"Bang bang!"
Suddenly, the short metal stick in Matt's hand struck the two oncoming figures. Maybe they were stunned by the bright red glow coming off his body. Before they had a chance to react, Matt knocked them out cold.
But the damage was already done. Their shouts had echoed through the halls, and now Matt could hear more footsteps closing in. Just as he considered slipping away and hiding again, a voice shouted from ahead, "There he is! He's glowing! Catch that guy!"
Matt sighed, knowing escape was no longer an option. He gripped his metal baton tightly and rushed forward to face them head-on.
Listening to the chaos from his communicator, Robert knew Matt had succeeded in drawing the enemies' attention.
"Time to move," Robert whispered to himself and began running up the stairs.
With Matt serving as the perfect glowing distraction, most of the enemy ninjas were chasing him. This gave Robert the perfect opportunity not only to search for Erica, but also—more importantly—to loot the place for valuables. His goal: steal 30 million USD worth of treasures.
That fluorescent powder? It was all part of Robert's plan. A glowing Daredevil made for the perfect decoy.
On the 14th floor, as Robert burst through the stairwell door, a ninja in black uniform rushed at him with a katana. But Robert spun aside, quickly pulling out a tranquilizer gun and firing a dart into the ninja's thigh. The man dropped to the ground with a thud.
Robert pressed a pistol against the fallen ninja's head. "Where's all the treasure?"
The dart hadn't knocked the man out completely, but he was groggy. Blinking, he stared at Robert in disbelief. Clearly, he hadn't expected that question.
"Ba...ga..."
Robert knocked him out cold with the butt of his gun.
"Speak English," Robert muttered, rifling through the man's pockets. "Seriously? Not even a wallet?"
Still, there was a katana lying nearby. He checked it with his game system: [Estimated value: $5,000].
"Nice."
Robert tossed the katana into a large sack he was carrying and moved on.
Every room he entered, Robert scanned for anything valuable. If the game system pinged it as worthy, into the sack it went. Paintings, statues, weapons—nothing was safe. By the time he finished sweeping the floor, his sack was half full.
[Progress: $140,000 / $30,000,000]
"Seriously? This much and I haven't even cracked 200K yet?"
Robert sighed and headed to the 15th floor. He ignored anything cheap, only grabbing the best of the best. Eventually, his sack got too full, and he started tossing out lower-value items to make room. Even that katana he picked up earlier didn't make the cut.
He worked his way through two more floors.
"Did you find her yet?" Matt's voice came through the communicator, tired and strained.
"Not yet. Still looking. Can you keep going?"
Matt didn't respond right away. Then came a deep breath. "I think so. But don't take too long."
"Roger that."
Robert ran up to the 18th floor. As soon as he pushed the stairwell door open, he spotted five faint souls in the dark. They were ninjas, hiding in corners, weapons drawn. He tried to move quietly, but the sack over his shoulder made a rustling sound that gave him away.
The ninjas stepped out of the shadows, eyes locking on the bulging sack over Robert's shoulder.
"Is... Is he robbing us?"
They didn't wait for an answer. In perfect sync, the five red-clad ninjas lunged. Their blades gleamed under the hallway lights.
Robert didn't flinch. Instead, he pulled out a cylindrical object and tossed it into the air.
"Flashbang!"
A bright white light exploded in the hallway. The ninjas screamed and dropped to the floor, temporarily blinded and disoriented.
Robert blinked away the tears from his eyes and whispered, "That was for you, Gandalf."
He stepped over the fallen bodies and continued his search.
His sack was almost full again, but he wasn't done yet. The floor had several locked rooms. He kicked open one and found a hidden safe behind a wall panel. Jackpot.
He checked the contents: rows of gold bars, cash bundles, and antique jewelry.
[Estimated value: $4,600,000]
Robert's eyes lit up. "Now we're talking."
He stuffed everything he could into his sack. When it was too full, he began loading up his coat pockets and even his sleeves.
Back on the lower floors, Matt was starting to slow down. Every muscle in his body ached. Dozens of ninjas had tried to take him down, and he had fought them all off while glowing like a carnival sign.
"Robert," he said through gritted teeth, "I swear if you're filling that sack instead of saving Erica..."
"I found something useful," Robert replied cheerfully. "Almost there!"
Matt groaned, just as another ninja charged him.
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