Chapter 76: Superstar Zhou

At ten o'clock in the morning, multiple special operations teams from the Talsis Fortress returned. The starship landed directly in the fortress, eliminating the need for the transport aircraft to disembark on its own.

"Yes!"

"Thank God, I survived!"

"The air on the Talsis Plateau is so sweet!"

As they disembarked from the starship, there were cheers and shouts from the team, and some even threw off their combat helmets in celebration.

"It feels good."

Zhou Yuan also joined his teammates in shouting a couple of times.

After spending eight days on the starship, suddenly returning to the ground felt amazing, and he felt extremely at ease.

"Guys, something doesn't feel right."

"Shet, it seems like they're all staring at us."

"What's going on?"

On the way to the exit of the boarding area, the previously noisy team suddenly quieted down.

They noticed something strange.

The people around them seemed to be looking at them, and some individuals were even gesturing and pointing discreetly, which left them perplexed.

Could news about Pluto have spread?

But that wouldn't make sense.

Although the mission had failed, it was the failure of all the special operations teams, not just their own.

They still had the planetary troops ahead of them, but the people nearby were fixated on their Hunter unit.

"Stay calm and follow me."

Buck was also puzzled, but he was used to grand spectacles and wasn't embarrassed by the attention they were receiving. He waved his hand to signal the team to pick up the pace.

"OMG!"

"Thank you so much!"

"Zhou!!!"

As the team left the boarding area and entered the fortress complex, Zhou Yuan suddenly found himself surrounded by a group of teammates. They cheered and were so excited that they almost lifted him up.

"What the hell..."

"I truly am remarkable!"

Zhou Yuan allowed his teammates to embrace and push him around, staring blankly at a large screen on the wall of a nearby office building.

A short video was playing on the screen.

The scene depicted a gloomy and darkened land.

In a small valley, a tank beetle was fiercely spewing superheated corrosive liquid, while over twenty people were desperately fleeing. Shouts and curses filled the air.

One person even yelled, "Take it down as quickly as possible," seemingly an enraged command from their team leader.

But taking down a tank beetle wasn't something that could be done easily; it was a killer of infantry.

Just as the tank beetle became increasingly frenzied, with more and more support worms converging on the area, and the situation deteriorating rapidly, suddenly, a figure appeared on top of the steel wreckage behind the tank beetle.

That person was clad in a red skeletal space armor, with the word "massacres" engraved across the chest - a reference to the mass killings. The goggles on their skull-shaped helmet glowed red as they leaped into the air, drawing a revolver mid-air and landing on the tank beetle's back.

Five gunshots rang out simultaneously, and they also took out two grenades, tossing them lightly onto the tank beetle's back.

Five seconds later, the main torso of the tank beetle exploded.

As its blood and flesh splattered everywhere, the person who had killed it stood up from behind the worm carcass, their gaze directly facing the direction of the monitor.

The scene then shifted to inside the transport plane cabin.

"How did you do it?" asked a captain in a white skull space suit, standing in front of a red skull clad lieutenant.

"I followed orders, sir," replied the lieutenant.

"You gave the order to take it out as quickly as possible, so I went and took it out," he continued.

The video ended with a photo of the red skull lieutenant, fully armed and looking cold-blooded with a Barrett sniper rifle and red-tinted visor.

"Awesome!" exclaimed Zhou Yuan, feeling like he was floating.

This was the transport plane video that Buck had mentioned, but he hadn't expected it to be so cool from the perspective of an onlooker. The fortress had even done special effects to enhance the tense atmosphere, adding a red glow to the tactical helmet and goggles.

When he got off the plane, people nearby were already looking at him. Zhou Yuan had gone from being a lieutenant to a superstar!

"Man, you're so cool!" exclaimed one of his teammates.

"I can't believe you took down a giant beetle all by yourself!"

"Your code name suits you well - you massacred that beetle!"

"Too cool! Your response to the order was just too cool!"

As the video ended, more teammates crowded around Zhou Yuan. His team had participated in that battle firsthand, unlike the other teams, who were hearing about it for the first time.

Zhou Yuan was part of the Hunter Squadron, and so were they. What he achieved brought pride to everyone.

"I have a friend who's a war god!"

"Kid, how did you do it?" Buck asked, joining in the applause. He then gestured for everyone to quiet down and approached Zhou Yuan.

Everyone turned their attention to Zhou Yuan. They wanted to hear it again.

"Give it your all and don't back down!" Zhou Yuan said, reciting what Zalak had required of his soldiers.

"Cool!" Everyone was once again stunned by his words. Zhou Yuan's image became even more heroic and reliable, seemingly a superhero.

Compared to Zhou Yuan, they really felt inferior.

Especially the ten or so girls in the team, who looked at Zhou Yuan like he was a black hole, as if they wanted to devour him.

... ...

Amidst laughter, the Hunter Squadron returned to the 1st Strategic Zone and went back to the 13th floor underground.

It took a little longer getting back. The fortress seemed to be intentionally establishing an infantry role model, so Zhou Yuan's battle video was widely circulated and could be seen on wall screens everywhere.

He had become famous in the Tharsis Fortress, even more so than when he first arrived to fight old soldiers. He was now a super popular figure.

All the way back, many people greeted him, and he couldn't ignore them, which took up a lot of time.

"Listen up, folks!" Buck announced when they reached their dormitory. "Including today, we have three days off! During this time, we won't receive any orders, and the fortress will grant us access to all entertainment privileges. Do whatever you want!"

After returning, Buck announced the three-day break and that it was also time for him to select new team members. During their mission to Pluto, the Hunter Squadron lost 18 people, including a talented squad leader, which made him feel dreadful.