Even Muse, a man of such cultivation, quality, conviction, awareness, and shrewdness, was somewhat overwhelmed.
To be honest, when Mo Tan uttered those three words, 'nine hundred thousand,' this Shadow Master, whose strength was two levels higher than those at the door, just wanted to stab him repeatedly.
But he ultimately calmed his agitated heart and suppressed his trembling hand.
He couldn't take the risk! At least not yet...
One must know that at this moment, not only did he not know Mo Tan's strength, but he also hadn't clearly seen where the other party had hidden the small box. He not only had no confidence in killing the opponent, but even if he succeeded, whether he could find what he wanted was an unknown!
"So, no risks!"
Muse, who had stood up due to anger and anxiety, let out a long breath, then slowly sat back down. He picked up a crystal cup from the tray on the lower level of the round table and raised it towards Mo Tan: "Care for a drink?"
"Heh, a smart person~" Mo Tan grinned, a flicker of surprise flashing behind the inorganic Chaos in his eyes. He then placed the half-bottle of wine in his hand in front of Muse: "If you're not afraid I've tampered with it, help yourself."
Muse picked up the wine bottle and filled the glass in front of him, raising his cup to Mo Tan in a gesture: "If your movements to add something were so fast that I couldn't detect anything, then you wouldn't need to bother with poison to take my life, would you?"
"That's why I gave you the high affirmation of 'smart person,'" Mo Tan said leisurely. "And I've raised my evaluation of you a bit, second-rate, Mr. Muse."
Muse shrugged, drained the crimson liquid in his cup, and suddenly laughed: "Thank you for the compliment, I'm honored."
"Oh?" Mo Tan swayed to his feet, leaned over, and stared into Muse's eyes, whispering: "I thought you were about to make a move on me just now~"
He couldn't help but feel it; Muse's unintentional leakage of killing intent for just a few seconds had caused Mo Tan to lose a small portion of his stamina. Although the concept of 'showing off' was the same in the eyes of NPCs and players, killing intent and pressure were very serious matters.
The weak Mo Tan could only bring psychological pressure, but Muse's killing intent could make the stamina of weaker players drop as if a floodgate had opened.
The system is Justice.
However, this Justice did not change the situation, because although Mo Tan was uncomfortable all over while enduring Muse's killing intent, his expression and posture did not change at all. And while Muse's gaze was sharp, without the ability to observe data, he couldn't see the slightest abnormality in the former.
"Who exactly are you?"
Muse's voice became somewhat cold. This was not because he wanted to lash out or break ties, but simply because the de facto controller of the Thieves' Guild had dropped his pretense. The pleasant facade that had previously made people feel as if bathed in spring was no longer necessary to maintain at this moment; those disguises would serve no purpose in the upcoming conversation.
But Mo Tan merely continued to smile in a cynical manner: "That's a long story, but as for the current situation, my most suitable identity should be the owner of a valuable item, and that thing... you want it."
"Yes." Muse said in a deep voice: "So I'll speak frankly about this sealed box..."
"No need." Mo Tan waved his hand, interrupting Muse, then turned and walked towards the lounge behind his chair, saying without looking back: "I've always been pure-hearted and straightforward, so..."
He stopped, dramatically spread his arms: "Negotiations have broken down. That's all for today."
Then he walked into the half-open door of the lounge.
Muse, however, quickly stood up and chased after him, but...
He was gone.
In less than 2 seconds after the opponent left his sight, the person had simply vanished alive!
"This is impossible!" Looking at the empty lounge, Muse exclaimed in disbelief: "Impossible!"
The not-so-large space allowed him to see everything with a single glance, and this lounge was located in the furthest corner of Room 11, with no windows inside...
No windows, no back doors, no blind spots, no theoretically possible hiding places; even ventilation was done through magic arrays.
