Clown Game

In the hallway, Chen Xiao, dressed in a brandless black suit (ready after a body check), fiddled with his phone while he repeatedly asked several guards and finally learned the approximate location of Mrs. Liu's office.

Let's talk about this mobile phone, which Mrs. Liu tossed to Chen Xiao yesterday morning. It could be considered a hybrid of a "mobile phone" and an "information panel." Besides searching for information, buying and selling items, and making regular calls, it also had features for location tracking and emergency assistance, which Chen Xiao explored along the way.

The "location tracking" feature was primarily set up for team use, displaying the specific whereabouts of team members. Since Chen Xiao hadn't joined any teams, many of its functionalities remained untested.

After tapping on the "emergency assistance" button, the phone would connect to a human-operated station where staff would provide assistance options available at your current level.

For instance, a Level D clearance could request a helicopter for emergency evacuation, supply drops of small gadgets, and even invite other field agents to assist in rescue operations as a team. Of course, all these actions required spending points.

Finally, Chen Xiao found a button on the phone screen marked with a "dollar sign" icon, clicked on it, and was momentarily stunned.

"Wow~ this Foundation really is loaded. This is enough money for a person to live carefree for a good few years, huh!! Well, if you don't buy a house~"

...

Soon, Chen Xiao arrived in front of Mrs. Liu's office. Amidst these seemingly identical hallways, her office was relatively easy to find because there was a paper stuck on the door that read, "Do not disturb, consequences be upon yourself"!

Chen Xiao thought for a moment and decided to knock on the door politely first.

"Knock, knock, knock..."

After a while, Mrs. Liu's voice finally came through,

"Come in!"

Busy, indifferent, completely impersonal! Chen Xiao gave a very fair assessment before pushing open the door.

...

The office was simple, containing just two things: a desk and files. But anyone entering would think: "My goodness... why is it so messy?"

Because there were just too many files. With bookshelves on all four walls, the files sealed in pale yellow folders stuffed the room entirely, leaving only a door for passage.

"You have one hour. If you have something to say, say it quickly!"

Mrs. Liu said coldly while she fiddled with the documents in her hands.

Chen Xiao glanced at the mud spots on his shoes and the boarding pass still on his wrist, and couldn't help but sigh, "Does this woman always stay this busy? No wonder she's still single!"

Given that there was only an hour, Chen Xiao naturally had to make good use of it.

...

...

First of all, the first question, which was what Chen Xiao was most concerned about right now, was… no, no, not about how to get promoted, although that was important too, but rather why his cognitive evaluation was a "2".

The answer he received was… it was set by the system, and it couldn't be changed!

But that was no surprise; Chen Xiao's mind was constantly filled with all sorts of jumbled thoughts, so much so that during the assessment in the machine, the cognitive scan couldn't proceed properly and could only crudely assign a "2 points"!

However, this was quite embarrassing. Although the writing in this book isn't great, the protagonist is supposed to earn his living through his brainpower, and yet, a file reading cognitive "2 points"… that's somewhat hard to accept. Fortunately, Chen Xiao was under hypnosis during the assessment; if they had tried to test him again while he was awake, the machine might just have crashed.

So, as Mrs. Liu said, if it can't be changed, it can't be changed, and Chen Xiao could only curse a few times in his heart.

Next, let's talk about the issue of level promotion.

After Chen Xiao's long-winded inquiries and Mrs. Liu's brief and indifferent responses, Chen Xiao found out.

That is, if a Level D wants to be promoted to Level C, there is only one way, which is to complete a Level C task. But what if Level D field agents cannot see Level C tasks? Easy, just desperately complete Level D tasks. Generally, those who perform well, the organization believes you have the capacity to take on Level C tasks, and naturally, staff will assign them to you.

This was something that couldn't be forced or hidden since field agents for the Order Foundation were not so easy to find. In recent years, more had died than joined. So, if you wanted a promotion but lacked the skills, the organization wouldn't just let you march to your doom. Of course, if you were too cowardly and just nestled in at the D level, neglecting your duties, and the leadership found out, they might just fire you on the spot and use you as a lab rat.

