Dante’s specific job was to be a personal bodyguard, and his heart skipped a beat.

  He wasn't exactly top-tier in hand-to-hand combat, his rifle scores were only average, and he wasn't even six feet tall. He had no idea what qualified him to be Antonio’s personal guard.

  The only possibility was... the Division Commander really was after his body... But he didn't even like men...

  Dante didn't dare let his thoughts go any further.

  To make matters worse, Antonio had insanely strict requirements for a personal guard.

  If Antonio stepped three paces out the door in the morning, he had to see Dante;

  Antonio would board the car first, and only then could Dante follow;

  When Antonio entered the officers' mess hall, Dante had to stand outside the door, on call at all times;

  When Antonio went to the restroom, Dante couldn't be more than three meters from the door;

  This "three-meter rule" applied everywhere—bathrooms, businesses, public spaces, you name it.

  Dante was utterly speechless.

  If you're in bed with someone, do I have to stay within three meters too? I’m a soldier, not a private bodyguard.

  Of course, Dante didn't dare say that out loud.

  He could only grumble in his head.

  What was even harder for Dante to swallow was that every afternoon, while Antonio sat in his office for four hours, Dante had to undergo four hours of extra training.

  The instructor was a former National Security Bureau trainer and an acquaintance of Antonio’s ex-wife.

  The training intensity was: Devil-tier.

  Damn it!

  Dante was a veteran who had been in the service for years. War in this region had effectively stopped three years ago, and he hadn't done high-intensity training in just as long. This was going to be the death of him.

  But Antonio’s order was a military command, and military commands were absolute.

  All Dante could do was stomp his feet, stand tall, salute, and shout at the top of his lungs:

  "Yes, Sir!"

  ...

  Early this morning, Elena finally spotted Elias at the morning drill assembly point. His pant legs and shoes were soaked with dew. It looked like he had set out before dawn; otherwise, there was no way he could have reached Solana by 8:00 AM.

  "Elena..."

  Elias was alone and helpless here. The moment he saw Elena, it was as if he had finally found a long-lost relative.

  The coldness and arrogance he had shown three weeks ago when they first boarded the transport were long gone.

  Just how much had he suffered over there?

  Elena stared at Elias for three seconds. "You came here looking for me? What for?"

  "Uh... no, I’m here to report for duty. But, our relationship... you’re my only family here. I had to see you first before I could feel at ease... at ease enough to go back and move my things over."

  In her previous life, when Elena saw Elias, she was the one being bullied mercilessly by her old comrades at Solana.

  Back then, when Elias said they were each other's only family, no one was willing to listen to Elena’s protest.

  But now, things were different.

  "Elias, exactly what is our relationship? You spent a mere 300 pesos to bribe my mother, and then you went around telling everyone I’m your fiancée, right?"

  Elena said this very loudly. Nearly 200 veterans gathered for the assembly all turned to look.

  Elias’s face instantly turned red all the way down to his neck!

  Lucy, who had just come back from the restroom, rushed over from a distance and shoved Elias aside. This bastard was like a ghost that wouldn't go away, following them all the way here.

  "Elias, do you have no shame? Since middle school, you've been claiming you held Elena’s hand and did... pth pth! Do you think I don't know whether you held her hand or not? When did Elena ever like you?"

  "Ahem!" Camp Commander Barda spoke up. "Everyone, fall in! From today on, Elias is one of us. Wherever he falls short, you veterans can point it out. We must uphold the spirit of collectivism—learning and progressing together."

  Elias: "..."

  "Also, Elena, for failing to show initiative in welcoming a new teammate, you’re sentenced to seven days of shoveling cow dung."

  Elena: "..."

  She had expected this the moment she saw Elias—that she’d be punished with seven days of shoveling dung.

  Elena wasn't afraid of the smell, but wet cow dung was incredibly heavy.

  In her last life, after seven days of this, she couldn't even straighten her back and spent over a month bedridden, nearly dying right there.

  Commander Barda was famously harsh. No one dared to talk back or argue. In the crowd, only Sienna couldn't help but let out a snicker.

  The assembly ended.

  As they watched Barda walk away, Lucy began to complain, "Why did he only punish you and not me? I wasn't being 'welcoming' to Elias either."

  Before Elena could say anything, Sienna leaned in and shrieked, "That’s because you want to marry Matthew, but Matthew doesn't even like you! As for your accomplice here—her! She’s definitely not going to have a good end!"

  Sienna pointed her finger right at the space between Elena’s eyebrows.

  "If it weren't for Aunt Juana liking you, you would’ve been punished right along with her."

  Lucy grit her teeth in rage. "What do you mean Juana likes me? It’s clearly you who’s obsessed with Matthew..."

  Elena glanced at the hundred or so people surrounding them, quickly grabbed Lucy, and pulled her away. "Don't waste your breath on her. Let’s go."

  Once they were clear of the crowd, Elena cursed under her breath.

  "Just you wait!"

  Elena went to the air-raid shelter to get an iron shovel and headed straight for the cowshed. She thought that once she finished the work, she really needed to fix Sienna’s wagon.

  For the past few weeks, she thought staying away from Sienna would save her some trouble, but she didn't think so anymore.

  When dealing with a bitch, you have to take the initiative!

  When Elena reached the cowshed and rolled up her pant legs, she realized nearly half of it had already been cleared.

  "?"

  The back of the man bent over shoveling manure looked familiar. When he turned around, it was actually Roan.

  "What are you doing?"

