The police loudspeaker was clearly heard by Paige.
She had stayed in the villa for a long time, and now it was time to go out and join the crowd.
So, she washed her hands and slowly walked out.
Everyone was talking about the parade planned for the PN Soldiers tomorrow.
"Those damn PN Soldiers, they're trying to trick people into going out so they can kill them."
"Yeah, my neighbor Xiaocui's family, both the husband and wife went missing. Now only their two children are left at home. One is five years old and the other is seven. How are they supposed to survive?"
"Exactly. On the street in front of mine, there was a newlywed couple. They went out and haven't been seen since."
"And in the back street, a grown man disappeared. Now only his wife and children are left. Who knows how they'll live from now on?"
"Let's not just talk about those people. Our own lives are hard too. Now we can't even leave the city."
"Who knows how the nearby villages and towns are doing?"
"Sigh, probably not good. If anyone had survived, wouldn't they have come to tell us something?"
"This world is getting harder to live in."
"If supplies from outside can't get into the city, who knows how long we'll last with what we have?"
"Do you think the PN Soldiers might stop the army's supply trucks halfway? If they really do that, won't we just starve to death in here?"
The aunties and women gathered together, talking one after another.
After hearing all this, Paige started thinking seriously.
She had been eating and living well these days. Even though she didn't expect everyone to be like her, she still thought life should've started returning to order by now.
She didn't expect that it had only looked like things were getting better. In reality, people couldn't even leave the city.
Paige went directly to find Commander Ye and asked him what was going on.
Commander Ye looked helpless.
"Miss Paige, you know, if it weren't for you, we might not have been able to keep this city safe. We're lucky, but the surrounding areas haven't been so fortunate. The PN Soldiers already took over the nearby towns and villages. Now, they're surrounding us. No one can say when they might attack. Our orders are to defend the city, and we don't have extra soldiers to clear them out. When the city falls, they burn, kill, and loot civilians. Now, I'm afraid they're trying to trap us here and starve us."
Commander Ye sighed.
One or two people going missing might not be noticed, but now too many people were disappearing. Only a small number of those who left the city came back. And even they only dared wander nearby and didn't go far.
They knew the PN Soldiers were hiding around the area, but there were no troops to send after them.
"What if I drive all the PN Soldiers out? Do you have the manpower to take over afterward?" Paige asked.
"The villages would only have small groups of PN Soldiers, and they go in for random raids. In those cases, we wouldn't assign troops to guard the area permanently. But if it's neighboring cities, our commander can report to the top and request more people to take over and manage things," Commander Ye answered.
"Alright, if I get any news, I'll let you know." Paige turned to leave after speaking.
"Wait a moment." Commander Ye saw that Paige was about to go and quickly called her back.
"I've been wanting to talk to you for a while now. But I heard you just moved to a new house and have been busy every day, so I didn't want to disturb you. Now that you're here, there's something I'd like to ask you."
Paige looked at Commander Ye curiously. If it were something urgent, couldn't he have just asked Winn or the others to pass the message along? Why wait until she wasn't busy to bring it up?
"It's like this. Paige, I wonder if you're interested in joining us?
In these unpredictable times, the country's peace and prosperity need more outstanding people like you.
Your abilities and intelligence are truly admirable. You've seen the situation in the city—it really needs top-level talent like you.
With your talent, if you join the military, you'll surely shine on this broad stage and achieve great things."
Commander Ye sincerely invited Paige.
"Oh? Then what position are you planning to give me?" Paige asked curiously.
Paige didn't reject the idea of joining the army. In her past life, she was in the military.
"We're not sure if Paige wants to take a civil or military role. Either way, the position would be top-level.
If you prefer a civil role, there's an opening for a military advisor. It's a relatively easy job, mainly involving major decisions.
The working hours are quite flexible.
Even though the schedule is easy, the rank is high.
If you prefer a military role, we've got a lot of new recruits in our camp.
We want to take this time to train them properly.
Right now, what we need most is a head instructor.
As the head instructor, all the soldiers under your command will follow your orders," Commander Ye said, looking at Paige.
Paige thought about it. One job was easy, with reputation and benefits, but no real power.
The other had real authority but would be tiring and time-consuming, with no free time.
It wasn't an easy choice.
Commander Ye clearly hoped Paige would choose the head instructor role.
If the soldiers could learn even one-tenth, or even one percent, or one-thousandth of her skills, they could become elite warriors.
"Only kids make choices. I want both.
I helped protect this city too, didn't I?
So it's not too much to ask for a civil title, just so I'm informed when something major happens.
As for training the troops, that's fine too, but I'll need a deputy.
When I have time, I'll come and teach the trainees. When I'm busy, my deputy can handle their training."
Although Paige relied mostly on her supernatural powers in her previous life, she had gone through plenty of physical training too.
Fighting mutant beasts and zombie invasions wasn't exactly the same as now, but it wasn't that different either.
In this world, people rely more on guns and ammunition.
But in the apocalypse, those only worked on low-level mutants and zombies.
For higher-level threats, you needed powers or excellent physical skills to take them down.
Commander Ye didn't expect Paige to answer that way, but it wasn't really a problem.
"No problem. The head instructor position already comes with a deputy," Commander Ye agreed.
"Since that's settled, I'll start work in a few days. I want to head outside the city first to see what's going on out there," Paige said.
Since she was taking their salary, she had to do her job properly.
Things others couldn't handle were usually a piece of cake for her.
She was quite satisfied with her current life.
She didn't want it to be ruined in the near future.
"Are you sure going alone is okay? Do you need me to send a few people with you?
Even if they can't help much, they can run errands," Commander Ye asked.
They lacked the power to handle the situation outside the city. If Paige was willing to act, he would support her completely.