Chapter 68 – Defeated
What right did she have to worry about the alien species? She herself was human, and she wasn’t at the level where she could seek justice for them.
Moreover, not all of those species were innocent. Take the recent operation in Reigaken for instance. How many ordinary citizens had perished at the hands of those creatures? How many guards had died in the line of duty?
Reality was harsh, cruel to both species. If the Threshold had never appeared, the two worlds would have remained unrelated, and everyone could have lived more peacefully.
“Tomorrow afternoon at three, go to the Ansar Black Market. I will send someone to assist you,” Xie Xu said as he stood up.
“Is it for training?” Tu Ran asked, looking up.
“Yes, you need to make the most of your time.”
Leaving her with those words, Xie Xu stepped out of the private room.
Tu Ran was left alone in the room. Despite the abundance of delicious food still on the table, she had lost her appetite.
However, she couldn’t let it go to waste.
She took a few more bites and then called the waiter.
“Pack this up, please.”
…
Back home, Tu Ran put the packed food into the fridge and began studying theoretical knowledge.
She needed to improve both theoretically and practically.
Time passed quickly.
At ten-thirty, Tu Ran went to bed on time.
She fell asleep immediately.
The next morning at seven, after a simple breakfast, she headed to the training ground at the Administrative Center.
After changing into her training clothes, she went to the shooting range.
The first task of the day was pistol shooting.
Accuracy in shooting was closely linked to proficiency.
Although her accuracy had improved, her performance wasn’t consistently stable, so she needed continuous practice.
Wearing her safety goggles, she began shooting according to the method Xie Xu had taught her the previous day.
She went through several magazines continuously.
Her performance was quite good; most of her shots hit the bullseye, with only a few hitting the nine-ring.
Satisfied, Tu Ran decided to practice long-range sniping.
After borrowing a sniper rifle, she was on her way to the sniper shooting range when she ran into Zhou Ming.
He was also carrying a sniper rifle, accompanied by his teammates, all dressed in training clothes, likely for their morning training session.
Seeing Tu Ran, especially with a sniper rifle, Zhou Ming wasted no time in mocking her. “Tu Ran, with your shooting skills, you dare to use a sniper rifle? You probably couldn’t even hit an elephant.”
His teammates laughed at his comment.
Tu Ran raised her eyebrows slightly and quietly observed them.
Zhou Ming’s hostility towards her stemmed from her friendship with Xi Chunzhi.
His animosity towards Xi Chunzhi was because he had once been defeated by her.
Zhou Ming had wanted to join the pioneer team years ago.
But during an internal elimination competition, he was defeated by Xi Chunzhi in every event, including his prized sniping skills.
Xi Chunzhi was exceptionally skilled in long-range sniping, with a record distance of 3460 meters, the farthest sniping distance currently held within the Federal Government.
Since then, Zhou Ming’s animosity towards Xi Chunzhi was evident, always challenging her.
And upon learning of Tu Ran’s friendship with Xi Chunzhi, he began to provoke and slander her as well.
The original Tu Ran had no desire to engage with someone like him, not even sparing him a glance, ignoring his insults every time.
In Zhou Ming’s eyes, this disdain only emboldened him.
“Tu Ran, where’s Xi Chunzhi? Aren’t you two inseparable? How come I see you but not her? Could it be that—” He covered his mouth, winking at his companions, “Could it be that she’s dead?”
