Chapter 120 – Deprivation of Superpowers
In just two days, Tu Ran had witnessed the diversity of species in this world.
She had resolved that no matter what kind of alien species she encountered next, she wouldn’t be surprised.
She walked all morning but didn’t make it out of the dense forest.
The portable water bottle had a very small capacity, and the water was already gone.
The surrounding scenery remained the same monotonous green.
As far as she could see, there were towering trees everywhere.
It felt as if she would be trapped here forever.
Tu Ran licked her dry lips and leaned against a tree to rest.
Wasn’t it said that there were many springs within the Threshold? Why couldn’t she find any?
She was going to die of thirst.
After resting for fifteen minutes, Tu Ran stood up and continued walking.
Heaven rewards those who persist. After walking for an hour, she finally heard the sound of trickling water.
It was very clear.
Tu Ran could almost see the scene of clear, cool stream water flowing all over her body.
She couldn’t help but quicken her pace.
Spring water, here I come!
However, just as the sound of water grew louder, Tu Ran heard the chirping of birds mixed in.
If she were in her hometown, upon hearing such lively bird calls, Tu Ran would have sighed: “Nature is truly wonderful.”
However, the place she was in now was a world full of alien species.
Any one of them could kill her.
The sudden bird calls sounded like a warning signal to Tu Ran’s ears.
She wanted to turn around and leave.
But she was too thirsty.
Tu Ran stood there hesitating for a second, then resolutely headed downstream.
She didn’t mind drinking the water they had left behind.
Running water purifies itself after a hundred steps.
Tu Ran listened to the sound of the water, maintaining a distance that was neither too far nor too close.
Finally reaching a spot where the bird calls could no longer be heard, Tu Ran cautiously approached the stream.
It was a very small stream, almost to the point of drying up.
Although she didn’t know what those birds were doing upstream, the trickle of water before her was very clear.
Tu Ran didn’t rush to drink. She first took out a trace element detector and placed it in the water for a while.
The mineral concentration was within the acceptable range for the human body.
Without hesitation, Tu Ran took out her portable water bottle, filled it halfway, and drank it all in one gulp.
Then she refilled the bottle, screwed the cap on tightly, and hung it back on herself.
Without a map or a specific destination, Tu Ran always chose her direction at random.
She walked whichever way she felt like walking.
In fact, Tu Ran hoped to encounter some solitary alien that she could defeat.
She wanted to obtain their inner cores.
Their superpowers intrigued her.
From Hook Snake’s memories, she learned that only a very few aliens could form inner cores and gain abilities.
The Federal Government had already captured some aliens, but so far, there had been no mention of superpowers.
One possibility was that the Federal Government had been unlucky and captured only ordinary aliens, so even if the researchers dissected them, they couldn’t find the inner core.
Another possibility was that the Federal Government already knew about superpowers but, fearing public contention and unrest, hadn’t made it public and was secretly investigating.
Tu Ran carefully recalled the recent policies issued by the Federal Government and the questions Xie Xu asked her on the last night.
He was curious about how she could detect the infectious alien species within the little girl.
This indicated that he didn’t know about superpowers.
Given his position in the research institute, if he didn’t know about this, the likelihood of the Federal Government knowing was also low.
So, the second possibility could basically be ruled out.
But how long could the first possibility last?
If consuming an aliens’ inner core could grant a superpower, would the Federation still allow these pioneers to enter the Threshold?
Would the top financiers behind the scenes be willing to let them have such valuable items?
Absolutely not.
They would find ways to monopolize these inner cores, ensuring that ordinary people would never come into contact with them.
So, the time left for her was running out.
She could no longer afford to hesitate.
Realizing this, Tu Ran began to try walking upstream.
She needed to see if those chirping birds were still there.
She had to find a way to seize the opportunity.
While she could still stay within the Threshold, she needed to gain more superpowers.
As she walked upstream, the bird calls became clearer.
The birds were chirping very happily, perhaps playing in the water?
Tu Ran lightened her steps and approached slowly.
She crouched behind a low shrub near them, hiding her body.
Gently parting the leaves, she peered through a small gap to see what was going on inside.
Seven or eight pheasant-like birds were scattered on both sides of the stream, pecking at two fish in the water.
The fish were still alive, wriggling and dodging.
But there were too many pheasants, and the fish couldn’t escape.
The fish were bright red like koi, known as Henggong fish, named by pioneers who had seen them in the water.
These fish hadn’t shown any signs of aggression so far and were considered gentle compared to other alien species.
The seven or eight pheasants didn’t look particularly strange, except for the thick and long feathers on their necks that drooped down like wings, almost covering their entire bodies.
Compared to the giant two-headed monster she had seen before, these pheasants were relatively small, only reaching Tu Ran’s shoulder height.
Since there were no other companions around them, Tu Ran estimated she could handle this group.
But first, she needed to deal with the recording bracelet.
Tu Ran found a black bag containing various drugs in her backpack. She emptied the cloth bag and tore it into thin strips, wrapping them tightly around the bracelet.
This would have to do for now, but she would need to discard the bracelet when she got the chance.
