Arriving in San Francisco

Xiao Shou sat on the plane, once again with nothing to do.

Although this was his first time truly flying on a plane, it didn't feel all that different.

There wasn't anything special he felt during takeoff either.

What surprised Xiao Shou was that Xie Yushan was also in economy class with him.

She put on her eye mask right next to him and went to sleep.

Xiao Shou didn't know whether to laugh or cry; this was surely another idea from Group Leader Aunt Rong.

However, Xiao Shou had no complaints and understood Aunt Rong's reasoning.

After all, Jaeger pilots were crucial, and this was currently the only Jaeger in Z Nation.

Excessive emotional fluctuations would inevitably affect the neural-sensory connection.

If one was in love, they truly couldn't achieve a state of pure tranquility.

If one could achieve pure tranquility, it wouldn't be love; it would be a player who just wanted to get into your pants.

It wasn't that becoming a Jaeger pilot meant you'd be under house arrest, but rather that Xiao Shou and Xie Yushan's neural-sensory connection was still unstable.

They had only undergone the neural-sensory connection twice so far.

Once they became more proficient in the future, they wouldn't be so strict.

Take the pilots of "Cherno Alpha," the Chernobyl Couple, for example. They were married, and the E Nation's Pan-Pacific Defense Line Operations Department didn't stop them from being intimate.

However, Jin Rong and the others' worries were unnecessary. Although Xiao Shou was young, his psychological age far surpassed his actual age.

He had experienced things most people might not encounter in a lifetime.

For instance, being abandoned at birth.

For instance, the old dean dying to save him.

For instance, him coming face-to-face with "Shanlan."

For instance, him becoming the pilot of "Taishan."

This also made him more mature and resilient than the average person.

He wouldn't break down easily.

Nation M.

PPDC Headquarters, San Francisco.

"Are all the Jaeger pilots from the various countries here?"

Jonathan Williams asked the secretary beside him.

"Reporting, General. Excluding our pilots participating in this special training, there are 12 in total, from Z Nation, Sakura Nation, Nation F, Nation C, and Nation A."

"E Nation isn't coming?"

"Commander Kabrovsky of E Nation said he needs to consolidate the East Asian defense line. Since Z Nation and Sakura Nation are both attending, they need to stay behind."

"That makes sense. Kabrovsky is thoughtful."

"General, Sakura Nation arrived today. The other four countries will arrive within the next two hours."

"Only Z Nation's, hmm, will be a bit later."

"Oh? Why?"

"Uh, Commander Mao Shucheng from Z Nation said the pilots are arriving on our national airline. They won't be here until 3 PM..."

"Haha!"

Jonathan Williams laughed heartily, then let out a sigh.

"See, this is Z Nation!"

"They never skimp on grand gestures for important matters, but they're always frugal with the small things; they don't care about external material comforts."

"I can't believe after all these years, this simple style hasn't changed. Look at the attitude of the other countries, arriving by private jet. These aren't warriors; they're spoiled rich kids!"

"Iron-blooded warriors are forged in battle, not nurtured!"

"The person in our White House and those members of Congress, if they continue to be so willful and inflexible, they'll eventually be caught up by this Eastern Mighty Lion again."

"Back then, the pilot of 'Explorer,' Ritter Harry, actually asked for a billion US dollars. If it were me, I would have kicked him out long ago. That's worse than a loaf of bread costing fifty thousand marks!"

"How about this: send two fighter jets to escort Z Nation's two pilots. Since they've arrived on our soil, we must ensure their safety. This will also give Z Nation face and ease the relationship between our two countries."

"Yes, General!"

Xiao Shou, who had been dozing with his eyes closed, suddenly heard the distinctive roar of fighter jets. He quickly opened his eyes and looked out the window.

Xie Yushan reacted even faster than him, having two more years of military service than Xiao Shou.

Two fighter jets flanked the commercial airliner on either side. The immense roar shook everyone on the plane.

"Oh GOD, why are fighter jets flying right next to us? Has our plane been hijacked by terrorists!"

"Don't talk nonsense, if there were terrorists, they would have shown themselves by now!"

Xie Yushan leaned over to glance out the window, then put her eye mask back on.

"Don't worry, it's fine. Those are fighter jets from PPDC headquarters; they have the insignia on them."

"Maybe they're here for us."

Xiao Shou relaxed when he heard that; he had genuinely thought something might go wrong.

He actually felt a bit of goodwill towards the Commander of PPDC headquarters, Jonathan Williams, whom he hadn't met yet.

After all, this showed that the PPDC valued him and Xie Yushan.

"Ding ding ding, please customers and friends, please be seated and remain calm. The two fighter jets outside the aircraft are from the Air Force conducting drills, please rest assured."

The two fighter jets followed the civilian airliner at a distance until the plane landed.

After disembarking, Xiao Shou stretched with a sigh.

Sitting for eight hours straight would make anyone's back ache.

Xiao Shou took a deep breath of air.

"Damn it, isn't the air in Nation M supposed to be sweet? Why does it smell like factory smoke! The air quality is so bad you can see it with the naked eye!"

Taking a private jet would have meant arriving in San Francisco in about three hours.

Civilian airliners were much slower by comparison.

In reality, this was already quite fast. The current flight propulsion systems incorporated Kaiju blood as fuel, significantly increasing their speed.

It's worth remembering that in peacetime, it used to take a full day and night to travel from Kyoto to San Francisco in Nation M.

This was already pretty good. Kaiju were treasures in every way except for their meat, which was inedible.

In Nation M, there was even a dedicated market for trading Kaiju.

Of course, that was for the scraps and pieces, not entire Kaiju...

In the capital market, there was nothing that couldn't be traded.

If there was, it was only because the price wasn't high enough.

In contrast, Z Nation's economic system was much better; at least it wasn't so chaotic, with everything under government control.

As soon as Xiao Shou and Xie Yushan got off the plane, many people were waiting for them.

Three helicopters had been deployed, and over fifty heavily armed soldiers quickly secured the entire airport.

Good heavens, this reception wasn't any less grand than welcoming a president.

The other passengers on the same flight as Xiao Shou and Xie Yushan were also stunned.

Such a display was rarely seen in Nation M.

Sister Zhou, who was in first class, was also amazed. She noticed the insignia on the helicopters belonged to the PPDC, meaning these people were from PPDC headquarters.

This was the main purpose of her trip.

She hadn't expected things to take off so quickly. Originally, she had only planned to take a couple of photos from afar of the base gate.

A female officer at the front walked over, took out a black box-like device, and scanned Xiao Shou and Xie Yushan with a beam of light.

"Identity confirmed!"

Upon confirmation, the female officer immediately saluted Xiao Shou and Xie Yushan.

"Hello, I've been sent by PPDC headquarters to welcome you both. Please follow me!"

Zhou Shushu watched the two board the helicopter, filled with shock.

She never expected that the strangers she met casually would be members of the PPDC.

This level of reception clearly wasn't for ordinary people; they couldn't be family members or anything like that.

"Damn it, why did I forget to stream? What did I miss!"