Chapter 133

Chapter 133: Successfully Stolen

During lunch break the next day, Yiwen dragged Mi Xiaoliu to occupy Lu Mingxue’s secret base on the back field, the two of them sprawled on Lu Mingxue’s picnic mat as they stared up at the sky in frustration.  

Lu Mingxue watched from a distance, seething but not daring to speak up.  

“Xiaoliu, tell me—if someone has spatial abilities and superhuman physical strength, if ability-suppressing handcuffs don’t work on her, my powers are useless too, and even tranquilizer darts do nothing… how am I supposed to catch her?”  

She rarely shared work-related struggles with anyone outside her colleagues.  

Mi Xiaoliu tilted her head, confused.  

She didn’t even know what tranquilizer darts were—she assumed they were bullets coated with numbing medicine so people wouldn’t feel pain when killed.  

Back when she’d cleared out her system inventory, she’d tossed everything except the minigun on Sasha’s advice. With only eight slots, she had to use them sparingly.  

“The worst part is, this person is so infuriating… and I have to catch her.” Yiwen angrily compressed the air inside her drink bottle to its limit.  

“Pat pat.” Mi Xiaoliu patted her head.  

“Where’d you learn that?” Yiwen’s face flushed as she shook her head lightly.  

Plenty of anime and novels spread the rumor that girls like having their heads patted, but the gesture did carry an oddly intimate vibe.  

Whatever.  

“Tell me about the abilities you’ve been hiding,” Yiwen pressed bluntly. “Someone’s bullying me—don’t you want to help me get revenge?”  

Xiaoliu’s abilities were a mystery, but they had to be strong. Otherwise, how could she have instantly wiped out that global threat even the Federation couldn’t handle?  

“Bullying?” Mi Xiaoliu thought of Gloria.  

“Yeah. Let’s take her down together later.” Yiwen gritted her teeth.  

“Mmm.” Mi Xiaoliu nodded.  

“Master, what are you ‘mmm’-ing for? Brush her off! Say ‘maybe later,’” Sasha groaned internally.  

“Maybe later.” Mi Xiaoliu copied Sasha.  

Though her dismissive attitude was borderline scummy, Yiwen’s mood improved anyway. “Want a drink? You’re paying next time.”  

Ever since Mi Xiaoliu found out she was a girl, Yiwen had stopped treating her as often.  

Mi Xiaoliu shook her head.  

“Xiaoliu, let’s take a photo together.” Yiwen pulled out her phone. “We’ve known each other so long, but we’ve never taken one.”  

Mi Xiaoliu: ???  

“Come here, come here.” Yiwen slung an arm around her neck, their cheeks nearly touching.  

Up close, Mi Xiaoliu did have a faint, fresh scent. The fragrance, the looks, the overpowered abilities, the unyielding personality (still refusing to reveal her powers)—all he (she) needed was a haircut, new glasses, and a couple more years to grow taller than Yiwen, and boom, certified hottie.  

Sasha sucked in a sharp breath.  

First head pats, now cheek pressing? I don’t even want to imagine what’s next.  

With a tap of the shutter, a photo of two faces froze on Yiwen’s screen.  

Yiwen: ヾ(≧▽≦)o  

Mi Xiaoliu: ᗜ ˰ ᗜ  

The result was perfect. Yiwen sent it to Lu Mingxue first, then set it as her wallpaper.  

Lu Mingxue: ???  

Yiwen: Mingxue, haven’t you taken a photo with Xiaoliu? Weren’t you two always hanging out alone before? 😲

Lu Mingxue: ???  

Lu Mingxue forwarded Yiwen a video: “I’ll just feel bad for you, giegie~”

Yiwen replied with a panda-head meme: [Barking?], to which Lu Mingxue countered with another meme: [Whose dog is this? Leash it.]  

The two fired off over ninety different memes at each other, until finally Lu Mingxue—who was half a year older than Yiwen—set up an auto-reply and ignored the childish tantrum.  

—  

Night fell. Inside a Western restaurant, Gloria sat with one leg crossed over the other, waiting calmly.  

She’d used the money from “Auntie Heli” to buy some buns to fill the little brat’s stomach, then gave her a few instructions before splitting up.  

