Entering with a facial scan, sunlight greeted him.
The office spanned 190 square meters, larger than Jiang Ye's residence.
Glass windows lined all four walls, the glass visibly thick, capable of withstanding mortar rounds. A blue wool carpet exuded a faint, pleasant textile fragrance.
The facilities were, of course, comprehensive:
A three-meter-long desk, topped with a forty-inch display screen that could connect to the base vehicle's remote data.
Sliding bookshelves resembling file cabinets, though currently devoid of any books.
A water dispenser and food printer, a small air purifier, and central air conditioning.
Most importantly, there was a cot.
Complete with mattress, pillows, and blankets, all a clean, pure white.
Jiang Ye was exhausted. He took off his dust-covered outer coat, tossed it into a corner, and collapsed onto the bed.
He had no intention of returning to Binhai City today; he would stay in the office. The journey was long, and the back-and-forth was too taxing.
He had to admit, the bed in the office was softer and more comfortable than the one in the base vehicle. The sunlight had been warming it, giving off a scent like toasted mites.
Jiang Ye yawned comfortably and fell asleep.
After an unknown duration, he heard a rustling sound.
He opened his eyes a sliver and vaguely saw a figure standing a few meters away by the wall, bending down to pick something up.
Jiang Ye instantly sobered, subtly reaching under his pillow to grip his pistol. Ever since arriving on the colony, keeping a pistol under his pillow had become his habit.
Opening his eyes, he froze.
The beautiful female secretary he had seen at the meeting was there, still in a dark green fitted suit, her waist to hip lines graceful. She was holding Jiang Ye's dirty clothes.
"What's your name?" Jiang Ye asked.
The secretary started, turning to look at him. "You're awake? My name is Liu Jizi, Ji for season, Zi for mulberry. You can call me Xiao Liu! Your VTOL has been moved into the base, and the dust on its wings has been wiped off. Shall I wash your dirty clothes for you?"
"No need, just leave the clothes on the floor. I have many identical jackets; I just discard them and change when they get dirty," Jiang Ye said, appraising her with interest. "Are you the third child in your family?"
Liu Jizi paused. "How did you know?"
"Your name, Meng Zhong Ji," Jiang Ye released his pistol and sat up on the bed, yawning.
Outside the window, the sun was setting, casting golden-red twilight into the room. Jiang Ye, shirtless, his powerful muscles clearly defined in the sunlight.
Liu Jizi's face flushed instantly, her pupils dilating as she stared at Jiang Ye's upper body.
Jiang Ye, not noticing her reaction, rubbed his face. "I'm a bit hungry. Could you get me some food, please?"
"Yes," Liu Jizi nodded gently. "What would you like to eat?"
"Steamed rice, with some meat and vegetables. Make sure there's plenty of broth to soak the rice," Jiang Ye said.
Liu Jizi turned and left, the sound of her high heels clicking away quickly.
Jiang Ye got up, put on his pants, remaining shirtless, and sat down at the desk, clicking the screen.
Connecting to the base vehicle's data, the entire screen transformed into the base panel, even clearer than before.
The twilight faded, and night descended. The office grew increasingly dim, the white light of the screen illuminating Jiang Ye's face.
He first proceeded to expand and demarcate his territory, designating all areas traversed by his troops today as effective territory.
Then, he checked the leaderboard information.
Jiang Ye remembered the leaderboard data from the morning clearly:
[Jiang Ye Autonomous Region / Development Index 3390 / Rank 9770]
Now, it had changed:
[Jiang Ye Autonomous Region / Development Index 3400 / Rank 9761]
The development index had increased by 10 points, not a lot, but not insignificant either. His rank had also moved up several positions.
Jiang Ye was quite satisfied; at this pace, development was quite considerable.
He checked the chat channel. Xu Yan had sent over a dozen property purchase requests, all from different residents, requiring Jiang Ye's approval.
Jiang Ye reviewed them carefully. There were no issues; it was simply that some residents had earned money and wanted to upgrade to larger homes. He would still receive a commission, so of course, he supported it.
"Knock, knock, knock!" Polite knocking at the door.
"Come in," Jiang Ye said without looking up.
The sound of the door closing, the soft click of high heels, and Liu Jizi walked over, placing a boxed meal on the desk: white rice soaked in broth of various colors, sweet and sour pork ribs, braised pork, spinach and shredded potatoes, three bright red prawns, and a bowl of seaweed and egg soup.
"Thank you," Jiang Ye glanced at the dishes and nodded with satisfaction. "You can go now."
After a few seconds, he realized Liu Jizi hadn't left and was still standing beside him.
Jiang Ye looked up. Her face was flushed, and she was looking at him with an expression of wanting to speak but hesitating.
"Do you need anything else?" Jiang Ye felt something was off.
"Do you need someone to attend to you tonight?" Liu Jizi unbuttoned her blouse and said softly, "I can stay here with you."
Jiang Ye's eyes widened in shock, his mind momentarily going blank.
"I'm not your secretary; I'm in charge of the conference room. But I feel you have an indescribable charm, so I wanted to see you," Liu Jizi stared at him without shyness. "No one knows I'm here, and I won't say anything."
Jiang Ye blinked and couldn't help but reach out to touch her face, then quickly withdrew his hand.
"You're very beautiful, and I appreciate that you're willing to be here," Jiang Ye said sincerely. "But it's not appropriate. I'd prefer if we maintained a purely professional relationship. I'm sorry."
"It is purely a professional relationship; I don't mean anything else," Liu Jizi took his hand. "I'm not trying to exchange anything with you through this; I just find you very charming."
Jiang Ye was truly surprised; he had never considered the word "charm" to be associated with himself.
"I can see you're very tired today; don't you want to relax a bit?" Liu Jizi said softly, her eyes as tempting as a serpent in the Garden of Eden.
"It's not really appropriate. Thank you very much, but please go," Jiang Ye still said.
"Alright, enjoy your meal. You can leave the meal box here when you're done. I'll clean it up in the morning," Liu Jizi's expression showed a hint of disappointment, and she re-buttoned her blouse.
The sound of high heels clicked away as she left the office and closed the door.
The office was silent. The lights were off, and it was dark all around. Jiang Ye's face was illuminated by the screen's light.
"Is this the atmosphere of the space age? So liberal," he murmured.
After dealing with various miscellaneous tasks, Jiang Ye lay down on the bed and tossed and turned for over an hour before finally falling asleep.
At half-past five the next morning, a rumbling sound came from outside the window.
Jiang Ye was awakened by the noise. He got up and looked down from the window. Teams of dark spider armored vehicles were filing out; the troops had already been fully mobilized.
He quickly put on his clothes, washed up briefly, and hurried downstairs to the underground armor depot, getting into a spare spider armored vehicle.
Today, he intended to witness the Jumping Worms firsthand and observe how Che Zhen led his troops into battle.