Muse couldn't imagine how the other party had done it. Even a High-Rank spatial mage couldn't instantly teleport in just two seconds, and even if the spell was pre-engraved on a scroll or High-Rank enchanted item, it would definitely expose a relatively incongruous magical fluctuation and a sense of spatial distortion, but Muse felt absolutely none of these two points.
"This is impossible!"
"Blood Chain, Snake Flower, Ye Yin, Zhen Ji!" Muse shouted to his companions guarding outside the door: "Come in quickly!"
However, just then, he suddenly saw a note at his feet, with clear and flamboyant handwriting...
"Please put away that idiotic, dazed look on your face."
This was the first sentence Muse saw after unfolding the note.
He frowned and continued reading.
"You're a fairly smart fellow, at least smarter than those low-grade goods outside the door, so I've decided to give you a discount on the million I promised earlier. Of course, I generously leave the scale of the discount to you, which means, how much you want to pay for this box is entirely up to you."
'You guys, block the door and inspect this lounge as quickly as possible!' Muse suddenly raised his hand to stop his colleagues behind him when he read this, then continued reading, sweating profusely.
"No need to be surprised, there are too many things in this world you don't know. I have no obligation or inclination to provide popular science for mediocrities, so, let's get to the point now..."
"I'm now giving you the initiative. There's only one chance. Tomorrow at midnight, at Black Tower City's North Gate, you can find anyone you trust to meet me there. Bring the amount of money you deem appropriate to exchange for this broken box, which is actually useless to me."
"The premise is that the amount satisfies me. Don't forget what I said, there's only one chance, so if you don't seize it, I will immediately destroy that box."
"No one can stop me, whether it's breaking something or leaving this barren countryside. You decide. It would be bad if it doesn't reach the 'satisfactory to me' level, wouldn't it?"
"By the way, I was just kidding about The Legend of Zelda earlier."
That's all...
That was all the content on the note.
But it still couldn't ease the ashen expression beneath Muse's mask.
"Terrifying."
This was the only word he could think of now.
Not making a move just now was absolutely the wise choice!
One must know that Muse had never seen a Thief powerful enough to disappear before his eyes in a blink, let alone in a room that, in principle, had no other exits. And what's more, he even left such a note in at most three seconds!
"Boss Muse, I haven't found anything here." Blood Chain said in a deep voice after carefully circling the lounge: "No shortcuts or places to hide people were found." Snake Flower shrugged.
"How did that guy get out?! This is completely beyond my imagination!" Ye Yin's voice also came from the air.
"It's like he evaporated into thin air." Zhen Ji clicked his tongue, and asked Muse with some lingering fear: "Who exactly is he?"
The latter shook his head, whose features were unclear, and stared at the note in his hand, shaking his head slightly: "I don't know, but at least one thing is certain: we'd best not offend that guy under any circumstances!"
"So, what do we do next?" Ye Yin's unseen figure asked in a clear voice: "Is there anything else we can help with? I can go with..."
Muse, however, quickly shook his head: "No, if you go, you might not come back. Now, you all immediately return to the Guild, or go do whatever you need to do. I'll handle this matter!"
He had completely abandoned the idea of 'forcible seizure' and was now calculating in his mind what kind of price would satisfy the other party...
...
"You have actively disconnected. Please choose whether to reconnect."
"No need for that~"
"Do you want to execute the wake-up procedure?"
"Received. It is now 06:47 on January 20, 2049. You will awaken in one minute."
And so, one minute later...
Mo Tan, with a smile on his face, climbed out of the game capsule.
He had no reason not to be happy, because everything, until just now, had been within his plan.
And if nothing unexpected happened, Muse should have already completely abandoned the idea of causing him trouble...
"That guy's strength, intelligence, and psychological quality are all quite good, what a pity~ The dimensional limitations are too great. Given the unequal conditions in all aspects, being able to achieve this level is already commendable, isn't it?"
Mo Tan hummed a little tune as he walked towards the kitchen, thinking to himself.
Disappearing from a 'locked room' under impossible circumstances, leaving behind a note that clearly looked like it was quickly written, there were no longer any issues with deterrence.
