Who Are You, Really?

Tu Ran was at a loss for words.

It was hard enough telling which ones were human and which were aberrations—and this man actually wanted them to find the Snake King?!

That was just unreasonable.

She had originally planned to toss a bomb into that snake den. With aberrations breeding as fast as they did, two nights would be more than enough for them to infect every human on the farm. Rather than send more people in to risk their lives and expand the infection zone, blowing the whole place up would save a lot of trouble.

Tu Ran grumbled inwardly, “If you're so capable, why don't you go catch it yourself? You're not even my team leader—why should I listen to you?”

“What? You have a different opinion?” Xie Xu suddenly spoke, his voice cold.

Tu Ran calmly tugged at the corner of her mouth. “Nothing, it's just... I need to report to Team Leader Li Wenchuan.”

“No need,” Xie Xu leaned back in his chair, draping one hand on the table to fiddle with a goblet, his movements elegant. “For this hundred-person Pioneer Team operation in Regaken State, I am the highest authority. Li Wenchuan is under my command. You just follow my orders.”

Tu Ran: “...”

“Alright,” she said slowly. “Then does Researcher Xie have any other instructions?”

If not, she was leaving! She didn't want to see him anymore!

At her words, Xie Xu fell silent—neither confirming nor denying—while his two deep blue eyes stared at Tu Ran as if trying to see through her body and soul.

Tu Ran didn't understand why, but her heart began to race involuntarily. She actually wanted to flee this place, to get away from that scrutinizing gaze of his. But she couldn't. She could only pretend to be calm, staring back at him as she waited for his next command.

Finally, after what felt like an agonizingly long wait, Xie Xu's thin lips parted. “You're not Tu Ran.”

Tu Ran's heart skipped a beat.

Her fingers under the table clenched tightly together.

“That joke isn't funny,” Tu Ran said, struggling to compose herself as she put on her signature warm smile.

Xie Xu remained unmoved. “You know I'm not joking.”

Tu Ran gritted her teeth. She really had no idea where she'd slipped up.

If the original Tu Ran had known Xie Xu... but they'd only discussed work just now—nothing personal.

“You're too cold,” Xie Xu said, his eyes fixed on her, so deep blue they were almost frightening. “If it were Tu Ran, she would never have asked, 'Is there still a point in investigating Keniyigan's farm?' Nor would she have left that farm on such a perilous night.”

Xie Xu's voice was calm, as if stating a fact.

Tu Ran sneered inwardly. The original Tu Ran wouldn't have left because she had enough confidence to survive the night unscathed. But she, on the other hand, was a modern person from a peaceful era—she didn't even know how to use a gun, didn't even dare watch horror movies. Now, being asked to stay in a snake den without any means of self-protection? She wasn't stupid! Everyone understood the logic of avoiding danger.

To her surprise, Tu Ran felt a strange calm settle over her. Since he already knew, there was no point in pretending. She looked around—there were many people coming and going, and cameras were everywhere. Their conversation could easily be captured by AI.

“I think we should discuss this somewhere else.”

“What, you want to silence me?” Xie Xu countered.

Hearing this, Tu Ran crossed her arms, leaned back in her chair, and propped up one leg, completely dropping her earlier deference. She snorted, “Since you can guess I'm not Tu Ran, you've probably also figured out that I'm not capable, right?”

She had the air of someone who'd given up. Whatever—she'd die if she had to!

She was done!

Let it all burn!!

Let a bomb blast her to pieces!

No—let a bomb take her and this man in front of her out together!

Seeing her bold, defiant gestures, Xie Xu's brows knit tightly together.

The original body would never have made such a move in front of him, which was probably why he looked like he'd swallowed a fly.

“I need to clarify one thing—I am still Tu Ran, just with amnesia. I haven't been possessed by an aberrant.”

Tu Ran made a weak attempt to defend herself.

“Last time in the Threshold, I witnessed your head smash against a large rock. For seven minutes after that, you showed no signs of life, and your holographic wristband kept flashing red,” Xie Xu paused. “You probably don't know what a flashing red light on the wristband means.”

Tu Ran said nothing, waiting silently for him to continue. Her intuition told her the amnesia excuse was about to be exposed too.

“The wristband has a built-in life-detection system that doesn't require internet. It flashes red when it detects no life signs. During those seven minutes, you showed no signs of life. And after seven minutes, you woke up—not only woke up, but your body moved without any impairment.”

So this guy had been present the whole time. When he saw her pass out, he didn't even try CPR or mouth-to-mouth—he just waited there to see when she'd die, even watching the Gu Diao peck at her internal organs!

This guy—too cruel!

“Who are you really?” Xie Xu stared into her eyes, not missing a single flicker of expression.

But Tu Ran latched onto the key part of his question.

“Who.”

He asked who she was—meaning he'd ruled out the possibility of her being an aberrant.

That was progress.

“Well... I think we should talk in private.” She still had her communicator on; she was worried the AI might hear what she said.

“I've already activated the jamming system. Zero can't monitor our conversation for now,” Xie Xu said, noticing her concern.

Zero?

Who was that?

Tu Ran didn't react at first.

Xie Xu took a deep breath and explained, “Zero is the AI system the Federation primarily uses, helping the Federal Government manage affairs across the forty-two states.”

Tu Ran nodded—so that's what it was.

What intrigued her even more was that Zero could actually be jammed.

She needed that device.

“So tell me, who are you?” Xie Xu urged.

Tu Ran carefully chose her words. “Well... do you believe in souls?”

Xie Xu narrowed his eyes. “What are you getting at?”

“Uh... I mean, I'm a soul from another world, and by chance, I ended up in Tu Ran's body.”

After saying this, Tu Ran looked at Xie Xu with eager eyes. Got it? Have any questions? If you do, ask away—I'll explain everything, because this isn't exactly easy to accept.

“Which world are you from? What is your world like?”

Xie Xu's voice was unusually steady.

Tu Ran: This reaction wasn't what she'd expected. Why so calm?

And from the way he asked, it seemed he'd encountered such things before.