Xiao Shou sat on the plane with nothing to do again.
Although this was his first time flying in the true sense, it did not feel all that different.
He had not felt anything particularly special during takeoff, either.
What surprised Xiao Shou was that Xie Yushan had also flown economy class with him.
She was sitting beside him, putting on her eye mask and going to sleep again.
Xiao Shou could not help but laugh. This had to be another one of Aunt Rong's ideas.
Still, Xiao Shou had no complaints. He understood Aunt Rong's reasoning well enough.
After all, Jaeger pilots were extremely important, and this was currently Nation Z's only Jaeger.
Excessive emotional fluctuations would inevitably affect their neural handshake connection.
If they were in a romantic relationship, they truly could not remain as calm as still water.
And if they could remain as calm as still water, that was not love. That was a player who only wanted to sleep with you.
It was not as though becoming a Jaeger pilot meant having their personal freedom restricted. It was simply that Xiao Shou and Xie Yushan's neural handshake connection was not yet stable.
They had only undergone a neural handshake twice, after all.
Once they became proficient in the future, no one would meddle in their affairs.
Take the pilots of Cherno Alpha, the Chernobyl Couple. They were husband and wife, yet Nation E's Pan-Pacific Defense Line combat division had not stopped them from being inseparable.
Still, Jin Rong and the others were worrying for nothing. Although Xiao Shou was young, his mental age exceeded his actual age.
He had experienced things that ordinary people might never encounter in their entire lives.
For example, being abandoned at birth.
For example, the Old Director dying to save him.
For example, facing Shanlan face-to-face.
For example, becoming Mount Tai's pilot.
All of this had made him more mature and more resilient than most people.
He would not collapse so easily.
The U.S.
PPDC headquarters, San Francisco.
"Have all the Jaeger pilots from every nation arrived?"
Jonathan Williams asked the secretary beside him.
"Reporting, General. Excluding our own pilots participating in this special training, there are twelve in total, from Nation Z, Sakura Nation, Nation F, Nation C, and Nation A."
"Nation E did not come?"
"Commander Kabrovsky of Nation E said they needed to reinforce the East Asian Defense Line. Since Nation Z and Sakura Nation have both sent people, they will remain behind to defend it."
"That makes sense. Kabrovsky has been thoughtful."
"General, Sakura Nation arrived today. The other four nations will also arrive within the next two hours."
"Nation Z's, though... well, they will be a little slower."
"Oh? Why?"
"Uh, Commander Mao Shucheng of Nation Z said their pilots are coming on one of their civilian airliners. They will not arrive until three o'clock this afternoon..."
"Ha ha!"
Jonathan Williams laughed twice, then let out a sigh.
"See? This is Nation Z!"
"They never spare expense on important matters, yet they are always frugal over small things. They simply do not care about material comforts."
"I never expected that after all these years, their simple style had not changed. Look at the attitudes of the other nations—private jets for pickup and drop-off. What soldiers? They are spoiled rich kids!"
"Iron-blooded warriors are forged in battle, not raised in comfort!"
"If the man in our White House and those gentlemen in Congress continue being so willful and refuse to adapt, that Eastern lion will catch up to us again sooner or later."
"That Explorer pilot, Ritter Harry, actually demanded a billion dollars. If it had been up to me, I would have kicked him out long ago. That was even more outrageous than half a million marks for a loaf of bread!"
"Send two fighter jets to escort Nation Z's two pilots. Since they have arrived on our soil, we naturally must ensure their safety. It will also show Nation Z proper respect and ease tensions between our countries."
"Yes, General!"
Xiao Shou, who had been resting with his eyes closed, suddenly heard the distinctive roar of fighter jets. He hurriedly opened his eyes and looked out the window.
Xie Yushan reacted even faster than he did, having two more years of military service than Xiao Shou.
Two fighter jets flanked the civilian airliner, their massive roar shaking everyone aboard.
"Oh God, why are fighter jets flying beside us? Has our plane been hijacked by terrorists?"
"Stop talking nonsense. If there were terrorists, would they not have shown themselves already?"
Xie Yushan leaned over to look outside, then went back to putting on her eye mask.
"Relax, it's fine. Those are fighter jets from PPDC headquarters. They have the insignia on them."
"They might just be here for us."
Xiao Shou relaxed upon hearing that. He had genuinely thought something had gone wrong.
He also developed a bit of goodwill toward Jonathan Williams, the commander of PPDC headquarters whom he had yet to meet.
After all, this was also a sign of the importance Jonathan Williams placed on Xiao Shou and Xie Yushan.
"Ding dong. Dear passengers, please remain seated and stay calm. The two fighter jets outside are Air Force aircraft conducting an exercise. Please rest assured and continue your journey."
The two fighter jets continued following the civilian airliner from not far behind until it landed.
The moment Xiao Shou got off the plane, he hurriedly stretched.
Who would not have a sore back after sitting like that for eight straight hours?
Xiao Shou took a deep breath of the air.
"Damn it, didn't they say the air in the U.S. was sweet? Why does it smell like factory smoke? The pollution is so bad you can see it with the naked eye!"
If they had taken a private jet, they could have reached San Francisco in around three hours.
By comparison, civilian airliners were much slower.
Still, this was already very fast. Monster blood had been mixed into modern flight fuel, increasing flight speed by a considerable margin.
Back in the peaceful era, flying from Kyoto to San Francisco in the U.S. would have taken an entire day and night.
This was already quite good. Other than its meat being inedible, every part of a monster was valuable.
In the U.S., there were even specialized markets for buying and selling monster parts.
Of course, they sold bits and pieces, not entire monsters...
In the capital market, there was nothing that could not be traded.
If there was, it only meant your price was not high enough.
By comparison, Nation Z's economic system was better. At the very least, it was not such a smoky mess, since the government kept everything under control.
The moment Xiao Shou and Xie Yushan got off the plane, they found quite a few people waiting for them.
Three helicopters had been deployed, and more than fifty fully armed soldiers disembarked and swiftly took control of the entire airport.
Good lord, this reception was no less grand than one for a president.
The people on the same flight as Xiao Shou and the others were all stunned as well.
Such scenes were rare in the U.S.
Sister Zhou, who had been in first class, was equally astonished. She noticed the PPDC insignia on the helicopters, which meant these people were from PPDC headquarters.
That was the main purpose of her trip.
She had never expected to find a lead the moment she stepped off the plane. Originally, she had only planned to take a couple of photos of the base gate from afar.
A female officer at the head of the group walked over and took out something resembling a black box. It emitted a beam of light that scanned Xiao Shou and Xie Yushan.
"Identity confirmed!"
After receiving confirmation, the female officer immediately saluted Xiao Shou and Xie Yushan.
"Hello. PPDC headquarters sent me to receive you both. Please come with me!"
Zhou Shushu watched the two board a helicopter, utterly shocked.
She had never imagined that the random passersby she had met were actually members of PPDC.
This level of reception was clearly not for ordinary people. They could not possibly be family members or anything of the sort.
"Damn it, how could I forget to livestream? What did I miss!"
Before you continue