All of this was infuriatingly simple!
First, when Mo Tan took his seat in the room's main hall earlier, he intentionally sat in the chair closest to the lounge. Then, at the first opportune moment, he entered the lounge. Since no combat occurred, Mo Tan, who could log off at any time, performed two actions the instant he was out of Muse's sight...
Throwing a note on the ground, and logging off.
The notes were pre-prepared, totaling about fifty. Each note's content, from the blackmail amount to the tone and target, varied. Mo Tan had them sequentially arranged in his inventory, basically ready to handle any situation, of course, under the premise that Mo Tan had deliberately guided the conversation's direction, which wasn't difficult.
The log-off operation was also something he had practiced many times with Cole's cooperation. Given Mo Tan's current psychological quality, the possibility of him underperforming was infinitely close to zero.
Thus, after repeated probing, Muse, who had always prepared for both outcomes, finally decided to abandon the dangerous idea of 'breaking ties.'
"Full of pleasure." Mo Tan laughed happily as he chopped tomatoes: "I feel like my life is so fulfilling right now."
He believed Muse would definitely offer a price that would satisfy him, because from every angle, the Black Tower City Thieves' Guild would be determined to acquire that box.
"A perfect seller's market~"
...
At the same time...
S City, a certain manor, villa rooftop
A sudden ringtone interrupted the just-started first movement of K331. Judging by the slight frown on the phone owner's delicate eyebrows, this call clearly came at an inopportune time.
But she still quickly picked it up, then, after glancing at the caller's name, patiently waited for exactly ten seconds before unhurriedly pressing the answer button.
"Hello, Uncle Zhao."
Her voice was soft and low, with a somewhat heavy nasal tone, a characteristic that made her sound a few years younger than her actual age over the phone.
Her figure beneath the white trench coat was somewhat slender. Her calm demeanor, short black hair, soft facial lines, and delicate, refined features gave her a unique classical beauty, as if she had stepped out of a painting.
The man on the other end of the phone whispered something...
"Please rest assured, in fact, if you had gone home before making this call, you would have found that half of what I promised you earlier is already done." She smiled reassuringly: "I like honest people, so first and foremost, I will be an honest person."
The man on the other end of the phone let out a long breath and smiled with relief.
"Then, I hope to hear news of your divestment from that muddy water within seventy-two hours." She picked up the red tea in front of her, took a small sip, and smiled faintly: "Don't worry about this matter having any bad impact on your reputation; I will take care of those trivial matters later."
The other party immediately made loud promises, sounding full of vigor.
"Then, I'll trouble you."
She smiled and ended the conversation, then politely waited for the other party to hang up first.
After the duration of a sonata, she picked up her phone again and dialed a number.
"The plan we discussed earlier has collapsed. Their last major shareholder will withdraw their investment within forty-eight hours." She gently stirred the red tea in front of her, saying unhurriedly: "Get your people ready; this time, be a bit more efficient. No problem, right?"
A languid female voice gave an affirmative answer.
"Good, I'm looking forward to it."
...
After another sonata's duration.
She picked up her phone again, dialing a number that required three transfers.
"This is Bai Fujin." There seemed to be a faint chill hidden in the girl's smile. She gently brushed a strand of hair from her ear, then, after confirming the other party's identity, a slight curve appeared at the corner of her lips: "Zhao Mingguang's old accounts have all been dug up, right? Very good. Report him as planned in forty-eight hours. This time, let him take all the blame, heh... it's just an extra seven or eight years, it's fine."
...
"Revenge? Heh heh, it's fine. If he plans to take revenge on me after he gets out, that would be even better. After all, he's one of the more comfortable stepping stones to step on, you see, I'm very patient~"
...
"So that's that. Hmm? You asked if I would betray you? How could I? I like honest people, so first and foremost, I will be an honest person. Don't worry~"
...
Chapter 141: End
