172: Chapter 154: Unexpected Joy 172: Chapter 154: Unexpected Joy Lu Sheng, forrly known as the “Grey Gold Traveler” Secret Keeper, is now one of the executive deputy directors of the Ancient City Bureau of Anomaly Managent.
Even though he had retired from the front lines for at least five years, he was still one of the strongest Secret Keepers in the Ancient City.
At this mont, with a weary expression on his face, he had just completed two funerals and hurried to this familiar place.
The Departnt of Taboo Item Managent.
“Patter.”
In the empty hall, the sound of water echoed far away.
They were here to pick up sothing, and a small cart was already prepared.
But on it, there were only two seemingly ordinary items.
“Two Rule-level items, by convention, should be sent to the State, but Old Zhao and I found an excuse to keep them.
Now they are part of the Ancient City Bureau of Anomaly Managent’s reserve.
If sothing happens to , it will be your turn to use them.
They’re extrely powerful but also very dangerous.
Their abilities are…”
Behind him were two senior captains from the Special Service Team, who silently nodded, recording this top-secret information that must never be leaked.
Due to the previous “mistake,” the Bureau of Anomaly Managent had unsealed their own inventory according to the ergency regulations during critical monts.
In addition to these two “nuclear weapons,” more Silver weapons also began to be distributed to suitable users.
More importantly, the Ancient City Bureau of Anomaly Managent, which had now entered a state of ergency, was authorized to take more special asures.
So Taboo items and detection thods would be put into use as well…
“Kill them, avenge Little Huang and Ah Ke…”
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While the outside was engulfed in a prelude to a storm, Lu Ping’an was silently carrying out his daily routine.
Without ntioning anything else, he was already sure that with his less than 2-tier body, getting involved in a direct battle would result in instant defeat.
But he was still very satisfied with his own gains.
[Xis White Flower, a certain peculiar mutant variation, Brass Upper Rank Magic Plant.]
The simple description given by Life Bank had already pointed the way for Lu Ping’an.
With a na and features, Lu Ping’an eagerly took on the exploration task.
He made a trip to Ancient City University, both to boost his “Gardener Chives” buff and to use the official funds to have soone study it.
He also bought detailed information about Xis White Flower…
of course, he spent a little more money to buy cultivation materials and raw material developnt purposes, which should be a reasonable expense.
“Xis White Flower, in our world we call it ‘White Sleeping Cherry,’ the main ingredient for a powerful sleeping agent in the Otherworldly world.”
A sleeping agent?
This bit of information surprised Lu Ping’an.
It was not that he doubted the accuracy of the information, but that he didn’t think the “harmless pollen” would work so quickly under the careful vigilance of professionals.
At the ti, he had thought they had died the mont they fell.
“Xis White Flower is also known as the Fear Flower.
Its pollen is very special, capable of perating the surface of human skin on contact.
Once it enters the body and mixes with the bloodstream, the more excited and dilated your blood vessels are, the faster it takes effect.
If you face it calmly, it will have a slower effect and may not put you to sleep.
Moreover, this is a ‘downgraded species’ that has undergone dostication and is very potent…”
Downgraded?
Lu Ping’an had only seen life modules upgraded before.
Upon further inquiry, this was a common usage in Magic Plant grafting.
The normal Xis White Flower was a third-tier Otherworldly Magic Plant, but these appeared to be grafted and bred with the local “Demonized Cherry Blossoms” to produce the weaker 2-tier variation, and the pink flower color was the most easily identifiable feature.
Its “sleeping” effect was naturally weaker than the original, but the downgraded version was easier to breed and, due to “localization,” planting and large-scale cultivation were much simpler in the local area.
“Otherworldly Magic Plants in our world always have a strong sense of discord and pollution penetration.
If it weren’t for this dosticated subspecies, the ambush would not have been so successful.”
Lu Ping’an tried it himself and found that he was barely able to resist direct contact.
But if he intentionally kept his emotions excited, he would still fall asleep instantly.
At this ti, the additional funding that Lu Ping’an spent reaped an unexpected surprise.
“…The other half of the graft is not native here, but it seems to be a special kind of cherry blossom from the eastern island country, which ans…”
That ant the Gardener might be a foreigner from the east?
This was undoubtedly a major piece of intelligence.
Lu Ping’an felt a lot more justified when reporting his expenses.
As soon as he returned to the office, he received another pleasant surprise.
“A red envelope?
So much?”
“It’s an official major task; there was a fourth-tier attacker, considered at least a B-level mission.
Due to the difficulty, it was raised to A-level.
You also killed a third-tier Magic Monster, so fifty thousand is not much.”
“…Didn’t we fail?”
“At least 70,000 if successful.”
At this mont, Lu Ping’an understood why the Bureau of Anomaly Managent and the Special Service Team could attract powerful Battle-professionals with “not that high” monthly salaries.
It turns out that the monthly salary is just the base, and the bonus and bounty are the real earners—more work, more pay.
No to ntion that the growth of professionals requires a large amount of money, and so resources cannot be provided by the Official authorities.
Moreover, if they fail to advance, professionals have a “shelf life” of at most just a dozen years, so naturally, they have to consider the future…
The common interest of human society is indeed tempting, but you can’t let others take advantage of it as a al either.
Generally, people in the workplace have an unspoken rule of “not asking about other people’s salary,” but now so excited young newcors naturally like to inquire about other’s bonuses…
In so sense, this is also expected of Captain-levels, as nothing is more motivating to morale and combat intentions than a “huge sum”.
