That night.
The crescent moon hid behind the clouds, and the stars in the sky were sparse.
The mole-faced man, the round fat man, and the tall thin man left the rental apartment one by one, spaced about ten minutes apart, and gathered at an intersection only a few hundred meters from the laboratory.
This place was remote.
Of the two streetlights by the road, one was broken, and the other emitted a dim, yellowish glow, like a dying candle that could go out at any moment.
Even the shadows of the three men were unclear.
Looking further ahead, there were no other buildings around, only darkness, except at the end, where a grand silver building had its lights on.
It brought a little light to the surroundings.
"Old Li, can we really pull this off?"
Now that it was happening, the round fat man was a bit nervous. "What if we run into someone from the lab?"
He made a throat-slitting gesture, but his chubby hand trembled slightly.
The mole-faced man frowned. "No killing. If we kill someone, especially lab personnel, it will definitely draw heavy attention from the local guild. The reason we've been able to hide for years is that we haven't caused a big stir.
"We'll only take the small, valuable items, then leave Yunhua City, leave Tiannan Province!
"As for being seen by others?" He shook his head, unconcerned. "We have three elite-level spirits. Can't we handle guards that are only ordinary-level?
"Unless we run into that senior spirit breeder. Based on my estimate, he might have more than one elite-level..."
The round fat man started trembling again at that.
His whole body of fat shook.
Old Li, the mole-faced man, shot him a disappointed glare and said in a low voice, "But spirit breeders' spirits aren't usually good at fighting. Their spirits might be well-developed, but they lack combat experience and probably don't know many special moves...
"If we do run into him, and we can win, we'll subdue him and quickly grab the valuables.
"If we can't win, we'll have the spirits hold him off and leave immediately."
The mole-faced man had thought it through thoroughly.
If it worked, they'd be rich.
If not, they had an escape plan.
He had a more complete plan: if the local guild reacted too strongly, or if that senior spirit breeder had too much influence and hunted them relentlessly... he would throw the tall thin man and the round fat man out as bait.
He would escape by water.
Old Li's words gave the other two some reassurance.
They put on hoods, hid in the night, and crept toward the lab.
Finally, they stopped a few dozen meters away.
The mole-faced man moved first. He spread his five fingers, and after a low call, a six-eyed flying fish over half a meter long with fins like wings appeared from the void, summoned to his side.
The tall thin man followed, summoning his spirit, the Night Dream Owl.
The round fat man was a bit clumsy, but after five or six seconds, he summoned his Explosive Mushroom.
Except for the Explosive Mushroom, which looked like a fat man 180 cm tall and 280 jin heavy, the other two were small spirits.
"Scout it out."
The mole-faced man said quietly to the tall thin man.
His six-eyed flying fish flew silently into the sky.
The Night Dream Owl followed.
A moment later,
"There's a guard sleeping in the security booth, but his Blade Leaf Warrior is awake."
The mole-faced man paused, then continued, "On the left side of the wall, in the corner, there's also a Strange Strength Ape, probably another guard's spirit, but it's asleep.
"Use your Night Dream Owl to hypnotize the Blade Leaf Warrior without affecting the guard, so we don't trigger the protective barrier."
A bird with a hooked beak and claws, its white and black feathers spread out in a radial pattern, flapped its wings lightly and landed on top of the security booth.
It tilted its head slightly upward, its beak trembling softly.
A low, barely audible sound spread gently.
Two minutes later, the tall thin man said to the mole-faced man, "Old Li, it's done. The Strange Strength Ape is hypnotized too. Even if we make some noise, it won't wake up."
"Mm..."
The mole-faced man nodded slightly.
He then had the six-eyed flying fish pull a black bag to cover the surveillance camera in front of the gate.
...
Two minutes later, the three climbed over the sliding gate and arrived in front of the lab building.
"It's an electronic door. Forcing it open will definitely trigger the alarm. What do we do?"
"Climb through a window. Get in through a second-floor window. Have our spirits help."
Only the round fat man looked miserable.
But with the Explosive Mushroom lifting him and the Night Dream Owl grabbing his clothes to fly up, the round fat man finally managed to climb in through a second-floor bathroom window.
At this point,
They still hadn't made any noise.
The people in the lab were sleeping soundly.
The three exchanged glances, each seeing the glee in the others' eyes.
"Let's get to work!"
...
Third floor, the lab's residential area, the most luxurious suite.
In the bedroom, Su Hao hugged the blanket, his head buried under the pillow.
Not far from his pillow, Die Xiaodie was sleeping peacefully under a small blanket.
Suddenly,
Its big eyes opened, and it sat up.
It looked at Su Hao, who was sleeping like a log, and after a moment's thought, decided not to wake him.
Instead, it flew out of the bedroom and to the suite's door.
It pressed itself against the door and extended its senses.
"Gunuo~"
In its perception, the unfamiliar scents made it alert. It took two seconds to consider...
Click~
The door twisted slightly, and psychic energy enveloped the area to prevent sound from spreading.
After the door opened a crack, one of the psychic orbs Die Xiaodie wore as decoration near its antennae flew out through the gap.
Using the orb's power, it extended its sensory feelers—this was Die Xiaodie's further development of the psychic orb.
The extended feelers probed stealthily. After more than ten seconds...
Die Xiaodie detected the intruders.
Three people.
Three spirits.
"Gunuo (▼へ▼)~!"
It was angry!
Someone was trying to steal its stuff!
Unforgivable!!
Die Xiaodie wanted to rush out, throw a few energy balls, and blow them up!
But...
There were too many expensive instruments in the building. Money... reason told Die Xiaodie it couldn't just start a fight.
It had to be smart.
It thought for a moment, then flew out through the door crack, closed the door again, and used residual psychic energy to lock it from the inside.
It flew toward the stairs, its small figure vanishing into the darkness.
Only its big eyes grew brighter, burning with anger.
...
Elsewhere,
After circling the first and second floors without finding a suitable target, the mole-faced man and his group continued up the stairs.
"The equipment on the first floor is too bulky to move. Let's go to the fourth and fifth floors, to the experimental area!"
Old Li, the mole-faced man, said quietly.
The tall thin man and the round fat man nodded eagerly, excitement in their eyes.
Too smooth!
Breaking into a lab was this easy!
The round fat man could almost see money flying toward him.
He was thrilled.
His flesh quivered with excitement.
He quickened his pace climbing the stairs.
"Calm down! Steady!"
The mole-faced man said, "As long as we haven't gotten the goods and left Yunhua City, we have to stay alert."
He directed his six-eyed flying fish to scout ahead.
Only after confirming no one was there did he grip the railing and move forward in the dark.
Step~
Step~
Step~
In the darkness, only their soft footsteps echoed.
Suddenly,
Bang~!
A dull thud came from behind.
Along with it came the round fat man's slightly panicked voice, "My, my Explosive Mushroom fell!"
'Worthless!'
Old Li cursed inwardly, frowning.
He was about to go down and check.
Not far from him, the Night Dream Owl tilted its head, and with a thud, fell off the railing.
He sensed something was wrong.
He kept calling through the contract, but got no response from his six-eyed flying fish.
The next second,
A faint, glowing shield suddenly appeared around him, the tall thin man, and the round fat man.
Seeing this, Old Li's expression changed, and he exclaimed:
"Shit, the air is poisoned!"