A Dog Depending on Its Master's Power

Tu Ran couldn't be bothered to argue. She glanced behind them—those heading to other states had already changed into their gear, shouldered their rifles, and were filing out one by one.

"I need to switch out my equipment. You two do as you please."

Leaving that flat remark behind, she brushed past them to find gear that suited her.

Zero's voice sounded in her ear. "Pioneer Tu Ran, you are assigned to security for the Pandalim District. You have two teammates sharing responsibility for this area. Their names have been delivered to you."

Tu Ran quickly tore her gaze away from the dizzying array of weapons and looked down at her communicator.

Please, don't let it be Zhao Yan, she prayed silently.

Luckily, it wasn't Zhao Yan—it was two people she didn't know.

Tu Ran let out a long breath.

Emerging from the equipment room, Tu Ran and her two teammates climbed into a patrol vehicle bound for their destination—the Pandalim District, with a guard at the wheel.

The Pandalim District was the Federation Government's most famous wealthy enclave.

Rumored to be the gathering place of the three great conglomerate families.

Housing prices were absurd beyond belief—the kind of price an ordinary person could never hope to reach even after eight lifetimes of labor.

The three of them first headed for the Executive Department branch office responsible for Pandalim District security.

Because it was a wealthy district, an exception had been made to establish a branch office here, staffed with guards solely dedicated to this area's security—something unseen anywhere else.

On top of that, Tu Ran only learned after arriving that the Pioneers responsible for Pandalim District were not just the three of them.

Ten Pioneers from the previous batch were still stationed here. They were supposed to have departed for the Threshold yesterday, but the wealthy residents weren't comfortable with them leaving, so they filed a request with the Federal Government.

And the Federal Government agreed without hesitation!

Tu Ran: "?"

So this was the privilege of the rich?

She knew that other states—territories that size—only got thirteen Pioneers assigned, while Pandalim District, just a single district, had thirteen Pioneers!

The preferential treatment couldn't be more obvious.

"New arrivals?"

In the small meeting room of the Executive Department branch, a man in a black suit with an unusually wide gap between his eyes looked at the three of them, legs crossed and leaning back in his chair, showing no intention of inviting them to sit.

"Mm," the three nodded.

"Only three assigned?" The man scrutinized them from head to toe, clearly dissatisfied that the Federal Government had sent just three people.

Tu Ran mentally filtered out his rude attitude and stared at his two eyes—the distance between them was far too wide. The average person's eyes were about one eye-length apart; this guy was clearly nearly two eye-lengths apart, weird like a fish.

"Tsk, can you three not talk? Why are you just standing there? Did they send you here to stand around like idiots?" The fish-eyed man looked at Tu Ran and the others with disdain.

Tu Ran: "?"

"What do you want to hear?"

"What is each of you good at? What honors have you earned in the Pioneer Team? How high is your Pioneer rank? How many points in your account? Can't any of you introduce yourselves? If you don't explain clearly, how am I supposed to assign your tasks?!"

The fish-eyed man's attitude was beyond terrible. He glared at the three in front of him, then turned his gaze away as if one more look would dirty his eyes.

Tu Ran suppressed the urge to roll her eyes. "Sir, our files have already been transmitted to your side. You can just open them and take a look."

What era was this? Did she really need to introduce herself in person?

"Do you think I don't know that? Do I need you to remind me here?" The fish-eyed man shot up from his chair, pointing his index finger at Tu Ran. "When I ask you to introduce yourself, you keep making excuses. If you want to work, work—if not, get lost!"

Tu Ran stared at the finger nearly jabbing her nose, clenching her molars. If she chopped off this finger right now, would this dead fish-eye still be this arrogant?

One of the Pioneers beside her was also shaking with rage at the dead fish-eye, fists clenched tight at his side.

The fish-eyed man kept ranting. "You Pioneer types are the ones with the most issues! You think being a Pioneer makes you something special! I can't stand you self-important bastards!"

Tu Ran suppressed the anger in her chest, doing her best to keep her tone steady. "Then may I ask, which department are you from?"

"Me?" The fish-eyed man suddenly puffed up with pride. "I'm as different from you low-level government officials as clouds are from mud. I'm a senior security officer for the Pandalim District, managing the entire security and defense system here. If not for my application to the Federation, you think people like you could ever set foot in the Pandalim District?!"

"Ohh~" Tu Ran turned to the Pioneer beside her with a look of sudden realization, sneering. "So he's just a watchdog! And here I thought he was something impressive!"

The two Pioneers beside her burst out laughing.

The fish-eyed man's face turned green in an instant.

"Tsk tsk, no wonder the ancients always said a dog depending on its master's power, a dog depending on its master's power. I'd never seen a dog before, so I never understood why they said that—but today I finally get it. Tsk tsk, an eye-opener, truly an eye-opener!"

The fish-eyed man was so angry he couldn't form a word, his index finger still pointing at Tu Ran. "You, you, you, you, you..."

"Me, me, me, me, me, me, me... me what? Go on, say it! What's wrong? Cat got your tongue? Want me to teach you?"

"I'll beat you to death!" The fish-eyed man's face turned bright red as he swung a fist at Tu Ran.

Tu Ran sidestepped, and with a light flick of her foot, hooked his ankle.

The fish-eyed man tripped straight to the ground, landing face-first in the most pathetic sprawl possible.

The two Pioneers traveling with Tu Ran couldn't stop laughing.

"You! You three!" The fish-eyed man scrambled to his feet, pointing at them, and spat viciously, "You just wait!"

With that threat, he scampered off in a flash.

Leaving the three of them standing there.

The Pioneer named Min Tao looked after the fish-eyed man with some concern. "Will he retaliate against us?"

The other Pioneer also wiped the smile from his face, growing worried too.

"At most, he'll give us some grueling, thankless work. Beyond that, a security officer can't do anything," Tu Ran said flatly.

Min Tao nodded. "True enough. He's just a security officer—even if he's in a wealthy district, those rich folks won't offend the Federal Government for his sake."

The other companion nodded in agreement.

"Come on, let's go find the Pandalim District Executive Department branch chief," Tu Ran said, hefting her machine gun onto her shoulder and pushing open the meeting room door. "He's just a security captain—I thought he was the branch chief. I wasted all that time listening to his nonsense. What a waste of my time."

"I thought you knew," Min Tao quickened his pace to walk beside her, half-laughing and half-crying. "Zero organized the power structure of the Pandalim District and sent it to us in a package, including the branch chief's file. Didn't you open it?"

"Zero sent a file?" Tu Ran was surprised. She hadn't noticed that at all.