Elevator Encounter with an Admirer

The man shot her another dirty look and turned his head away.

Tu Ran suppressed a smile as she went from bed to bed offering apologies, watching their faces twist as if they'd swallowed something foul. It was deeply satisfying.

With the apologies done and her silent gloating over, Tu Ran took the elevator up to the 48th floor of the Medical Department.

In the elevator, she ran into Li Wenchuan, who was also heading up.

He was still in his black combat suit, fully geared up from head to toe.

Hadn't the higher-ups given the Pioneers three days off? Why was he still dressed like that?

Tu Ran gave a slight nod in greeting.

He came to stand beside her as the elevator started moving. They were the only two inside.

"I heard you sent a bunch of people from the Executive Department's External Affairs Group Nine to the hospital?" Li Wenchuan opened the conversation.

"Mm," Tu Ran replied lightly, though her mind was on how fast the news had spread.

"Impressive." Li Wenchuan raised his thumb in front of her face.

Tu Ran gave it a brief, indifferent glance and said nothing.

He continued, "You used to look down on doing stuff like this."

It sounded like teasing, but it was really a reminder.

Her current behavior was too far removed from the original—enough to raise suspicion.

Tu Ran nodded and stayed quiet.

She'd be careful.

The elevator stopped on the thirteenth floor, where Li Wenchuan got off. A few more people came in, all wearing Medical Department doctor's coats—young interns.

Tu Ran was squeezed into the corner.

They chatted away as if no one else was there.

"That's nothing. Mine's way more embarrassing. Today our department got seven trauma patients, all guards from the Executive Department. Guess what happened? This bunch thought they could gang up on a girl because they had numbers, but they picked a fight with the wrong person. That girl grabbed a sniper rifle and beat them black and blue. One of them got a cerebral hemorrhage and ended up in a nutrient pod. You should've seen it—I almost died laughing."

Another doctor chimed in, "Seriously? Guys with that kind of character can be guards in the Executive Department?"

A third doctor spat, "What do you expect? Plenty of guards there throw their weight around. And that External Affairs Group Nine is famous for bullying the weak and cowering before the strong."

"Hey, don't say that—the seven people who came in today are from Group Nine."

"No way, really? Then I've got to go see the show," said a young man with golden permed hair and gold-rimmed glasses. "Last year, right after I graduated and came to the Medical Department to get familiar with the place, this Group Nine crew stopped me. They suspected I was some kind of protester. With no evidence, they hauled me to an interrogation room and locked me up for two whole days. When they finally realized they'd grabbed the wrong guy, they just told me to leave without even apologizing."

"Man, that's rough," someone said sympathetically.

"But who was it that took them down for us? I want to go make friends with her."

"She took on seven people by herself—she's clearly a badass. She's not going to bother with the likes of you."

"Hey, you never know. It's better to have too many friends than too few..."

"That's nonsense..."

"Both of you, knock it off," the intern who'd first spilled the story cut them off. "I know who the girl who took on seven is. Anyone want to know?"

"Me, me, me!"

"Who?"

"Spill it!" someone urged.

"Her name's Tu Ran. She's from the Pioneer Team."

"Oh, that explains it. Those Pioneers are all total beasts—those guards can't hold a candle to them."

"Forty-eighth floor."