Chapitre 149: Chapter 149: The Silent Thief’s Performance
Chapter 149: The Silent Thief's Performance
After leaving the Duke of Nigan's residence, Hasturpondered on the carriage how to make reasonable use of the 53,580 gold pounds.
This time, Greck helped him earn from 5,000 to 53,580 gold pounds, which certainly involved a lot of under-the-table dealings.
Such cheat-like operations couldn't be repeated in the short term, otherwise, Greck wouldn't have terminated the investment.
This was the limit of using his power to line his own pockets.
Next, how to invest this money was his own business, and he had to bear the profits and losses.
The most stable investment was in steel mills and banks. The profits weren't too large, but they were steady.
Investing in emerging industries would test one's vision; it could lead to a big win or a big loss.
Hasturthought for a long time and decided to go against the grain.
With the introduction of the "Grain Law," the nobles' lands were becoming less valuable, making it the best time to acquire a large amount of land.
If he bought a lot of land to grow food crops, he would have an advantage in future turmoil.
When war broke out, the price of food crops would inevitably soar.
The only downside was the long cycle; it required quite a bit of time.
The war was expected to start in two years, so investing in land now would yield a low return.
After some thought, Hasturdecided to split the money into two parts: one for stable investments and the other for emerging industries.
By the time the carriage returned home, Hasturhad already planned the use of the money.
He gave the spare 580 gold pounds to the butler Neil for normal household expenses, and stored 3,000 gold pounds in his own vault for purchasing extraordinary materials.
As for the bulk of 50,000 gold pounds, 20,000 were invested in the banking and steel industries, with an expected annual return rate fluctuating between 15% and 25%. The remaining 30,000 were for investments in emerging industries.
This was a relatively high-risk wealth investment ratio.
He initially thought about adjusting the investment ratio between the two, but ultimately chose this more aggressive investment approach.
After all, he was very familiar with the upcoming changes in the situation; high risk meant high return.
Back home, Hasturhad the butler Neil prepare a list of current investment projects in various industries of Rune, and also had him recruit two chefs. As for other needed manpower, he left it to Neil to arrange.
It was past ten at night.
Hasturtook a carriage to a bar a distance away from the Roselle Memorial Exhibition to drink.
He planned to act tonight, sneaking into the Roselle Memorial Exhibition to steal the Black Emperor card.
He was already familiar with the nearby routes, having scouted them in advance.
After drinking at the bar until nearly two o'clock, Hasturstaggered out of the bar.
He had sent his family's coachman home earlier and didn't take the carriage, walking drunkenly on the streets.
After walking a distance, he pretended to vomit from drunkenness and turned into a dark alley, then groped his way forward in the darkness.
Unfortunately, his luck wasn't good, as three tails followed him.
They probably had their eyes on him since he was drinking at the bar, seeing him drunk, they wanted to take a risk.
Hasturglanced back; they weren't armed, probably only after money, not his life.
After walking a bit further, Hasturdelved deeper into the alley, and the three followers were eager to make their move.
"It's good, let them be my eyewitnesses tonight."
Hasturhad an idea; if there was an investigation, these three thieves could be useful.
Of course, no one would suspect him.
After turning a corner, Hasturstopped and used the extraordinary ability he gained from the third secret chain, the Path of the Night, to put the three thieves into a deep sleep.
Taking advantage of this, he hurried to the previously marked spot, ready to sneak into the Roselle Memorial Exhibition.
He first hid his body in a concealed place, then set up a wide-range alert rule nearby to avoid any accidents.
Then, quickly in spirit form, he passed through the thick walls to the corner of the Roselle Memorial Exhibition.
His body, like a ghost, merged into the wall, following the route he had previously planned.
During the journey, he saw the members of the Heart of Mechanism guarding the place, but they couldn't see him.
The invisibility spell cast by the secret authority, combined with the established rules, was hard even for Sharon to see through.
His spirit moved unobstructed and soon reached the second floor where Roselle's manuscripts were stored.
The spirit, like a light piece of paper, fell from the wall and then covered the second-floor ground, slowly merging into it.
