The Truth at the Factory

Tu Ran watched his groveling demeanor, her fingers itching to blow his head off.

She would do it eventually, she resolved firmly.

The conference room emptied one by one, each person shooting Diao Hongzhi a venomous glare before following Tu Ran out.

Diao Hongzhi lagged behind, grinding his teeth in silent fury.

The group drove patrol vehicles to the Songwu Experimental Base and waited outside the gates for the students to arrive.

A dozen minutes later, luxury flying cars began descending from the sky one after another—different models, all flashy, all the latest editions, the kind ordinary people could never afford.

Students in school uniforms stepped out of the cars. The boys wore suits and ties; the girls wore suit skirts. The uniforms were uniform, their faces clean, and every one of them wore an expression of curiosity about the Songwu Base.

A school teacher organized them into lines, waiting until everyone had arrived before leading them into the base together.

The exterior of the Songwu Base wasn't much to look at. It was a semicircular building constructed of steel and iron, hugging the ground. From above, it looked like a beetle crouching on the earth. Up close, that beetle stood over thirty meters tall.

The building was pitch black, scattered with round glass windows barely two meters in diameter, uniformly irregular, carrying a kind of natural beauty.

After a few minutes of looking, the students lost interest in the unremarkable building and began sizing up the fully armed squad standing before them.

"These are the Pioneers. They're here to protect us."

Tu Ran overheard a girl whisper.

She glanced toward the girl. The girl wore her hair in twin tails, a leather bag slung across her body. She blinked her big eyes, returning Tu Ran's gaze without a shred of timidity.

"How do you know?" The boy beside her tilted his head and asked.

"Because my father sent them. He thought the security team wasn't strong enough to protect us, so he asked the Pioneers to come instead."

"Your dad must be amazing. Is he the one in charge of the Pioneers?" the boy asked curiously.

The girl smiled with pride. "The leader of the Pioneer Team is my brother. He manages them."

"Wow, your brother must be incredible."

Her words drew praises from the surrounding classmates.

They also drew Tu Ran's attention. The leader of the Pioneer Team was Xie Zhao. If she claimed the leader was her brother, then wasn't her brother Xie Zhao?

Or she might just be a collateral branch of the Xie family, a younger cousin who called him brother—after all, the Xie family had countless branches, and those of the same generation addressed each other as siblings regardless of closeness.

Where there was admiration, there was envy—especially among middle schoolers who hadn't yet learned to hide their emotions.

"A commander of the Pioneer Team, what's so impressive about that? My brother is the Deputy Director of the Executive Department, managing affairs across all forty-two states of the Federation. Without him, the whole Federation wouldn't function. That's a whole lot more advanced than a lousy commander."

The speaker was another girl—tall and thin, chin lifted high, radiating arrogance.

Indeed, her brother was impressive too.

A Deputy Director—now that the Director was dead, the Deputy's power had grown even greater, and he might well be promoted to Director.

Tu Ran had seen the Deputy Director of the Executive Department before, in an interview on Louis News, the Federation's largest news outlet, about the government's stance on extreme protesters.

His surname was Pang. Pang Xinting.

So this girl was a young miss of the Pang family.

The first girl refused to back down. "If your brother's so capable, why didn't he send Pioneers to protect us? You're still relying on my brother!"

"Xie Wenjun! Once my brother becomes Director, he's firing your brother first!"

"Pang Xi! The Pioneer Team isn't under your brother's Executive Department. Dream on if you think he can fire my brother! Besides, no one knows if your brother will even get the Director's seat. Don't be so smug!"

Tu Ran, watching from the sidelines, took note of how they called each other by name.

Xie Wenjun—some young miss of the Xie family.

Pang Xi—some young miss of the Pang family.

Pang Xi planted her hands on her hips. "Aside from my brother, is there anyone worthy in your Xie family? Don't think we don't know—this time the Pioneer Team lost so many people, all because those two useless members of your Xie family dragged them down. It's your Xie family that got Xiaomin's brother killed!"

With that, she yanked a girl who had been standing silently in the corner into the open. The girl stared blankly at the ground, lifeless, devoid of any spark.

"Xiaomin, it's their Xie family that killed your brother!" She pointed at Xie Wenjun.

Xie Wenjun's delicate face turned pale with fury, but she had no rebuttal, stomping her feet in frustration.

"Don't you dare slander us!"

A chubby boy stepped forward, taking Xie Wenjun's place, and pointed at Pang Xi, cursing, "Do you dare say the Sankar Arsenal explosion has nothing to do with your Pang family? How could Brother Xie Wei ever make such a low-level mistake? It was your doing. Once we find out the truth, your whole Pang family is going down!"

Tu Ran, observing, automatically categorized the chubby boy as part of the Xie family's camp.

She had initially thought this was just a typical middle school squabble, but now she realized—these kids, who looked so young, knew everything.

After all, they were children of the great conglomerates, raised in that kind of environment, absorbing things by osmosis since infancy.

They just hadn't yet learned to hide their emotions. They were like firecrackers, exploding at the slightest spark, airing everything out.

"And your Wells family," the chubby boy, highly articulate, shifted his finger to another target, spittle flying, "all of you playing the good guy, playing the innocent—weren't the gene monsters at the Sankar Arsenal secretly brought in by your family? Once we find the evidence, you won't be getting off easy either!"

"We'll be waiting," a Wells family boy spoke up. He looked so innocent, like a little white rabbit. "Hope you find that evidence soon. In a few days, the Executive Director's seat will be Pang Xi's brother's."

Tu Ran stared at the boy in disbelief. He looked so pure and harmless, his voice soft and sticky like a fleshy white dumpling not yet grown into his features, yet what came out of his mouth was so worldly and cynical.

From their exchange, Tu Ran pieced together the reasons behind the events at the Sankar Arsenal.

The Pang family wanted the Executive Director's position, but the Director was from the Xie family. So the Pang family set their sights on the Sankar Arsenal.

Likely, the Pang and Wells families had formed an alliance. The Wells family would smuggle gene monsters into the arsenal, while the Pang family arranged for Xie Hong to be killed in the chaos once he entered.

With Xie Hong dead, the Executive Director's seat would be left vacant, and the Deputy would step up—a natural succession.

The Sankar Arsenal was a battlefield for the three great conglomerates. Everything that happened today was nothing more than the most routine war for power.

The Wells and Pang families had won, and they were joyfully sharing their spoils.