Clown Game
Chapter 207 - 195: The Eve of the Mission

Chapter 207: Chapter 195: The Eve of the Mission

On the phone screen, system notifications were popping up incessantly, relentlessly bombarding Chen Xiao with their dinging and donging.

——————————————

Purchased item: Portable Arm-mounted Ion Shield X1, Team Funds -235

Purchased item: Penetrating Hemostatic Gel X6, Team Funds -120

Purchased item: Neural Sensitivity Enhancer Serum X1, Team Funds -220

Purchased item: Scatter Oscillation Grenade X5, Team Funds -150

Purchased item: Implanted Life Detector X3, Team Funds -75

——————————————

Chen Xiao stared with horror-stricken eyes, watching as his team’s funds drastically drained away like water in a sieve.

...Hey, hey! What’s happening, can’t we live a normal day?

He yelled at the top of his lungs.

But other than adding a bit of atmosphere to the scene, it was useless.

And yet... the information on the phone didn’t stop.

——————————————

Purchased item: Overclocked Memory Metal Dagger X2, Team Funds -350

Purchased item: Energy-Gathering Layered Buffer Armor X1, Team Funds -290

Purchased item: Muscle Fiberization Serum X1, Team Funds -100

Purchased item: Nano-Support Arm Guard X1, Team Funds -210

Purchased item: Single-Dose Pain Blocker X2, Team Funds -60

Purchased item: Portable Holographic Satellite Imaging Link X1, Team Funds -210

——————————————

...

...

The vibration finally stopped. Gear, armor, medicines, serums— the names of more than a dozen items buzzed on Chen Xiao’s screen, and with each sound, the deduction in the "Team Funds" stabbed Chen Xiao’s heart like a childhood nightmare being pushed into a hospital treatment room for a series of shots, one after the other, one after the other... At last, at the very bottom of the phone screen, was a line of system information dripping with thick sarcasm.

....Giggling Bird Squad, Team Funds remaining: "10 points."

Chen Xiao’s face fell, staring at the last "10" and almost unable to believe his eyes. He reached out a finger and rubbed the screen, as if he could rub another digit in front of the 9.

Suddenly!

Another round of vibrations

————————————

Purchased item: Concentrated Cyanide (——Replenishable), Team Funds -10

————————————

Chen Xiao’s face was now completely expressionless, showing no reaction to this sudden notification, just quietly staring before resigning himself with a muttered "Oh."

Since the name "Concentrated Cyanide" was still on the phone’s page, Chen Xiao also subconsciously read it aloud.

As the name implies, this is a concentrated form of cyanide, wrapped in memory material, which can be placed under the teeth or tongue or used in any liquid injection device. It takes effect extremely fast, within 10 seconds, through the digestive system or bloodstream, with an effect about 40 times that of a regular hydrate. Even personnel from the field teams specifically strengthened against it can still be killed instantly (can be replenished for free in all major medical areas) —————— more frightening than death, to all field personnel of the Foundation walking the path to death.

So it was clear that this cyanide was designed for suicide, of course, if you could shove it into another person’s mouth that would also be possible, though quite difficult.

Regarding this "free replenishment" perk, Chen Xiao could only describe it with "fuck it."

Anyway, just as Chen Xiao was lost in the extreme drop from "possessing a four-digit huge sum of funds" to "having zero funds," his phone rang once again.

Of course, this time it wasn’t about something being bought, uh... he couldn’t afford to buy anything now anyway, but it was Bai Xiong calling.

Chen Xiao absentmindedly answered the call,

"...Hello..." he said weakly, "You’ve spent all the money..."

On the other end of the line, Bai Xiong’s voice was still steady as if nothing had happened, "We’re at the coffee shop under your apartment. Come down, let’s discuss."

...

...

A few minutes later, Chen Xiao pushed open the door of Boss Xu’s coffee shop, where it was still crowded, not knowing what sort of fantasies this group of die-hard fans had about the maids, whatever, they could only stay at the level of fantasizing about the waitress-maids secretly in their minds.

Well... this might be a bit hurtful, but Chen Xiao didn’t care anymore, he was in a very bad mood, so he wanted to complain about anyone he saw, and the next second after pushing the door of the coffee shop, he naturally locked onto Bai Xiong and Song Xuan in the corner.

This couple had just shown their faces and joined his squad, and right after joining, they spent all the money to the last cent!

However, calculating it now, the funds of the Giggling Bird Squad seemed not enough, so that meant, Song Xuan’s own funds were also deposited after joining the team... but still, that wasn’t an excuse to empty the treasury in one go.

In those few seconds of nonsense, Chen Xiao had already approached their table.

"Smack!" He slammed the table hard, "What the hell? All the hard-earned funds from so many missions..."

Just as he was about to start shouting, Bai Xiong calmly interrupted him.

"This is the best allocation," he said, indicating Song Xuan sitting across with his eyes.

Chen Xiao, of course, knew what Bai Xiong meant, the funds were meant to be spent. For a department like the field teams, one might just up and die abruptly on the next assignment, thus, turning funds into a higher success rate for missions was most crucial.

Chen Xiao naturally understood this principle, and even though the items moved very fast earlier, it didn’t stop him from reading their descriptions before they disappeared. He could feel that those items were carefully selected, picking so much equipment so quickly and which looked very practical was not something that could be achieved by just "reading an instruction manual;" it must be based on myriad missions and personal experiences.

Therefore, this deed was undoubtedly done by Song Xuan.

Yep! Although Bai Xiong and Chen Xiao were quite strong personnel, they both had a critical flaw—they were... novices! A team without an experienced person, solely relying on self-exploration, no matter how strong, would always take some detours.

And in a place like the field teams, often a single detour could mean doom.

...

Following Bai Xiong’s gaze, Chen Xiao looked towards Song Xuan, realizing that this "break the pot to sell the iron" type of big exchange was actually a refinement for his own team.

At that time, Song Xuan spoke,

"No matter what, we’re teammates now, so I couldn’t stand to see you just sitting on piles of funds. You know, if you were to do this, it definitely wouldn’t be as good as how I did it..." she said candidly, and indeed, she was telling the truth. This kind of thing didn’t relate to intelligence, but to experience, which those who haven’t gone through it could never fully understand.

But Chen Xiao was still a bit upset, after all, the things the two had saved up, this woman had spent it all in no time, and no one would be too happy about that.

Song Xuan didn’t say much more. Obviously, Chen Xiao knew already, so she changed the topic,

...

"A week later, a C-class Anomalous Phenomenon will appear. This mission has been on hold for a while, but all personnel sent have failed... I think,

you

....would be interested..."