Hoisting her machine gun, she aimed at the pheasants and started firing.
The pheasants were too engrossed in their meal to notice someone lurking around, and they were caught completely off guard.
Bullets pierced the back of their heads, and two pheasants immediately fell forward, splashing into the water, their blood flowing downstream.
The remaining pheasants panicked, scattering with frantic chirps. They had no idea where the bullets were coming from or what bullets even were; they only knew their companions had suddenly collapsed and bled after a loud noise.
One pheasant kept pecking at its fallen companion’s body, trying to wake it up, but the companion remained motionless.
With a sad call, it flapped its wings, causing the heavy feathers on its neck to fluff up, making it look like a fuzzy egg.
Tu Ran, unwilling to let it suffer, aimed her gun at the back of its head and fired.
With a “bang,” it collapsed onto its companion’s body.
The other pheasants flapped their wings and tried to fly away, but their heavy bodies made it difficult to get high, and their flight was slow. Their large size made them excellent targets.
Tu Ran didn’t even come out from behind the bush. She stayed there, aiming at the sky, and fired several shots.
The heavy bodies of the pheasants fell one by one from the air.
They hit the ground.
They splashed into the stream, creating large splashes.
Tu Ran stepped out from behind the bush, slinging the machine gun over her back.
She walked up to one pheasant that still had a breath left in it.
The pheasant, seeing the two-legged creature, opened its beak wide in shock, its small eyes filled with astonishment.
When Tu Ran crouched down, it tried to back away in terror, but its round belly pinned it down, making it unable to move.
Tu Ran’s hand touched the fluffy feathers on its neck.
Just as she was about to speak, she remembered that the recording bracelet would record her voice. She paused, furrowing her brows deeply.
As long as she was in the Threshold, she couldn’t escape the surveillance and eavesdropping of the bracelet.
This would hinder her in many ways and consume much of her energy.
She needed to make a decision.
Should she continue to hide her actions?
Or should she act openly?
Hiding her actions would mean that many of her movements would be restricted, and she might miss the chance to obtain inner cores.
Acting openly, however, would mean preparing to become an enemy of the Federation.
There was, of course, a third option: finding a way to remove the bracelet within the Threshold and leaving it there forever.
That way, the Federal Government wouldn’t know what happened to her.
Weighing the pros and cons, Tu Ran chose the second option.
She wouldn’t hide anymore.
During her time in the Threshold, she would consume as many inner cores as possible to gain enough superpowers. That way, even if the Federal Government hunted her, she wouldn’t die quickly.
Looking at the pheasant, Tu Ran asked, “Do you have an inner core?”
Whenever Tu Ran asked an alien species if it had an inner core, memories related to the inner core would surface in the creature’s mind.
This way, she didn’t have to expend energy sifting through the alien’s memories like flipping through a book to find information about the inner core.
Sure enough, after she asked the question, she saw the location of the inner core.
The inner core wasn’t in this pheasant’s body but in the body of the leader of their pheasant-like alien species.
This fat, ball-like pheasant, along with the other pheasants, were merely lackeys searching for food for the pheasant leader.
The leader wanted to eat Henggong fish today, so they had been busy half-flying, half-walking all morning and finally found two Henggong fish.
“Do you want to live?” Tu Ran suddenly asked, looking into its tiny eyes.
She needed to recruit a subordinate.
From the memories she had just read, it was clear this creature wasn’t very bright.
Originally a carefree wanderer in the dense forest, it lived wherever it found food, eating ten meals a day and then moving on to the next place.
The reason it became a subordinate of the pheasant leader was due to the leader’s promise of endless delicious food.
The fool believed it.
Unexpectedly, since following the pheasant leader, it had starved for three days out of every nine. Whenever it found some tasty prey, it had to present it to the leader.
It wanted to escape, but the leader always assigned a few companions to keep an eye on it, ostensibly to help but actually to prevent it from running away.
After three months in the pheasant group, it had even lost some weight.
Summarizing its experience, Tu Ran concluded it was easy to manipulate.
Using it as an inside agent would make capturing the pheasant leader much smoother.
“Chirp, chirp, chirp.”
“I don’t understand,” Tu Ran said, standing up. “Can you speak human language?”
“Chirp, chirp, chirp, chirp, chirp.”
It was a pheasant; how could it possibly speak human language? However, it knew how to make Tu Ran understand it.
“Chirp, chirp, chirp, chirp, chirp.”
It pointed to the two fish in the stream with its wings, its round eyes desperately glancing over there.
Tu Ran followed its indication and looked over.
Because several pheasants’ bodies were blocking the stream, the flow was obstructed, and the two Henggong fish were still flapping in the river.
“Chirp chirp chirp chirp chirp.”
Those two fish had inner cores. If she ate them, she could gain their abilities, and then she could understand their language.
Although Tu Ran didn’t know what it was saying, she certainly didn’t intend to let those two fish go.
After all, they were also aliens. She went to check if they had inner cores.
Tu Ran left the plump pheasant alien behind and walked towards the edge of the stream.