On the first floor, under the huge crystal chandelier ceiling, an invisible face emerged.
This eerie scene did not attract the attention of the extraordinary person below.
He still held his weapon, occasionally looking at the door, patrolling back and forth, seemingly a bit lax in vigilance.
Indeed, this was the innermost area of the Roselle Memorial Exhibition. If no accident was discovered outside, it was safe here.
Hasturobserved for a while, and other parts of his body materialized from the ceiling, then floated to the glass-covered Roselle desk.
The bookmark, like a child's doodle, was within reach inside the glass cover.
The glass cover couldn't block the spirit form, but the items inside were definitely alarmed, and touching them would trigger the alarm bell.
At that moment, the extraordinary person's gaze turned here, but he couldn't see the spirit, even though it was less than three meters away from him.
His gaze swept past and looked elsewhere.
At this point, the Black Emperor card was already in Hastar's possession because even if discovered, he could directly return to the Hall of Stars. Then from the Hall of Stars back into his own body.
But he wanted to try his extraordinary ability first, to see if he could use the lawyer's pathway to spot flaws, find where the alert mechanism was insufficient, and then avoid the alert, taking the Black Emperor card without alarming anyone.
His eyes fixed on the inside of the glass cover, slowly activating his spiritual power, and a series of light grey silk threads surrounded all the items inside.
Although these silk threads would break upon touch, in the instant they broke, they could alert the guardian of the Roselle Memorial Exhibition.
It was somewhat similar to the infrared detection in movies; once touched, the alarm would sound.
After observing for a while, Hasturfound the flaws in this alert mechanism.
The first flaw: there was a certain gap between the silk threads, and with care, two fingers could pinch out the Black Emperor card.
The second flaw: there was a connection hub in the alert mechanism. If the operation of this hub was blocked, then even if the silk threads were touched, there would be no response, similar to turning off the power.
As a qualified thief, Hasturextended the index and middle fingers of his right hand around the silk threads' obstruction and successfully pinched the Black Emperor card.
Then he withdrew his fingers, successfully taking the Black Emperor card.
Once taken out, he wrapped the Black Emperor card in spirit form, providing it with secrecy to avoid a scene where a bookmark mysteriously floated in mid-air.
After the theft, Hasturglanced back at the patrolling guardian, who still showed no reaction.
His body floated back to the ceiling, merged, and materialized on the second-floor ground.
Then he left the museum easily, following the same route he came.
From sneaking into the museum, to reaching the position of the Roselle Memorial Exhibition, to stealing the Black Emperor card, the entire process did not attract any attention.
Back at his hiding place, to avoid any chance, Hasturthrew the Black Emperor card onto the Hall of Stars, and then the spirit merged back into his body.
He took out a pocket watch from his upper pocket and saw that the entire process from the start of the spirit form to its return had not exceeded three minutes.
"It's really simple."
Hasturwalked out of the alley, came to the side of the three still sleeping unlucky ones, pulled away a certain distance, then lifted the sleep state from them, allowing them to wake up.
In their experience just now, there was no memory of falling asleep. As soon as they saw Hastar's figure moving ahead, they quickly followed.
Hasturstarted to jog ahead, always keeping a certain distance, making it impossible for them to catch up, yet they could still see his silhouette.
When Hasturran from the alley to the street, the three thieves stopped chasing and watched as Hasturhailed a carriage and rode away.
Half an hour later, in the Kingdom Museum, Roselle Memorial Exhibition Hall, the extraordinary person guarding Roselle's study finally noticed that a bookmark seemed to be missing from Roselle's manuscripts.
He couldn't be sure if he remembered wrong, as he had been guarding here, not even letting a mosquito fly in.
Under such circumstances, how could a bookmark disappear for no reason?
But out of caution, he still called other extraordinaries to help confirm.
In the end, they concluded: there was indeed a bookmark among the pile of Roselle manuscripts, a bookmark like a child's doodle.
But now, that bookmark had vanished into thin air.
(End of Chapter)
État de l’alimentation hebdomadaire
-- Classement
Power Stone 
-- Power
stone