As dawn broke, the Hu Xiong City, which had been bustling all night, finally regained its calm.
Early in the morning, quick-witted citizens rushed to the seaside, eager to help the stationed troops clean up the battlefield, all for a taste of the seafood.
The squid was secondary; the key was the unusually large crabs that no one had ever seen before.
Normally, crabs were so small that even after considerable effort, one could only manage a few nibbles. Now, however, even a single leg or claw was enough for a good meal. How could the foodies resist?
What's more, the giant crabs were piled high like mountains, and there was no need to buy them. Who wouldn't be tempted by top-tier delicacies that were free? How could anyone not be tempted?
The military had not anticipated this reaction from the citizens. Everyone assumed that after a night of fierce fighting, the populace would simply stay home and await news.
Undeniably, the military had underestimated the public's confidence in their sons and daughters in uniform.
What was seafood? It was nothing. Bring them on, and we'll fight them off one by one! Bring them on, and we'll boil them in a pot!
Well, the giant squids were relatively easy to handle. Cut them up and cook them properly, and they could be eaten. But these giant crabs were different. Even a single crab leg required an enormous steaming pot.
Indeed, the crabs were so large that one pot could not contain them.
The public's enthusiasm was understandable, but the military was cautious about how to dispose of the seafood.
Should they distribute it directly to the citizens? What if the radiation levels were indeed too high?
Not distribute it?
So much easily perishable seafood piled on the beach would turn into rotten fish and crabs within a day.
The final decision was to conduct on-site testing. Once the radiation levels were confirmed to be within acceptable limits, the coast was opened in a controlled manner, with the military guiding the public in dividing the spoils.
Of course, the military also indulged, allowing the soldiers to feast on a seafood banquet. Well, initially, it was planned as just one meal. But soon, they realized there was simply too much of it. One or two meals were not enough. They ate for two full days, and only when they could no longer store it did they have to give up.
After all, with so many landing sites piled high with giant squid and crabs, even if all of Hu Xiong City ate to its heart's content, how much could they consume?
It was said that within a single day, citizens' refrigerators and the city's cold storage facilities were packed full of crab meat and fish. Many families even preserved the crab meat.
The squid was another matter. How could its taste and texture compare to crab?
However, the portion distributed to the citizens was still the smaller share. The vast majority of the seafood was collected and incinerated on-site for harmless disposal.
Such an outcome was rather ironic: the consequence of sea monster landings was that giant seafood, from then on, graced the tables of the Chinese people, becoming an indispensable delicacy.
Following the landing incident, the beach also became a taboo, with hardly anyone daring to visit it for recreation. Along one side of the road, an extremely unsightly trench remained.
Permanently.
As per the military's orders, no one was permitted to damage the trench for any reason, lest they face severe punishment for destroying important military facilities.
This was not only the case in Hu Xiong City but in all cities that had been invaded by sea monsters.
On the surface, the military's actions were not extensive, but in secret, they readjusted the defenses of various coastal cities, reinforcing manpower where needed and adding equipment.
In short, similar tragedies must never be allowed to happen again!
Ou Zhanpeng heard this news around noon. Given that the situation in Hu Xiong City had stabilized, Xu Qing was not in a hurry to urge them back to the base.
Neither of them knew what to say. Ou Zhanpeng was relatively unfazed, but Ling Xiao's mouth was watering, wishing he could rush to the beach immediately and get his hands on a giant crab.
However, the two soon received news that the military had only cleared the visible sea monsters, but in reality, there was still a long way to go to achieve a complete and utter victory.
For instance, the subway system was still hiding many giant squids.
There were also the drainage systems and all the dark corners that nobody paid attention to in normal times.
The military estimated that it would take at least seven to ten days to completely clear the sea monsters that had invaded the urban areas.
The task was arduous and the road long.
However, this no longer concerned Ou and Ling. Later that day, the two of them safely returned to the base.
Before they could even catch their breath, they were summoned into the office by Shan Qiuyu, who then reprimanded them sternly, followed by a profound self-criticism of no less than five thousand characters each.
A lower word count would not suffice, and a less profound self-criticism was even less acceptable.
Fortunately, merits and demerits were handled separately and did not cancel each other out.
This made Ling Xiao ecstatic: "With our performance, we should at least get a third-class merit, right?"
Ou Zhanpeng looked dejected: "Never mind what class of merit, we need to finish writing the self-criticism first!"
"Alright, alright, I'll write it, I'll write it!" Ling Xiao was also helpless. He picked up his pen but didn't know how to start. "We didn't do anything wrong, so why do we have to write a self-criticism?"
Ou Zhanpeng was even more depressed: "Is this a question of right and wrong? Please, stop messing around!"
However, something strange happened again. After they had painstakingly finished writing their self-criticisms, Shan Qiuyu, for some unknown reason, acted as if nothing had happened and never asked about the self-criticisms again.
What was this supposed to mean?
That night, Ling Xiao suddenly became excited: "Fat Ou, Fat Ou, I found the reason!"
Ou Zhanpeng was almost asleep: "What nonsense are you talking about?"
"Look here!" Ling Xiao showed him a video and a news report.
"What is it?" Ou Zhanpeng grudgingly opened one eye.
Ling Xiao explained: "We were filmed entering the subway station, and they compared it with the photos of us going into space for the first time, and they found out who we are!"
Ou Zhanpeng's mind was still not clear: "So what if they found out? It's not like we're losing a piece of flesh."
"Wake up properly!" Ling Xiao was on the verge of exploding. "Look closely, our names and our identities as astronauts are all listed here. This is a trending topic, a trending topic!"
Ou Zhanpeng's mind took a few seconds to process what Ling Xiao had said. He grabbed Ling Xiao's wrist. On it, a line of text was displayed: Standing Tall, Astronauts Bravely Fight Sea Monsters!
The article highly praised their performance during the sea monster incident and included testimonials from several rescued civilians expressing their gratitude.
It could be said that most of the statements were positive, with only a pitfall dug at the end. The implication was that if the country, having spent so much manpower and material resources, were to encounter any accident, it would be an irreversible loss. This was followed by various discussions analyzing whether their actions were advisable.
The netizens' comments were varied, with some expressing approval, others declaring opposition, and many simply watching the drama unfold.
However, positive comments were still the majority, with a considerable number of high praises. The fact that they could have safely left the incident area but ultimately chose to stay spoke volumes.
They were worthy of the honor of soldiers.
Ou Zhanpeng was very gratified by the netizens' rationality and suddenly felt that all his efforts were worthwhile.