Mobius's Laboratory.
Inside the lab, Blanca waved a stack of documents excitedly at Mobius.
"Doctor, the research budget for this quarter has been approved. We can finally eat something decent."
Seeing the long string of zeros on the approval form, Mobius felt unusually good. In fact, she had been in a good mood for the past two months.
The bureaucratic system that used to obstruct her at every turn had suddenly become obedient. Requests were approved almost instantly. It was as if the entire organization had been replaced.
"Good," Mobius said lazily. "Since the funds are in, let's go eat something nice tonight."
Blanca's face lit up.
That made Mobius feel a twinge of guilt. After all, she had dragged Blanca through two months of instant noodles.
Tonight, she would make it up to her.
But soon, Mobius's attention shifted to a more important matter.
"Since the budget is approved, we can post a bounty with the Poison Cocoon organization and dig out that damned cliffhanger bastard."
Just thinking about the mental exhaustion caused by her curiosity made Mobius irritated.
Seeing the resentment on her face, Blanca knew that once the doctor made up her mind, there was no stopping her.
So she asked carefully, "Doctor… how much are we offering for the bounty?"
Poison Cocoon had minimum prices depending on task type. The more money added, the more resources they mobilized.
Higher price meant faster completion and better quality.
Normally, tasks like finding people, pets, or cheating spouses were far cheaper than assassinations.
Mobius glanced at the newly approved budget, smiled confidently, and casually marked off one hundred million.
"This should be enough."
Blanca nearly fainted.
"Doctor, that's way too much! Finding someone usually costs tens of thousands, maybe a hundred thousand at most. Even with special backgrounds, it wouldn't hit a million!"
Mobius looked at her calmly.
"Blanca, do you really think this person is ordinary?"
Blanca fell silent.
"Anyone who can produce knowledge at that level is absolutely not ordinary," Mobius continued.
"But Doctor," Blanca protested weakly, "whether they can find the person is Poison Cocoon's problem. We don't need to overspend like this…"
Mobius pressed a hand on Blanca's shoulder and smiled in a way that made hearts race.
"I don't care about the money. I only care about getting what I want from him as fast as possible."
Blanca was speechless.
"Doctor… you didn't say that when we were broke…"
Soon enough, with Mobius's payment transferred, a one-hundred-million bounty appeared in Poison Cocoon's system.
A hospital in the Far East.
Sakura stood in front of a hospital room, her hand hovering over the doorknob again and again, never pushing it.
She wore a neat office outfit, her long pink hair carefully styled, light makeup on her face.
She looked like a successful urban professional just off work.
But whenever she dressed like this, she felt even more unable to face her sister.
Because she knew the truth.
The identity of a corporate executive was a lie.
Her real identity was a killer, hands stained with blood.
No matter how she justified it to herself, she knew she was deceiving the sister who admired her.
Every time her sister bragged to others about how successful her big sister was, Sakura felt a stab of pain.
Especially when she met her sister's admiring gaze. It felt like her heart was being crushed.
Sakura felt bitter.
If she had any other choice, how could she have ended up here?
Her sister was seriously ill. The daily treatment costs were astronomical.
If her sister was to live, Sakura needed money. A lot of it.
As two sisters with no support, the only way Sakura could earn that money was through the martial skills she had learned since childhood.
So she became a killer without emotions.
Kill. Get paid. Pay for treatment.
That was how she lived.
By now, she no longer struggled with right and wrong.
Her only purpose was for her sister to live happily.
Everything else, she would shoulder herself.
Maybe one day she would die on a mission.
But until then, her sister would live.
That was enough.
But sometimes, fate's downward slope came without warning.
Standing outside the room, Sakura pulled out her communicator and stared at her nearly empty bank balance.
She had checked it countless times already.
Her vision still went dark, as if the sky were collapsing.
Before last month, she had been Poison Cocoon's top contractor. Her performance dwarfed her peers.
Killings, finding lost pets, catching cheaters. A perfect record.
But after the Eden kidnapping mission, she suffered a humiliating failure. Her rating dropped. Her payout was slashed.
To make matters worse, the Honkai weapon she had rented from the organization was lost in the fight, saddling her with a massive debt.
Now, her savings were gone.
She even owed the organization money.
That was why she stood here, unable to open the door.
She did not know how to tell her sister.
She could no longer afford next month's treatment.
Sakura closed her eyes in pain. Despair closed in from all sides.
She had nowhere left to go.
"If there really is a god in this world… please show me a way out…"
At that moment, perhaps something answered her prayer.
Ding.
Her communicator vibrated.
Poison Cocoon Platform Notification: Assassin Black Spade Four, you have a new mission available for acceptance.
…
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