Random Selection

The rest would be handled by the military.

Right now, she had almost no way to protect herself. Going to the Threshold would just be throwing her life away. So she might as well take this chance to go to Regaken State, learn some self-defense, and gain experience.

After making her choice, Tu Ran glanced at Xi Chunzhi.

As expected, she had also pressed "YES."

The same concerns had occurred to Xi Chunzhi.

Joy welled up in Tu Ran's chest. With Xi Chunzhi by her side, she was certain she'd improve by leaps and bounds.

Once everyone had made their selections, the young officer lowered his head to check the results, then said with satisfaction, "One hundred and twenty people have volunteered."

"However, since our superiors have only approved one hundred, twenty of you will need to be excluded."

Tu Ran watched him swipe a few times on the electronic screen.

A bad feeling crept into her gut.

Then, she heard a series of vibrations.

Coming from all directions.

But her communicator never buzzed.

Tu Ran looked at Xi Chunzhi's wrist, where the communicator was vibrating.

A red "X" stood out prominently.

So?

Her eyes went wide.

"Those randomly excluded no longer need to go," the officer said.

Tu Ran: "..."

She was speechless.

Under Xi Chunzhi's worried gaze, Tu Ran mournfully gathered her belongings, dressed neatly, and boarded the helicopter bound for Regaken State.

There were eleven people in the cabin.

For the four-hour flight, everyone else kept their eyes closed, resting. But Tu Ran was flipping through a small notebook.

Xi Chunzhi had shoved it into her hands before she left, telling her to read it on the way.

It was palm-sized, and Tu Ran flipped through it gently. The helicopter's roar drowned out any rustling, drawing no attention from the others.

The notebook was filled with handwritten notes, recording a wealth of information about life and the aliens.

Including their appearance, preferences, danger level, and whether they had possession abilities.

Tu Ran only now realized that not all aliens could possess humans.

Only those that had reached a certain rank could attach themselves to human hosts. The Federal Government referred to these as "parasitic aliens."

Those that couldn't possess humans were simply called "ordinary aliens."

Tu Ran had encountered both types.

Take the chicken monster, for instance. The notebook recorded its scientific name as Gou Diao. It had a taste for entrails, with a particular fondness for human organs. Its individual strength was unremarkable, but it made up for that in numbers, spread widely across the Threshold, with a keen sense of smell. Nearly every Pioneer had run into one, making it one of the primary threats to Pioneer lives inside the Threshold. Yet they couldn't possess humans, so they counted only as ordinary aliens.

The octopus monster, known scientifically as Heluo, wasn't particularly imposing compared to the larger aliens, but it had many tentacles, tipped with barbed spines. A single touch caused neural paralysis, leaving the victim helpless and unable to resist, while it hollowed them out alive to use as a vessel. The Heluo was a textbook example of a parasitic alien.

The notebook also contained records of many other species. Judging by the varying ink colors, the entries seemed to have been added at different times. The pages were worn at the edges, and Tu Ran guessed that Xi Chunzhi had compiled these notes herself over the years of her training.

Tu Ran read through them one by one, cramming the knowledge into her head.

Her memory had always been good, and since she'd arrived in this body, it had only gotten sharper, further sharpened by the survival challenges. Two full passes through the notebook and she'd committed it all to memory.

But on the last page, one line of text caught her eye.

The handwriting was hasty, clearly scrawled in a hurry.