Chapter 163 – The Future is Promising
Even if things didn’t go well, she could find an opportunity to escape into the Threshold. No matter how powerful the Federation was, could they still catch her inside the Threshold?
Tu Ran touched her belly.
The future is promising, the future is promising…
At 5:30 in the afternoon, Tu Ran changed into a neutral-toned windbreaker, packed her baseball cap, mask, and sunglasses into her backpack, and especially took the [Perfect Figure] inner core before heading out.
She took the suspended train and got off in the town next to the black market. Tu Ran chose a concealed alley, put on the baseball cap, mask, and sunglasses, and then donned a different colored outer jacket before heading towards the small clinic designated by Xie Xu.
As she entered the clinic, she was greeted by the familiar pungent smell of cheap disinfectant.
The young man named Xiao Jiu was still sitting at the computer desk, engrossed in some task.
Hearing footsteps from outside, he didn’t even look up and continued with his usual line: “Whether it’s a serious or minor illness, it’s ten thousand Federation credits. We don’t guarantee a cure. If you want to be treated, pay a deposit of nine thousand Federation credits first. If not, leave quickly.”
“It’s me,” Tu Ran said lightly.
Xiao Jiu immediately looked up, recognized her outfit at a glance, and hurried over. “Oh, it’s you. Long time no see.”
Tu Ran smiled. “Long time no see.”
“Brother Xie is downstairs already. You can go.”
“Okay.” Tu Ran walked alone to the narrow back room, pressed the mechanism on the beauty’s lips, and a hidden passage slowly appeared in front of her.
She clapped her hands, and the not-so-responsive voice-activated light turned on.
Tu Ran slowly descended the stairs.
Today, the lights in the training area below were on. Contrary to the usual scene where many of Xie Xu’s subordinates were gathered, today the entire underground space had only Xie Xu present.
He was sitting at a table in the transparent glass room above the space, flipping through a thick volume of bound documents.
Hearing Tu Ran’s footsteps, he looked up and waved to her.
He signaled for her to come up.
Tu Ran walked towards the stairs leading up to the transparent glass room.
The stairs were also transparent.
Walking on them felt like walking in mid-air.
When she reached the glass room, Xie Xu was still looking at the documents.
Tu Ran glanced at them but couldn’t make out the words.
She looked around; the glass room was much more spacious than she had imagined. Two people standing here felt completely uncramped, with a wide view overlooking the entire underground space.
Seeing her arrive, Xie Xu finally closed the documents and set them aside.
He slightly tilted his head back, his deep blue eyes gazing at her. “What’s the matter?”
Tu Ran didn’t rush to hand over the inner core. Instead, she asked, “Why did the Federation suddenly start using memory readers?”
Xie Xu crossed his slender fingers and said in a light tone. “Just as you thought.”
The inner core?
“How did they find out?” Tu Ran stared at Xie Xu.
“On the third day after the construction of the large-scale alien capture device in Reigaken State, the stationed troops captured an amphibian alien. This amphibian alien had evolved high intelligence. After being sent to the research institute and its vocalizations analyzed, it was discovered that it was pleading for mercy from humans. It offered to reveal a secret about the Threshold in exchange for its safety.”
Xie Xu paused, raised an eyebrow, and looked at Tu Ran. “You should know what that secret is, right?”
Tu Ran remained noncommittal.
Xie Xu didn’t expect her to speak up and continued, “The amphibian alien said that within the Threshold, some highly gifted species can evolve a power, a supernatural ability that surpasses nature and their entire species—what we call superpowers.”
“And those aliens with superpowers condense this ability into an object called an ‘inner core,’ which they store inside their bodies.”
Xie Xu let out a low, mocking laugh. “Inner core? Something that appeared in ancient martial arts stories, and now it’s showing up in the real world.”
For a highly advanced technological second world, such magical things were indeed hard to comprehend.
When Tu Ran first learned that consuming an inner core could grant superpowers, she was surprised. But then she thought about it—if she could transmigrate to another world, then superpowers weren’t such a novel concept. She quickly accepted this fact.
If there were countless worlds in the universe, then each world could be different.
Tu Ran always believed her homeland was the first world. Compared to the Federation, its technology wasn’t advanced, but the living standards of ordinary people were high, nature had not suffered irreversible damage, and other species had their place apart from humans.
The Federation, the second world, on the contrary: advanced technology, low-end living.
The Threshold, the third world—prehistoric, with giant beasts and supernatural abilities unexplained by technology.
Having seen three different worlds, how could Tu Ran be sure that the universe only had these three?
The more she learned, the more she believed that the universe held countless life forms and worlds.
Each world would have its own unique characteristics and aspects that other worlds couldn’t understand.
The inner core was one such unique feature of the Threshold.
“When did you know about the inner core?” Xie Xu suddenly shifted the topic to Tu Ran.
“Hmm…” Tu Ran pressed her lips together. “I knew about it a long time ago.”
“Was it on the farm in Reigaken State? Did that Hook Snake tell you?”
Tu Ran privately thought that he was quite accurate with his guess.
“…Yes.”
“So your sudden memory recovery was because of that inner core?”
Tu Ran shut her mouth, warily watching Xie Xu. If she kept talking, he might dig up everything she had.
But Xie Xu had already pieced it all together. “So you now have a superpower related to memory—memory recovery? Or perhaps memory reading?”
Xie Xu stared intently at Tu Ran’s eyes, not missing any of her subtle expressions.
He had been probing her from the beginning!
Tu Ran shifted her gaze, looking away to avoid his scrutinizing eyes, and gritted her teeth. “You’re quite clever, Researcher Xie.”
Xie Xu ignored her sarcasm and looked at her profile. “Tu Ran, you must have many inner cores now, right?”
“What? Are you planning to take them?” Tu Ran turned her head towards him.
Should she just kill him now?
But if she did, it would be difficult to find someone else to help her with the memory reader, and she would still end up being hunted by the Federal Government.
Perhaps she could use [Illusion Realm] to brainwash him?
That seemed like a good idea. After all, he was just an ordinary person now. No matter how skilled or cautious he was, she was confident she could do it without him noticing.
Tu Ran mentally gave herself a thumbs-up, thinking it was a smart move. She decided to implement it. After finishing today’s conversation, while leaving with her back to him, she would plant a hallucinogenic mushroom, ensuring he would unconditionally trust her, help her, and not do anything against her.
Fortunately, the room’s glass construction wouldn’t obstruct the hallucinogenic mushroom’s effects.
