Don't Shoot!

Just as she was about to strike, the monster lifted its head, its greasy face twisted into a savage, man-eating snarl. It swung its arm, catching Tu Ran's long blade in a crushing grip.

Tu Ran's eyes turned icy. She tried to wrench the blade free, but the creature was faster—it hurled both the sword and her, still clutching the hilt, across the room.

Tu Ran flew in a high arc and crashed into the crowd.

It was the same crowd that had been gathered around the fallen man earlier.

Fortunately, her reflexes were sharp. She hit the ground and rolled several times, dispersing some of the impact, so she didn't end up nearly unconscious like the previous victim.

The crowd, still fussing over the earlier victim, was startled by the sudden arrival of another person.

What was going on?

Before they could process it, two more bodies came crashing down.

“Ahhh! Thud!”

Xiao Di landed face-first, nearly rolling his eyes back from the pain.

What made it worse was Min Tao landing directly on top of him.

“Holy—shit—” Xiao Di blacked out.

They had followed Tu Ran's orders, flanking the monster from both sides, but instead of subduing it, they'd each been sent flying by a single punch.

Min Tao climbed off Xiao Di, saw his condition, and dragged him to a nearby table to keep him from being trampled. Then he looked at Tu Ran with a grave expression. “It's a gene monster. It's too strong!”

“Gene monster?”

The people nearby exchanged glances at those words.

Most of the people in this area were second-generation Pioneers. They had never encountered a gene monster before—only heard about them in the news.

“Where? I don't see it?” someone asked, craning their neck.

“Seriously? How could a gene monster be in the base?” another chimed in, eager to test themselves.

“Where is it? I want to try my hand! I've never fought a real gene monster before.”

“Me too!”

“Same here!”

“But why can't I find it?”

Tu Ran bent down and picked up her blade from the ground.

She sighed inwardly. These people really had sharp eyes.

They couldn't see a monster that big?

Even though there was some distance, and dancers were still lost in the music between them, the monster was practically lifting entire tables to gnaw on them.

Such bizarre behavior, and not a single one of them noticed.

“Hey,” Tu Ran said, taking a deep breath and tightening her grip on the hilt. “Look at me!”

The people around her looked at her in confusion.

Who was she? Why should they look at her?

But her name tag looked familiar...

Tu Ran?

...Tu Ran!!

Wait, the Tu Ran who single-handedly challenged all the instructors and held out for 35 minutes without losing? The exemplary pioneer their instructors never stopped talking about?!

Whoa!

Tu Ran ignored all that. She burst out of the crowd, jumped onto a table, and in a few leaps reached the monster, raising her sword with both hands and bringing it down with all her might.

The monster reacted just as quickly, raising its arm to repeat its earlier trick.

But Tu Ran wasn't the type to fall for the same ruse twice. She pulled back, reappearing behind it in an instant, her blade slicing silently toward its neck.

“Shing!”

The blade struck the back of its neck.

A shower of sparks flew.

It was completely unharmed.

Tu Ran thought, *Again!*

Why?!

Why were both alien creatures and gene monsters almost impenetrable to blades and bullets?

The monster had already reacted, swiping backward. Tu Ran dodged, stubbornly adjusting her angle and striking again.

Again, sparks and lightning, but not a single scratch.

Under the blaring music, their fight was drawing more and more attention.

Failing to catch Tu Ran, the monster grew furious. It hoisted an entire table—complete with five seats—and hurled it at her position.

Tu Ran retreated immediately, ducking between two rows of tables.

The airborne table followed, crashing down on her. Fortunately, the tables on either side shielded her, or she'd have been bleeding from her head. But those who were still standing there, slow to react, fared much worse.

They were knocked down in a row.

The monster wasn't done with her.

Its fury peaked for someone who had provoked it again and again.

There were still seven or eight rows of tables between them.

It simply started throwing the blocking tables aside one by one, tossing them dozens of meters with casual force.

The pioneers who had been dancing were now scattering in panic as tables flew out of nowhere.

Some didn't react in time—mostly the newly graduated ones. They had never experienced real combat and never imagined danger could strike at a graduation party, so their guard was essentially nonexistent.

The lucky ones were yanked aside by the first-generation pioneers when the tables came crashing down, spared from being crushed at the start of their careers.

The unlucky ones were pinned underneath and knocked unconscious.

By now, everyone in the hall had noticed something was wrong.

They stopped moving.

The music continued, but no one danced anymore.

Those farther away didn't know what was happening—they only saw a few people being carried out with bloody heads.

Crouching under the table, Tu Ran saw the pair of feet approaching her.

The standard-issue combat boots had been split open, hanging off its legs, and its thick, meaty soles touched the ground directly. Every step sent a slight tremor through the floor, like a giant walking.

It was almost here.

Tu Ran popped up and raised her machine gun, opening fire at the monster.

“Bang! Bang!”

She fired only two shots before stopping.

Because the bullets that struck the monster bounced back, hitting the table beside her at nearly the same speed.

Only by a hair.

Only by a hair did they not hit her body.

There were others around preparing to shoot.

Tu Ran shouted, “Don't shoot! Don't shoot!!”

“Bang!”

Still, someone couldn't control themselves and pulled the trigger as she yelled.

“Thud!”

The bullet returned along its original path and struck the shooter directly in the chest.

The monster was right in front of her now.

Tu Ran leaped out from between the tables and retreated quickly.

The monster's claws barely missed her.

Enraged, it picked up a table and hurled it at her back.

Tu Ran ducked down again, shouting to the others, “Get out of the way!”

This time the table missed its mark—those who were prepared dodged quickly, and no one was hurt.

Tu Ran popped up again. “Zero, notify the perimeter personnel immediately. Tell them to evacuate this place as fast as possible. It's too crowded here—it's disadvantageous for us. And warn them: don't shoot. The monster reflects bullets back. Whoever shoots dies!”

“Attention! Attention! All second-generation Pioneers, please evacuate the training ground immediately. All second-generation Pioneers, please evacuate the training ground immediately. First-generation Pioneers, stay put. First-generation Pioneers, stay put!”

“Attention! Attention! Everyone, do not aim at the gene monster! Do not aim at the gene monster!”

Zero relayed the warning to every pioneer's earpiece in seconds.