Chapter 217 – Interrogation
His teammates immediately aimed their guns in the direction he pointed.
In mere seconds, the ten of them fired several volleys of bullets, “bang, bang, bang,” until all were emptied.
Unfortunately, not a single shot hit.
Through their visors, Tu Ran appeared only as a red dot, while through Tu Ran’s visor, they were full-bodied figures. Although merely sketched as simple outlines, the positions of their heads, limbs, and torsos were perfectly clear.
This demonstrated the advanced equipment of the Pioneer Team compared to that of ordinary teams.
Tu Ran activated [Teleportation] and silently circled around to their rear.
Inside the circle, the captain stared at the small red dot that had shifted from the front to the back of his visor in an instant. A chill crept up from the soles of his feet.
Was this the speed of a normal human?
Or was he seeing things?
Two gunshots rang out, “bang, bang,” as two of his teammates behind him collapsed. The captain knew he wasn’t imagining things, nor was there a malfunction in the equipment.
He had handled many shady tasks for the Wells family and had a vague understanding of things most people would never know.
For instance, the Wells family often ordered him to secretly abduct certain people, and these individuals exhibited abilities that were beyond normal human capabilities. They bore some resemblance to genetic monsters, but unlike the mindless, rampaging, and physically distorted creatures, these people didn’t lose their sanity.
They simply seemed to have awakened a single supernatural ability.
And nearly all of them were Pioneers.
In an instant, the captain was certain that the person before him was also someone with superhuman abilities—likely a Pioneer.
This fit with another task assigned to him today: to shut down the anesthetic spray device keeping the aliens sedated and prevent a Pioneer named “Tu Ran” from leaving the Songwu Research Base alive.
It was Tu Ran!
He immediately called through his earpiece, trying to relay this information to his superiors.
“Knock off his helmet! He knows your identity!” Xie Xu said quickly.
Without hesitation, Tu Ran sprinted and jumped into the protective circle, delivering a swift kick to the squad captain’s helmet.
The word “Tu Ran” was still on the tip of the captain’s tongue when Tu Ran’s kick interrupted him, almost causing him to bite his tongue off.
Tu Ran then straddled him, placing her hand over the captain’s helmet and activating [Mountain Collapse and Earth Crack]. The helmet exploded instantly, leaving the captain stunned—this Pioneer could not only move at lightning speed but also crush his helmet with a single strike.
The captain’s teammates finally reacted and aimed their guns at Tu Ran, ready to fire.
Tu Ran grabbed the squad captain by the collar and swiftly retreated.
The bullets hit the ground.
“Where is she?”
“Where’s the captain?”
The squad members stared in disbelief at the empty ground where their captain had just been. One of them even stomped on the spot where he had lain, but there was nothing to be found.
With the squad captain’s helmet destroyed by Tu Ran, the positioning device inside malfunctioned, and the green signal representing his location completely vanished from his teammates’ visors.
“Brother Min, Shen Yunhe, I’ll leave the rest to you.”
Tu Ran, holding the squad captain, casually found a nearby laboratory, kicked open the door, and threw him inside, then shut the door behind her.
“Got it, leave it to us!” Min Tao and Shen Yunhe didn’t ask questions and focused on dealing with the remaining enemies.
Inside the empty lab, the air was sealed tight, keeping the toxic gas from outside at bay, and the visibility was clear.
The squad captain was thrown heavily onto the ground and struggled to stand, but his thigh had been shot. Even the slightest movement felt like a knife slicing through him, making it impossible for him to get up. He could only use his arms and his uninjured leg to crawl to a nearby operating table, half-sitting, half-lying against it.
He was clearly at a disadvantage. In front of Tu Ran, he stood no chance of fighting back.
His helmet had also been cracked, and the air was filled with toxic gas. He wouldn’t survive much longer.
He was acutely aware that he would die here today.
Yet he remained calm and composed.
He looked Tu Ran up and down. In the lab, free from the toxic fog, he could see Tu Ran’s attire clearly.
It was the Pioneer Team’s combat uniform.
His gaze fell on the name tag on Tu Ran’s chest: Tu Ran.
“As I suspected, you are from the Pioneer Team. Tu Ran? Your name is quite famous. I heard it several times when I was working in the Executive Department. Oh, and you even made the Federal News headlines. They called you… the Hero of the Train.”
He was very calm, with a faint smile on his lips, appearing quite confident.
Tu Ran knew where his confidence came from.
“The last person who praised me like that is now lying in a trash bin.”
When Zhao Yan exploded, during the cleanup at the Sankar Arsenal, those body parts had to be thrown into the trash.
Although this was true, hearing it from Tu Ran felt disturbingly like a taunt.
The squad captain swallowed hard and leaned back.
His unconscious gesture betrayed his true feelings. He wasn’t as composed as he appeared.
“When will the bomb explode?” Tu Ran pressed on.
The confident smile on the captain’s face froze.
His confidence stemmed from the belief that he could drag Tu Ran down with him to hell, that he would not die alone, but would delay until the bomb detonated.
Tu Ran had shaken his confidence, and he could no longer smile.
“Not going to say?” Tu Ran tilted her head.
The captain gritted his teeth, staring at her intensely but remaining silent.
It was clear he refused to cooperate.
Tu Ran’s figure flickered and, in the next moment, she was right in front of him, gripping his neck.
“Tell me, when will the bomb explode?” Tu Ran’s voice was icy cold.
“I… will never… tell you,” he managed to squeeze out through gritted teeth.
His face had turned a deep red from lack of oxygen, and his pale eyes were particularly noticeable. On closer inspection, one could see the blood vessels in his eyes.
Tu Ran wasn’t expecting him to talk.
She had already read his memories.
“The bomb is set to explode in half an hour, and it’s already…” Tu Ran raised her other arm, and the communicator on her arm displayed the current time: Federation Time 8:15 PM.
“There are fifteen minutes left before it explodes, right?” Although phrased as a question, Tu Ran spoke with certainty.
The veins on the squad captain’s forehead throbbed, whether from the grip on his neck or from anger.
“Who sent you?” Tu Ran asked again.
Fifteen minutes: she planned to spend five minutes questioning him and leave in ten, more than enough time.
The captain clenched his teeth, remaining silent.
“Nick Wells?”
The squad captain was shocked once more.
Why? How did she know, even though he hadn’t said anything?!
Was it a superpower?
Did she possess a power to read others’ thoughts?
His look of shock swiftly turned to one of terror.
This woman before him had at least three superpowers and had not aroused any suspicion from her superiors.
