Chapter 207: Alien Scenery

Leon is indeed 36 years old, but his physical metrics don't match his age.

In fact, that's because he continuously injects a "longevity serum."

The company, using the blood‑man flower, has developed a longevity serum that can greatly extend human lifespan and also enhance physical condition.

However, producing the serum requires huge amounts of blood‑man flower, and its yield is extremely limited, making mass production impossible.

But as an intelligence officer personally recruited by Sui Bian, and possessing both skill and luck, Leon is certainly qualified to receive the serum.

At this point, Leon and Shirley walk down the escalator to the baggage claim area.

Following the holographic screen's prompts, they go to conveyor belt 17 and wait patiently for their luggage.

Leon habitually scans his surroundings and then, puzzled, asks Shirley standing beside him:

"Shirley, both your parents are company researchers, and you graduated from the company's Raccoon City University, so why go to Minos Island and choose to become an intelligence officer?"

"My talent for research is lacking…" Shirley says, then spots her suitcase on the conveyor, steps forward to retrieve it, and continues:

"And I want to make a modest contribution to the company and humanity, so becoming an intelligence officer is a good choice for me."

During the conversation, Leon also gets his luggage, and the two walk out of the terminal.

Shirley smiles and continues, "Among the intelligence officers who graduated with me, I ranked first overall, which proves I'm better suited to deal directly with anomalous phenomena."

"Hmm." After hearing Shirley, Leon nods in understanding.

Not long ago, while he was enjoying a rare vacation, he received a private email from BoKen, learning that Shirley, who had just completed training on Minos Island, would soon be assigned by the company to Mars.

The workaholic BoKen is, in fact, very attentive to his daughter Shirley.

Therefore, he hopes that Leon, a "familiar," can, before Shirley officially takes up her post as a Mars intelligence officer, impart to her enough experience to protect herself and handle anomalous phenomena.

Being treated by BoKen as a mature adult, Leon deliberated and ultimately agreed to mentor the newcomer.

Moreover, having only visited Mars a few times, he sees this mentorship trip as a side tour, which doesn't seem to conflict with his ongoing vacation.

At this moment, they exit the terminal and arrive at the airport hall.

The airport's ceiling is fitted with numerous massive glass panels to enhance the view and admit ample natural light.

People only need to look up to see the gigantic ships docked above the dome and Mars's unique sky.

The Aries Airport Hall, though not as crowded as Raccoon City Airport, still teems with people of many occupations and statuses, bustling with activity.

After all, among the many immigration policies issued by UEG is setting "ticket prices" within a range affordable to most families.

Business and first‑class cabins are excluded.

As for Leon and Shirley, whose tickets are reimbursed by the company, they have no ticket worries at all.

They push through the crowd, take an elevator to the lower rail platform, board a magnetic‑levitation train, and head toward the colony's central dome.

Leon and Shirley sit on the right‑hand seats of the carriage.

Seated at the far end, Shirley looks out through the sealed window at the scenery outside the carriage.

But outside the window is only a dull tunnel and, as the train speeds, flashes of lights that almost merge into a single line to the eye.

"Attention, passengers." Yet the carriage intercom emits a standardized female voice announcement:

"We will soon depart the airport and enter the plain between domes, expected to arrive at the destination at 14:20 Mars time."

Upon hearing this, Shirley, who is on Mars for the first time, doesn't pay much attention to the so‑called Mars time; she knows a Martian day is also 24 hours, only about 40 minutes shorter than Earth's.

Other colonies, unlike Mars, have to follow Earth's Atlantic time zones.

What fascinates her is the Martian plain.

Soon, the train passes a blue‑glowing air valve, leaving the lower level of the airport and entering the "open zone."

To be precise, the train is still traveling within a tunnel.

However, large sealed windows line both sides of the tunnel, allowing passengers to view the Martian plain between domes up close without wearing protective suits.

!!

Many company employees who are also on Mars for the first time, as well as those who arrived on UEG ships, can't help but sigh in admiration of this unique alien scenery.

Among them is Shirley, seated by the window.

Her face shows little expression, but her eyes reveal inner shock.

Shirley vaguely recalls that as a child, people's boundless fantasies about Martian colonization could only be expressed through games, movies, and comics.

But now she sits on a train racing across the Martian plain.

Leon remains fairly calm, but influenced by the carriage's atmosphere, he can't help but murmur softly:

"Every time I see this, it makes me, as an Umbrella employee, feel proud. Without the company—no, I mean without the Sir—how could humanity have personally set foot on Mars in the early twenty‑first century?"

"." Hearing Leon's whisper, Shirley recalls that the first time she saw Sui Bian was back at the Mother Nest 14 years ago.

She has personally observed how people's lives have undergone dramatic changes over these 14 years, and she lightly nods in agreement with Leon's sentiment.

The train passes the plain tunnel and air valve, arriving beneath the central dome, where the view outside the window returns to a dull scene.

14:20.

The train stops; Shirley and Leon take their luggage and exit the carriage.

When they reach outside the station and look up at the largest district, the awe it gives Shirley far exceeds that of the plain tunnel.

The interior of the dome is no different from Earth's cities, but more modern.

Between the towering buildings of the city center, countless holographic ads fill the space, along with various engineering or emergency‑type airships darting above the dome.

The ground is meticulously planned, with abundant greenery lining the streets, starkly contrasting the barren surface outside the dome.

"Let's go, Shirley; in the future you'll see things even more astonishing than these."

Leon smiles, gives a reminder, then pulls his suitcase and walks toward the street.

"Yes, Uncle Kennedy… yes, sir."

Regaining her composure, Shirley changes how she addresses Leon, also pulling her suitcase forward and asks:

"Sir, based on your experience, what should we intelligence officers do when we arrive in an unfamiliar environment?"

"Of course, just like what you learned, first get familiar with the environment and understand the situation here," Leon answered very patiently.

When he saw a yellow-painted taxi parked on the street with a "TAXI" sign on its roof, he said, with deeper significance:

"Next, your first lesson is to learn from me how to hail a taxi."

"Hail a taxi??"

(End of chapter)