“Click-clack, click-clack…”
The sound of high heels striking the marble grew closer, and the back of Wen Xi’s neck tightened instantly.
She scanned her surroundings, her gaze locking onto an antique huanghuali wood cabinet in the corner of the office.
“Ninini!” Little Soldier 3 pointed anxiously at the cabinet door.
Wen Xi lunged forward in a single bound, pulling open the door and curling her body inside just as the office door was shoved open.
The light leaking through the gap in the cabinet door was like a sharp blade, slicing the scene inside the office into fragments.
Wen Xi held her breath, her fingers unconsciously rubbing the bandages wrapped around her machete hilt. Through the gap, she saw a woman being shoved inside—her well-maintained face was bruised, and she looked disheveled.
“Great Curator, I suggest you be smart.”
The person who followed her in had a voice as hoarse as sandpaper rubbing together, though one could vaguely tell it was a woman.
She wore black tactical gear, with a suppressed pistol tucked into her waistband, and a gas mask covered her face, revealing only a pair of cold eyes.
“Hand over the seal, and we can all make this easy.”
The seal?!
Wen Xi’s pupils constricted.
She couldn’t be that unlucky, could she? Had she run into a “black-on-black” robbery?
Just as she was about to commit robbery, someone else had the same inspiration and came to rob the place, too?!
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” The curator retreated to the desk, terrified. “The museum closed long ago. If you want to tour it, please come back tomorrow morning.”
“Playing dumb?”
The robber suddenly exploded into action. She grabbed the curator by the throat and lifted her up. The curator’s toes dangled three inches off the floor, and her face turned crimson.
“You really think I don’t know where your supernatural item came from? It’s only been a few days; capitalists really have ways.”
Wen Xi saw the curator’s eyes beginning to bloodshot as her fingers clawed futilely at the robber’s arm. She felt no pity, but her gaze couldn’t help but drift toward the safe.
Can’t robbery also follow the principle of first-come, first-served? After all, there was no need to ruin the harmony over a single item…
“Your supernatural item is a personal seal engraved with your name,” the robber’s voice sounded again, filled with cruel pleasure. “As long as you stamp it, you can turn others’ supernatural items into your own. Am I right?”
Right, I know that. Wen Xi nodded silently.
I want that too.
“Of course, besides this, you also have another precious supernatural item called the ‘Item-Producing Magic Box,’ which can produce any item and mass-produce it. Our boss wants that one, too!”
An Item-Producing Magic Box?
And it can choose any item for mass production?!
Wen Xi bit her lip in shock.
Well, now it wasn’t just a coincidence of a thief and a robber.
They were both after the same two items!
There was no help for it; children only make choices—she wanted them all!
“You had better tell me quickly. If I don’t get it within three seconds, I’ll kill you right now. You don’t want to know how painful it is to suffocate to death.”
The robber warned, her fingers tightening.
“Three.”
The curator’s toes twitched.
“Two.”
Her eyeballs began to roll upward.
“One!”
Feeling the threat of death, the curator nodded in terror, wheezing out a sound: “I—I’ll talk!”
The robber let go, letting the curator collapse to the floor. The curator coughed and said, “It’s in the—in the safe, inside the safe. The code is 6674.”
“Where is the safe?”
“Inside the bookshelf cabinet behind the desk.”
The robber’s eyes shifted, casting her gaze toward the bookshelf cabinet under the desk.
That was Wen Xi’s hiding spot!
That’s not a safe! The safe is on the other side!
Wen Xi cursed in her heart. This curator was clearly trying to pull a fast one, making up a fake safe as bait. What a pain this was for her!
Seeing the robber approaching, Wen Xi gripped her machete and prepared to fight.
The curator looked tense; her fingers slid quietly toward the desk drawer, from which she suddenly pulled out something pitch-black and raised her hand to strike back!
“Bang!”
The robber turned suddenly and fired a shot into the curator’s wrist.
The curator wailed, and the item in her hand dropped right in front of the cabinet where Wen Xi was hiding—it was within reach.
It was actually a small palm-sized handgun!
“You really are dishonest.”
The robber fired another shot into the curator’s knee. The sound of bone shattering was clearly audible. She said coldly:
“You really thought I’d be fooled? This is your last chance. Tell me, where is it?”
The curator gritted her teeth, wanting to resist, but was shot in the other knee as well. Finally, she collapsed in a scream, trembling as she pointed toward the desk:
“The safe… is on the other side. The code was correct.”
The robber shoved the curator aside, found the correct safe, opened it after a few “beeps,” and felt around for a moment before pulling out a black velvet bag from a hidden compartment.
The moment she dumped it out, Wen Xi saw a pitch-black jade seal.
It was about the size of a thumb, and the handle was carved into the shape of a coiling dragon. Its eyes were inlaid with two dots of vermillion, looking as eerie as drops of blood under the light.
“How much better it would have been to hand it over sooner.” The robber toyed with the jade seal, her fingers stroking the seal’s face.
Only then did Wen Xi notice that it wasn’t engraved with characters, but a twisted rune. After looking at it for a while, she actually felt as if it were slowly squirming.
The robber couldn’t help but laugh out loud:
“With this, we can possess all the supernatural items in the world!”
Perhaps she laughed too wildly. The dying curator suddenly exploded with her final strength, lunging forward with a bloody, furious roar:
“Give it back! That’s my—”
“Pfft!”
The sound of a suppressed pistol.
The bullet pierced the chest as easily as a needle poking through wet cowhide.
The curator froze in place, looking down at the gaping hole in her chest. She opened her mouth and collapsed on the floor like a ragdoll; her shirt front rapidly soaking in dark red.
Wen Xi’s stomach twisted in pain.
It wasn’t fear—she had seen too much death, both what she had dealt and her own past death. The twisting pain was just tension.
The opponent had a gun.
She had to disarm the opponent immediately to have any chance of getting what she wanted! And there were few opportunities; surprise only works the first time.
“Now it’s mine.” The robber flicked the pistol, holding the seal up to the light to examine it. “By the way, there’s another one. Perfect time to test it…”
She turned and walked toward the safe, her back to Wen Xi as she grabbed a gorgeous, music-box-style case. She was just about to press the seal down—
That’s it!
Wen Xi kicked the cabinet door open with a crash, snatching up the nearby palm-sized gun with one hand while the green light on her shoelaces exploded into a flash.
“Swish!”
The first teleportation; she appeared behind the robber. The opponent clearly hadn’t expected someone to be squatting there, playing the role of the oriole behind the mantis.
She was visibly stunned.
Good chance!
The machete in Wen Xi’s hand traced a silver arc, aiming straight for the wrist holding the gun!
But the robber reacted incredibly fast; her body twisted in an uncanny way, evading the fatal strike by a hair’s breadth.
However, Wen Xi changed direction even faster, slashing her blade toward the robber’s left hand that held the items!
What a masterclass in feinting to the east and attacking to the west!
The robber was caught off guard, feeling a sudden, sharp pain in the tendons of her left hand.
After the pain that surged directly to her brain, the seal and the magic box both slipped from her grasp!