The First Mission

"In all my years in this line of work..."

"You're the most promising hall I've ever seen."

"Don't doubt it. That's the absolute truth!"

Without batting an eye, Chen Fazheng discreetly rubbed out the words "Allium macrostemon" on the floor with his foot, then swept a sincere gaze over everyone.

"Now it's time to put your abilities to the test."

Chen Fazheng waved one hand, opening a floating panel.

It contained hundreds of entries, densely packed with blue numbers.

"This is our gang's business list," Chen Fazheng said.

Qin Yiguan scanned it.

'Group client relationship maintenance: urge users within your jurisdiction to pay security management funds.'

In other words, collecting protection money... the boy thought.

'Business negotiations: persuade female university students to join the company's male care organization.'

In other words, forcing women into prostitution...

It's clearly a gang, but everything is dressed up in corporate jargon.

The boy was impressed despite himself.

Then Chen Fazheng suddenly held up three fingers and counted down. "3... 2... 1!"

Whoosh.

The "business opportunities" on the floating screen rapidly disappeared.

Looking around, the boy saw gang members throughout the room frantically operating their personal panels, snapping up the "business."

The boy paused. "Everyone's this eager?"

"Heh."

"Perfectly normal."

"The company issues its business list once a week," Chen Fazheng said with a smile. "Everyone fights over it during the first three seconds. After that, only the hardest... and the worst jobs remain."

Chen Fazheng looked at them, his expression suggesting he had everything under control. "Hall 157 has only just been established. Take a few of the worst jobs to get some practice first. I can wait."

As he spoke,

Chen Fazheng glanced at the business list out of the corner of his eye, then froze. "Only one left? Has market competition gotten this fierce lately?"

Qin Yiguan narrowed his eyes. "Business Code 025, Customer Activity Assessment. What does that mean?"

Chen Fazheng hesitated briefly, then clicked his tongue. "A level 10 job. An extremely difficult assassination, and the target is someone of absolute importance!"

The three, led by Qin Yiguan, all fell silent.

Chen Fazheng studied their expressions.

Scared out of their wits, aren't they?

Hall 157 might be a bunch of misfits, but I personally talked them into joining, word by word. Sending them on a level 10 job would be no different from sending them to their graves.

Chen Fazheng chuckled. "You should bide your time for now. Run through Holographic Gangster and wait for the next round."

The boy's eyes flickered. Then he said, stressing each word, "We'll take this one."

"What???"

Caught off guard, Chen Fazheng said, "Boss Qin, building a career takes steady progress. You can't rush things. This is a level 10 job! The grave of the last boss who took it is practically a nature reserve by now!"

Before Qin Yiguan could reply,

Jingye Meinan rubbed his chin and murmured, "This is good. Complete a difficult job, rise through the ranks, become the gang's rising star. The gang leader throws a banquet. Daxiu falls for me and comes over to clink glasses. Then we exchange meaningful looks and have a private conversation that night. Mm. Perfect."

Chen Mudou also spoke timidly. "I need to be brave enough to challenge myself. My boyfriend said he'd support me no matter what I did. I need to grow quickly too, become someone ruthless, and not let him down."

Chen Fazheng was dumbfounded. "You're going this big right out of the gate?"

Qin Yiguan was a little surprised too.

These two underlings certainly had plenty of drive.

Especially Chen Mudou. She had gone from office clerk to assassin in an instant. Wasn't that a rather drastic leap in career planning?

Then the boy thought for a moment and asked quietly, "This assassination target... Jiao Shensan. Who is he?"

"Now, I'll be assigning your Youth Order Squad its first mission since its formation."

Lu Zun surveyed the three youths before him and said gravely, "I've received word that someone intends to assassinate the Research Society Chief Scientist, Doctor Jiao Shensan, inside the Experimental Zone."

"And they've already posted a bounty in the Underworld."

Lu Zun looked at them. "Your mission is to protect Doctor Jiao and arrest or kill any Underworld members who attempt to assassinate him."

"As for the mastermind behind this, I'll assign another team to investigate."

"You only need to protect Doctor Jiao successfully for three days. Then everything can be settled."

After saying that, Lu Zun paused for several seconds and fixed a piercing gaze on Jiu Zhengxuan. "Can you do it?"

"I will complete the mission."

Jiu Zhengxuan slowly raised his head.

Under the spotlight, his white suit seemed to glow. He looked like an embodiment of light, resolute and confident.

"Someone from the Research Society?"

"And their chief scientist!"

"So basically their boss?"

"No wonder it's difficult!"

"No wonder the commission is 950,000!"

Jingye Meinan's face was alight with excitement.

Chen Mudou gripped her folder tightly. Judging by her expression, she actually seemed a little... eager?

Qin Yiguan's gaze passed over their faces.

He had always felt that the Experimental Zone was different from an ordinary metaverse. Upon entering, people seemed to cast aside their moral restraints in an instant, and the dark thoughts buried in their hearts were invisibly amplified.

Of course,

He was no exception. His [conscience-free syndrome] stood head and shoulders above the rest, its development increasing automatically the whole time.

Jiao Shensan.

The boy began considering the target before him.

Wasn't the Research Society the very organization that had been trying to capture him all along?

Accepting this "business" would be the same as delivering himself to their doorstep.

During this Dream Login,

Things had changed at breakneck speed.

With nowhere left to turn, he had become a gang member.

But he had to admit, this seemed to suit him very well, and it was a good opportunity to grow.

Kill someone?

Although I've mastered 101 methods,

Qin Yiguan's own personality had never actually done it.

Still,

This should be very interesting!

At that moment, the boy raised his hand and lightly tapped the floating screen.

GOD Group's last mission of the week disappeared from the list.

At the same time, that entry appeared directly in God's Abandoned's database.

"Your first job after entering the Experimental Zone is murder."

God's Abandoned rotated slightly to look at Qin Yiguan's profile. "Badass."

Meanwhile, Qin Yiguan repeatedly examined the entry in his personal view.

Then a puzzled look appeared on his face. "Director Chen, where's the rest of the information for this 'business'? The target's details, for example, his movements, where we'll carry out the assassination, what equipment the gang can provide, and so on?"

"Boss Qin."

"You may have watched too many movies."

Chen Fazheng regarded the boy as though he were a curiosity. "Our DOG Group is a newly emerging entrepreneurial star. Conditions are tough. How could we possibly provide all that for you? You're an ambitious young man. You have to build a good life with your own two hands!"