A Reply from the Big Shot

Xiao Miao silently prayed, Zhou Ming, whatever you do, don't spew venom like those people did.

Otherwise... otherwise... you deserve a beating.

In the comment section, everyone else's message frames were black, while the poster's own messages appeared in gray.

They finally spotted a few gray frames.

"@Detached from the World: The hell you talking about, you can out-brag me? 4,000 meters? Why don't you just fly to the sky!"

"@Have You Eaten: Go eat some crap, will you? Your mouth stinks like a sewer. Your mom's the shill—just because I commented, I'm a shill too? Then what are you, yapping like a dog here? Dog crap?"

"@What a Temper @Beautiful Toenail-Picker @Life Is Fought For: So what if I'm a guard for the Executive Department? Got a problem with that, you three-eyed freaks? A bunch of idiots! You can crawl out of the Threshold alive, but even the mutants find you disgusting! Damn!"

The user "Bite Your Crotch" was fighting a one-man war, lashing out at everyone indiscriminately, friend or foe.

Whether or not the other person was on his side, he still cursed them out.

He wasn't defending Xi Chunzhi—he simply looked down on all Pioneers and wanted to berate every single one of them.

For instance, someone tagged him: "Bro, you're absolutely right, man, I've got your back!"

"Bite Your Crotch" immediately shot back: "Don't call me bro. I'm a lone wolf, don't need a pack of weaklings following me!"

That chuunibyou outburst made the onlookers exchange glances, then all eyes turned to Zhou Ming, still kneeling on the ground.

Zhou Ming hung his head low, wishing he could find a hole to crawl into.

"Sister Tu Ran, even though he didn't defend your friend, he did curse out the people insulting her. Can you... let him go now?" Xiao Miao asked cautiously.

Tu Ran released her grip on Zhou Ming's neck and stared at the IDs spewing the most venom in the comments. "Can you find out who these people are in real life?"

Xiao Miao thought she was being asked and quickly waved her hands. "Your Pioneer Team's web security is top-notch, I can't hack it."

Through the earpiece, Zero's voice was mechanical. "Already sent to your communicator."

"But I can try," Xiao Miao said.

"No need." Tu Ran averted her gaze from the comment section. "Keep cursing." She smiled thinly, looking at Zhou Ming. "You've already been exposed. Using your guard identity won't win anything. Take my account and curse with my identity."

At first, when Zhou Ming saw Tu Ran's expression, he thought she was going to hit him again, his heart nearly leaping out of his throat. He stumbled back a few steps, ready to bolt—only for Tu Ran to tell him to switch accounts and curse instead. His eyes went wide.

Using Tu Ran's reputation as the top of the First Pioneer Team to trash the very Pioneers she used to crush underfoot? How satisfying would that be?

"Give it to me quick, and I promise I'll give you back a nice, tamed-up obituary comment section."

Handing over her account to Zhou Ming, Tu Ran returned to her desk and opened the list of names Zero had just sent her.

Her gaze swept over each person's photo, committing their faces to memory.

"Your book." Qiu Jian had come over at some point, holding the book she'd thrown on the ground earlier—the one she'd wanted to ask him about.

Tu Ran closed her communicator with an impassive expression and took it from his hand.

Qiu Jian was about to leave when Tu Ran called out to him.

"There are a few things I don't understand. I need to ask for your advice."

Qiu Jian paused mid-step, looked back at Tu Ran, then at Xiao Miao and the others gathered around watching Zhou Ming show off, and felt a twinge of oddness.

She'd lost her best friend yesterday, and just now that friend had been insulted by a pack of riffraff—and she still had the composure to ask him questions?

That kind of mindset was something most people couldn't manage.

He didn't voice the question, just looked at Tu Ran's problem and threw himself into it.

On the other side, the first thing Zhou Ming did after logging into Tu Ran's account was change her neat ID—which had been name, rank, and profession—to "My Name Is Tu Ran."

Tu Ran's name carried thunderous weight; there wasn't a single Pioneer who didn't know it.

The moment "My Name Is Tu Ran" came online, the entire comment section went silent for over ten seconds.

My Name Is Tu Ran: Go on, curse. Why'd you stop? Weren't you all tearing each other apart up there?

...

No one answered.

Everyone knew Xi Chunzhi and Tu Ran were inseparable friends.

In the past, Tu Ran never came to places like this, which was why they'd dared to run their mouths so freely.

My Name Is Tu Ran: @Detached from the World @Have You Eaten @What a Temper @Beautiful Toenail-Picker @Life Is Fought For, weren't you all pretty talkative? Keep going, I want to hear more.

He actually tagged them one by one.

...

I'm Second Gen: Big shot's awesome!

Close Your Eyes at Night: Been waiting for a big shot to come fix these stinky mouths.

Lord Ahua: You're my idol! Sob sob, idol, I finally get to talk to you!

"Quit kissing my ass. This ain't your business, go somewhere cool and wait!"

Zhou Ming typed the words and was about to hit post when Young Master Qi grabbed his hand and stopped him.

"Are you crazy?! This is Tu Ran's account! Tu Ran would never curse out her own followers for no reason!"

Zhou Ming shrank his neck. "Got too excited, forgot it wasn't my account."

"Be careful!" Young Master Qi shot him a glare. "We finally get to be a big shot for once—we gotta keep up the big-shot vibe and answer questions from a big shot's perspective."

Behind them, Ye Qingcai watched his four teammates heatedly debating what kind of big-shot tone would scare the people on the other side of the screen, and he sighed, looking up at the ceiling.

He had no interest in that sort of thing, so he went back to his own workstation.

Finally, one of the tagged people responded.

What a Temper: @My Name Is Tu Ran, you're fake, aren't you? Just grabbing any name to get attention?

Have You Eaten: Exactly, then I'm Li Wenchuan too!

My Name Is Tu Ran: @Pioneer Team Deputy Commander Li Wenchuan

Have You Eaten: You're seriously sick!

Bite Your Crotch: Gotta agree with that!

My Name Is Tu Ran: @Have You Eaten, what's wrong? Scared already?! You can say it but I can't tag it? Then I'm tagging Pioneer Team Deputy Commander Li Wenchuan, and I'll tag Pioneer Team Deputy Commander Li Wenchuan again!

Zhou Ming played both roles, switching personas seamlessly without a trace.

"Have You Eaten" went quiet—a moment later, checking his profile showed he'd logged off.

Beautiful Toenail-Picker: So what if it's Tu Ran? Isn't she just a basic-tier Pioneer? We're all basic-tier, why should we be scared of her?

Detached from the World: Just to interject, I'm mid-tier.

Beautiful Toenail-Picker: See? Now that's a real big shot! Don't call just anyone a big shot! @I'm Second Gen @Lord Ahua @Close Your Eyes at Night

I'm Second Gen: Screw off! I'll call whoever I want a big shot! None of your damn business!