Chapter 170 – A dog threatens based on master’s power
Tu Ran couldn’t be bothered to dwell on it. She glanced at the people behind them; those heading to other states had already changed into their gear and were leaving with their weapons.
“I’m going to change my equipment. Feel free to do as you wish.”
With that brief comment, Tu Ran walked past them and searched for equipment that suited her needs.
Zero’s voice came through her earpiece. “Pioneer Tu Ran, you are assigned to ensure the safety of the Pandalin area. You have two teammates working with you in this area; their names have been sent to you.”
Tu Ran quickly pulled her gaze away from the array of dazzling weapons and looked down at her communicator.
Please let it not be Zhao Yan, she silently hoped.
Fortunately, it wasn’t Zhao Yan. Instead, she was paired with two people she didn’t know.
Tu Ran let out a sigh of relief.
Leaving the equipment room, Tu Ran, along with her two teammates, boarded a patrol car heading to their destination—the Pandalin District. A guard was responsible for driving the car.
Pandalin District was a famous wealthy area in the Federation.
It was known as a gathering place for the three major conglomerate families.
The housing prices were exorbitant, reaching levels ordinary workers could never even dream of in eight lifetimes.
Upon arriving, Tu Ran and her teammates first went to the Executive Department responsible for Pandalin’s safety.
As a wealthy area, Pandalin had a special Executive Department division, complete with its own guards, solely dedicated to the security of this district—a feature not seen in other places.
Moreover, Tu Ran discovered that there were not only the three of them responsible for the Pandalin area.
Ten previous Pioneers had also stayed behind. They were supposed to leave for the Threshold yesterday, but the wealthy residents were uneasy about their departure and requested the Federal Government to keep them there.
And the Federal Government had readily agreed!
Tu Ran: “?”
Is this the privilege of the wealthy?
To be fair, in other states with such large areas, only thirteen Pioneers were assigned to each. Yet, in Pandalin District, which was just one district, there were thirteen Pioneers responsible!
The disparity was strikingly obvious.
In the small conference room of the Executive Department division, a man in a black suit with a notably wide distance between his eyes looked at Tu Ran and her two teammates. He sat with his legs crossed, showing no intention of offering them seats.
“New arrivals?”
The three nodded in response.
“Only three assigned?” The man scrutinized them with evident dissatisfaction, clearly unhappy with the fact that the Federal Government had sent only three people.
Tu Ran ignored his rude attitude and focused on his eyes. The distance between his eyes was unusually wide—normal people’s eyes are about one eye-width apart, but his were nearly two eye-widths apart, giving him a fish-like appearance.
“Ugh, can’t you three speak? Why are you just standing there? Are you here just to stand around?” The man with the fish eyes looked at Tu Ran and her teammates with disdain.
Tu Ran: “?”
“What do you want to know?”
“Each of you, what are your specialties? What honors have you received in the Pioneer Team? What is your Pioneer rank? How many points do you have on your card? Aren’t you going to introduce yourselves? How can I assign tasks to you if you don’t explain clearly?!”
The man’s attitude was extremely poor. He glared at the three of them and then turned away, as if even looking at them further would dirty his eyes.
Tu Ran suppressed the urge to roll her eyes. “Sir, our information has already been sent to your side. You can just look it up.”
“Do you think I don’t know that? Do I need you to remind me?” The man with the fish eyes jumped up from his chair, pointing his index finger at Tu Ran. “You’re dodging the introduction; if you don’t want to do it, get lost!”
Tu Ran glared at the finger almost poking her nose, clenching her teeth. If she were to cut off this finger right now, would this arrogant fish-eyed man still be so arrogant?
One of the Pioneers next to her was also shaking with anger, his fists clenched tightly.
The man with the fish eyes continued to rant, “You Pioneers are always the most troublesome! Thinking you’re so impressive just because you’re a Pioneer! I can’t stand your high-and-mighty attitudes!”
Tu Ran suppressed her anger, trying to keep her tone steady. “May I ask which department you belong to?”
“Me?” The man with the fish eyes puffed up with self-importance. “I’m on a different level compared to you low-level government officials. I’m a senior security officer in Pandalin District, managing the entire district’s security system. If I hadn’t applied to the Federation, do you think people like you could even enter Pandalin District?!”
“Oh~” Tu Ran looked at the Pioneer next to her with sudden realization and sneered, “So you’re just a guard dog! I thought you were someone impressive!”
The two Pioneers beside her burst out laughing.
The fish-eyed man’s face turned green with rage.
“Tsk tsk, no wonder the ancients said ‘a dog threatens based on master’s power’. I didn’t understand why they said that before, but now I see. Tsk tsk, what an eye-opener!”
The fish-eyed man was left speechless with anger, his finger still pointing at Tu Ran. “You, you, you, you…”
“I-I-I-I… What? Go ahead, say it! What’s the matter? Can’t you bark like a dog? Do I need to teach you?”
“I’ll beat you to death!” The man with the fish eyes turned red with anger and swung his fist at Tu Ran.
Tu Ran sidestepped and hooked her foot.
The fish-eyed man was instantly tripped and fell face-first to the ground, landing in a very embarrassing way.
The two Pioneers accompanying Tu Ran couldn’t stop laughing.
“You! You!” The fish-eyed man got up from the ground, pointing at the three of them with a vicious look. “You’ll pay for this!”
After making his threats, he ran away quickly.
The three of them were left standing there.
The Pioneer named “Min Tao” looked worriedly in the direction the fish-eyed man had left. “Do you think he’ll retaliate against us?”
The other Pioneer also wiped the smile off their face, equally concerned.
“He’ll at most give us some tough and tiring tasks. Besides, as a security officer, he can’t do much more,” Tu Ran said lightly.
Min Tao nodded. “True, he’s just a security officer. Even if it’s a rich district, those rich people wouldn’t offend the Federation just for him.”
The other companion nodded in agreement.
“Let’s go find the head of the Pandalin District Executive Department,” Tu Ran said, shouldering her submachine gun and pushing open the meeting room door. “Just a security guard. I thought he was the head of the Executive Department. Wasted my time listening to his nonsense.”
“I thought you knew,” Min Tao said, catching up to her with an amused expression. “Zero already compiled and sent us the information about the forces in the Pandalin District, including the details of the Executive Department head. Didn’t you check it?”
“Zero sent the information?” Tu Ran was surprised. She hadn’t noticed that.
**TN
A dog threatens based on master’s power (idiom) – like a dog threatening people on the strength of its master’ s power – be a bully under the protection of a powerful person
