Chen Xiao opened his eyes.
"Hmm... this ceiling—I've seen it before!"
It was quite absurd. Over the past week or so, every morning when Chen Xiao opened his eyes, he saw a strange ceiling. Either the location had changed, or he had forgotten it.
He struggled to prop up his body; every muscle was incredibly sore. So sore that he couldn't maintain a sitting position for even a second before collapsing back onto the bed.
"Speaking of which, what exactly did that machine do to me yesterday?" Chen Xiao stared at the eaves, motionless. The half-second he had managed to support himself seemed to have used up all his strength, and now even grinning was a struggle.
At that moment, the door to the temporary rest room beeped, and then it opened. Someone walked in, wearing high heels!
Chen Xiao wanted to turn his head to look, but he really couldn't move a bit.
"This sound of the shoes... could it be?" He already knew who was coming in.
As expected, a familiar face entered Chen Xiao's line of sight. Not so much familiar; he had seen her for about an hour. And Chen Xiao had been immobile during that encounter as well.
"I really didn't expect the new field agent they talked about to be you," Mrs. Liu said indifferently.
Chen Xiao tried to muster what he thought was a decent, but actually horrendously ugly, smile. "Heh heh heh, I didn't expect it either!"
Mrs. Liu was expressionless, merely saying coldly, "From now on, you're under my management!"
With that, she tossed a black mobile phone to Chen Xiao.
"I'm very busy. Tomorrow morning, I will leave you an hour's time to come to my office to see me."
Immediately after, Mrs. Liu turned and left the room.
"Aren't you going to say something to me today? Am I to be left hanging here all day?" Chen Xiao felt slightly frustrated in his heart.
The sound of footsteps faded away...
"Hey, can't you at least close the door on your way out?"
...
What a terrible day it was, since Chen Xiao couldn't do anything; all he could do was lie there, hurting all over his body.
It wasn't until nightfall that he tried to move his arms a little.
"Hmm... I should be able to move!" he nodded in satisfaction. Then, like a large caterpillar, he started to wriggle on the bed. His target was the communications panel by the window!
The process was extremely difficult. First, Chen Xiao's limbs could only move in very small ranges. Secondly, the bed was too soft to exert effort on, so Chen Xiao had to use all the muscles in his body to twist. Unfortunately, these muscles ached terribly with every movement.
But Chen Xiao had to get to that communications panel! Because he couldn't stand having nothing to do...
Finally, after relentless effort, Chen Xiao reached the device.
His fingers struggled to pinch the communications panel.
"3, 2, 1, go!"
Then, using the momentum of his shoulder, he swung his arm over.
"Heh heh heh, finally got it!" he shouted in his mind, then eagerly turned it on.
The first item
"Personal Profile"
Sure enough, after fingerprint recognition, the option opened!
--------------------
Name: Chen Xiao
Position: K City (15th Abnormal Creature Research Area) Field Agent
Rank: D
Past Missions: None
Medals: None
Funds: 0
Abilities Overview: "Details"
--------------------
Chen Xiao looked at the profile: "Hmm... it seems that this rank can be promoted, but I still don't know the method of promotion. It's probably related to the funds or medals below. Since each containment item is classified by rank, it means that each rank can only take on corresponding level missions... Then if funds are obtained through completing missions, what the hell are these medals?"
Chen Xiao knew that guessing here was definitely unreliable, so he might as well wait to ask Mrs. Liu tomorrow.
Next, he clicked on "Details" following "Abilities Overview," and another panel popped up.
--------------------
Strength: 4
Agility: 5
Thought: 2
Serum: None
Weapon Exchange: None
————————
"Hmm... From this data, it looks like the Foundation has roughly summarized every field agent's abilities with 'values.' Although it resembles a computer game's setup, it does indeed provide a more intuitive understanding of each person's tendencies."
Chen Xiao figured, based on his self-awareness, that normal people probably had a maximum value of 10. Take for example the guy with strength 10, he's probably like a certain state governor plus a weightlifting champion. Agility 10 might be akin to a 20-some-year training of Shaolin light-body kung fu, zooming up two floors vertically in two steps.
So the question is... what does 'Thought' 2 mean?
Chen Xiao looked at that '2' with an expression that screamed, "Are you guys freaking kidding me?"
He thought, if the average person scores a '5,' doesn't that mean he's intellectually challenged?
Chen Xiao stared blankly with dead fish eyes, expressionless, thinking he should probably have a talk with the staff responsible for testing these values when he gets a chance.
As depressing as it was, the plot must go on.
The word "Serum" that followed immediately raised suspicions. Remembering Mr. Zou's almost beyond visual persistence speed, the serum must be something that enhances ability values. There's got to be some limit to its use, right? You can't just slap on dozens of vials and turn into the Hulk.
