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Chapter 088 The God Thief

The preparation time in the Hall was short.

Until all the players entered the Dungeon, Ling Mo was still recovering from the surprising discovery.

However, Xia Xinyan reacted quickly; after entering the Dungeon, she immediately began to observe her surroundings.

It was a large shed.

It looked incredibly shabby, with walls that hadn’t even been painted, exposing red bricks covered in who-knows-how-many layers of dust, and a putrid stench filled the air from a pile of junk inside—various signs indicated this was not a good place.

All players spawned right in the middle of the shed, and besides the players, there was someone they hadn’t seen in the preparation Hall standing in front of them.

It seemed to be an NPC.

At the same time, the Dungeon’s introduction and mission appeared before all players—

【Battle Zone: The God Thief】

【Difficulty: Medium】

【Time Flow Rate: 1x】

【Introduction: The strongest thief organization in City S is preparing to carry out an important operation…】

【Current Task: Go to the Divine Dragon Building in City S and steal the ‘Iron Battle Armor’】

【Important News: The owner of the Divine Dragon Building, Mr. S, has detected some important information…】

Xia Xinyan slightly furrowed her brows.

From the mission description, it seemed they were playing that thief organization, but what could the information in the news signify?

For now, she set those thoughts aside and looked at the NPC in front of her.

“Silence!” The NPC stood in front of a table, scanning everyone with a serious expression before speaking gravely, “I’m sure everyone knows what our target is—The Iron Battle Armor. Trust me, if we can get it, everyone will have enough money to spend their entire lives! If we succeed, this will be our last job. We can then disappear and enjoy our luxurious later years! If we fail… this will also be our last job because we won’t live to see another day.”

After pausing for a moment, he placed two boxes on the table and opened them for the players: “These are the tools needed for this mission, one set for each of you.”

There wasn’t much in there; just a wristband, a pair of gloves, and a mobile phone for each person.

Before they could figure out what these items were for, the NPC continued, “Alright, now that we have our gear, next…”

Before he could finish, a sudden siren blared from outside the shed.

Before everyone could react, a series of gunshots followed—The wooden doors of the shed couldn’t withstand the bullets and were instantly turned into a beehive, causing the bullets to burst through and blow the poor NPC’s head off.

Bullets, glowing red as they left their paths, swiftly struck his temple, erupting a spray of clear water from the other side of his head, and just like that, he vanished in a flash of white light, his expression still one of shock.

The ensuing bullets didn’t even seem to affect the players down below, drifting harmlessly above the shed, although it sure made them all confused.

Xia Xinyan was the first to snap back to reality; she quickly grabbed Ling Mo and turned to flee toward another door: “Run!”

She wasn’t actually scared by the scene; she had guessed this would happen the moment the sirens went off.

She was too familiar with this trope.

It meant the players’ safe buffer zone for familiarizing themselves with the Dungeon environment was over; the real Dungeon was only just beginning.

The shed had two large doors, and the cops had barged in through the south door… No, it wasn’t even a proper invasion; they were just spraying bullets wildly from outside, meaning the north door was clearly their escape route.

The north door was slightly ajar, leading out into a narrow alley. Outside was the dark night, and it was raining—an annoying weather and an equally annoying plot.

All the other players soon caught on and followed Xia Xinyan to escape the shed, but once out, choosing which way to navigate the narrow alley became a problem.

Left or right, it felt like a trap either way.

After hesitating for a few seconds, someone suddenly pointed at the end of the left alley and shouted, “Could that car be prepared for us?!”

At the end of the left alley was a black jeep, clearly visible, seeming almost like a blatant invitation.

Upon hearing this, everyone eagerly rushed towards it, wanting to hop in and escape, no matter where they ended up; it was crucial to find a safe spot first to sort out their Dungeon clues.

The plump guy wanted to follow as well, but after a few steps, he noticed Ling Mo and Xia Xinyan hadn’t moved, so he turned around to ask, “What’s wrong? Why aren’t you going?”

Ling Mo instinctively looked at Xia Xinyan.

He listened to her.

Xia Xinyan then turned and headed in the opposite direction: “Too many people will be easy targets; we’ll split up from them.”

Ling Mo didn’t say a word and followed her.

Bai Yu stood beside the plump guy, watching their retreating figures: “What should we do?”

“… Stick with them,” the plump guy bit his lip and decided to follow suit.

No matter what, familiar teammates were more reliable than a random team.

However, they hadn’t made it very far when they heard screams and shouts erupting from behind.

Turning around, they saw that those who had run towards the shouting had never even left the alley before being cornered by a group of police, resulting in a chaotic scene.

The plump guy perked up: “Ha! Looks like this way is the right path!”

Although it felt a bit immoral to find joy in others’ suffering…

But it was still entertaining.

Unfortunately, he hadn’t revelled in the joy for more than a few seconds when a group of over ten fully armed police officers surged into the alley they were about to reach…

“Damn, a total indiscriminate massacre!” the plump guy cursed under his breath, panicking, “This is way too intense from the start?! What about Old Ling?!”

He thought about throwing a punch.

But how? These cops had guns!

Were they really going to die right at the beginning?

“Get behind me!” Ling Mo reacted almost instantly, pulling Xia Xinyan behind him. He then raised his right arm, where countless white lines appeared from thin air, magically constructing a huge shield in mere seconds that protected everyone behind it.

The police on the other side seemed to have cooperated, waiting until they were ready before slowly raising their guns to fire.

A torrent of bullets rained down on the shield, shaking Ling Mo’s arm painfully. He gritted his teeth, enduring the pain as he moved forward, asking through clenched teeth: “Do you guys have a way to take them out?!”

The plump guy was in disbelief: “I…I can’t do it!”

He could unleash a powerful attack that would guarantee wiping out all the cops, but it would most likely take them down with him. Not attacking meant he’d have to take Ling Mo’s place in the front to strike without hitting anyone else—he’d rather not become a shooting target.

But he couldn’t even do that.

So here he was, feeling frustrated with all this pent-up strength he couldn’t use.

And he was scared.

—Could anyone blame him?! Ling Mo’s shield was ringing like it was about to perform a symphony! If that shield broke, they’d all become a fine Swiss cheese.

“Old Ling! How long can you hold up?!”

“I can’t last much longer! So come up with something quick!”

The plump guy immediately looked to Bai Yu: “Do you have any ideas?”

“I… I can’t,” Bai Yu shook his head helplessly.

The plump guy fell into despair.

Oh man, dying right at the beginning.

Nope, damn it, they couldn’t go out like this; if worse comes to worst, he’d take one for the team!

Just as he braced himself for a suicidal gamble, Xia Xinyan’s voice suddenly rang out—

“Mo Mo, move a bit closer; I’ll take care of them.”

The plump guy paused, instinctively glanced over.

Then he saw a cat girl.

…Though her tail looked a bit odd.

Damn it, he felt jealous again.

Why didn’t he have a girlfriend like that?