"Alright, be careful out there," Jing Shu said.
Everyone knew Yang Yang was kind of useless—he couldn't lift anything, never carried luggage, and his ability was still a mystery. But since it was rated A+, even if he couldn't drag a full-grown man like Hao Yunlai around, he should at least be able to protect himself, right?
Jing Shu didn't waste time arguing. She grabbed Hao Yunlai and started moving.
"Hao Yunlai? You asleep? Can you hear me?" she called a few times, but there was no response. He'd completely passed out.
To keep her plan running smoothly, she stuffed him into a black sack and dragged him along. It saved her the trouble of carrying him, and it kept him from seeing anything he shouldn't. Besides, in his current state, he was just a fat lamb waiting for slaughter.
Other than the rich guy Qian Duoduo, this was the second time Jing Shu had seen a real luxury residence up close. Judging from the scale, this place seemed even fancier than Qian Duoduo's, though a bit smaller—well, maybe not that small after all.
The estate's architecture was a wild mix—European-style buildings next to high-tech towers, sleek glass villas gleaming with futuristic shine. Each building had its own courtyard and walls, all connected by transparent tempered-glass walkways.
Overall, it was a hollow complex suspended above an underwater world. Jing Shu had no idea how the foundations worked, but what she really cared about was whether there were any hidden treasures below.
"Smells like money," she muttered.
"My time's running out, I need to move fast."
Blue ground lights lined the edges of the walkway, bright enough to watch the sea creatures below fighting and tearing each other apart.
The rich man's private territory wasn't exactly peaceful either. Noises echoed in the distance—who knew if anyone had noticed their intrusion?
They'd actually managed to sneak into the garden of a man said to have never once been assassinated successfully. After Hao Yunlai cleared the guards near the exit, no one else had come after them. Was this really supposed to be top-tier security?
Jing Shu rubbed her nose. "Did Yang Yang exaggerate a bit? All that talk about thermal imaging within two kilometers, was that even real? If it's this easy, sneaking in feels kinda stupid."
Yang Yang soon vanished into the darkness, heading toward the tech building he'd mentioned.
Jing Shu wasn't planning to leave empty-handed. She dragged Hao Yunlai toward another direction. That spot looked promising—like a private treasure vault.
"Hmm? A bowling alley?" She sighed in disappointment and moved on to the next one. No wonder no one was there—it was useless.
"This one's… an indoor golf range."
She marked her route with a pen while half-jogging between buildings. Ten minutes had passed and she'd already checked over ten open rooms. Everything was spotless, clearly cleaned daily, yet not a single person in sight. The whole place was eerily quiet and empty.
"Alright then, time for you guys to draw me a map," she muttered.
She summoned hundreds of poison bees, the second generation she'd cultivated. Their genes were stronger, their stingers deadlier, and they were twice the size of the originals. They worked as both honey gatherers and guards, though they made a lot of noise while flying and had a control range of only about one kilometer. Anything farther, and she'd stop receiving their feedback.
That meant they'd keep acting on orders, but she'd have no idea what was happening.
Next, she released over thirty five-step snakes. They were much quieter, but since the ground here was made of glass and lined with bright lights, their camouflage wasn't great. They could be exposed at any time. Still, since there didn't seem to be any guards left, it wasn't too risky.
Finally, she sent out Sulfuric Acid Ants. Tiny, quick, and easy to overlook, they could come in handy when things got tricky.
Once her small army was deployed, Jing Shu sat in a corner, eyes closed, collecting all the data flowing back to her from every direction. Bit by bit, a detailed map formed in her mind.
But then, some of the bees and snakes started losing contact. Soon, even the Sulfuric Acid Ants began dropping out. That made her frown. These were her core scouts, and they hadn't sent any warning signals—they'd just vanished mid-movement.
Puzzled, she dragged Hao Yunlai toward the area where most of the poison bees had disappeared. It was an unremarkable three-story villa, eerily quiet, the door still wide open. Inside, faint light revealed a lavish interior, with glass display cases filling the hall.
Even from afar, she could make out a few of the items inside—maybe a dozen or so, all glittering under the light. Jing Shu swallowed hard. "Holy shit, do rich people really just leave their treasures lying around like that?"
Some looked like jewelry, others like bottled liquids, and a few she couldn't even identify. But anything locked in a glass case like that had to be worth a fortune.
Still, the open door didn't sit right with her. Wait, wasn't this the house where all the bees vanished?
She narrowed her eyes and ordered a few more to fly in. They'd barely crossed the threshold when a red flash sliced through the air, instantly chopping the bees into pieces.
Those bees were barely bigger than fingernails—and they were cut clean in seconds. Too brutal. Only then did she notice the floor littered with tiny corpses, not just bees but all kinds of insects.
"So there were traps. No wonder they disappeared. Dying that fast, they didn't even have time to send a signal."
Jing Shu rested her chin in her hand, eyeing the villa. She sent in more of her first-generation bees to search for gaps, and even dispatched Sulfuric Acid Ants to crawl through crevices. "Come on, there's no way modern tech's so advanced that not even a mosquito can get through."
She also tried tossing bits of iron and steel inside. Without fail, within seconds, the red light sliced them into glowing pieces. The heat must've been insanely high.
No wonder there were no guards. Who'd need them with a setup like this?
Jing Shu wanted to leave, but those glittering treasures kept pulling her gaze back.
She hesitated, teeth clenched, the temptation gnawing at her.