Return to the Threshold

Every time the Threshold opened, the Executive Department dispatched a large number of police to stand guard.

Today, even more officers were stationed outside the Threshold.

Tu Ran looked at the police force—more than three times the usual number—and the pioneers who were gathered outside the Threshold with no intention of going in, and for a moment she was speechless.

"Some of the Federation's upper echelon think you haven't left the administrative center and might use this opening to slip back into the Threshold, so they've added guards outside and ordered some pioneers to skip this incursion and wait out here to intercept you," Zero explained.

Tu Ran was momentarily at a loss for words. She adjusted her aircraft and landed in an inconspicuous spot, then got out and approached on foot.

Zero fed her a real-time view of the scene outside the Threshold.

The Threshold was open, and pioneers were already trickling out.

In the past, the first thing they saw when they emerged was a wall of deep gun barrels aimed at them—they'd grown used to that sight. Today, though, they came out to find a row of pioneers dressed like them, backs turned, and immediately felt something was off.

Some people froze in place, not daring to move. It was the familiar blonde, blue-eyed female officer who guided them into the glass enclosure.

Tu Ran landed at a distance from the Threshold's dead zone, unnoticed. She changed into the guard uniform she'd prepared in the vehicle, stowed the mechanical skull in the mirror, put on the Executive Department guard helmet, and picked up a guard's weapon. Then she walked boldly toward the encirclement.

With Zero as her inside help, she wasn't worried about being exposed.

As she neared the perimeter, a guard stopped her and raised a pupil-recognition device. "Identity verification."

Tu Ran cooperatively lifted her goggles, revealing only her eyes.

"Identification successful. Executive Department probationary guard, Aidi."

"Go on in." The guard didn't suspect a thing and made way for her.

Tu Ran entered the encirclement without issue and, following Zero's prompts, took the position that Aidi was supposed to hold.

Aidi was a new undercover agent Xie Xu had prepared to plant in the Executive Department. All her identity information and background had been set up. Since Tu Ran needed the identity now, she'd let her have it.

Aidi's position was fairly forward. In front of her were two rows of submachine gunners and two rows of assault troops; further ahead were the pioneers, holding laser guns. Behind her were the heavy gunners and heavy artillery, and behind them were the snipers, with helicopters and drones circling overhead.

Everyone was tense and on standby, even their breathing deliberately hushed. There were so many people, yet it was eerily quiet. Tu Ran half-suspected that if she suddenly fired a shot right now, the whole group would instinctively fire along with her.

These people still hadn't realized their target was hiding right among them.

Even afterward, they'd refuse to believe that the young guard standing properly in their midst was none other than the rebel Tu Ran.

Blending into the crowd, rifle in hand, Tu Ran peered through her scope at the Threshold gate, barely fifty meters away.

Within her field of aim, there was no person or object that could threaten her.

Everything was ready.

Sweat began to bead faintly in Tu Ran's palms. She took an almost imperceptible deep breath and counted down in her head.

"...Three, two, one!"

"Fwoosh—"

Tu Ran activated "Instant Movement" at full power, shoving through the crowd and charging toward the Threshold.

The guards didn't react in time. Neither did the pioneers.

By the time Tu Ran's foot crossed into the wall, a hail of bullets and lasers struck her back—but none touched her; they were all diverted by the wall to other locations.

Too late.

Everyone had been too slow.

The target had already entered the Threshold.

Under layers of encirclement, she'd walked in openly and unharmed.

Perhaps to vent their frustration, the gunfire continued for over a minute before stopping. Every person silently and viciously wished their bullets could cross the two worlds and bury themselves in Tu Ran's body.

When the shooting stopped, a long silence fell. Everyone surrounding the Threshold—guards and pioneers alike—stared at one another, eyes blank with bewilderment and disbelief.

Finally, a voice broke the stillness like a stone plunging into a placid lake, sending ripples outward.

"Wh... what just happened?"

It came from a guard standing to the right of where Tu Ran had been.

"She was—she was right next to me just now, and then all of a sudden—gone."

"One second. No, less than a second," the guard on her left said, trembling slightly. "Maybe 0.1 second—whoosh—and she was in."

"Special ability? So this is what a special ability is?" The face of someone who'd witnessed it all from the rear twisted with fervor. He shoved through the crowd and started walking toward the Threshold.

"Hey, where are you going?"

"I want a special ability. I'm going into the Threshold too. Dammit, the pioneers can't be the only ones with abilities—we guards are just as good as they are. I want a special ability. I'm going into the Threshold..." He repeated the words over and over, like a man possessed.

No one stopped him.

Everyone just watched in silence as he stepped through the Threshold and vanished. Then a second person followed, and a third.

The pioneers couldn't hold still any longer. They wanted abilities too. Tu Ran had already fled back into the Threshold; their mission might not be complete, but there was no turning back now. Why should they keep waiting around out here? Their chances of obtaining inner cores were far better than those guards'.

Chaos erupted on the spot.

People jostled and fought to squeeze through the Threshold.

Inside the glass enclosure, the Medical Department staff pressed against the glass, watching the scene unfold.

"These people—they have no idea what they're up against," Meng Fanchen said, his face already squashed flat against the glass, features contorted. "The goddess's strength is right there for all to see—that's how she can pull inner cores off alien creatures. Aren't they just walking to their deaths?"

His heart and mind were still full of Tu Ran, but his companion was thinking more practically.

"The higher-ups obviously know they're going to die in there, so why don't they stop them?"

The other person snorted. "For the inner cores, of course. You think the higher-ups sent all these people just to catch Tu Ran? It's for her core. In their eyes right now, inner cores are the most important thing in the world. If these guards want to throw their lives away, let them. They don't care. If they don't bring back any cores, fine—if they do, well, that's a pleasant surprise." He looked out through the glass, and from their angle, the crowd looked like moths hurling themselves into a flame, wave after wave.

"If they're lucky, one of them might come back alive with an inner core. But odds are the higher-ups will make them hand it over. And if they've already swallowed it—then they're done for. The higher-ups will find a way to quietly dispose of them. Unless they can reach Tu Ran's level and never let anyone catch them." He paused, then added, "Most likely, they'll never reach Tu Ran's level."

Meng Fanchen pulled his head back, straightened his hair, and agreed. "You've got a point. These ordinary mortals can't possibly reach my goddess's level."