command to blindly order Vince around? The answer is no, because it's pointless. I would ask myself these questions as the General: Are there any missions Vince MUST execute? No.

Because if something threatens Vince, he'll act on his own. If he can't handle it, he'll run away, and I wouldn't have any solution for that threat either. So the only optimal solution is to fully support Vince as the tip of the spear. Only by working together can we defeat otherwise invincible enemies. A General's command authority means absolutely nothing against Vince; we can only ever be comrades and brothers facing the same enemy.

There is an ancient Chinese proverb from 2, 500 years ago that almost everyone knows:"When the flying birds are all hunted down, the best bow is put away; when the cunning hares are dead, the hunting hound is skinned." My conclusion is: any person with political wisdom, after learning Vince's personality and stance, will naturally and fully support him as long as the apocalypse and the monsters still exist. And what if this General lacks sufficient political wisdom? Timeline 1: Vince is just a veterinarian...

Well, the answer is back in the first few paragraphs. You just need to mentally add "or a not-so-smart General" next to "A Colonel" in my previous breakdown. The only difference here is that the surviving remnants of humanity would just edge a little bit closer to a bad end. Timeline 2: Our Vince is already an Evelyn-certified Colonel! We've entered the quarantine zone, completed the integration, and gained a certain degree of autonomy.

Given Vince's personality (and his absolute need to hunt high-level mutated monsters), one thing is certain... Our Vince would rapidly become a superstar and idol among the younger generation, and the dream guy for the girls... (well, one of them, at least). Every Awakened on the side of order would set their ultimate goal to "be like Vince." Now, imagine if, at this point, the nominal supreme commander of our quarantine zone—a General—issues an "inappropriate" mission for some specific reason...

For example, ordering Vince and his core team members to hunt down a mountain-sized monster hundreds of miles away without providing any support or supplies... Then our Evelyn would gladly teach him what "political wisdom" truly means. Within five minutes of issuing that "inappropriate order," this General would be declared an "imposter" or "already infected."

To maintain the stability of the quarantine zone (and taking into account Vince's reluctance to step up as a public leader—even though he's already a "superstar" by this point—our Vince is just an awkwardly contrary guy like that), Evelyn would unite several Colonels who hold actual military power to form a "Quarantine Zone Military Management Committee," and formally appoint Vince as the committee's "Independent Military Advisor." As for the General...

err, the General's evil conspiracy to destroy humanity has been successfully thwarted, and he has been "eliminated." Therefore, whether in Evelyn's or Vince's dictionary, "Colonel" is never a chain used to restrain others; it's a perfectly tailored "camouflage suit." It allows Vince to avoid unnecessary, low-level slaughter, and elegantly and legally obtain resources from large quarantine zones. Rank is the face, fists are the core. And Vince happens to have maxed out both!