Chapter 235 – Unruly, Rude, and Uncultured
“Stefano Wells has a strong sense of family honor. His aunt, Mira Wells, was turned into a genetic monster and killed by you. He’s been replaying that footage on a loop.”
“So? He’s here to take revenge on me?” Tu Ran was shocked.
All for this? A big shot personally coming after a small fry like her for revenge?
That didn’t seem realistic.
“Don’t forget, you also killed his cousin, Nick Wells,” Zero reminded her coldly.
“He’s not even dead yet! I just took out his inner core. He can still live for ten days or so,” Tu Ran shrank her neck as her communicator buzzed. “Besides, even if Nick Wells dies, they’d have a hard time tracing it back to me.”
She lit up her screen and froze at the message on her communicator.
“Where is Xi Chunzhi right now?”
“In the medical department.”
“Are you sure?” Tu Ran stared at the two lines of text on her communicator.
[Xi Chunzhi is in our hands. You have three minutes to come out. We have important matters to discuss with you.]
Perhaps thinking their tone was too harsh, they added, [Don’t worry, we won’t harm you.]
“Xi Chunzhi is definitely still in the medical department.” Zero pulled up the surveillance from her hospital room. Xi Chunzhi was sitting in bed with a table in front of her, eating porridge and side dishes at a slow, steady pace.
“What does Stefano mean? He says Xi Chunzhi is in his hands,” Tu Ran realized. “Is this guy bluffing me? Does he think I can’t check the medical department’s surveillance in three minutes?”
“That… seems to be the case.”
“Heh, I’d like to see what they want to talk about.”
Tu Ran replied through her communicator, “I’m afraid you’ll pull something on me. Let’s just communicate through the device.”
The other side quickly replied, “A face-to-face meeting is more formal.”
“Alright.” Tu Ran sent a single word and stepped out from behind the sheltered aircraft.
She approached the flying vehicle where Stefano Wells was, stopping about ten meters away.
“This is the limit. Any further, and you’ll enter the signal-jamming zone,” Zero informed her through the earpiece.
“We’ll talk here, face-to-face,” Tu Ran said. Her voice became barely audible to Stefano Wells and his group after being transmitted for more than ten meters.
André: “…”
Stefano Wells: “…”
Stefano Wells closed his eyes briefly. “Turn off the signal jammer and let her come closer.”
André immediately complied and contacted Tu Ran, confirming that the jamming had been deactivated and assuring her she could approach safely.
“Is it really off?” Tu Ran asked in a low voice.
“It’s off,” Zero confirmed.
Only then did Tu Ran relax and walk toward them.
The bodyguard stared at Tu Ran as she approached, his eyes blazing with anger behind his sunglasses.
He knew he was going to be punished for her unpredictable behavior!
Her blatant hostility was obvious, but Tu Ran didn’t care. She looked at André instead and said, “I’m here. Now release Xi Chunzhi.”
If she was going to play along, she would go all in.
“We didn’t actually capture Xi Chunzhi. She’s resting safely in her hospital bed. We apologize for forcing you out like this,” André said, his expression showing genuine regret.
Tu Ran let herself show a bit of anger and irritation, playing the part of someone annoyed at being manipulated. Her tone was rude, “What do you want to talk about? Make it quick—I’ve got work to do.”
“From what we understand, your rank within the Pioneer Team isn’t very high,” André said.
“That’s right, so what?” Tu Ran crossed her arms.
“Would you mind sharing the reason?”
“Without the ability to gather useful information in the field, your rank naturally remains low.” After a pause, Tu Ran turned the tables. “It seems you’re not all that impressive yourself if you couldn’t even find that out. I must have been a fool to believe your threats about kidnapping Xi Chunzhi. Who exactly are you? If you don’t tell me, I’ll just leave.”
André was taken aback. This was the first time he had encountered such an unruly and rude pioneer.
“Allow me to introduce myself. In front of you is Stefano Wells, the head of the Wells family,” André said, lifting his chin slightly.
To be honest, he wanted to see how this uncultured pioneer would react when confronted with the authority of the family head.
“Stop bragging. How could the head of the Wells family come to meet me?” Tu Ran shot him a skeptical glance, completely unconvinced, and turned to leave.
André sighed. Well, she was just a minor pioneer who hadn’t encountered high-ranking officials of the Federation before; her reaction was understandable.
“Don’t go just yet. We know you have an inner core!”
Tu Ran halted, turned back to look at André, and narrowed her eyes. “What’s an inner core?”
“Ha, so you’re Tu Ran? You’re quite the actress,” a voice came from inside the car, laced with a hint of mockery.
As expected, the voice of a big shot carried a mix of nonchalance and ridicule.
A polished shoe appeared in front of Tu Ran, followed by an exceptionally long leg extending from the car seat, landing on the ground. Looking at the scene, her mind filled with images of a mantis leg.
A tall man stepped out of the vehicle, looking down at Tu Ran.
“I’ve seen your performance when you killed the genetic monster. You were excellent. I happen to need a bodyguard, and I’d like to hire you.”
Tu Ran was puzzled. What was going on? Did this guy really need a powerful bodyguard? Even if he did, did he need to recruit her personally? He could just wave his hand, and countless people would compete to be his bodyguard.
“I’ll offer you ten times the salary of the Pioneer Team.”
Tu Ran let out a dry laugh. “Is it just because I have an inner core? You shouldn’t be lacking in subordinates with inner cores, right?”
“That’s true, but I lack subordinates who can identify the abilities of others.”
Tu Ran’s brow furrowed suddenly.
“Don’t make that face,” Stefano said, looking at her with a sneer. “Have you never considered why Zhao Yan was able to pass through the memory reader?”
“He allied with you?” Tu Ran was stunned. With everything happening recently, she had completely forgotten about that detail.
“Yes, I helped him pass the memory reader smoothly, and he helps me identify who possesses superpowers,” Stefano replied unhurriedly.
Tu Ran listened closely and caught one key word: identify.
“Zhao Yan’s ability is… to determine whether a person has superpowers?” She couldn’t believe it. That guy clearly had the ability of telepathy; no one’s thoughts within thirty meters could escape his notice.
“Exactly. As long as someone is within thirty meters of him, he can determine whether they possess superpowers,” Stefano said, lifting his chin slightly.
Tu Ran realized that this man was being played for a fool, completely deceived by Zhao Yan. His thoughts had likely been read, and he still naively believed Zhao Yan could only tell if someone had superpowers.
Tu Ran wanted to laugh but held it in.
She was very curious to see Stefano’s reaction when he learned the truth, but she knew she couldn’t say anything. If she did, Stefano would start to suspect her too.
