Time flew by—about a year had passed. Brian Carter's skin had darkened a bit, and he had grown stronger. He was now completely familiar with Norton Star; this whole area was his territory. Over the past year, he had developed a deep enmity with the Zago, and the types of Zago that had died by his hand were countless. Brian Carter couldn't even remember their names; at most, he distinguished them as big bugs, small bugs, fancy bugs, flying bugs, and so on. It didn't matter—they were all the same once dead. Another discovery was that these bugs were actually edible.

If it had been a year ago, just hearing about it would have made him want to vomit. But the environment can change anyone: either starve to death or eat—there was no other choice. Although the bugs' shells were extremely hard, the insides were still organic matter. Eating them raw was out of the question, but there were nutrient supplements, and with the plants on Norton Star, it was a sort of balanced diet. Whether it was poisonous or had side effects, he didn't know, but Brian Carter was still alive and well.

These days, Brian Carter was also packing his things. He couldn't just sit here and wait for death. The aerial bombardment was getting less and less frequent; it seemed either the humans had retreated or the bugs had been defeated. Recently, he had seen fewer bugs as well. Maybe it was time to take a risk and move—staying here, who knew when rescue would come?

Sitting on the ruins, gazing up at the sky, the clouds above turned into a giant hamburger. Even though he wasn't hungry, Brian Carter's mouth was practically watering like a waterfall.

Bzz... bzz bzz...

Auditory hallucination?

Whoosh...

A small reconnaissance ship flew by. God, it wasn't a hallucination—it was really a human ship!

Brian Carter practically sprang up like lightning, quickly climbing up his makeshift flagpole, where he had hung a homemade flag in hopes someone would spot him.

Clinging to the top, Brian Carter waved his tattered shirt and shouted at the top of his lungs, nearly crazed, "SOS... SOS..."

If necessary, he wouldn't have minded waving his underwear too.

The ship flew past... Brian Carter was so heartbroken he almost fell off, but soon the ship made a turn and came back, hovering above his head before slowly descending. The ups and downs of life were truly exhilarating.

Brian Carter was going crazy—really on the verge of madness. For a whole year, it had been nothing but bugs. He felt like he was turning into a humanoid bug himself.

Boom...

The ship slowly touched down. Whirr... the ramp lowered, and Brian Carter rushed over, tears streaming down his face. "Thank God, you finally came!"

The two soldiers weren't very old—one man, about twenty-five or twenty-six, and a woman, probably younger, though it was hard to tell in their crisp uniforms. Both looked surprised: partly because Brian Carter was so young, and partly because they hadn't expected to find a survivor here.

"Hello, I'm Lieutenant Leo Reese, and this is Second Lieutenant Emily Bolton, from..."

Before Leo Reese could finish, Brian Carter rushed up and hugged him. "Thank you, thank you! Thank God! I thought I'd spend the rest of my life on this planet with the bugs."

Emily Bolton smiled slightly. "We won. The Zago have retreated. We're now clearing out the remnants and rescuing survivors. You're the only survivor we've found in over ten days. Congratulations."

"Haha, same to you, same to you." Although Brian Carter often talked to himself, it felt so good to talk to normal people again.

"How did you survive? It's a miracle," Leo Reese asked curiously.

"Haha, I hid in a mine shaft. The door was unbelievably thick. I survived on nutrient packs all this time. If you hadn't come, I would have gone crazy."

The two smiled, as if they could feel his excitement. "Let's go. The search and rescue operation is over. The military is about to begin a full sweep."

The bugs were extremely good at hiding, so with the army present, a large-scale purge was inevitable. This would make future development of Norton Star even harder, but humanity was already used to it.

The ship slowly lifted off. Looking down at the shrinking ruins below, Brian Carter was filled with emotion—he was finally going home.

Outside the window, countless Zago swarmed out of the ground, howling furiously at the ship. Clearly, they hated someone on board to the core. Brian Carter waved his hand and silently said, "Goodbye, bugs. Don't miss me."

Brian Carter wasn't the only one who survived by luck, but the vast majority died in this Zago attack. Fewer than a hundred people made it out alive, most of them armed or trained soldiers who were prepared and hid well. Survivors like Brian Carter were rare, but no one asked questions—everyone just assumed Brian Carter was a soldier too.

The survivors were given a good wash, a medical checkup, and then sent back to Earth. To keep them quiet, the Federation granted all their reasonable requests—after all, its reputation and image were at stake. Although the Zago had come silently, such a tragedy couldn't be blamed entirely on the bugs; the Federation bore some responsibility. The compensation this time was a heavy blow to the Federation's finances, but fortunately, they had won the war. These survivors absolutely could not cause trouble after returning. Now, the media's attention was all on the victory. Sacrificing a little for greater political gain was clearly something the politicians were willing to do.