Mobius’s Laboratory.
Inside the lab, Blanka waved a form in her hand, excitedly telling Mobius: “Doctor, this quarter’s research budget came through!
We can finally eat something good!” Looking at the long string of zeroes after the amount on the budget approval form, Mobius’s mood was exceptionally good.
In fact, her mood had been quite good for the past two months.
The bureaucracy that used to give her trouble at every turn had, for some reason, become completely deferential lately, approving virtually every request she made.
The tedious and convoluted application processes of the past were now being approved on the same day, as if the entire organizational structure had been revamped.
“Excellent.
Since the budget has been approved, let’s go out for a good meal tonight.” The moment Mobius said this, she saw Blanka’s face light up with absolute joy.
This made Mobius feel a small pang of guilt.
After all, having Blanka slurp instant noodles with her for two months…
life had certainly been a bit rough.
Sigh, I’ll treat her to a nice meal tonight to make it up to her.
Mobius sighed inwardly, then immediately turned her attention to a more important matter.
“Now that the research budget has been approved, I can post a mission with the Toxic Pupae and finally dox that detestable cliffhanger bastard.” Thinking of the mental exhaustion her curiosity had caused her over this period, Mobius was filled with resentment.
Seeing the怨念 on the doctor’s face, Blanka knew that once her mind was made up, it was practically impossible to change it.
As her assistant, the only thing she could do was find a way to help her accomplish it more effectively.
So she asked, “In that case, Doctor, how much of a bounty are we posting?” Depending on the type of mission, the Toxic Pupae organization had a minimum price for accepting jobs.
For every increment of funds added on top of that base price, the organization would promise to deploy more of its resources.
This would mean the mission would be completed faster and with better results.
Generally speaking, jobs like finding people, finding dogs, or catching cheating spouses were much cheaper than assassination contracts.
Hearing this, Mobius glanced at the research budget allocated for the quarter.
A confident smile touched her lips as she directly allocated a full hundred million.
“This should be enough.” When Blanka saw the amount she had set aside, she was so shocked she went pale.
“Doctor, you don’t need to…
you don’t need to use so much!” she pleaded.
“The price for a missing person case is usually between a few tens of thousands to a hundred thousand.
Even for a target with a special background, it wouldn’t reach a million.” “Well, Blanka, do you think this person is ordinary?” “…” Facing the stunned Blanka, Mobius continued, “To be able to produce knowledge of that caliber, he is by no means an ordinary person.” “But Doctor, whether or not they can find him is the Toxic Pupae’s problem.
We don’t need to save them money, do we?” At this, Mobius placed her hands on Blanka’s shoulders, a captivating smile on her lips.
“I don’t care about the money.
I just want to get what I want from him as quickly as possible.
The faster, the better.” Blanka was speechless.
“Doctor, that’s not what you said when we were broke…” Soon, as Mobius’s payment was transferred, a mission with a hundred-million price tag appeared on the Toxic Pupae organization’s system.
—o— In a hospital in the Far East.
Sakura stood before a hospital room door, her hand rising and falling several times over the handle.
Today, she was dressed in a proper OL outfit, her soft pink hair meticulously styled, and she had even applied light makeup.
She looked like a chic urban professional just coming home from the office.
But whenever she wore this, Sakura felt unable to face her sister.
Because she knew that her so-called “corporate executive” identity was just a disguise.
Her true identity was that of a shameful assassin, her hands stained with who knows how much blood.
No matter how she tried to console herself, Sakura knew she was constantly deceiving her adoring younger sister.
Every time her sister boasted to others about how successful she was, she felt a stabbing pain in her heart.
Especially when she met her sister’s worshipful gaze.
Her heart felt as if it were being strangled, unable to beat.
Sakura’s heart was bitter.
If she had any other choice, how could she have ended up like this?
Her younger sister was gravely ill, and the daily medical expenses were an astronomical figure.
For her sister to live, she needed money.
Lots and lots of money.
But as two sisters with no one else to rely on, the only way for Sakura to make money was through the martial arts she had learned since childhood.
And so, she became an emotionless killer.
Kill, then get paid.
Use the money to pay for her sister’s treatment.
She had walked this path all this time.
By now, she no longer agonized over what was right or wrong.
Her only purpose in life was for her sister to live happily.
That was all.
As for everything else, she, as the older sister, would bear the burden.
Perhaps one day she would die on a mission, but until then, her sister would live well.
That’s what Sakura believed.
But alas, sometimes the downward slope of fate is just so sudden and unexpected.
Standing before the hospital room, Sakura took out her communicator and looked at the nearly empty balance on her bank account.
Although she didn’t know how many times she had looked at it already, Sakura still felt the world go dark, as if the sky itself were about to collapse.
Until last month, she had been the ace of the Toxic Pupae organization, her performance far exceeding that of her peers.
Assassinations, finding cats, catching cheating spouses—she could complete any job with a one hundred percent success rate.
She had never failed.
But last month, after accepting the mission to kidnap Eden, she had suffered a shameful failure.
Her rating dropped a level, and her cut of the profits from completed missions was drastically reduced.
And then, as the saying goes, when it rains, it pours.
The Honkai-powered weapon she had rented from the organization was lost at the scene of the battle, leaving her with a massive debt.
By now, her savings had been completely wiped out, and she even owed the organization money.
The reason she was hesitating in front of her sister’s room, unable to push the door open, was because she didn’t know how to tell her.
—She no longer had the money to pay for her sister’s next month of treatment.
Sakura squeezed her eyes shut in pain.
Desperation washed over her from all sides.
She was at the end of her rope.
“If there really is a god in this world, please…
show me a way out…” Just as Sakura was thinking this, perhaps some unseen force had truly answered her prayer.
Ding!
Her communicator vibrated.
[A notification from the “Take ’em Out” platform: Assassin ‘Spade 4,’ you have a new mission awaiting acceptance.] —o—