Negotiation

While waiting for the dishes, Xie Xu set a palm-sized black box on the table.

Three dots sat atop it, one of which blinked red.

This had to be the signal jammer.

Tu Ran glanced at the communicator on her wrist—a small hole on its side flickered with a faint light. Indeed, the signal was blocked.

"Let's talk," Xie Xu said, breaking the silence.

"Sure. What does Researcher Xie want to discuss?" Tu Ran asked with a smile.

"The previous Tu Ran mattered a great deal to me," he said, his gaze fixed on her.

Tu Ran nodded.

She knew that all too well—the original owner of this body had been his right hand, as vital as Li Wenchuan.

She also knew that Xie Xu had won over more than just the original Tu Ran and Li Wenchuan among the Pioneers.

He'd done a superb job keeping that secret; aside from Li Wenchuan, she had no idea who the others were.

The twenty-odd research institutes Xie Xu had built in secret owed half their progress to the original Tu Ran's fieldwork. She'd even captured a few exotic specimens and smuggled them back to him.

The original Tu Ran had unquestionably been his top operative.

Now that she'd taken over that body, Xie Xu had effectively lost half his private research's data pipeline.

No wonder he was anxious.

Which was why he'd invited her to dinner—he likely wanted her to keep working for him.

"But I'm not her. I only have her memories now. It's like if I told you a story about a protagonist who can do everything—sing, dance, speak every language in the Federation. After hearing that story, could you suddenly sing and dance, or converse freely with any race?"

"What do you want? I can give it to you." Clearly, Xie Xu thought she was making excuses.

He wasn't offering enough.

So he wanted to buy her off? Anything she wanted? How generous.

Unfortunately, what good was money if she couldn't live to spend it? All she wanted now was to survive.

Tu Ran dropped her gaze. "I'm not even half as capable as she was in her prime. Even surviving in the Threshold is a question. If I wanted to help you, I'd be overreaching."

Just empty pleasantries—so long as they sounded good.

Xie Xu fell silent. Meanwhile, the robot delivered the dishes, each one exquisite. Once everything was laid out, it politely said, "Enjoy your meal," and left.

The private room held only the two of them again.

The dishes on the table steamed with fragrant heat. For Tu Ran, whose sense of smell was already sharp, boosted by the chicken essence monster's ability, and who had trained all afternoon and was famished, having to sit and stare without eating was pure torment.

"You can eat," Xie Xu said, glancing at her, reading her mind.

Tu Ran pursed her lips in a smile, picked up her chopsticks, and said, "Then I'll dig in."

No wonder these five dishes cost more than her monthly salary—they tasted far better than the greens and shredded potatoes she stir-fried herself.

She ate happily, but Xie Xu made no move to pick up his chopsticks. Instead, he rested one hand on the table, tapping his long fingers lightly.

Having dealt with him a few times, Tu Ran guessed he was thinking whenever he made that gesture.

She didn't bother reminding him to eat.

He was surely racking his brain over how to persuade her to join his side—why would he have any appetite?

Sure enough, when Tu Ran was half full, he spoke up.

"I can train you."

Tu Ran's chopsticks halted mid-air.

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