Fuck Him

After taking the medication, the dizziness in Rosen's mind finally subsided. He began to analyze his current situation.

Rosen first looked around. He noticed that besides the burly man in black, everything else was pure white. This must be the Shatterdome's exclusive hospital.

Rosen only remembered controlling Kunlun and leaving the smoke. He had no memory of anything that happened afterward. Based on the current situation, Jiang Tianzheng must have ordered his rescue and was now keeping him under strict guard – a form of house arrest.

In Rosen's original plan, once Kunlun was activated, he would blend back into the engineering team. No one would notice; it would be seamless. But no one expected this incident to happen.

Three Jaeger hangar doors… repairs to the base… fixing Shandong and Kunlun…

Rosen silently calculated the losses from this riot in his mind. These might even become the basis for his sentence.

In the end, Rosen simply gave up thinking.

Perhaps he couldn't easily get away with it this time, but Rosen had no regrets.

He wanted to be a pilot; that was his greatest wish, more important than anything… And Kunlun had fulfilled Rosen's wish in the end. There was probably nothing in the world that could make Rosen happier than that.

Raleigh had also told Rosen once—

When you truly pilot a Jaeger, outside the simulator, in the real world, behind you are ten miles of the Miracle Line and millions of civilians praying for your salvation. In battle, you must make choices and decisions, and bear all consequences for your actions.

Now, it was time for Rosen to bear the consequences.

He'd take it one step at a time. Rosen thought this, then leaned back onto the bed again.

But waiting was always boring.

"What's your name?" Rosen asked the burly man in black beside him.

"..."

However, the burly man in black didn't seem inclined to answer Rosen. He just glanced at Rosen, then continued to look straight ahead—gripping his gun even tighter.

"Wait… I didn't mean anything else," Rosen quickly explained. "I just wanted to ask how long I slept."

The soldier looked at Rosen again, his eyes narrowing slightly as if observing Rosen's expression for any unnaturalness. Then he said, "29 hours."

Based on the soldier's words, Rosen estimated it was around 5 PM on June 15th.

"What about Kunlun and Shandong?" Rosen continued. "I mean, is Kunlun still docked outside Victoria Bay?"

"Recovery was completed this morning," the soldier replied, neither subservient nor arrogant, his tone flat.

"And where is Mike Kane?"

The soldier seemed annoyed by Rosen's string of questions. He raised his gun slightly, and Rosen wisely shut his mouth.

This guy is going to be difficult to deal with, Rosen thought.

At this moment, Mike Kane, whom Rosen was thinking about, was suffering greatly.

Perhaps Jiang Tianzheng had intentionally helped him; he was acquitted yesterday during the riot and remained a Jaeger Test Pilot, even showing signs of becoming like Tigre.

However, just because his superiors weren't pursuing it didn't mean it was over. Rumors had already spread throughout every corner of the Shatterdome.

Rumors of rebellion, accidents, Kaiju spies, attempts to murder Lin Yin… various kinds of gossip had replaced Kaiju intelligence as daily topics of conversation.

And these rumors were so vivid. Take the Kaiju spy theory, for example—it detailed how miniature Kaiju had entered Rosen's and Mike's brains and manipulated them into attacking the Shatterdome base. It was filled with twists and jokes—describing how despicable and shameless Rosen and Mike Kane were, and how noble Lin Yin was for saving the world and stopping their scheme…

Mike Kane almost started to believe he had actually been controlled by miniature Kaiju. He genuinely admired those who could fabricate such stories out of thin air.

And these rumors had clearly affected Mike's life.

Just like now, the moment Mike Kane stepped into the mess hall, he felt that yesterday's failure had completely shattered his image in everyone's eyes.

Before this, Mike had test-piloted almost every Jaeger in the Hong Kong Shatterdome as a Test Pilot. He knew people in every Jaeger workgroup, but today, not a single person was willing to greet him.

He picked up a tray and joined the back of the line. The entire line immediately fell silent, as if dead. Even the kitchen staff lowered their heads and said nothing as they put food on Mike's plate.

Mike walked along the rows of tables. Those facing him looked up, staring directly at him with expressions that seemed to say, "Let's see if you dare sit here."

A bunch of opportunists, Mike thought. These guys change their tune faster than flipping a book.

Mike held his tray and randomly found a table to sit at. The original occupants of that table scattered like startled birds.

This is peaceful, Mike thought as he picked up his spoon and began to taste the food.

However…

Clearly, not everyone was afraid of getting into trouble—on the contrary, some people loved to stir up trouble.

Slam!

A set of cutlery was slammed heavily onto the table. The table Mike was at welcomed its second diner.

"We shouldn't ruin our mood because of some trash, should we?" a harsh voice called out.

Mike knew who the rude speaker was without even looking up; it had to be Seti Andrews. He had driven away several new pilots using this method, which he called "testing new recruits' psychological fortitude."

This is bullshit! Mike thought, his spoon clenching tighter. Sethi was just indulging his own twisted need for attention. In his eyes, everyone else was insignificant; he put others down while propping himself up – that was the mindset of guys like Sethi.

"I'm starting to wonder if the Commander's lost his mind, keeping someone like that around. Is he meant to be cannon fodder? Or a role model? He's certainly succeeded at being a role model for failure."

Then, laughter erupted from all around.

Failure? Mike couldn't help but recall the scene of himself piloting Noisy Max, facing down two Kaiju alone.

Los Angeles was in the grip of a cold snap then, snow falling in thick blankets, but it hadn't dampened the public's spirits. They still braved the frigid weather, taking to the streets to celebrate the arrival of Christmas. And that's when—the Kaiju came.

Two of them.

They advanced in a line, fangs bared, towards the city of Los Angeles. But the Shatterdome in Los Angeles had just transferred out two Jaegers the day before. The only one available was a Mark VI Jaeger—Noisy Max. And its pilot, Mike Kane, was just a rookie, with a Sync Rate of only 70%. Yet, in the end, Mike held the line. He endured the biting wind, holding the two Kaiju back in the waters west of Los Angeles for a grueling three and a half hours.

Mike couldn't even remember how he'd won in the end. All he remembered was a gash being torn in the front of the cockpit by a Kaiju, and the freezing wind that poured in nearly paralyzing him with cold.

By the time Mike's memories faded, Sethi was still droning on to the crowd.

Mike had heard enough. When he was the hero, Sethi hadn't even touched a Pilot Suit—so why should he continue to tolerate this brat?

"Hey, buddy," Mike called out.

"Hm?" Sethi's smug face finally turned towards him.

So, Mike grabbed his lunchbox and slammed it down right onto that expression.

"You wanna fight, you son of a bitch? Fine, I'm game!"