Reading Xie Hong's Memories

Tu Ran stepped closer, studying Xie Hong, who looked around in confusion. Silently, she commanded: "Remove all equipment connected to Zero, including the camera. Take it off and toss it ten meters away."

A faintly visible mushroom appeared in Xie Hong's field of vision. He blinked, trying to see it clearly, but in an instant, his consciousness was absorbed by the mushroom. Mechanically following Tu Ran's orders, he pressed the button on the side of his helmet, took off the pure white helmet, and threw it beyond the thick fog.

"Anything else? Nod or shake your head, don't speak," Tu Ran asked cautiously.

Beside Xie Hong lay the unconscious Xie Wei. She worried that if Xie Hong spoke, Zero on Xie Wei might pick it up.

Xie Hong slowly shook his head, staring blankly in Tu Ran's direction.

"Walk forward fifteen steps," Tu Ran said, estimating the distance between them.

Xie Hong strode toward Tu Ran.

Exactly fifteen steps, not one more, not one fewer.

He stopped in the middle of the dense fog.

Tu Ran glanced down at her communicator and silently commanded: "Take off the communicator too. Stomp on it and kick it away."

Xie Hong obeyed.

Tu Ran placed her palm over her own communicator and activated "Landslide." The device on her wrist shattered instantly.

Too troublesome, Tu Ran thought irritably.

Every time before taking action, she had to waste so much time on this sort of thing.

At this moment, her desire to destroy Zero grew even stronger.

She walked behind Xie Hong and pressed her palm against the back of his head.

There was really nowhere else to put her hand.

Xie Hong's body was still wrapped in white combat gear, with only his head exposed. She couldn't very well place her hand on his face.

"Where does your ability come from?" Tu Ran asked aloud.

Receiving no reply, she found it a little odd.

Usually, when she asked such a question, an answer to her question would flash through the other person's mind.

Tu Ran paused for a moment, then realized.

Xie Hong was using the "Deaf Ear" ability.

Entering the Sankar Arsenal, his greatest safeguard was his possession of this ability, which could block out all external sounds, including the sound-wave attacks of gene monsters.

Once activated, the ability had to last for two full hours. Since entering the arsenal three or more hours ago, Xie Hong must have used "Deaf Ear" twice.

This was the second time, and it was still ongoing.

Tu Ran had to resort to using the hallucinogenic mushroom, silently commanding: "Where does your ability come from?"

Xie Hong's memory gears began to turn, and within them, Tu Ran easily saw the source of his ability.

A Pioneer.

His [Ice Freeze] came from an intermediate-level Pioneer.

One of Xie Hong's subordinates had presented the files of that ability-holding Pioneer to Xie Hong. In the light-screen projection from the communicator, Tu Ran saw the Pioneer's appearance.

A straight nose and deep-set eyes—typically Caucasian.

Named Aslan Sara.

Tu Ran had no impression of her.

But it wasn't Xi Chunzhi, and Tu Ran breathed a sigh of relief.

"How do you determine who has a Neidan?" Tu Ran silently asked.

Xie Hong's mind flashed through several scenes.

The Research Institute analyzed the contents of the Pioneers' holographic recording rings, marked suspicious individuals, and then connected them to memory readers to read their memories, confirming whether they had Neidans.

Once confirmed, they would secretly report to higher-ups. The so-called higher-ups included the Executive Department Director, Xie Hong, and the Pioneer Team's Commander-in-Chief, Xie Zhao.

There were a few others as well, whom Tu Ran didn't recognize, but she carefully memorized their faces.

That Xie Zhao was involved didn't surprise Tu Ran. Though he was a Major General, far below Xie Hong in rank, his position still held weight.

Commander-in-Chief of the Pioneer Team.

The Pioneer Team was established by him and was under his full jurisdiction.

Those at the top wanted the Pioneers' Neidans, and Xie Zhao's eyes couldn't be avoided. Rather than let him discover it, it was better to include him directly.

Tu Ran recalled how Xie Zhao always showed care and consideration toward the Pioneers.

Now, knowing that he tacitly allowed some people to pick out Pioneers with Neidans from the team, kill them brutally, and still put on such an act, Tu Ran felt a chill of disgust.

"Do you know that the Wells family is also obtaining Pioneers' Neidans through some channels?"

Xie Hong stiffly nodded.

"Is their source of information the same as yours?"

Xie Hong nodded.

Tu Ran felt much more at ease.

On the fronts of the memory readers and holographic recording rings, she hadn't exposed herself. No matter who checked, they couldn't find out she had a Neidan.

Next, she wanted to ask about the location of Zero's mainframe and how many people were guarding it.

Tu Ran had planned to ask one by one, but the dense smoke around her was quickly dissipating under the arsenal's air purification systems. The time left wasn't enough to finish asking all her questions.

So Tu Ran simply read his entire memory, just as she had read the original body's memories before.

Every detail—all thirty-plus years of Xie Hong's memories from birth to now—flooded into Tu Ran's mind.

Tu Ran's head was struck with a sudden impact, and an intense throbbing pain began.

This was the side effect of "Memory Reading."

Ever since she had read the original body's memories, she had started using the questioning method to obtain others' memories.

That allowed her to control the inflow of memories, and her head wouldn't feel as uncomfortable as it did now.

"Adamantine Body" was already taking effect, easing the pain in her brain.

Tu Ran noticed that the hallucinogenic mushroom's glow was dimming, as if it were about to wither.

She mustered her remaining strength to give Xie Hong his final brainwash: "Just now, a powerful gene monster attacked you. You accidentally hit your helmet switch, the helmet loosened, and the gene monster easily knocked it off and stomped on your holographic recording ring."

"Did you hear me?"

Xie Hong nodded mechanically.

He was still following Tu Ran's initial instruction.

Don't speak; nod or shake your head.

Having fulfilled its final function, the hallucinogenic mushroom began to shrink, quickly turning into a pile of ash spread across Tu Ran's palm.

Tu Ran raised her hand and scattered the ash into the thick smoke, then sidestepped into the gap between two machines.

She raised a hand to rub her temples. The memories in her head were chaotic; she couldn't sort them out at once and needed to find a quiet place to organize them.

There was certainly no such place in the Sankar Arsenal. She would have to wait until today's mission was over.

For now, she just needed to wait for the fog to clear and put on a complete act of rescuing her superior.

Leaning against the cold machinery, Tu Ran slowly closed her eyes, relaxed her body, and tried to ease the swelling in her head.

Then, her ears caught some unusual sounds.

"Hiss, hiss, hiss..."

Mixed with the gunfire coming from all directions in the distance, it was barely perceptible.

Tu Ran's eyes snapped open, and with lightning speed, she dodged to the side.