Cultivating a Top-Tier Pilot

The recruitment point was abandoned immediately after Hibiki Gousuke recruited Zhou Hong, and he led his new subordinate back to TPC Far East Headquarters to report.

Hibiki Gousuke had promised various perks to barely convince Zhou Hong to join the squad, yet to this day, he had seen none of them.

Having experienced a trial of life and survived the hardships, Hibiki Gousuke had essentially been reborn.

To ensure his talents were not wasted, headquarters transferred him from the Security Bureau to the Recruit Squad.

The Recruit Squad was established to serve as an auxiliary unit to GUTS; if GUTS were ever wiped out, the members of the Recruit Squad who had proven themselves would be sent directly to the front lines to fight monsters.

There were ten such squads in total at TPC Far East Headquarters; that was the original plan, but manpower remained the biggest issue.

After all, where there are people, there are factions, and at this point in time, the dominant Doves could not see eye-to-eye with Hibiki Gousuke, who had been labeled a Hawk.

Thus, Hibiki Gousuke's squad was the most destitute; he was a lone sprout—no, wait, now there were two.

Still, it was a newly formed squad, so this situation was quite normal.

He wanted teammates, but TPC Headquarters was also constantly suffering from personnel headaches, so they simply sent this troublemaker out to recruit people himself.

They put it nicely: "Encounters between people are guided by fate; fate will link you together until you finally meet."

Hibiki Gousuke thought the same. He turned his head, and his eye twitched as he watched Zhou Hong lifting heavy barbells with both hands, moving them up and down.

He suspected he had recruited a non-Earthling; this was simply not something a normal person could do!

Yet, the way this guy acted without any pretense didn't look like an alien at all.

No matter what he is, he is my teammate, a subordinate of Hibiki Gousuke!

Hibiki Gousuke shook his head to clear his thoughts, his fists striking the sandbag in a rhythmic, melodic cadence.

Zhou Hong set down the barbells and let out a long breath; this was already the limit of his strength.

His life form was gradually approaching that of a Light-based life form, but strength ultimately still had to be forged through his own training.

"Captain, is there nothing for us to do? It's just training every day." Zhou Hong picked up a towel to wipe the sweat from his body.

"Nothing!" The sound of fists hitting the sandbag became even duller.

"The main purpose of the Recruit Squad is to train yourself and improve your capabilities."

Hibiki Gousuke's enthusiasm failed to ignite Zhou Hong, who said helplessly, "Captain, when you recruited me, you promised that the organization would arrange a wife for me."

"Where is my wife! Where is that wife you promised me!"

Hibiki Gousuke's expression didn't change in the slightest. "There will be one, there will be one."

Just keep stalling; with a physique like a bear, how could he be afraid of not finding a girlfriend?

Such an excellent subordinate has fallen into my hands—you think you can run? I won't even leave you a window to climb out of.

Zhou Hong had never believed Hibiki Gousuke's words from the start; if TPC actually distributed girlfriends, Shinjoh would have been off the market long ago.

"However, since you are tired of physical training, I will apply for flight training for you."

Taking off his boxing gloves, Hibiki Gousuke offered a suggestion.

"The current aircraft use a very simple design and are 'idiot-proof' to operate, but becoming a first-class pilot is very difficult."

"Air currents, predicting attacks, firing lasers—everything requires precise calculation."

Zhou Hong smiled dismissively; he was already a first-class pilot as it was.

"Physical strength alone is of little use when dealing with those fifty-meter-tall monsters," Hibiki Gousuke said sternly, clearly dissatisfied with Zhou Hong's nonchalant expression. "Unless you possess the height of an Ultra Warrior."

"Flight techniques are very important for us."

"If we don't meet the standards, headquarters will not allow us to participate in combat."

As the only man in the Hawk faction to have formed a squad, the Hawks had secured quite a few resources, all of which could be utilized by Hibiki Gousuke's team.

After leaving the training ground, Hibiki Gousuke led Zhou Hong toward the hangar.

"Peace is what everyone craves; originally, all the machine cannons had been removed from the fighters."

"But that peace was shattered by monsters," Zhou Hong replied softly.

Hibiki Gousuke's expression grew distant, as if reminiscing about the past. "Yes, shattered by monsters."

"To deal with monsters that might appear at any time, some of the planes at TPC Headquarters are now equipped with live ammunition."

Following Hibiki Gousuke, they passed through layers of sealed corridors and arrived at the hangar.

The most conspicuous sight in the hangar was the yellow-painted GUTS Wing 1, with logistics personnel performing their daily maintenance.

Just as Zhou Hong had thought, there was more than one fighter in the GUTS Wing series.

Yellow fighters were parked side-by-side in the hangar, and the lifting platforms had already been cleaned, ready for combat deployment at any moment.

No wonder Shinjoh and the others didn't feel bad about the GUTS Wing 1; with so many fighters, what did it matter if one or two were damaged?

Wait.

Zhou Hong counted carefully; the number of planes didn't match the TV series, so maintenance was indeed necessary.

"Normally, you wouldn't be able to use these GUTS Wings for training, but who do you think I am?" Hibiki Gousuke patted his chest proudly.

Perhaps the credit belonged to those politicians who were desperately entangled with the Doves, but Hibiki Gousuke had been labeled as one of their own, and that had its perks.

"I'll take the pilot's seat in the front, and you'll provide the assistance."

From the rear cockpit, one could observe the operational procedures up front and pick up a few techniques.

Since I've never piloted a fighter jet before, I'll leave everything to you.

The security personnel were old acquaintances of Hibiki Gousuke, and after the two of them chatted aimlessly for a while, Hibiki Gousuke returned with two oxygen masks.

"We don't have GUTS helmets, so just make do with these for now."

Sitting in the rear cockpit of the GUTS Wing 1 and staring at the dizzying array of controls before him, Zhou Hong felt it was better for him to just be the one being taken for a ride.

"The pressure during flight is immense. The faster the speed, the higher the demands on your body and dynamic vision, though I suspect these won't be problems for you."

Hibiki Gousuke spoke with great care, as if he were imparting his own teachings to a student.

He went over every button and switch, and mentioned the emergency escape mechanism countless times.

Rumor had it that Shinjoh joined GUTS precisely because of his peerless escape artistry.

Zhou Hong pondered finding some time to properly ask Shinjoh for pointers on that particular skill.

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