Clown Game
Chapter 377 - -2 Once Upon a Time IV

Chapter 377: Chapter -2 Once Upon a Time IV

"This body? But I’m right here," Mr. Detective said, puzzled.

"No, this body is just a vessel that allows you to appear. If we can bring you here, naturally we can do the opposite," the chubby boy replied with a smile.

Mr. Detective hesitated for a moment, "Is this a threat?"

"Of course not, because you were never like this to begin with. None of this belongs to you; no one can threaten you with something that isn’t yours. So, this is a negotiation."

...

Mr. Detective once again chose silence. No one knew what he was thinking, nor could anyone predict what he would do. In the long two or three seconds that followed, everyone, the staff at the other end of the surveillance monitors, the police and weapons on standby, all held their breath, waiting for the arrival of either an enemy or a friend.

In the end, what they got was...

"Fine! That’s reasonable!"

...

...

While this conversation was taking place, in a city called K thousands of miles away...

K city has a street by the name of Shell Street, named thus because it used to be a hub for marine craft products. However, with the increasing enforcement power of urban management in recent years, street vendors are hardly seen there anymore, and more common now are small storefronts on the corners of the street.

Among these small shops, there’s a recently opened cafe, which, legend has it, is run by a freshly graduated otaku. Anyway, in this society where social interactions are as treacherous as mountain climbing, to have such a little shop where one can make a living based on one’s own talent might also be considered a happiness.

But never mind that, it’s probably just a passerby, irrelevant. What matters now is the pair of customers sitting in the cafe.

At the window seat where the sunlight shone bright, a man and a woman sat face to face.

"Hey, I don’t even want to ask what you’ve been up to lately. Surely, quite a few people have mysteriously died at your hands," Chen Xiao said, sipping his coffee as if he found it bitter. He shouted toward the bar, "Hey boss, some sugar... and make it a generous amount!"

Sitting across from Chen Xiao was a woman, dressed in a certain middle school’s uniform, with round frame glasses, carelessly tying her hair back.

"You guys all don’t seem to like my hobbies much," said the woman with a smile, her youthful aura visible in the sunlight.

Chen Xiao, his eyes still half-closed, said, "You guys? Besides me, have you been in contact with other members of the Ravens?"

The girl nodded, "Yeah, a guy with glasses, looking all tsundere, but only this tall," she laughed, gesturing near her own head, "I heard he joined the Foundation just a month ago, and he’s already about to be promoted to... um... I don’t really understand those ranks of yours."

Chen Xiao thought for a moment, "Whatever... you’re too lazy to understand all that anyway. You just switch identities every day, playing your tedious games. Maybe it’s because you never take sides that you can meet so many people." He muttered indifferently, "By the way, I don’t even know what your real name is."

"It’s not important, just a code name. Oh, that’s right, I’m a student at xx High School now," she said, proudly tugging at her school uniform.

"Yeah, yeah, probably some teacher with a fantasy for a student-teacher romance is in for trouble," Chen Xiao said resignedly, rubbing his head, "Anyway, since you’re not at school right now, can you stop pretending to be a student here? Look at that chubby boss over there, he was giving me a look of disdain mixed with jealousy when he served the coffee earlier."

"Hehe, do you even care about that?" the girl asked with a laugh.

"It’s not his gaze that concerns me, but whenever I think of the relationship between you and me, I feel utterly uncomfortable... even in the eyes of others," Chen Xiao replied.

The girl shrugged her shoulders, "Alright, alright." She said, and then quite naturally reached behind her head, her hair fell loose, she took off her glasses, and the corners of her mouth curled up slightly.

In an instant, the lively high school student vanished, and seated before Chen Xiao was a woman radiating an intense allure.

Yes, although she was still in her school uniform, and all she did was let down her hair and remove her glasses, the transformation in her whole demeanor was earth-shattering, even seeming to age her to around 30 years old, transforming the school uniform on her body into an element that seemed to accentuate her appeal!

At that moment.

"Here’s your candy." The voice of the chubby shopkeeper came from behind Chen Xiao, and then his gaze must have landed on the woman at that moment, followed by a startle, a disbelief as he squinted, and only then, realizing such gazing was impolite, he turned with confusion and walked back into the kitchen.

"How do you find me now?" the woman asked softly, with a coquettish look at Chen Xiao, desire almost dripping from her eyes.

But Chen Xiao waved his hands in annoyance, "Please, can you just be normal? I came to you for actual business."

"Oh? Serious business, let’s hear it," she said, looking at Chen Xiao with a teasing gaze that could rival that of a seasoned seductress teasing a young virgin, her voice so soft that it made one feel weak. Such a stance could easily make any regular man dizzy with infatuation.

Chen Xiao, however, remained immovable, just quietly dropping pieces of candy into his coffee... joking aside, falling into this woman’s hands would be worse than death.

"I need you to help me hypnotize someone," Chen Xiao said casually.

"Oh? Who?"

"An old man with the ability to devour other people’s memories. In our terms, he’s an ’anomalous item’."

"Hmm, then what do you want him to do?"

Chen Xiao took a sip of his coffee, "I want him to devour my memories."

"Hehe, have you finally started to be your own downfall?" The woman laughed even more joyously.

"Think of it as you will, but I hope you can help me make this person devour my memories and then forget about this act. Afterwards, I want him to go out on the streets and cause some chaos, or do whatever, as long as it draws the Foundation’s attention so that someone will come to contain him."

The woman paused for a moment: "Hmm... Pushing a person with your memories into the Foundation’s hands, I seem to smell a hint of conspiracy. So, the question is, why should I help you?"

"Why help me? Of course, it’s to keep me alive. You know, if you don’t help me, there’s a very high chance I’ll die, and if I die, then no one will listen to your escapades, like painting a stunning makeup look with no one to admire it, hmm, and I suppose I’m probably the only one in this world willing to share your peculiar hobby," Chen Xiao said casually, as if he wasn’t at all worried that she might refuse. He then pulled out a card and handed it to her, "There’s also this card. I need you to keep it safe for me, and give it to me at the right time."

The woman arched an eyebrow as she pinched the card in her hand, inspecting it from front to back, "The right time? How would I know when it’s the right time?"

"Hehe, don’t worry, I’ll explain it to you bit by bit. Oh, and you said earlier that there was a guy with glasses who recently joined the Foundation? Hmm... I’m thinking whether to drag him into this too..."