"Incredible..."
"So beautiful..."
"What a dazzling 'Heart of the South' diamond..."
At this moment, Catarina Devon was like a wide-eyed rustic, her heart filled with nothing but awe and shock. Her gaze never once left the treasures displayed on the mahogany shelves.
Had she not maintained a shred of reason, limiting her wonder to hushed whispers, she would have surely alerted the metal gargoyles perched upon the nearby stone pillars long ago.
However, were it not for Daren pulling her back into the shadows time and time again, she would have already been discovered by the patrolling stone-golem knights.
Just as Catarina Devon remained lost in the sea of treasures, Daren frowned, scanning his surroundings. He muttered to himself, "I have a bad feeling about this... it's as if someone is watching us!"
Yet, after a careful inspection, he realized the nearest ten-meter stone pillar was still dozens of meters away. The metal gargoyles atop them could not see this far, and the nearby squads of stone-golem knights only patrolled the perimeter of the Treasure Zone, rarely venturing deep inside.
As for the surveillance Den Den Mushi, they were positioned only at the corners of the ceiling, unable to overlook this dark corner. As for the red-eyed owls, due to the height of the ceiling, they were only stationed at the entrance.
Daren grabbed Catarina Devon, who was yearning to return to her trance among the treasures. She turned back, her greedy eyes locking onto Daren, and growled in a low, raspy voice, "I must... I must get all of these things out of here!"
Daren didn't speak. He simply gripped her shoulder firmly. The finest treasures of Aeridar's vault were concentrated here, and the woman had been completely bedazzled by this hoard worth billions of berries, unable to pull herself away.
But Daren knew this was part of a trap. If an intruder became obsessed with these riches, they would likely overlook the surrounding surveillance and guards, easily alerting the living bio-guards or being caught by the Den Den Mushi.
And once discovered, the consequences for the intruder would be self-evident.
It would not only draw the living bio-guards defending the vault into a siege but would also attract the master of this vault, a terrifying monster with strength rivaling a Marine Admiral or a Yonko of the New World.
Of course, while that monster was currently engaged in battle with another powerhouse and was not present, Daren had no intention of alerting anyone prematurely. After all, stationed above them in the Palace Entertainment City was a Commander-level powerhouse of the Chris Pirates.
"Are you trying to get yourself killed?"
Daren glared at Catarina Devon coldly, his voice dark and chilling.
At once, seeing the icy look in Daren's eyes, Catarina Devon snapped back to reality.
"Damn it! What am I doing?"
Recalling her previous state and actions, she broke into a cold sweat, a wave of lingering fear washing over her.
According to the intelligence provided by this man, the entire vault was riddled with traps and guarded by over a thousand living bio-constructs. While most were stone-based, there were more than fifty of the far more troublesome metal-based entities.
Most importantly, stationed in the Palace Entertainment City above was the Second Commander of the Chris Pirates, the Mighty Cook, Hariel Gorbo.
This man was arguably the most low-profile commander in the Chris Pirates. Unless a faction had exceptional intelligence, they wouldn't even know his name. Yet, he was a trusted confidant of Golden Ring Aeridar, responsible for guarding the Palace Entertainment City year-round and serving as the Chief Warden of the vault.
Moreover, while Hariel Gorbo was low-key, his strength was immense. In the few instances he had taken action, he had dispatched his enemies cleanly and efficiently. The most powerful pirate to ever cause a disturbance there, a man with a bounty of 480 million berries, was finished off in under twenty minutes.
Therefore, neither Daren nor Catarina Devon wanted to alert this monster until the gold and silver mountains had been hauled away.
"Good, you're awake."
Daren's expression softened slightly as he saw the clarity return to her eyes. He glanced around and said in a low voice, "Let's get to work. First, we clear out these living constructs, then we jam the surveillance Den Den Mushi and sedate the red-eyed owls."
"This is an experimental product I obtained from a World Government secret laboratory: H-13, a high-melting-point super-acid. A single drop can corrode ten square meters of stone or one square meter of steel into nothingness within ten seconds. Equipped with a spray nozzle, we can secretly dissolve all of these living guards with it."
As he spoke, Daren pulled two arm-thick devices resembling large hypodermic needles from his pack. The half-meter-long transparent tubes featured a yellow skull emblem and were filled with an unidentified, ink-green liquid.
Gulp…
Catarina Devon swallowed hard, accepting the needle-like device from Daren's hand with trepidation.
One drop! Ten seconds! Ten square meters of stone or one square meter of steel completely dissolved!
"Damn, are the World Government's scientists monsters? What kind of twisted stuff are they studying all day?"
Following that, Daren pulled out a few bizarre grey Den Den Mushi, two perfume-bottle-sized spray canisters, and two gas masks.
"What are those things?"
Catarina Devon pointed at the items, her mouth twitching.
"These are Jammers. They can interfere with and pause the surveillance feed of the Den Den Mushi within a certain range!" Daren explained, pointing to the four grey Den Den Mushi before gesturing to the other items. "These two bottles contain a potent sedative that can instantly knock out the red-eyed owls. As for the gas masks, they're to keep us from breathing in the fumes!"
Catarina Devon stared at Daren in astonishment. "These things... don't tell me they all came from the World Government?"
It was no wonder she thought that; the H-13 acid, the Jammers, and the potent sedative were not things one could just stumble upon.
Hearing this, Daren paused, a subtle curve forming on his lips. He said coolly, "Fine. Since it has come to this, I won't hide it. I am a CP0 agent, codenamed 'Wanderer,' acting under the secret orders of the Celestial Dragon Saint Gustav to deal with the Chris Pirates from the shadows!"
"You're CP0!!!"
Catarina Devon was shocked. She hadn't expected him to hold such an identity.
Daren glanced at the stunned woman and pulled on his gas mask. His voice came out muffled, "Although this operation will not be officially acknowledged by the World Government, rest assured in our partnership. If we are discovered by the one above us during our retreat, powerful reinforcements will be there to provide us with support!"
With that, Daren picked up half of the equipment from the ground and began to move forward in a crouch, leaving Catarina Devon crouching in place, her expression shifting between uncertainty and intensity.
Suddenly, Daren stopped after a few steps. He turned back, a ghost of an expression on his face, and whispered, "A little bonus information for you: Celestial Dragon Saint Gustav has a personal vendetta against Golden Ring Aeridar. This is his private operation."
"Also, my surname... is Dasco!"
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