Leaving a Dying Message?

She didn't lower her voice, so Xie Xu, walking ahead, couldn't help but overhear.

Dead?!

The air pressure around him plummeted to its lowest point in an instant.

Li Wenchuan sympathetically patted Tu Ran on the shoulder and lowered his voice. "You'd better watch out."

She could hear the schadenfreude in his tone.

She sidestepped his hand, quickened her pace a few steps ahead, and kept her distance from him.

But in her mind, she wondered why she hadn't picked up his memories when Li Wenchuan touched her just now.

Maybe... it had to be her own active contact?

The group walked back to that room, and Xie Xu headed straight for the hook snake.

Tu Ran stopped Li Wenchuan, who was also trying to join the commotion.

She pointed at Ding Naiqing. "He's hurt. Go treat him."

After reading the original body's memories, she knew Li Wenchuan always carried medicine on him, and he was also quite skilled at healing.

Li Wenchuan looked down and saw Ding Naiqing sprawled crookedly on the ground. He exclaimed, "Oh! Isn't this our little cutie Naiqing? How'd you get hurt so badly? Did someone use you as a bullet shield?"

Tu Ran: "...?"

If you've got the guts, stop being so roundabout!

She took a deep breath and decided to let it slide for now.

After confirming the hook snake was dead, Xie Xu ordered the two pioneers to pack up the creature's body and bring it back to the Research Institute.

Tu Ran noticed that Xie Xu didn't dwell much on the wound at the back of the snake's neck, which confirmed a suspicion in her mind.

Xie Xu didn't know that exotic creatures had inner cores.

His decision to capture the Snake King alive was for some other purpose.

That was a good thing for her.

The two pioneers worked quickly. In less than three minutes, they'd wrapped the body in a piece of cloth they'd torn off on the spot, each hoisting one end, and strode off.

Li Wenchuan injected Ding Naiqing with a painkiller and a recovery agent, stabilizing his condition for now, then called for the guards waiting outside the door to carry him away.

Given Ding Naiqing's current state, it was better to treat him at the Medical Department.

The unconscious Mrs. Igan was also carried off on a stretcher.

In an instant, only she, Xie Xu, and Li Wenchuan remained in the room.

"Anything you want to say?" Xie Xu's demeanor was cold.

Tu Ran sneered inwardly. What, was he asking her to leave a dying message?

Dream on!

"I don't understand what you mean, Researcher Xie," she said. "I believe I've done an excellent job as the commander."

Commander—the highest-ranking officer in the Pioneer Team.

He was also the major general who had sat beside Xie Xu at the earlier meeting.

At the time, Tu Ran thought he looked vaguely familiar, like she'd seen him somewhere before.

She hadn't been wrong.

That man was Xie Xu's older brother.

"At the time, the commander's order was to keep the creature under control as best we could," she continued. "He never said we had to capture it alive. Besides, I only killed it because the situation was truly urgent and I had no other choice."

Xie Xu's brows knitted slightly as he stared at her. "You think playing dumb will get you out of this?"

"I don't know what you mean, Researcher Xie."

Tu Ran blinked, looking innocent. "I'm not playing dumb. I think I did a perfect job on this mission—I was the fastest among all teams, and I preserved the creature's body intact for your Research Institute. If even that isn't enough for you, Researcher Xie, then I don't know what would be."

Li Wenchuan, who had been standing nearby, suddenly perked up, leaning against the wall at an angle with his arms crossed, watching like he had the best seat in the house.

What a show—this was the first time he'd ever seen someone dare to go head-to-head with Xie Xu.

His trip today definitely hadn't been wasted.