Chapter 70: Girl’s University Studies

However, Xu Chuyao didn’t tell her, but the Clown Gang really was quite a headache, all because of something like survivor bias.

Most First and Second Rank Spirit Power Users already know this is as far as they’ll go in life. Born with some talent, sure, but not truly the Chosen Ones. They’re content with their lot, happy enough to have a stable job and live out their days peacefully.

Such people mostly don’t want to risk their lives. If they run into an ordinary thug, they might shout to uphold justice, but if another Spirit Power User comes looking for trouble, there’s no way they’d risk it all.

A small portion of First and Second Rank Spirit Power Users either think highly of themselves or are unwilling to accept their fate, wanting to give it one last shot, and have a bit more guts to fight.

This is especially obvious in the local security department. The ones doing the grunt work on the front lines are all First and Second Rank Spirit Power Users. Most just want to live their lives in peace; they’re the bravest when fighting ordinary criminals, but when it comes to the Clown Gang, they’re the most hesitant.

And as for that small group, they either end up dying in the conflict, or just go ahead and join the Clown Gang.

Low-rank Spirit Power Users can’t win and don’t want to fight, high-rank Spirit Power Users can’t be everywhere at once—this is exactly the situation the Order camp faces against them in the early stages.

“I heard other cities are having a hard time, the Clown Gang’s operations are going smoothly everywhere else.” Shi Pan walked over and joined the conversation. “Only here are things going so well.”

Cheng Li: “That’s because other cities don’t have Captain Xu!”

This time, he really wasn’t just flattering.

Just as the Lone Wolf thought, the Clown Gang is, at its core, just a group of useless and dangerous people. Those in power use them like throwing bombs—like the Banelings in those games—they blow themselves up, and if they take someone else with them, it’s a win.

In other cities, the Clown Gang has lost plenty in every conflict, but their side also suffers losses.

Only Xu Chuyao was one step ahead, scoring total victories in the first few operations. The almost miraculous initial casualty ratio triggered a chain reaction, making them desperate to go all in.

After the Commerce Plaza battle ended in defeat, the big shots of the Supreme Society decided there was no need to die here, so the Clown Gang members left behind could only fend for themselves.

“Wait for the official notice. Once your positions are confirmed, I’ll send the info in the group chat. You’re dismissed for now!”

Finally, the meeting was over again. Shen Ning rushed back to her dorm and took out her introductory handbook.

“All that fighting and killing is so boring. Let’s hurry up and get to girl’s university studies.” Sexually Repressed Shadow urged, “What are you spacing out for? Hurry up and look!”

Shen Ning didn’t immediately open the book, but instead placed it gently on the desk, thinking about a problem.

Last time, Xu Chuyao was drunk, and in her hazy state, Shen Ning brought her back to the dorm, then one thing led to another and, well, things happened.

But what about next time? How could it happen again?

“That’s easy. Just charge up to her and say, ‘Sis, you smell so good, I want to grope you,’ then scoop her up and run off.”

Sexually Repressed Shadow just said that, but even it knew Shen Ning couldn’t do something like that.

“Invite her to dinner, pick a tasteful little restaurant outside, with classical cello music playing, have a few glasses of red wine, and then… lights out.”

Broken Shadow painted a beautiful scene, but they all knew that doing this would only get them mercilessly mocked by Xu Chuqiong.

“Just trick her into coming to the dorm, and there’ll always be a chance to make a move!”

“Learn a love song, sing it to her on New Year’s Eve, move her to tears, and let her accept you.”

The Shadows kept offering suggestions one after another. Shen Ning thought about it for a long time and felt maybe she could combine the two styles.

“Oh, right,” she suddenly remembered her experience in that little shop, “when did you two realize you liked Xu Chuyao?”

That’s what Sister Hong asked her back then, so now she asked them.

“When was that? Let me think… maybe it was when the sun was just rising, with the morning glow and moon dew woven on a spiderweb…”

What are you talking about? No, answer seriously, don’t recite poetry.

“What she means is, it’s hard to say exactly when, but it doesn’t really matter.” Sexually Repressed Shadow explained for Broken Shadow, “We’re all you, just on different timelines. There are some small differences in the details. Maybe it happens at this moment on this timeline, and in another, it’s different, so asking this is meaningless. But no matter what happens, at some point, we always realize we like Chuyao.”

This was the first time Sexually Repressed Shadow had said something so sentimental, and it made Shen Ning a bit uncomfortable.

“Simply put, Chuyao is destined to be our wife, and we’ll ravage her in countless parallel universes!”

Now she understood.

Shen Ning quietly picked up her handbook, thinking she’d better just read her book for now—she still hadn’t finished the thirteen techniques in the beginner’s guide.

Girl’s university studies in progress…

The matter of the job title didn’t take long; just a few days later, Yu Jing called Xu Chuyao to the office for a video conference with the higher-ups.

That leader, of course, was Minister Long.

“Little Xu, these titles may not have existed before, but they’re equivalent to actual official positions. Don’t let down my trust in you.”

Xu Chuyao glanced at it. Her title was “Chief Counselor for Special Crisis Response,” a pretty high rank, and most importantly, it wasn’t restricted to one area.

She remembered Principal Lü had hinted before that Minister Long planned to promote her to handle all Clown Gang matters across every region once she dealt with the Center City branch, as well as participate in dealing with the Supreme Society. This title obviously came from that.

But didn’t she need to finish solving everything first?

Seemingly noticing the girl’s doubt, Minister Long took the initiative to speak: “You had the Mayor of Center City ask the Chen family for leads, and the Chen family came straight to me, saying their actions were just normal business and that they weren’t involved in anything irregular… Yes, the Chen family pulled themselves out of it. But the good news is, they did show a bit of sincerity in the process.”

An hour earlier, in a small alley on the outskirts of the city, the few remaining Second Rank higher-ups of the Center City Clown Gang branch gathered to discuss their life-or-death situation.

“The Lone Wolf got taken down. We expected that, but why did you guarantee nothing would happen before it went down?”

“Because we were watching! That white-haired girl was right under our noses!”

Yes, after receiving Li Xueli’s intel, the Clown Gang had someone tailing them. They saw Shen Ning come into the city early, sit in a lesbian bar for half a day, go in with a pale face, and come out blushing.

The lookouts were still joking around, cracking jokes with each other, when they turned around and realized their own base had been raided.

“Forget it.” The bald eagle mask clown in the lead raised his hand. “We can’t stay in this city any longer. Let’s gather our strength and sneak out late at night.”

“We barely have any people left, and they’re all scared stiff. They won’t be able to fight.”

“Just let them sniff more.”

The bald eagle clown lifted a black suitcase and poured out the spray cans inside. “This is the last batch. I got someone to bring it overnight. It’s even more effective than the last batch.”

“Even better than last time? Seriously?”

A clown picked one up, planning to take a sniff and try it out, but as soon as he pressed down, the whole can exploded.

“Cough, cough, cough! Damn, what is this stuff?!”

“My head’s spinning…”

“Something’s wrong, we’ve been set up…”

A few minutes later, a dozen people wearing gas masks came in and tied them all up.

With that, the Center City Clown Gang was completely wiped out.