97 Chapter 97: On the Right Track!

Afterwards, Zhou Yuan chatted with Morgan for a long time. In reality, most of the time it was Morgan doing the talking, while Zhou Yuan could only be the listener. Morgan went on and on about his expectations for the future, the next research direction, and so on, until it was almost lunchtime when he finally let Zhou Yuan go.

Before long, Zhou Yuan arrived at the dormitory area on the tenth underground floor. As the commander of the defense force of the Research Department, he had a special officer's dormitory right across from the rest of the team's dormitories. After taking off his space armor and changing into his commander's uniform, Zhou Yuan took a glance at the team's dormitory.

At noon, there weren't many people in the dormitory. Most of them were sleeping, with only a few gathered around the entertainment table for some relaxation. The working hours of the defense force of the Research Department were the same as those on the defense wall: 23:00-7:10, 7:00-15:10, and 15:00-23:10, with a twenty-four-hour three-shift rotation. Except for Zhou Yuan as the commander and his five vice-commanders, all other members had to follow this shift schedule, including the strategists and ship crew.

This was to ensure that the defense force was always in operation. However, Zhou Yuan didn't need to arrange these matters. Marcus, the leader of the strategy group, would handle it, and Zhou Yuan just needed to sign off on the execution schedule. The job was simple: to protect everything in the Research Center. Occasionally, they might also have to act as firefighters or medical personnel because accidents, such as experimental explosions, were not uncommon in the Research Center.

Of course, these were just the daily duties. The defense force of the Research Department would also receive special missions, such as capturing bugs, collecting active bug eggs, or gathering ore samples. The difficulty level of these special missions was not low, with some even requiring them to venture deep into the bug nests, posing high risks and difficulties. But this was exactly what Zhou Yuan wanted. He couldn't afford to stay in the underground laboratory all the time; he needed to keep acquiring Soul Points.

After exploring the tenth underground floor, Zhou Yuan arrived at the eighth underground floor. This was the designated training area for the defense force of the Research Department, which also housed facilities such as the cafeteria, recreation room, and medical room. Worth mentioning was that, just like the training area for special operations forces, a boarding field and an emergency evacuation passage were added here.

Once bitten, twice shy. Although the War Fortress was unlikely to be attacked by the bug tide, the Federation, having learned a lesson, obviously didn't want to repeat the same mistake in the same place. After a brief familiarization with the layout of the area, Zhou Yuan arrived at the cafeteria.

After evolving into a superhuman, he no longer felt famished if he didn't eat for a whole day, as was the case before he came to Pluto. However, whenever conditions allowed, he would still maintain three meals a day to avoid situations like insufficient energy intake and resulting decline in physical condition. There weren't many people in the cafeteria, only a few dozen, with most of them being research personnel.

Due to their three-shift rotation, the regular lunchtime happened to be during their working hours or sleeping time. Zhou Yuan grabbed a meal and scanned the area before finding Claire. Not only Claire, but Martha, Jerome, Kenny, and Marcus were also present. These five vice-commanders were the most relaxed individuals in the team, apart from Zhou Yuan as the commander.

"Commander!"

As Zhou Yuan arrived, the five of them stood up and saluted.

"It seems like I've ruined your appetite," he said with a smile.

"Don't be so serious. You don't have to call me 'commander' outside of work. I don't want to become an old fogey at such a young age."

Feeling the change in atmosphere at the dining table, Zhou Yuan waved his hand dismissively.

"Commander, we've heard your story."

"God, taking on a giant beetle solo. I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't seen the footage."

"My uncle told me that the slaughter required selecting members, so I immediately submitted my application. I never thought I would actually be chosen!"

Seeing Zhou Yuan's casual demeanor without any commanding presence, his subordinates relaxed a lot.

Of course, Claire was not among those who relaxed.

Because Claire had always been relaxed.

As a fan who had previously fantasized about Zhou Yuan, she only had admiration and ** for him, and didn't care about hierarchy at all.

Zhou Yuan shrugged, his face relaxed as he said, "It's actually not as difficult as you think. The tank beetles aren't very intelligent."

"With just a little inspiration and terrain advantage, each one of you can do it."

"Of course, I don't recommend doing that. When encountering a tank beetle, it's best to just blow it up with mixed explosives."

Upon hearing Zhou Yuan's words, the three team leaders exchanged glances and nodded simultaneously, "Mixed explosives are more suitable for us."

Easier said than done.

If having a little inspiration and terrain advantage alone could give an infantryman the power to take on a tank beetle solo, then the Arachnis race would have been wiped out ten years ago.

... ...

Five minutes later.

Marsha, Jerome, Kenny, and Marcus were the first to finish their meals and leave the restaurant.

Although Zhou Yuan was easy to talk to, the four of them were still somewhat reserved and not used to eating with their immediate superiors, so they hurriedly finished their meals and left.

Now, only Zhou Yuan and Claire were left at the table.

Claire hadn't said much until now. It wasn't until the 'nuisance' had left that she perked up.

"Commander, when there are no flight missions, I also live on the tenth floor. My dorm is right next to the commander's dorm."

"When I was tidying up the dorm earlier, I noticed that the bathroom light seemed to have a problem. Could you check it out for me tonight?"

She sat across from Zhou Yuan, propping her chin up with both hands and looking at him, softly asking.

"No problem, but we don't have to wait until tonight."

"If there's a problem, we should solve it. I'll have time later." 

Zhou Yuan raised an eyebrow, slightly speeding up his eating pace.

From the half hour of conversation training this morning, Claire still seemed inexperienced, not like an 'old hand'. This might be due to her upbringing.

Moreover, both her parents were vice admirals and commanders of a fleet.

Therefore, she was much stronger than those 'good friends' in the Tarsis Fortress.

It was precisely because of this that Claire was worth spending time to communicate with.

Although it was a realistic thought, life itself was realistic. Benevolent gentlemen and saints could only be honest workers.

Besides...

Just by looking at the way Claire was staring at him, who knows who would come out on the losing end...

... ...

The typhoon just passed, and these past two days I've been busy planting peanuts. My back is about to break.