Chapter 195 – Face Slap
Tu Ran turned around, and the five members of her team were also diligently checking their equipment. This was their first time facing a real battle, and they showed no signs of nervousness. On the contrary, their eyes sparkled with excitement and battle spirit, and they even seemed a bit thrilled.
Being able to rank in the top ten out of more than three thousand participants in the second round, they were naturally competitive. This trip to the Sankar Arsenal was another chance to prove their strength, and their excitement was palpable, vastly different from the anxiety of the second-generation pioneers in other teams.
Tu Ran wasn’t sure whether this was a good or bad thing, but given her current responsibility as their captain, she felt the need to remind them.
“Our Pioneer Team is different from the Executive Department. The Executive Department values merits—the more merits you have, the faster you get promoted. But our Pioneer Team needs points.
If you want to be promoted to intermediate or advanced pioneer, you need a corresponding number of points. Our points can only be accumulated from the Threshold, nowhere else,” Tu Ran said seriously.
She wanted to remind them that the so-called “rewards” from Xie Hong were not points, and they should not invest too much energy into it. Preserving themselves was the right path.
According to Xie Xu’s description, the genetic monsters in the Sankar Arsenal were not something ordinary people could handle.
Xie Hong still sent this group of people without superpowers inside, thinking that they could kill as many as possible.
Genetic monsters could proliferate indefinitely, so controlling their proliferation as quickly as possible was the only way to completely eliminate them.
Even though he had abilities, he couldn’t kill these genetic monsters in a short time by himself. The joint action of pioneers and guards could alleviate some of his pressure, and although some people would die, he didn’t care.
However, her reminder didn’t have the intended effect. Instead, it sparked their defiance.
“Tu Ran, please don’t use your worldview to educate us. We are different. To us, points are merely a byproduct of honor. The Federal Government has invested a significant amount of money in training us for five years, and we should be duty-bound to contribute to the Federation, rather than focusing solely on points.”
The speaker was a young pioneer named Shen Yunhe, who ranked first in the second generation of pioneers’ assessments.
“We admire your abilities. You were the top graduate in the first generation of pioneers, an outstanding graduate often mentioned by the instructors. Even though you are now only a junior pioneer, your exceptional performance at the graduation party showed us that you have the strength to outshine all first-generation pioneers. That’s why we chose you.
“However, we don’t agree with your mindset. In fact, I believe your thinking is contradictory. You seem to do everything for points, but with your abilities, if that were truly the case, you wouldn’t still be a junior pioneer. This suggests that you actually don’t care about points.
“What truly drives your actions is your attitude toward your own life. You avoid risks and prioritize your safety, which makes you appear unambitious and slow to act, only taking the initiative when absolutely necessary.”
Tu Ran listened quietly.
It was the first time she realized that she could be described as “unambitious” and “slow to act.”
Tu Ran found these words amusing when applied to herself.
She pressed her lips together, holding back a smile.
She couldn’t laugh; otherwise, these five people in front of her might think she was deliberately hurting their pride, and then they’d launch into another impassioned speech.
Le Qin, who had been observing the conversation, stepped forward. Her message was no different from Shen Yunhe’s, but her tone was more tactful.
“Senior Tu Ran, we won’t ask you to change your risk-averse ways, but please don’t try to educate or restrain us with your worldview.”
“We are only temporarily in the same team. Once the Threshold opens, we will go our separate ways and have nothing more to do with each other. So, in the few remaining days that we are still in the same team, Senior Tu Ran, we just need you to tell us what to do and how to do it. Please stop trying to impose your thoughts on us.”
Tu Ran looked at the five young and energetic faces in front of her and sighed inwardly.
She realized that her initial reminder had been unnecessary.
For them, only after suffering a setback would they naturally learn their lesson.
“Fine,” Tu Ran said with a smile that didn’t reach her eyes. “I won’t say anything unnecessary anymore.”
The five of them nodded in satisfaction.
They believed they had won this debate.
They had chastised the top graduate of the previous generation over and over.
They were self-satisfied, thinking they stood on the moral high ground.
Little did they know, they had extinguished the small sense of responsibility Tu Ran had left and lost a hand that could have pulled them up in a critical moment.
When Xie Xu walked over, this was the scene he saw.
He understood Tu Ran fairly well and could roughly guess what had happened.
Le Qin, Shen Yunhe, and the other three all looked at Xie Xu as he approached.
Although they didn’t know who he was, the fact that he could speak directly with General Xie Hong earlier indicated that his status was certainly not low. He was likely a key planner of this operation.
“Is there something you need?” Tu Ran asked, her expression emotionless as she looked at him.
“Yes,” Xie Xu nodded, his gaze sweeping over the faces of the five. “For this operation, everyone will be divided into four teams, led by General Xie Hong, Deputy Commander Li Wenchuan of the Pioneer Team, myself, and you.”
“Me?” Tu Ran frowned.
The five people behind her looked over in shock.
They could understand General Xie Hong, the Deputy Commander of the Pioneer Team, and this man of seemingly high status leading the teams, given their ranks. But why was the last leader Tu Ran?
After all, she was just a junior pioneer.
It’s important to note that present were also the Director of the Eden District Branch of the Executive Department and several intermediate pioneers.
“Yes, you,” Xie Xu confirmed.
In this situation, he couldn’t find anyone more suitable to lead the team than Tu Ran.
“I’ve already sent the area you’ll be responsible for and the specific action plan to Zero. The list of your team members has also been sent to you. You can take a look, but I don’t think it’s worth wasting time.
General Xie Hong is about to launch the attack, and Li Wenchuan is already on his way to the west gate. You’d better hurry to the south gate. Attacking from all four sides at once will make it harder for any enemies to slip through.”
In just a few words, he laid out her role clearly.
Tu Ran gritted her teeth and looked around. Sure enough, Li Wenchuan was nowhere to be seen, and the number of people left had decreased by a quarter.
“Understood.”
Tu Ran turned and headed toward the south gate.
At the same time, she summoned Zero.
“Notify everyone responsible for the southern area to follow me.”
A quarter of the remaining crowd on the wasteland moved, finding Tu Ran’s figure and following her at a near-running pace toward the south gate.
The five second-generation pioneers under Tu Ran’s command exchanged glances, their expressions somewhat grim.
Tu Ran being appointed as one of the team leaders felt like a slap in the face, and it stung particularly hard.
Kids dont know how high or low the sky is. You’d think a senior would give useless advice? smh Thought we would get tactful friends like that one talkative guy.