Her plan was simple: lure her father out, then have Mi Xiaoliu sneak into his residence and search it thoroughly.  

Honestly, she wasn’t even confident in this plan. The Star—the world’s rarest mineral—how could it just be lying around on her father’s boat? And why would that old man leave something so important unguarded while he wandered around outside?  

But she couldn’t think of any other way to steal it. If her dad had left The Star with her grandfather, there’d be no way to retrieve it quickly from that distance.  

Telling her parents directly? They’d never agree, and it’d just tip them off.  

When the handsome middle-aged man entered the restaurant, a few heads still turned. Unfortunately for them, he already seemed to have a female companion.  

Not that Gloria looked mature—it was just that Okulet looked that young.  

Sitting across from Gloria, Okulet glanced at the darkening sky outside. “It’s getting late. Naughty kids who stay out past their bedtime get eaten by monsters.”  

“How old do you think I am?” Gloria rolled her eyes. “I’m not even scared of people, let alone monsters.”  

Such was the tragedy of separated families—the absent parent always remembered their child as perpetually young.  

Up until last year, Okulet would still unconsciously order Gloria a kids’ meal, equal parts embarrassing and infuriating.  

“Don’t wander around at night lately. I’ve got inside info that a bunch of wanted criminals are in town,” Okulet said, casually picking a couple dishes.  

“Pfft. I thought you’d be like Grandpa, trying to drag me out to face them head-on,” Gloria smirked.  

The way hero families trained their descendants had always been incomprehensible to normal people.  

“Those days are over,” Okulet shook his head.  

As a direct descendant of the Lasvedo family, Gloria should’ve undergone brutal training the moment her abilities awakened. But Okulet, ever the doting father, had refused the so-called “guidance” of his elders.  

Could he even do that? Of course—as long as you were the strongest in your family’s history, with a temper just eccentric enough to walk away from unsolicited advice. Some relatives were better kept at arm’s length.  

“I’m thinking of moving back home for a bit,” Okulet announced.  

“Home” here didn’t mean his boat or the family estate.  

It was… awkward. After years apart, showing up unannounced might earn him some sharp remarks.  

“What’s going on?” Gloria frowned, sensing something off. “Did something happen?”  

Okulet stayed silent.  

Since he wouldn’t answer, Gloria pieced it together herself: “The Red Prince? I knew it. You wouldn’t just come back for no reason—you’re tracking him, aren’t you?”  

Okulet paused, then shook his head. “Stop guessing. I just wanted to see you.”  

“Where is he?!” Gloria grabbed Okulet’s collar, her pretty face twisting with fury.  

The outburst drew stares from other tables. Someone even started recording, no doubt planning to upload it later with some clickbait title.  

Gloria didn’t care. “Tell me where he is! Even if you couldn’t kill him, I will!”

“I never said he was here.” Okulet frowned, prying Gloria’s hand off his collar to preserve her “ladylike” image.  

A collective gasp rose as every phone pointed their way suddenly vanished.  

Okulet wouldn’t be reimbursing them. No evidence tied the disappearances to him—eavesdroppers paid their own price.  

Gloria shoved her hands into her pockets and slumped back into her seat, cooling off.  

“My sister didn’t die for nothing.” Her gaze locked onto her father’s.  

“Yeah. I know.” Okulet nodded heavily. “I’ll move back after packing my things today.”  

Watching him leave after paying the bill, Gloria called Mi Xiaoliu: “Hey, brat. Are you sure you can pull this off?”  

“Stolen.” Shockingly, the reply was definitive.  

“The hell—?” Gloria’s eyebrows shot up.  

Since when was the kid this efficient? Useless by day, a trained nocturnal thief by night?  

“Meet me at the scrapyard. I need to verify the goods first.”  

—  

Meanwhile, back by the river, Okulet lit a cigarette for the first time in ages, exhaling a perfect smoke ring with practiced ease.  

He offered one to an old fisherman nearby: “Old man, seen my yacht?”  

“Lord almighty, that was YOURS?!” The fisherman perked up instantly. “Scariest damn thing—poof! A whole ship, gone in a blink—”  

“Mhm.”  

Okulet took another drag.  

His boat had been stolen.

[Translator’s Note: See the index page for this Novel if you want to see the Amazon Link for the eBooks.]