She was still outside the villa courtyard!
But before she could react, the entire place lit up. Every single lamp turned on at once, flooding the area with light. She could even see the zombie sharks devouring prey in the underwater display below, every gruesome detail clear as day.
Then came the sound of footsteps—tap tap tap—approaching from within. Jing Shu froze, tense and ready to fight, only to see a short-legged robot toddling over. It was holding up a silver tray with a cigar and an unopened bottle of red wine. In a sweet, childlike voice, it said,
[Welcome home, master.]
[All traps have been closed for you.]
[What can I do for you?]
"What the hell's going on?" Jing Shu frowned. Then something clicked. Could it be that the chip she found earlier was actually the key to this house? Did owning it automatically make her the 'master'? That didn't quite make sense though. What kind of rich guy hides his house key in a safe? What was his goal?
More importantly, where was the so-called rich man now?
Still on guard, she watched the robot closely. If it made any sudden moves, she'd kick its head off without hesitation. After confirming that it had no combat ability, she finally said, "I want, want..."
She scratched her head. Ugh, the pain of being bad at English. Forget it. She wasn't gonna waste time talking to a robot. Better to test if the house really recognized her as its owner.
Since she was cautious as hell and had no plans of dying tonight, Jing Shu sent her five-step snakes ahead as scouts, then released the bees to patrol the perimeter. She put on her helmet and bulletproof jacket, made sure it was safe, and finally dragged Hao Yunlai and two sacks of supplies into the villa's yard.
The robot followed right behind her like a loyal puppy, still holding the cigar and wine aloft. The previous owner must've had this habit. To prevent any... adult content scenes from playing out, Jing Shu covered the robot with a piece of cloth, just in case it had recording functions.
Every few steps, she stopped and sent her snakes ahead to check for traps, scanning every inch of the place.
It didn't take long for the five-step snakes and bees to complete their sweep. The villa only had two floors but covered a massive area. Under her control, they found no hidden cameras or traps. It was actually safe. Still, Jing Shu wasn't about to relax. She sent her Sulfuric Acid Ants to conduct a thorough carpet search, melting through sealed areas and suspicious devices.
After tonight's chaos, her theft and looting skills had leveled up dramatically, and her teamwork was sharper than ever. She was starting to really appreciate the value of those little ants—if only thousands of them hadn't been blown up earlier. It would take days for Yi Hou to reproduce that many again.
From the moment she stepped inside, Jing Shu's jaw dropped. She was shocked. The happiness of rich people was truly beyond imagination.
There was an enormous open-air swimming pool. The walls and floor beneath were transparent, forming an underwater world where she could watch ferocious piranhas and mosaic-censored aquatic creatures up close. Thrilling, right?
Above her hung a massive 100-inch screen playing an old broadcast of an American bikini beach—back when the world still had sunlight.
And beside the pool? A small glass room with a mini fountain. But the fountain didn't spray water. It sprayed thick, rich chocolate! It was positioned perfectly so swimmers could just dip a cup and scoop some mid-swim. Perfection.
Jing Shu didn't even hesitate. She dug up the entire chocolate fountain along with the floor beneath it and stuffed it into her Rubik's Cube Space. It took up 10 cubic meters, but it was worth it. Chocolate was worth a fortune in the apocalypse. Her mouth watered as she swallowed a mouthful of drool. She'd eat it later.
She entered the villa.
The high ceiling made the hall look absurdly luxurious, especially under the glow of the crystal chandelier. Jing Shu quickly climbed up a table and examined it. Real crystal. How much did this cost?
She didn't even think twice. She took the whole damn chandelier apart, keeping a few small pieces in her sack and storing the rest in her space. Crystals weren't just pretty—they were great conductors for new energy tech. Whether she sold them or kept them, they'd be worth a lot.
The dining room walls were lined with huge glass jars filled with rainbow candy, each nearly three meters tall.
After feeding one to her bees and confirming it wasn't poisonous, Jing Shu popped a few in her mouth. Delicious. These had to be the famous, pre-apocalypse rainbow candies sold by the gram. No hesitation—she packed the entire wall's worth into her space, filling another 5 cubic meters. She wouldn't be running out of sugar anytime soon.
Deeper inside, the collection room was overflowing with paintings—hundreds of them—but she didn't care. Art was worthless in the apocalypse.
What did catch her eye was the entire room full of wine. And not cheap stuff either. She took half the collection and stashed it in her space, another 20 cubic meters gone.
There were separate rooms just for clothes, watches, ties, shoes, and shirts. Boring. Jing Shu's eyes, however, sparkled when she found a diamond-encrusted bathtub. She didn't care for the tub itself but pried off every diamond and packed them away.
Then she found the jewelry room—and realized everything before was child's play.
The holographic projection case she'd seen earlier had been real. Inside this room, there were enormous crystal necklaces, diamond and jade rings, and all sorts of luxury pieces, each labeled with a description card. They were probably worth millions before the apocalypse.
Being a woman with a healthy appreciation for shiny things, Jing Shu ruthlessly swept everything into her space. Especially the diamonds. There were too many to count, all now hers.
Then her group chat lit up.
[Snake Spirit]:"Tried it. Within two kilometers, there's not just thermal sensors—anything that moves gets turned into a sieve. I sent in dozens of zombie creatures, not one made it through. Pretty sure there's a sniper system on that tower."
[Ling Ling]:"So the underground route's the only option then. Nobody inside?"
[Old Sheep]:"Empty. Feels like a trap though. Found a spot with supplies but couldn't get in. Guess we're moving to Plan B. The rest's up to @Priest."
[Monkey]: "Can Priest even handle that? He's useless."
[Zhen Nantian]:"Wait."
Jing Shu wiped the sweat off her forehead and went right back to work. She still had a whole villa to strip bare. Whatever else was in here, tonight was already worth the trip.