Monster Attack

Clang!

A middle-aged soldier barged into the command center.

He kicked over a chair.

"I will not allow a piece of trash who cannot even escape his own memories to become Mount Tai's pilot!"

"He'll get Yu Shan killed. He'll get all of us killed!"

"If Shatterdome falls because of him and the Pan-Pacific Defense Line is breached, then all of you will be sinners!"

"Watch your attitude, Colonel!"

Zhu Qian rebuked him.

The newcomer was Colonel Lin Huixin, leader of Shatterdome Base's fighter escort group.

Forty-six years old, with handsome features, he was the very picture of a dashing older man.

Yet Lin Huixin was furious now. The moment he stormed into the command center, he began hurling accusations.

Even Zhu Qian, normally so composed, could no longer listen and sharply stopped him.

"Group Leader Lin, today was Xiao Shou's first dual-pilot neural drift. He has no experience with this."

"We should believe in him. Someone with an almost perfect neural drift score will not disappoint us."

Mao Shucheng did not get angry. Instead, he patiently explained.

"He almost got everyone here killed. My daughter is here!"

Xiao Shou sat atop an elevated platform, staring blankly at Mount Tai across from him.

He listened to the staff members whispering below, and without question, they were talking about him.

Xiao Shou did not blame them. Instead, he felt deeply guilty, because he truly had nearly caused an accident.

He had previously been brimming with confidence about piloting Mount Tai. After all, his test results had shown an almost perfect neural drift score.

But after nearly causing such a major incident today, he was no longer certain whether he was qualified for the position or capable of shouldering such a burden.

As he sat there lost in thought, footsteps sounded behind him.

To Xiao Shou's surprise, the person who came was Xie Yushan.

He had originally thought Aunt Rong had come to comfort him.

Still, he did not mind. He did not feel unfamiliar with Xie Yushan either.

Because the dual-pilot neural drift connection had returned each of their memories to the other.

As a result, there was no barrier between them. They understood each other's thoughts.

This bond surpassed that of kindred spirits. It was closer than the relationship between ordinary friends, comrades, or even brothers.

Xie Yushan sat down beside Xiao Shou and handed him a bottle of water.

"Don't put too much pressure on yourself. No one can guarantee they'll do well the first time."

"Before this, you had only done one test. I've been training my neural drift almost every day."

"Just take it slowly."

Xiao Shou looked at Xie Yushan's delicate profile and finally understood where that familiar feeling had come from.

Through revisiting Xie Yushan's memories, he learned that she and Lin Yuxuan were sisters—half-sisters with the same father.

Their father was actually Colonel Lin Huixin.

Xie Yushan's mother and Lin Huixin had been betrothed as children by their parents, and there had been no emotional foundation between them.

Moreover, Xie Yushan's mother was an illiterate farm woman, and there was a generational gap and estrangement between her and Lin Huixin.

It was only natural that their marriage had been unhappy.

Later, Lin Huixin met Lin Yuxuan's mother. They fell in love, and he divorced Xie Yushan's mother.

In those days, divorce was no trivial matter. In a fit of anger, Xie Yushan's mother took the young Xie Yushan back to her hometown and cut off all contact with Lin Huixin.

After that, Lin Huixin never paid attention to his former wife or child again.

Influenced by her mother from childhood, Xie Yushan was naturally filled with hatred for her father.

She did not oppose her father pursuing his true love and happiness, but it was indeed Lin Huixin's fault that he had ignored her for so many years.

The reason she worked so hard was to make Lin Huixin see her in a new light, to show him that the daughter he had abandoned was stronger than he was.

Still, Xie Yushan was sharp-tongued but soft-hearted. Though she spoke coldly to her younger sister Lin Yuxuan, she still cared for her deeply in her heart.

She could stubbornly deny it, but she could not hide it from Xiao Shou, who was linked to her through neural drift.

Everyone had their own troubles. Not to mention that in Dalian, a city that had been attacked by kaiju—

who did not have some painful memories?

"Thanks."

Xiao Shou solemnly thanked Xie Yushan.

Xie Yushan smiled faintly but did not answer. No one was born a genius.

Especially not Jaeger pilots. They had to be forged through blood and sweat.

San Francisco, The U.S.

PPDC Headquarters.

Red warning lights flashed throughout the command room as piercing alarms blared without pause.

"Reporting, General! A massive life-energy reading has been detected at the breach."

"We are now using sonar to map the kaiju's size."

"My God, General! Sonar indicates that the kaiju is one hundred and ten meters tall and weighs approximately four thousand two hundred tons. It is a Category 3 kaiju!"

Upon hearing the report, Jonathan Williams hurriedly looked toward the screen. The kaiju's form reflected by the sonar was enormous.

Jonathan Williams held the rank of lieutenant general in The U.S. Navy.

Nearly sixty years old, white, male.

He currently served as commander-in-chief of the PPDC Headquarters Pan-Pacific Defense Line.

Three months earlier, the PPDC Technology Division had invented a marine life-energy detector.

Since then, whenever kaiju emerged from the breach, they could be detected and reported in advance.

"Predict and plot the kaiju's route for me."

"Reporting, General! The kaiju is heading toward Hong Kong in Nation Z. It is moving quickly and is expected to reach Hong Kong within three hours!"

"Damn it, three hours? How is it that fast?"

"Notify the Nation Z theater immediately. Have them organize civilian evacuations at once!"

"Do we have any Jaegers that can deploy right now?"

"Reporting, General! Explorer fought Virus in Sydney a month ago. The Jaeger was severely damaged and has not yet been fully repaired."

"Wanderer is undergoing weapons upgrades and maintenance. It cannot deploy immediately either!"

"As for the newly built Striker Eureka, it has not been fully assembled yet!"

"Damn it, are we just going to stand by helplessly? Three hours isn't even enough time to evacuate the civilians!"

"We need to find a way to buy Nation Z more time!"

"Which fighter squadrons can take off now?"

"Reporting, General! A fighter squadron at Zhizhou Military Base can take off, but it only has six aircraft!"

"Forget it. Have them take off immediately and slow the kaiju's advance!"

"But that requires written authorization from the President and approval from Congress. The President has repeatedly ordered that military deployments require his consent, especially when involving Nation Z and the E side."

"At a time like this, who cares about written authorization? The stability of the Pan-Pacific Defense Line is what matters most!"

"Launch the fighters, immediately!"