So, what are the benefits of a higher rank? Obviously, the higher the rank, the better the items you can redeem, and you'll also have more privileges. It's said that at certain levels, you can even use some approved contained items and more powerful serums, but, of course, that's a story for much later.

In summary, the field group's daily routine is to accept missions, earn points, arm themselves, and then continue with more missions!

The monotonous and boring life of literally carrying their brains in their trousers, never knowing which mission might end their lives, would make most people run a mile, but Chen Xiao was not most people. The more he heard, the more thrilled he became, giggling continuously and even wiping drool from his lips several times.

Oh, right, someone might ask, since the work of the "field group" is so dangerous, why are there still so many people doing it?

This brings us to the strange green liquid Chen Xiao soaked in yesterday.

This liquid not only records the person's physical condition and analyzes various data, its main function was to inject a Gene Toxin into the body. This toxin could instantly turn a person into a puddle of thoughtless mush. So, you had to work whether you wanted to or not. Not just the field agents, almost all employees of the Order Foundation were injected with this toxin, otherwise what if a guard decided to steal some dangerous contained items and run off?

Next, let's talk about "honor."

Honor is a rare thing; it is only bestowed during significant emergencies or when someone completes a task far beyond their abilities. Then, special reviewers assess if the person qualifies for some honors. Honor means the organization values you, needs you, gives you special treatment, and lets you cut corners!

So, what specifically can honor be used for? According to Mrs. Liu, there are some items and special documents that can only be accessed with honor. So, wait until you have some honor before discussing it further, considering your mental evaluation scored a "2," getting any honor is nearly impossible for you.

Chen Xiao's brain automatically filtered out this sarcasm and then he asked a few unrelated questions.

For instance, he now knew that the field group didn't have to go to work daily; they would be notified when there was a task. These dispatched tasks were mandatory—otherwise, you know what would happen. Meanwhile, for the tasks posted in the task area, you could take it or leave it, and no one would bother you if you didn't do anything. Of course, if you continued doing nothing, the next task dispatch might kill you.

Also, the whole organization didn't provide any life services. In plain words, they wouldn't build apartments or cafeterias or anything like that; they were too busy saving the world to care about the daily lives of their employees. So, the institution simply and crudely gave you money, and how you managed your eating, drinking, and living was up to you.

With the remaining time, Chen Xiao chattered nonstop, making full use of that whole hour and driving Mrs. Liu almost to the point of strangling him!

"Okay, you should be about done with your questions, I have other things to do!" Mrs. Liu said, staring at Chen Xiao with a chillingly cold gaze that said, "Why the hell aren't you scramming yet…"

Chen Xiao completely ignored her gaze, filled with cold loathing and impatience, and giggled, "Then then, one last question… You said yesterday morning that you're in charge of me from now on, what does that mean?"

Mrs. Liu coldly said: "From now on, I will complete your task evaluations and write the records for the items you contain during missions. Lastly, if you violate any odd regulations, I will be the one to activate your Gene Toxin."

At this, she took out her phone and waved it in front of Chen Xiao.

Upon hearing this, Chen Xiao thought, "Holy shit, you can activate it with a phone? What if you accidentally tapped the wrong thing while drunk one day, and then I'm totally screwed?"

Of course, he didn't vocalize any of that; instead, he immediately smiled sheepishly and bowed excessively.

"Mrs. Liu, you go ahead and be busy. I wish you a smooth workflow, take care of your health, and may you always stay youthful and find someone soon…"

…

…

As soon as the words left his mouth, a palpable killing intent enveloped Chen Xiao, his heart tightening and cold sweat breaking out on his back.

"I'll get going then, goodbye!"

Chen Xiao bowed deeply, then without turning back, he whooshed out of the office, making sure to close the door behind him.

In the corridor, a still shaken Chen Xiao took a deep breath: "Phew, women really are the scariest creatures. That presence just now was even more terrifying than the time 'D-391' old man was about to bite my head off. Looks like she really does care about still being single… She also must not be so ready to activate the Gene Toxin on a whim, otherwise, I'd have been dead a whole bunch of times by now!"

Chen Xiao thought, "So, I'm officially a field agent of the Order Foundation now, huh!"

"....So, what should I do now?"

…