Overthinking is pointless, Chen Xiao glanced at the "Weapon Exchange" at the bottom. It's self-explanatory, no need to overthink.
So, he exited the first option and directly clicked on the "Bonus Exchange" tab.
Because he couldn't wait to see what the "Serum" and "Weapons" were all about.
After clicking, he found that he could only inquire about the "D-Class Exchange."
"So, the exchange items are restricted to the respective level too? Seems like this level thing is pretty important," Chen Xiao mused and opened the "Serum" tab.
Immediately, he let out his trademark exclamation, "Holy~~ (three times)!"
"This is basically an upscale illegal drug superstore, for crying out loud!" Chen Xiao didn't just think this, he actually cried out, ignoring the pain in his body.
There were just too many strange drugs here.
Although the category was "Serum," it included a variety of oral medications, topical drugs, and injectable preparations.
At this moment, Chen Xiao was extremely excited and skimmed through the entire D-Class section of the "Serum" category like someone with a reading addiction, speed-reading ten lines at a glance. This took him more than two hours.
So, to summarize, these drugs can roughly be divided into three categories.
First, the serums, which are also the most expensive, generally around 200 Foundation credits:
These serums almost permanently enhance the user's certain abilities like muscle strength, reaction speed, vision, hearing, etc. Chen Xiao even saw one that could enhance "taste bud sensitivity." Seriously, who would use that? Are you supposed to grab a handful of whatever and taste it wherever you go during a mission?
Second, fast-acting drugs:
As the name suggests, these things have potent effects, rapid onset, but short duration. The side effects, needless to say, must be severe. For instance, an injectable that instantly boosts strength and stimulates the central nervous system temporarily to make the user insensitive to pain. Use it and be a real man for 10 minutes; once the effect wears off, the muscles will probably not withstand such strain, and tearing a few tendons might be the least of the worries.
Third are emergency drugs: painkillers, anti-inflammatory sprays, hemostatic gels, etc. Chen Xiao looked at the descriptions and realized that even though the names were common, the medicinal effects were explosive. Take that hemostatic gel, for example, its ability to instantly stop bleeding and permeate into wound tissues, forming a protective layer similar to "regenerative muscle tissue"—basically, spray it on and a few hours later the wound is healed, at most with a scar left. And most of them are pretty cheap.
"Black Jade Intermittent Ointment, huh!" Chen Xiao made another snide remark on the inside.
Next, Chen Xiao clicked on the weapon category.
He had mentally prepared himself, but he couldn't help twitching the corner of his eye.
"How has this organization not set out to conquer the world yet... Feeling like conquering the world is too easy, lacking a sense of accomplishment?" he mumbled to himself.
So what's in the D-Class weapon exchange?
Firstly, the items here cannot be simply summed up as guns or knives, it was a mess of everything! Chen Xiao kept looking quickly and constantly complaining.
"Is this a handgun? Meant for shooting elephants? A silenced Barrett for 150 a piece? Do you have to yell 'discount' to get it at 20% off? Are you sure a Barrett can even be silenced? What the hell is portable grenade launcher, looks like you could slide it into a pocket! And then there's this titanium alloy vibrating dagger, where do you even carry that normally? Feels like it would shred the sheath to pieces..."
After skimming through the weapons, Chen Xiao began to look at the gear.
"Hmm... things here don't seem quite as earth-shattering!" Chen Xiao calmed down a bit and clicked on an item called "Lightweight Bulletproof Vest"... And what appeared in front of him was a very ordinary-looking suit!
"Er... So, this suit is bulletproof?" he squinted and murmured, "Looking at the thickness of the fabric, seems like it wouldn't even block the wind! Comes with a pure leather adhesive climbing glove with fingerprint recording feature... Is it just me using it wrong?"
"Are there rockets in these shoes, 'nitrogen combustion can maintain 200 KM/H for three minutes'? A humanoid Ferrari! And what's with the cyanide injection mechanism in the sole, guaranteeing death within 5 seconds? How tough are the missions for this organization?"
With a look of utter dismay, Chen Xiao finished reviewing almost all of the exchange items and lifted his head to find that his body had just about regained enough strength to walk.
"Well, might as well go report to Mrs. Liu first, and I can also ask about more details concerning the field agents."
Thinking this, Chen Xiao rubbed his face, which had been in distress all night, and smiled.
"Really looking forward to the days ahead!"
...
"Hehehehehe—"
(This chapter is actually quite boring, didn't want to write about this bonus exchange system, but it's troublesome if it's not explained for later, so it is what it is.)