Chapter 180 – The Monster Appears at the Graduation Party
“Prosthetic replacement rate: 63%, skull replacement rate: 42%, prosthetic eye replacement rate: 46%, heart replacement rate: 21%…”
The more Xie Zhao read, the paler the graduates’ faces became, and the ambitious gleam in their eyes gradually faded away.
This cold reality drenched everyone like a bucket of ice water, chilling them to the bone.
Finally, Xie Zhao set down the electronic screen, no longer reading out those blood-chilling statistics.
“These numbers are shocking. I’ve been searching for the right time to reveal them, but I was worried that telling you would make you lose confidence in your training. That’s why I delayed it until now. I’m sorry for revealing these truths on such a celebratory occasion.”
No one in the audience spoke.
Everyone instinctively glanced toward the seats of the second batch of pioneers beside them.
There were only 500 seats, and even they were not all filled.
Everyone’s emotions were complicated.
Tu Ran was also somewhat shaken.
No wonder these statistics were kept hidden; if people knew them in advance, many would back out, and the recruitment rate would definitely be a problem.
Beside her, Xiao Di was moved to tears, his face streaked with emotion.
Min Tao, feeling down as well, quietly handed him a tissue.
Xiao Di accepted the tissue, wiping his tears haphazardly, overwhelmed with sadness.
Tu Ran patted him on the shoulder, offering some comfort.
In truth, aside from being shocked, she didn’t feel much else.
Her memories of the training base were all seen through the original owner’s mind, as a third-party observer, making it difficult to connect emotionally.
Perhaps it could also be said that the original owner didn’t have deep feelings for the training base, so naturally, the soul that had traveled into this body couldn’t feel them either.
“Xiao Liu! Xiao Liu! What’s wrong?”
A startled cry suddenly came from behind.
The voice wasn’t loud, but it was only a few rows away, making it easy for Tu Ran to hear.
“Stop eating! You’re going to burst!”
Tu Ran turned her upper body to look.
A man was rapidly stuffing all the food in front of him into his mouth.
He moved so fast that it seemed like he wasn’t even chewing, just swallowing it down.
After finishing his own plate, he reached over to grab food from his companion’s table.
His companion was patiently trying to stop him.
“How many days has it been since he last ate?” Xiao Di turned his head as well, still sniffling as he watched the scene.
Tu Ran shrugged. “No idea.”
She didn’t think much of it, turned back around, and crossed her arms as she continued listening to Xie Zhao’s speech.
“From today onwards, you will become official pioneers, members of our Pioneer Team. I congratulate all of you.”
The audience erupted in applause.
“Alright, that concludes our speeches. The rest of the time is yours—enjoy yourselves.”
As soon as he finished speaking, the projection on the high platform flickered a few times, and all the people who had been seated in the luxurious chairs disappeared.
It was all just a projection.
In their place, a group of stylishly dressed men and women struck cool poses.
As the energetic music started, they began to dance, and the room’s atmosphere instantly heated up with their lively performance.
This dance group was currently very popular. Tu Ran had seen their endorsed products on many billboards, and their latest song had become a hit in nearly forty-two states.
In the audience, many people stood up, dancing passionately to the rhythm.
Even Xiao Di, who was beside her, started dancing.
Gone was the earlier sadness and tears.
“Brother Tao, Sister Ran, join us!” he called out with a smile, inviting them to dance along.
Min Tao accepted Xiao Di’s invitation, tossing his helmet aside and standing up to join Xiao Di in dancing.
Tu Ran shook her head and leaned back in her seat, quietly enjoying the lively atmosphere of the venue.
Multicolored lights flickered, creating an ambiance reminiscent of a large open-air dance party.
Just as the energy in the room reached its peak, there was a sudden “thud!”
A heavy object hit the ground, but it didn’t draw much attention.
Only the people who were nearly hit by it stopped and looked curiously at the person curled up on the ground.
A young girl stepped forward, crouching down carefully to help the person up.
“What’s wrong?” she asked with concern.
The person bit their lip, their face pale, and their whole body convulsing, too pained to speak.
From the edge of the crowd, Tu Ran looked in the direction from which the person had fallen.
She spotted the man who had been gorging himself earlier.
He had moved from three rows back to seven rows back.
There were hardly any people sitting in the seventh row, so the food there had been untouched. The man sat there, devouring everything in sight.
Tu Ran sensed something was off.
He wasn’t just swallowing the food without chewing; now, he was shoving plates, cups, and even unopened bags of fruit directly into his mouth.
It was as if his stomach was a bottomless pit.
In the flickering lights, Tu Ran noticed that his body was visibly expanding.
His combat uniform was now bulging and almost ready to burst.
“Min Tao! Xiao Di!” she shouted.
The music was loud, and Min Tao and Xiao Di weren’t wearing their helmets, so Tu Ran had to raise her voice, nearly screaming.
But they still didn’t hear her.
Tu Ran grabbed their helmets from their seats and threw them at the two.
Even though they were lost in the music and dancing, their reflexes kicked in, and they caught their helmets precisely and on time.
The two looked at Tu Ran in confusion.
Tu Ran pointed to her helmet, signaling them to put theirs on quickly.
Although they didn’t understand what she was up to, they cooperated and put on their helmets.
With the noise of the music blocked out, Tu Ran could communicate clearly with them through the headset.
“Face me, at two o’clock—see that guy? He might be a genetic monster!”
Min Tao and Xiao Di turned to look in the direction she indicated.
“Whoa, how did he get so fat in just a short time?” Xiao Di exclaimed.
“Don’t worry about that right now. I’ll approach him first to see what’s going on. You two close in from the sides, and if he acts up, restrain him immediately.”
“Got it,” Xiao Di replied.
“Understood,” Min Tao nodded, cracking his knuckles.
“Zero, if anything unusual happens, notify the others immediately,” Tu Ran instructed Zero.
“Affirmative,” Zero’s mechanical voice responded quickly.
With everything in place, Tu Ran turned around, leapt onto a table, and started striding across it, steadily approaching the man who was still gorging himself.
Xiao Di and Min Tao carefully moved along the sides, avoiding the crowd as they closed in.
Their actions went unnoticed by everyone else—those who were dancing kept dancing passionately, while those attending to the fallen person remained concerned and focused on helping.
As Tu Ran got within one table’s distance from the man, he was just grabbing a large beer can and shoving it into his mouth.
Yes, shoving—not drinking.
The beer can, which was as long as a forearm, was stuffed directly down his throat. After a few gulps, it vanished without a trace.
There was no doubt—this wasn’t a human.
Tu Ran drew her long sword, the cold, sharp blade reflecting the multicolored lights from the stage.
In one swift motion, the blade descended, aiming straight for the neck of the monster, who was still hunched over, devouring food.