Hua senior sister got 35,000, Xue En got 25,000…
From the results, he should have gotten the minimum, but in the team, he was the most excited one.
Perhaps, he had never seen such a huge sum before…
Considering that in so sense, this was also his first major mission after getting the “temporary License,” this was quite likely the reality.
“How much did Sister Xia get?” Lu Ping’an boldly asked, sothing others wanted to know but didn’t dare ask.
“120,000, I had a level bonus, plus the 200,000 rcenary bonus.” It was quite an exaggeration, but considering her performance, it was normal.
As for those who have done dirty work as rcenaries for a long ti, they naturally accumulated a lot of resentnt, and with Captain Xia’s official background, it was easy to get bounties.
“Previously, the maximum was only half of this, and the bonus system has also been reford; you guys are catching up with the good tis.” Xia Qin added after a change in tone.
“Generally speaking, it’s better not to inquire about other people’s bonuses.
But since you are all newcors, let talk to you about sothing.
Do you know 5221?
Oh, you all don’t seem to know.
This is an inco distribution chanism…” Xia Qin casually ntioned so of the Official Secret Keeper’s “rules.”
Such high-reward missions are actually not common…
If it were truly common, the Special Service Team would have beco a high-risk departnt, although it is already quite dangerous now.
It’s easy to splurge when you have a bonus in hand, especially for professionals—good equipnt might drain all your savings.
If you spend recklessly, no matter how much you earn, it will be a sad old age.
“…Five, that is, half of the inco, is put into things related to improving your professional abilities.
This is the main part.
Professionals who don’t progress can only die, and the higher investnt is necessary.” This is also a rule of the Special Service Team, to teach newcors how to use their first bonus after it has been received.
Whether they listen or not is one thing, but a competent Captain has to nag a bit.
“Two are for equipnt, including various consumables, Magic Potions, weapons, etc.
When you get started, the maintenance cost of weapons might not be enough, so you can increase it later.
But in the early stages, it’s not recomnded to spend on this money pit, as the manufacturers are all too dark.” Lu Ping’an had a faint sense of this, as Magic Potions were indeed expensive.
“Two more are for savings, either buying Precious tals or bank deposits.
The reason could be obvious, but I personally recomnd buying ‘consumables’ as they are the most valuable and can avoid fluctuations.” Xia Qin spoke calmly, but Lu Ping’an could read more from it.
It’s normal not to recomnd Precious tals because, if “Customs” loses control due to the existence of other worlds, it could beco a big issue.
Bank deposits are not recomnded either?
Why?
Once the social order breaks down, a fortune of millions may turn into waste paper in an instant.
As for the consumables of professionals, they will naturally persist in value as long as there are supernatural forces and pollution in this world.
“The last one is donating…
Don’t be so surprised.
It’s not that you have to donate to a church.
Most companies, associations, and churches have this kind of ‘donation’ chanism.
It’s voluntary, either for those poor fellows who have been seriously injured or even retired, or for the families of those unfortunate guys.
Many colleagues died without a penny in their pockets, or other people couldn’t even find them…”
Although this is not a pleasant topic, it is quite realistic.
The Ancient City Special Service Team has an internal “Fund” dedicated to handling these miscellaneous matters…
Don’t get it wrong, the official pension and compensation of the Official agencies are functioning properly, and this is just a spontaneous civil fundraising, operation, and compensation.
Once you donate, you beco a mber of the foundation and have the right to benefit from it in case of an accident.
Of course, there are all kinds of misdeeds involved, but at least due to the existence of “contracts” and the Otherworldly demands for “credit,” the advantages outweigh the disadvantages, and its existence is valuable.
When it cos to actual operation, there is a series of processes such as resigning, retiring, and transferring files, and the relationship between the upper and lower departnts of the Special Service Team and the Bureau of Anomaly Managent is also involved.
This will not be discussed further.
Xia Qin made it very clear while also revealing that ninety percent of her colleagues would choose to join… Of course, so people always take an unusual path.
Newcors looked at each other, hesitated for a mont, and naturally chose to join.
“5221 is a common bonus allocation chanism, and as you can see, 70% are spent on their Battle capabilities.
Strength is the crux of everything; you can consider your own distribution ratio, but there must be at least one ratio, otherwise…” Xia Qin looked silently at Lei in the office, who was pretending to be serious about reading a report.
It seems that soone’s tendency to overspend is not just acting.
Lu Ping’an thought for a mont and set his ratio to “91” without hesitation.
It is not that he has a preference for this number, but for him, having savings seems aningless.
Just spend all the earnings from the “monthly paynts” on improving his abilities.
Only by improving his capabilities can he afford to consider other things.
For newcors, getting their first inco naturally led to happy spending.
But Xia Qin stopped Lu Ping’an, who was about to leave, and handed him a task.
“This task is very suitable for you.
Since you’ve just gotten the bonus, maybe you can use it inside.
If it’s not enough, you can borrow from , and I’ll see if I can reimburse so of the intelligence expenses.” In Xia Qin’s opinion, this is a great opportunity.
The task is very simple, but it leaves Lu Ping’an sowhat puzzled.
“Why do I have to liaison with the local Brother Tu Chamber of Comrce?
Why ?” Not to ntion that GT Evil Gods actually have a Chamber of Comrce, having a newcor like him do intelligence work is quite unusual.
“Because you are probably the only Gardener in the Zion District Special Service Team with combat power.”
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