Chapter 61.1 – Su Enqi

In the office, the pale-faced old man sat on a chair, sweating coldly from his forehead, gasping for breath.

A large group of people surrounded him in all directions.

“General Su, the doctor will be here soon!”

“Where’s the medicine?! Isn’t the spare medicine in the jacket pocket?”

“I had already taken three pills just now, the adjutant rushed to get other medicines, and the doctor will come soon—”

“General, are you still uncomfortable?!”

The adjutant hurriedly came with the medicine bottle and picked up five tablets, while others brought a cup of warm water and handed them to Su Enqi’s hand together, assisting him to swallow them.

Su Enqi’s swallowing movements were dry, as if an invisible hand was stuck in his neck. The bitterness of the pill permeated the nerves of the taste buds, making people want to retch.

Someone handed over the aerosol, Su Enqi took it, inhaled a few deep breaths, and his expression finally eased.

The doctor came, briefly checked his condition, and advised him to go to a private medical room to rest, observe the situation, and go to the military hospital if necessary.

“…I’ll stay here,” Su Enqi said slowly, his voice hoarse, “I’m not going anywhere.”

Doctor: “General Su, we still recommend that you go to the medical room to rest in bed and keep an eye on your body’s condition so as not to—”

“I said I won’t go,” Su Enqi interrupted him, gasped a few times, and his face became bloody again, “It’s just a little problem, I’m fine, do I look like I’m sick?” He looked around at a group of nervous and worried officers and soldiers, “All of you, go out.”

The crowd looked at each other, a major general stepped forward and wanted to say something, but was interrupted by Su Enqi: “Get out! Go about your business – you have a great deal of work to do.” He waved his hand again, knocking over the pill bottle on the table, and the small white pills rolled all over the table, “Go!”

His tone was tough.

The crowd hesitated for a few seconds, a few guards were the first to step away, followed by other officers, and the last to go were the hesitant looking adjutant and the doctor.

There were only two people left in the huge office.

Su Enqi, and an officer in his thirties, who had the rank mark of colonel on his shoulder.

“General Su,” the major said, “You’d better rest in bed and take a break. It’s not good for your heart.”

“I said no need,” Su Enqi said coldly, “Su Liang, don’t you have your own things to do? Or do you also think I’m old and useless?”

—Su Liang, Su Enqi’s only son.

Su Enqi had a son in his middle age, his wife passed away early due to illness, but instead of spoiling the child, he was strict with Su Liang and did not hesitate to send him to the front line. Su Liang’s rank was obtained little by little by him guarding the outpost, crawling on the mud, bathing in blood, and grabbing the corpses of his comrades.

Su Liang didn’t speak, took a few steps forward, picked up the scattered pills, and wrapped them in paper.

He did not continue to persuade Su Enqi, but said: “The marchers have been dispersed, and no one has been injured. In the future, the patrol will strengthen its vigilance to avoid this kind of thing happening again.”

The marchers in the center of the city dispersed, and their slogans were scattered on the ground.

[There is a shortage of troops, life and death are at stake, and there is no room for one more failure]

[We don’t need a commander who makes frequent mistakes! It is understandable once or twice. How many defeats have General Su fought in the past two years? How many people were unnecessarily killed or injured?]

[He is old – the time that belongs to him has passed]

[Those who are able to do so! Give General Lu Tinghan full command!]

[If there is a better candidate, why not choose him? General Lu is capable of doing a better job!]

Those lines of big characters were shocking.

The cleaning robot ran around, picked up the placards, and prepared to destroy them.

Just over a year ago, a march against Lu Tinghan broke out on the streets of Gleaning City, saying that Su Enqi was not that old. Times changed and the roles reversed. Lu Tinghan proved his strength again and again: the fall of the “Horn”, the critical battles and the perfect responses, the foresight and determination to abandon Gleaning City, the defeat of “Floating River”, and above all, he did not hesitate to sacrifice himself when facing the “Rock Snake”.…

Under the oppression and catalysis of the peak of infection, the doubts about Lu Tinghan disappeared, and the number of people who trusted him overwhelmingly increased.

In this turbulent era, victory was the only panacea. They coveted it and grabbed it like they were grabbing tomorrow.

Su Enqi said, “You think I care? I have witnessed the beginning of the end of the world with my own eyes. In the past 70 years, what storm have I not seen? These are just small fusses. They should have had better things to do, building the city, aiding the defense, which is better than holding up signs and shouting slogans.”

“……” Su Liang threw the dirty pills into the trash can and said, “The doctor has told me that you should not stay up and suffer any more.”

Su Enqi leaned back in his seat and laughed twice, “Then I will also tell everyone that they should not die. Is there a choice here? It’s enough to not die for now.”

Su Liang said: “Then maybe, you can consider letting General Lu share the burden? You…”

He paused.

—Su Enqi looked at him, and something seemed to be burning in his cloudy eyes, aggressively.

“Su Liang,” Su Enqi said after a pause, “Do you also think that I am not qualified to command anymore?”

Su Liang stood up straight and replied, “I just think you need to pay attention to your health.”

“Answer my question,” Su Enqi stared at him, “Colonel Su Liang, in your opinion, am I no longer qualified to command?”

There was a freezing silence in the office.

“…No, I don’t think so,” Su Liang said slowly, “No one can guarantee perfection in war, and no one can be a constant winner, not to mention facing the unfathomable monsters. You have done a very good job in the past few decades, you are the mainstay of the Alliance, and you are also…my role model and idol. However—”

He turned his words: “However, General Lu is too special. He not only has military talent, but also a natural enemy of monsters. He was born for war. You are his teacher. You must understand this better than me. His progress is also obvious to all, and I think that more power can be appropriately allocated to him. I don’t think you are not qualified, it’s just that he has done better.”

He hesitated to add: “Besides, your current health situation is…not very optimistic.”

Su Enqi looked at him in silence.

When he was expressionless, the wrinkles at the end of his eyes and the corners of his mouth were obvious, drooping down and unable to be covered. Fortunately, he habitually maintained a straight sitting posture so that he didn’t look too old.

He said, “Do you really think I should give him all the power?”

“Not all of them,” Su Liang said subconsciously, “part of it.”

“Such a dispersion of military power will only cause chaos, and he and I will always have disagreements,” Su Enqi said, “Did you know that in this era, military power is everything, enough to cross all politics, laws, morals, and traditions, even the so-called rules are a joke.”

He raised his chin slightly, almost haughtily “The one who has the military power is the one who talks. If you really want to talk about power, in front of me and General Lu, President Chai Yongning is nothing. He is nothing.”

Su Liang was taken aback by this rebellious and arrogant remark.

Su Enqi continued: “To give him the command of the main city is to give it all, to give everything away. Let me ask again, do you really think I should give him all the power? Should I?”

Just as Su Liang was about to answer that General Lu would be competent enough, a thought flashed across him: Why did he ask such a question? He should know Lu Tinghan’s talent better than anyone else, unless it means something else…

That thought was so incredible that it made his eyes widen: “Could it be that you, you don’t trust General Lu…?!”

It was not distrust of strength.

It was about not trusting that person.