Homecoming

Within a certain Navy base on the southeast coast, the elder statesman of the Navy, Old Liu, was flipping through the documents and a small booklet in his hands.

The document was a list of personnel and organizations that had received collective and individual First-Class Merit this time, detailing their circumstances, with a particular focus on personal conduct.

Being able to win battles and having excellent conduct wasn't just talk.

Liu Jun, this cadet, had truly made a name for himself. He had also looked up the cadet's information; he was currently single, had excellent training results, and both his parents were from the working class. His mother was a quality inspector, and his father was a technician. One-fifth of his monthly allowance was used to support several impoverished students, which explained his enthusiasm for the "lever fee."

Old Liu chuckled inwardly. It wasn't uncommon for officers in the military to support impoverished students; many simply didn't talk about it. Whenever he thought of those "rich second-generation" characters in movies and TV shows becoming officers or pilots, completely detached from the masses, he felt like throwing his hat.

It wasn't that there weren't people from well-off families, but most were children of ordinary people. Once they entered the great melting pot of the military, there was no difference, only one name: People's Liberation Army (Jin Zhuma Mi).

He turned his head and glanced at the prominent red dot on the world map hanging in the office – the Sky Pit.

This Sky Pit had directly shattered the first, second, and third island chains. Whether East University was happy or not was unclear, but the Americans were definitely uncomfortable.

Soon, various countries would begin their formal investigations, explorations, or military actions regarding the Sky Pit, and East University would be no exception.

With such a massive variable in place, neither the East nor the West could simply ignore it. On the general's desk lay a red-headed document, prominently displaying the title: "Guidelines for the Second Contact with Alien Civilization."

Next to the red-headed document was a summary based on the battlefield records of the 815A reconnaissance ship and Liu Jun's oral account: "Combat Doctrine."

The so-called combat doctrine was about standardizing, proceduralizing, and making combat efficient.

As a small, third-tier city, it didn't have its own large civilian airport. This dual-use military and civilian airport served both national defense and economic development. For a small city with not much foot traffic, it was just right, with low maintenance costs. The money earned from commercial use could be used for subsidies, but the drawback was the small scale of the airport.

[Control Tower to Chang Kong, runway is clear, you may land. Repeat, cleared to land.]

"Chang Kong received."

Receiving the landing clearance from the Control Tower, the J-15 circled the airport airspace in a five-sided pattern.

This was his first time flying a plane home. Liu Jun observed the position and direction of the runway below, then flew to the "first side" to adjust the distance, turned to the "second side" to adjust the spacing, and turned again, heading towards the runway landing area. During this time, he continuously adjusted the throttle and altitude, descending slowly.

After turning to the "fourth side" again, his altitude had dropped to 400 meters. Liu Jun could clearly see the situation on the runway below. After confirming there were no anomalies, he made his final turn into the "fifth side." His altitude, speed, and direction were all adjusted. He aimed the aircraft's nose at the "E" shaped symbol on the runway and began to continuously adjust the throttle.

He lowered the landing flaps and deployed the landing gear. The instruments were normal. Liu Jun descended rapidly towards the runway below. That's right, compared to the graceful landings of the Air Force, the Navy's landings were downright brutal. Carrier runways were that short; they had to be violent.

Screeech! The moment the landing gear touched the ground, the aircraft dipped, and the sound of tires frictioning the tarmac filled the air. A puff of smoke rose from the runway, leaving clearly visible tire marks.

Liu Jun didn't dare to reduce throttle, maintaining a go-around speed. This was muscle memory from training; his brain hadn't yet registered that this wasn't a carrier to make him change.

After confirming his landing, Liu Jun finally reduced throttle, opened the speed brakes, and taxied down the long runway. Once his speed decreased, he pulled the brakes to slow down further. The J-15's speed gradually reduced, and then, propelled by its two WS10 engines, it taxied like a tricycle along the instructions towards the hangar.

"Tsk, the Navy's landings are too violent."

At the Control Tower, the air traffic controller, who had been watching the landing of "Chang Kong" through binoculars, clicked his tongue. He had only heard about it before, but now he had truly witnessed it. If they had used the Air Force's landing gear, it wouldn't have withstood such treatment.

"Huh?!"

Suddenly, the air traffic controller exclaimed.

"What's wrong?"

The people beside him all looked at him. The air traffic controller lowered his binoculars, wiped the lens, and focused again.

"Hiss! A J-15 with confirmed kills?"

Immediately, the people in the Control Tower jumped up. The Air Force commander, in particular, picked up his binoculars to look and saw that there were indeed three solid stars [★★★] beneath the cockpit canopy.

He didn't suspect the pilot had painted them himself. Without the corresponding honors, the ground crew wouldn't have painted stars or any other symbols on the aircraft, even if they were beaten to death.

Under the watchful eyes of the Control Tower personnel, the J-15 taxied to a stop next to the hangar. A nearby tow truck approached, clamped onto the landing gear, and pushed the aircraft backward into the hangar.

The aircraft was parked in the designated parking area, chocks were placed, and the cockpit canopy was opened. Liu Jun climbed down the boarding ladder, handing over to the ground crew. However, he noticed that the ground crew's eyes kept glancing towards the bottom of the cockpit, and then they looked him up and down with shining eyes.

"Thank you for your trouble."

"You're welcome, it's our duty! Our duty!"

"Where's the changing room?" Liu Jun, carrying his luggage, looked around the airport, a bit unsure of the changing room's exact location.

"Over there, Xiao Huang, take him there."

"Thanks."

Taking an airport shuttle vehicle, he arrived at the changing room in less than 30 seconds. After changing into civilian clothes in the changing room, Liu Jun walked out of the dual-use airport with his luggage. No sooner had he left than the sound of brakes squealing echoed from the hangar entrance. A Major, along with several Captains and Second Lieutenants, hurriedly jumped out of a vehicle.

The Major looked at the ground crew inspecting the aircraft's status inside the hangar and anxiously asked, "Where is he?!"

"Just left."

"What?!"

"Ah! Too late!" A Captain angrily slammed his thigh.

The Major looked dejectedly at the J-15 in front of him, staring at the three stars for a long time. Such a pilot with combat experience wasn't someone you could find just anywhere. Even if they couldn't spar, letting him give them a lesson would be great!

This was actual combat experience, something that couldn't be fully simulated no matter how many times they trained! It was the sole standard for verifying training!

"Master, take me to Dongyuan Residential Area."

Liu Jun got into a taxi and said to the driver.

"Alright, hold on tight."

The driver pressed the meter, shifted gears, and stepped on the accelerator. Amidst the low hum of the electric motor, the taxi drove towards the location Liu Jun had given. The driver drove while listening to the radio broadcast.

Liu Jun looked out the window. He hadn't been back to his hometown in many years. From the air just now, he noticed that this third-tier city had expanded outwards by several rings. The urban area now had many more high-rise buildings and newly built residential areas, and the roads had been widened by two lanes.

East University's development had never stopped, not even in a third-tier city.