Love Brain

His gaze kept flicking between Tu Ran and Xie Xu.

In his view, this she-devil was about to renege on her debts. Not only was she going to dodge the account of failing to complete the task Xie Xu had assigned her on time, but she also intended to write off the debt of all the shady things she'd done for him in the past.

He desperately needed a bag of sunflower seeds.

"Do you know how easy it is for me to get rid of you?" Xie Xu reached behind his back, drew the pistol holstered there, and aimed it at Tu Ran. His words carried a faint, cold ruthlessness—the kind that sent a chill down your spine.

Facing the dark muzzle, Tu Ran raised an eyebrow, utterly unafraid.

If she hadn't yet regained the original body's memories, she'd be desperately trying to prove her worth to Xie Xu right now, begging him to spare her life.

But she'd seen the original's past now. She knew why the original had worked under Xie Xu, and she had her own leverage.

The original was strong—exceptionally capable in every physical aspect. As Ding Naiqing had said, during the five years of Pioneer training camp, she'd taken first place in many events.

A top-tier student in academics, with beauty to match a campus queen.

That kind of god-tier configuration would make her the undisputed heroine in any world.

Except for one thing that made the original seem utterly hopeless.

She was a love brain!

That's right—the original had been a love brain.

In love with Xie Xu.

And it was unrequited!

It all started with a daytime news broadcast reporting the Research Institute's latest finding: Major Discovery! Alien creatures can possess humans and take over their bodies!

The researcher who made that discovery was none other than Xie Xu.

With just those ten-odd minutes of official footage, the original had fallen head over heels for him.

From then on, she'd embarked on her path of chasing her "star."

For Xie Xu's sake, she'd voluntarily joined the Pioneer Team, signed the contract, and trained day and night for five years.

After graduating, she'd immediately approached Xie Xu with her stellar credentials, offering to do anything for him, no compensation required.

...What?

Tu Ran couldn't understand it at all. She'd thought the original might have been working for Xie Xu for money, or that he held some leverage over her—but she'd never imagined it was plain unrequited love.

Over the years, the original had done countless things for Xie Xu, even setting aside her own Pioneer missions.

Her fellow Pioneers from the same cohort, even the ones with the worst graduation scores, could still gather plenty of intel and rack up points in the Threshold.

But the original—once a famous Pioneer highly regarded by her trainers—could barely bring back anything useful from the Threshold.

That was why she'd been mocked.

Perhaps because of the original's unwavering devotion, Xie Xu had grown to trust her, and she'd become an indispensable right hand to him.

Which was why her arrival now was a devastating blow to Xie Xu.

Tu Ran had no intention of staying under Xie Xu's thumb.

She'd regained her memories, like watching a movie starring herself. Knowing the plot didn't mean she'd inherited the protagonist's abilities.

She still couldn't be as capable as the original, navigating this world rife with hidden dangers with ease.

Some of the original's skills—close-quarters combat, gun assembly and use, long-range sniping, marksmanship, criminal investigation—she only had the theory, not the practical, systematic training.

She needed time to absorb it all.

Working under Xie Xu meant unavoidable chaos, danger, and high difficulty.

And on top of that, zero reward.

Gazing at the gun aimed at her, Tu Ran curled her lips slightly and raised her wrist.

Her communicator's breathing light was blinking faintly.

That meant this area was under a signal jammer. She was cut off from the outside world.

She wasn't worried.

"Before you arrived, Researcher Xie, I gave Zero a command. If it doesn't detect my vital signs, it will send a message I prepared in advance to every Pioneer Team member, the commander, the deputy commander, the Federal Inspection Department, all federal media, and everyone else I can reach."

"Curious what's in that message?" Tu Ran smiled.

Xie Xu stared at her, the knuckles of his gun hand turning white.

"I'm filing a report. Xie Xu, senior researcher at the Federal Center Research Institute, abused his position for personal gain, establishing twenty-four private research facilities across forty-two federal states. In collusion with certain Pioneer Team members—including Li Wenchuan, Li Lun, and Cao Shihui—he stole federal Research Institute data on alien species, conducted unauthorized transfers of Threshold creatures, and performed illegal biological experiments and research on them."

Li Wenchuan, who'd been mentioned by name, suddenly lost his appetite for the show. He straightened up.

That woman was ruthless!

At some point, Xie Xu had lowered the gun aimed at Tu Ran. He stared at her in disbelief. "You've regained your memories?"

Meanwhile, a small recording device hidden in his clothes began running.

Tu Ran sneered. Trying to trap her into talking? Not a chance!

"I don't know what you mean, Researcher Xie. I've been perfectly fine—I've never lost my memory."

If she'd been even a little cocky, a little full of herself, and said a single "yes"—admitting she'd lost her memories—then Xie Xu could kill her without any consequences.

Because humans possessed by alien creatures lost their memories.

With Xie Xu's connections and status, a recording as evidence would easily let him label her as a possessed human. Then no one would believe a word she'd just said.

Li Wenchuan muttered inwardly—sharp mind, this one.

When Xie Xu had asked that question just now, he hadn't caught on at first either.

If it'd been him, he'd have walked straight into the trap.

In the past, Tu Ran had obeyed Xie Xu without question, so he'd never seen how clever she was. Now that she was going head-to-head with Xie Xu, she'd earned his newfound respect.

He could already predict that today, Xie Xu was about to take a fall—at her hands.

"And don't think about fabricating evidence, Researcher Xie," Tu Ran said with a blink. "There's more in that message. For instance, the exact locations of those twenty-four facilities—I've written them out in full detail."

It was precisely because Xie Xu had trusted the original so completely that she'd learned the locations of all twenty-four bases.

"Even if you claim I've been possessed by an alien, someone's bound to get curious whether those locations I mentioned are real. The moment they go check, the losses are all yours."

Xie Xu's face darkened ominously. He practically ground his teeth. "What do you want?"

He'd conceded.

He truly had no way to deal with her.

Because he'd trusted the real Tu Ran so much, he'd never held any leverage over her.

Later, when this fake Tu Ran had taken her place, they'd negotiated once—but back then, he'd subconsciously dismissed her, only threatening her life.

He'd thought that one bargaining chip would be enough. After all, she'd come from a peaceful world, knowing nothing, like an ant whose life was his to crush.