A Monster Appears at the Graduation Gala

"Artificial limb replacement rate 63%, skull replacement rate 42%, artificial eye replacement rate 46%, heart replacement rate 21%..."

As he read on, the faces of the graduates below grew paler, the ambition in their eyes dimming. This bucket of cold water left everyone feeling chilled to the bone.

Xie Zhao finally set down the electronic screen and stopped reading those bloody statistics.

"These numbers are alarming. I've been looking for the right time to release them, but I was afraid that telling you would shake your confidence in training, so I kept putting it off. I'm sorry to share these facts on such a celebratory occasion."

No one in the audience spoke.

Everyone unconsciously turned to look at the seats of the Second Pioneer Team—just five hundred seats, and they weren't even filled.

Complex emotions weighed on each person's heart.

Tu Ran felt shaken too.

No wonder these statistics weren't made public earlier. If people had known beforehand, how many would have backed out? Enrollment rates would've become a problem.

Beside her, Xiao Di was moved to tears.

Min Tao, equally downcast, silently handed him a tissue.

Xiao Di took it and wiped his tears haphazardly, deeply bereaved.

Tu Ran patted his shoulder in comfort.

Actually, aside from the shock, she didn't feel much else.

Her memories of the training base were all from the original body's perspective, viewed as a third party, unable to evoke real emotion in her.

Or perhaps the original body itself hadn't had deep feelings for the training base, so the transmigrated soul naturally couldn't feel them either.

"Xiao Liu! Xiao Liu! What's wrong?"

A startled cry came from behind.

The voice wasn't loud, but it was only a few rows behind them, so Tu Ran could hear it clearly.

"Stop eating, you'll burst!"

Tu Ran turned her upper body to look.

A man was rapidly shoving all the food in front of him into his mouth. His movements were so quick that he seemed to swallow without chewing.

After finishing his own table, he grabbed food from his companion's table nearby. The companion was trying to reason with him, but to no avail.

"How many days has he gone without food?" Xiao Di turned around too, still sniffling as he watched.

Tu Ran shrugged. "No idea."

She didn't pay it much mind, turning back and crossing her arms to continue listening to Xie Zhao's speech.

"From today, you will officially become Pioneers and members of our Pioneer Team. I congratulate you all."

Applause filled the venue.

"Well, my speech ends here. The rest of the time is yours. Enjoy yourselves."

As his voice fell, the projections on the high platform flickered, and everyone seated on the ornate chairs vanished.

It had all been projections.

In their place, attractive men and women in dazzling outfits struck cool poses.

As the beat dropped, they began to dance. The hot performance instantly ignited the atmosphere.

This dance troupe was extremely popular now. Tu Ran had seen their ads on many billboards, and their latest song was a hit across all forty-two states.

Many in the audience stood up and grooved along with the rhythm.

Even Xiao Di beside her started dancing along.

All traces of his earlier sorrow were gone.

"Brother Tao, Sister Ran, come dance with us!" he called out with a smile.

Min Tao accepted the invitation, tossing his helmet aside and standing up to party with Xiao Di.

Tu Ran shook her head, leaned back in her seat, and quietly took in the liveliness of the venue.

Multicolored lights flashed everywhere.

This was basically a huge outdoor rave.

Just as the atmosphere reached its peak—

"Thud!"

A heavy object hit the floor, but it barely drew any attention.

Only the people nearly hit by it paused, looking back in confusion at the person curled up on the ground.

A young woman stepped forward, crouched down, and carefully helped the person up.

"What's wrong?" she asked with concern.

The person gritted their teeth, face pale, body convulsing, in too much pain to speak.

At the edge of the crowd, Tu Ran looked toward the direction the person had been thrown from.

She spotted the man still eating and drinking voraciously. He had moved from three rows back to seven rows now. Almost no one sat in that area, so the food on those seats was untouched, and he was stuffing himself there.

Tu Ran sensed something was off.

Not only was he swallowing food without chewing, but now he was shoving plates, cups, and unopened fruit bags straight into his mouth.

It was like his stomach was a bottomless pit.

Under the flashing lights, Tu Ran noticed his body was visibly swelling. His combat suit was stretched taut, nearly bursting.

"Min Tao! Xiao Di!" she shouted loudly.

The music was blaring, and Min Tao and Xiao Di weren't wearing their helmets, so Tu Ran had to raise her voice as much as she could, practically yelling.

Neither of them heard her.

Tu Ran grabbed their helmets from their seats and tossed them over.

Though they were lost in the music and dancing, their reflexes were sharp enough to catch their helmets precisely and in time.

They looked at Tu Ran questioningly.

Tu Ran mimed putting on her helmet, signaling for them to put theirs on.

They didn't know what she was up to, but they cooperated and put the helmets on.

With the noisy music blocked out, Tu Ran could speak to them clearly through the earpiece.

"Facing me, at two o'clock, that guy—he might be a gene monster!"

Min Tao and Xiao Di both looked in the direction she indicated.

"Damn, in just a moment, how did he get so fat?" Xiao Di couldn't help exclaiming.

"Never mind that. I'll go test him first and see what's going on. You two approach from the sides. If he acts up, subdue him immediately."

"Got it," Xiao Di said.

"Mm," Min Tao nodded, cracking his knuckles.

"Zero, if anything seems off, alert the others immediately," Tu Ran instructed Zero as well.

"Understood," Zero's mechanical voice replied quickly.

With the arrangements made, Tu Ran turned, leaped onto a table, and strode across it toward the still-stuffing man. Xiao Di and Min Tao, on the other hand, skirted around the crowd, cautiously approaching from the sides.

No one noticed the three of them—the dancers were still grooving, and the would-be rescuers were still gathered around the fallen person.

Tu Ran came within a table's distance of the fat man. He was just picking up a large can of beer and shoving it into his mouth.

Yes, shoving, not drinking.

He pushed a can as long as an arm straight down his throat, swallowed a few times, and it disappeared without a trace.

That's definitely not human.

Tu Ran drew her long blade, its cold, sharp edge reflecting the colorful lights of the stage.

With a swift downward arc, she slashed at the neck of the monster, who was still hunched over, wolfing down food.