212 Meritorious Deeds? (1/2)

This incident gave rise to a round of passionate discussions in gaming circles.

The photo of Fang Zhao's ”Virtual vs. Reality” was bookmarked by a lot of people.

”I suddenly feel like I can stand taller. In the future, if anyone tells me that playing games can only allow you to go savage in the virtual world, I will take this photo and wave it in front of their faces!” some gamers said excitedly.

Of course, there were voices of disapproval.

”Don't praise it to the high heavens. We don't even know the full truth. It might not even be as you are imagining it.”

”Maybe it's just the outpost team helping him show off.”

”All of these fans of Fang Zhao are blind and praise him so much. Be careful reality doesn't smack you in the face.”

After this sentence was posted, a heated discussion started.

”Bullsh*t, wasn't the terrorist attack real? The military even announced it, as did many authoritative television channels. These are not lies. Fang Zhao already did well. Do you think anyone can stand out under these sorts of circumstances?”

”After all, Fang Zhao is just a gamer. Making such a rash decision to come out, it's a miracle that he managed to stay alive.”

”That is why surviving is already really not too bad. If he'd had a little less luck, he could have taken a stray bullet and lost his life. It's best to stop while you are ahead. Since the situation is already under control, it's best to wait at one side. Why follow them into the woods? Don't get yourself killed in the end.”

”Cough, certain people's own abilities are unable to match up to their ambitions, so they can only hope for others to fail as well. How sour!”

”I feel that he is not showing off. Also, the soldier that was saved by Fang Zhao when he previously went out mentioned that, if not for Fang Zhao's timely arrival, he would have long been dead. Seems like Fang Zhao has done some meritorious deeds this time and will surely receive a medal.”

”It will probably be an outstanding service medal or a memorial badge.”

”I also have a memorial badge. Isn't it something that every conscript gets?”

”There are also different grades for badges! Your kind is probably the normal one. Nobody would even want it if you put it up for sale!”

”There might be some under-the-table manipulations for this,” someone said.

”There might be, but how much can they falsify? Fang Zhao is a celebrity with lots of presence, and so many people are watching him. How can they fake it!”

”That's right, planet Baiji does not have the final say on a lot of things. Baiji is only in charge of evaluations and reporting. There are many things that require their superiors to audit. Given Fang Zhao's high presence in the media, the top brass will surely audit it very strictly.”

The forums discussed topics ranging from how many shots Fang Zhao had fired to how he had managed to survive. They talk about whether he had accomplished any meritorious deeds and what sort of military medals Fang Zhao would be awarded.

Now, many gamers idolized Fang Zhao. In the past, they had only idolized his gaming skills, but now, they idolized him as a person.

Currently, Fang Zhao had no idea of the discussions about him online. He had followed Bie Liao and the others as they had ridden the flying transport to do a cleanup of the woods.

Some of the beasts had slipped into the woods. These dangerous beasts could not be ignored and had to be cleared.

Riode tried to restrain himself, but he could not help it and said to Fang Zhao, ”Brother, just asking. Later, if we discover any beasts, could you not make your move first?”

When they had entered the woods, the moment a beast had been spotted, Fang Zhao had immediately fired three consecutive shots before anyone else had even been able to place the beast in their sights. He had been firm and decisive, without even a tiny hint of hesitation. This had completely been Fang Zhao's subconscious reaction.

Three shots, and all had buried themselves within the beast's skull. Although it was not so godly that the three bullets wounds had been in the same spot, it had been enough to amaze Bie Liao and the others.

The beast had been running and the transport flying. For all three shots to have accurately hit the head was really no easy feat.

If it had been any other old soldier from the base or outposts that had achieved this sort of result, everyone would have been full of praise and not have been so astonished. However, the person that had shot was Fang Zhao, a conscript. Furthermore, he had just gotten this gun from Yan Biao. No matter what, there should have been a period of getting used to it. To think that he would actually have achieved this sort of result his first time using this gun, was his gun sense that strong?

But when recalling how Fang Zhao had shot dead the two terrorists, Bie Liao was no longer that surprised. Riode could not help but speak out when he remembered how Fang Zhao had settled that beast.

Actually, Riode had not wanted to bring Fang Zhao on this operation, as Fang Zhao would fight with them for meritorious deeds, but Fang Zhao's hearing was good, and he was just a contingency. If any equipment failed, they could rely on Fang Zhao.

But now, Riode and the others were feeling some regret. If the whole process of ”cleaning up” was like this, would they even get the chance to act? They had decided that, after cleaning up, they would report to their superiors and take credit, but if everything was stolen by Fang Zhao, what credit could they even get?

Fang Zhao understood where Riode and the others were coming from, so he nodded. ”All right.”

He also had not intended to snatch glory from them. What had happened previously had been a subconscious reaction.

After that, when any beasts were found in the woods, Fang Zhao would only stand aside and watch.

Given Fang Zhao's result of shooting dead a target with three shots, Riode and the others took over 10 shots before downing one and were too embarrassed to find an excuse.

Luckily, this was Fang Zhao's first time using this sort of gun. If he were given the time to practice with it, would one shot have been enough?

”Fang Zhao, how did you get so accurate? Is this really your first time using this sort of gun model?” Bie Liao asked curiously.

”Not really. I came across it before when I played 'Ultimate King of Guns'.”

”'Ultimate King of Guns'?” Everyone in the flying transport looked toward Fang Zhao, puzzled.

”A shooting game that was really popular last year,” Fang Zhao explained.

The interior of the flying transport fell into a weird silence.

...

They searched in the wooded area outside the outpost for a day, followed by another two days of joint searching with people from other outposts. Only when they did not find any more escaped beasts did they return back to the outpost. Even if they did not discover any beasts, during routine patrols, they would still be able to notice any that slipped their grasp.