  "I happened to be at the barracks just now and heard you were punished with manure duty, so I figured I’d help. Shoveling manure was my job anyway, though I’ve been on a 'self-imposed strike' for two years."

  Stolen story; please report.

  "Self-imposed strike?" True, Roan held a military rank, and she didn't know what kind of incredible connections this man had to be able to work whenever he felt like it and quit whenever he didn't.

  Elena knew Roan must want something from her. "Out with it. What do you want from me? It wouldn't happen to be jam again, would it?"

  "It actually is, haha." Roan scratched his head. Seeing that the breeder wasn't nearby, he whispered his predicament.

  He claimed a relative had ordered ten jars of jam from him. It didn't count as capitalist profiteering, but those ten jars were needed for a wedding tomorrow, and he hoped Elena could help him finish them today.

  Fine, taking my technology to make money, are we?

  Elena walked a circle around Roan, staring him down. She had already judged that this man was lying.

  She had wanted to get angry, but thinking that since he had a way to make money, he could eventually bring her in on it, she decided to endure it.

  "You want to swap one day of shoveling manure for ten jars of my jam?"

  She made it look like she was taking a huge loss.

  Roan was intimidated by her stare and gave an awkward smile. "I'll shovel all seven days for you, okay?"

  Elena thought about it. Ten jars of jam would only take her half a day to make, and it would save her seven days of filthy, stinking, exhausting labor.

  "Deal!"

  Elena went back to Roan’s house and spent an hour supervising Marco as he washed the fruit. Only then did she leisurely stroll back toward the barracks.

  As she passed the field ridges, Elena saw Barda riding his bicycle toward them from a distance. Sienna and several other female soldiers were working nearby with their heads down.

  Was Juana off today?

  The opportunity had come.

  "Sienna! Why are you going around saying I’m ruining Matthew’s marriage prospects, just to get Commander Barda to target me and punish me with manure duty?"

  "When did I ever ruin Matthew’s marriage? When has Commander Barda ever targeted me?"

  Sienna was clearing a trench for the rice field. She straightened her mud-covered back and widened her eyes.

  She? She actually knows how to talk back?

  About a dozen people gathered around.

  Elena put her hands on her hips, pretending she had no idea Commander Barda had arrived behind her, and yelled even louder:

  "You keep saying Commander Barda is targeting me! You say I’m conspiring with Lucy to get her married to Matthew, and that’s why Barda is punishing me! Sienna, I think you’re the one who wants to climb the social ladder and marry Matthew, isn't it?"

  "You're so full of schemes! You’re out here spreading rumors that Commander Barda is targeting a female soldier like me, but I didn't even feel targeted myself! You're making up lies and maliciously slandering our Commander Barda like this—aren't you afraid of being struck by lightning?"

  Elena included the name "Commander Barda" in every sentence, making it impossible for Barda to hide or ignore it.

  Seeing that the Commander was right there, the bystanders naturally didn't dare say anything in Sienna's defense.

  "Sienna!" Commander Barda roared. "From tomorrow on, you take over Elena’s manure duty. Do it for fifteen days!"

  "Elena, you return to your regular camp duties tomorrow."

  With just two sentences of shouting, Commander Barda hopped on his bicycle and rode away in a huff.

  Tears immediately welled up in Sienna’s eyes, and she wiped them with her mud-stained sleeves.

  Elena didn't feel a shred of pity for her. This was just a formal warning. If Sienna was smart enough to stop now, fine.

  If she kept stirring up trouble later, Elena could make her life a living hell.

  After avoiding Sienna for weeks, Elena felt she had given Sienna enough "face" for the sake of their blood relation.

  From now on, she wouldn't be soft-hearted toward Sienna again.

  ...

  Today, Antonio had uncovered more specific internal secrets of the Military District Intelligence Department. Xavier was a nominee of the former Division Commander, but he was now loyal to Bernardo. There were things Xavier had clearly reported in writing to Bernardo, yet Ricardo, the Army Commander-in-Chief, was completely in the dark.

  Xavier!

  When Antonio, dressed in his sharp uniform, slowly walked into the Intelligence Department, there were about a dozen people there.

  Those standing or moving around gave Antonio a simple military salute—the kind where they even skipped the foot-stomp.

  Others who were sitting either just nodded or kept their heads down, pretending not to see him.

  The Intelligence Department was under Bernardo’s direct control. Antonio was only a Deputy Division Commander—not even the head official—so no one felt he was actually there for an inspection.

  If it were an inspection, shouldn't there have been advance notice?

  Maybe he was just looking for someone.

  The tall, thin guy with his head down filling out forms, pretending not to see Antonio, was exactly Xavier.

  Antonio smiled at the crowd. "I’m here to find someone. Him!"

  Xavier looked up, bewildered. He looked at Antonio, then glanced at Dante, who was standing straight and expressionless behind Antonio. Only then did he realize he might have messed up.

  Xavier quickly stood up, stomped his feet, and saluted: "Good morning, Division Commander!"

  But in reality, he was defiant. What do you want with me? What could I possibly have to do with you?

  Antonio only smiled and nodded. "The former Division Commander has some suspicious accounts involving you. The amount isn't small. I need to verify them further with you. When you have a moment, please come to my office."

  The disdain in Xavier’s eyes vanished instantly, turning dull and lifeless.

  Everyone else’s expression turned serious too. Everyone knew that in these situations, a superior would usually call the person to come for a private verification.

  For Antonio to barge into the office and notify him publicly like this—he was clearly out to humiliate Xavier.

  He’s looking for trouble.

  The people in the Intelligence Department were now starting to feel their own positions were in jeopardy.