Special Skill: Sleight of Hand

"Brother..."

Inside the rented room, a little girl on a bed in the corner looked at the boy's back. As if sensing his unease, she forced herself to sit up and said in a weak voice:

"Did you steal something again?"

The boy quickly hid the Star Skill Stone and said with a smile,

"Little sister, you're overthinking it. I promised you before that I wouldn't steal anymore."

The little girl said, slightly angry,

"Then how do you explain the medicine you bought for me?"

"That's the money I earned working as a sparring partner at the Guanghua Star Martial Arts Hall!"

"You're lying to me. I asked Aunt Wang about it, and she said the martial arts hall only recruits sparring partners with a vitality level of 10 or above."

"..."

The boy instantly fell silent, unable to find the words to refute her for a moment.

"Let's give the thing back to them, okay?"

A pleading look appeared in the little girl's eyes as she said fearfully,

"This time is different from before. You've offended a big shot, and you'll die!"

Obviously, she had also sensed the commotion outside.

"I don't want to lose my brother too..."

At this point, her eyes reddened, and tears streamed down her face. She looked utterly heartbroken.

"Little sister, please don't cry!"

Seeing this, the boy panicked and quickly went over to comfort her.

The little girl ignored him and cried even louder. Perhaps aggravating her internal organs, she eventually began to cough violently.

Seeing this, the boy hurriedly patted her back and could only say,

"Okay, I'll return it, I'll return it!"

Hearing this, the little girl finally stopped crying, but with tear stains still on her small face, she stubbornly said,

"Go return it right now!"

"..."

Hearing this, the boy immediately looked hesitant.

Although he didn't know what specific star skill was inside this Star Skill Stone, for it to cause the Federal Government to mobilize such a massive force, it had to be priceless.

If he could sell it, the Alliance Credits he'd get would definitely be enough to cure his sister's chronic illness.

He had thought everything through. Even if he was arrested afterward, trading his life for his sister's would be worth it.

"What are you still thinking about!"

The little girl seemed to see through his thoughts and said with a look of determination,

"If you don't go return it, then I won't live anymore!"

These words instantly shocked the boy. He sighed in his heart and quickly said,

"I'll go return it right now."

With that, he took the Star Skill Stone, turned around, and opened the door.

In an instant,

his body stiffened, and his expression froze as he stood rooted to the spot.

Outside the room stood a handsome and elegant young man looking at him, a faint mocking smile on his lips.

The boy recognized him at a glance; the other party was the owner of the Star Skill Stone!

He never expected that after only two hours, the other party would actually find his location!

Little did he know that the Federal Government and Feiyu Logistics Company had dispatched over a hundred thousand intelligent robots. Even turning the entire Starlight City upside down wouldn't take too long.

"You've got a lot of nerve..."

Lu Xiaobai looked the boy up and down, then stepped straight through the doorway into the narrow room, immediately spotting the little girl lying on the bed.

"What are you doing? Don't go near my sister!"

The boy pulled out a sharp knife, his eyes full of warning.

However, a combat robot instantly appeared behind him and easily subdued him. At the same time, the Star Skill Stone he was carrying fell to the ground.

"You stole my things and still want to attack me? You really do have a lot of nerve."

Lu Xiaobai's face was calm as he leisurely picked up the Star Skill Stone. At the same time, text appeared before his eyes:

[One-Star Quest: Retrieve the lost Star Skill Stone completed]

[Reward obtained: Starry Sky Point * 1]

The corners of his mouth curled up, and his mood improved significantly.

Now that the Star Skill Stone was recovered and he had gained a Starry Sky Point, it was considered an extra harvest.

He surveyed the cramped rented room and casually walked over to a wooden table in the corner, upon which lay a broken, low-grade chip phone.

Lu Xiaobai casually turned it on, and surprisingly, there was a photo of him on it, with text recorded underneath:

[Stole a Star Skill Stone from this person, value unknown]

He raised an eyebrow and continued to scroll back, finding that he wasn't the only victim.

A moment later, he turned off the phone, looked at the subdued boy, and said indifferently,

"What? Recording your battle achievements so you can show off to others later?"

"..."

The boy lowered his head but didn't speak, as if he had already accepted his fate.

"My brother wanted to pay them back in the future."

At this moment, the little girl on the bed forced herself up. With tears on her face, she said in a pleading tone,

"Big brother, please let my brother go. He's not a bad person. It's all because of me. He only stole from others because he wanted to cure my illness. It's all because of me."

"Hmm?"

Lu Xiaobai glanced at the little girl and noticed her weakness. He said in surprise,

"Medical treatment isn't expensive these days. Is there a need to steal?"

Technology was extremely advanced nowadays. Various intractable diseases of the past could easily be cured, and there was no longer any such thing as a terminal illness. Moreover, the prices were extremely cheap, easily affordable even for the poor.

Although he was a direct descendant of the transcendent Lu family, he had lived on the Ancestral Planet for a long time and was very clear about the consumption levels of the lower class, which was why he could speak so certainly.

"I'm not sick. I have a congenital deficiency in vitality. My level has always been only 0.1."

The little girl sighed and said self-blamingly,

"If I want to survive, I have to constantly take supplements containing star energy substances."

"There's such a thing?"

Lu Xiaobai looked surprised. Level 0.1 was the vitality standard of an infant!

If that was really the case, then it indeed couldn't be cured by medicine. It could only be managed by constantly taking supplements.

"I beg you to let my brother go. If you really want to hold someone accountable, I can pay with my life for his!"

With a pleading look on her face, the little girl struggled to get up, wanting to kneel down.

Lu Xiaobai frowned slightly and stopped her movements. Then he turned to look at the boy and said slowly,

"Do you know that the Star Skill Stone you stole is worth more than a hundred million? If this really goes to the Federal Court, you'll spend the rest of your life mining on some planet!"

Hearing this, the boy's face instantly turned pale. His body trembled, and his eyes were filled with fear.

He wasn't afraid for his own future, but because once he was exiled to mine, there would be no one to take care of his sister, and her fate would likely be extremely miserable.

A moment later, he raised his head, his eyes filled with begging, and said,

"This is my own doing, and I am willing to accept all the consequences. But before going to the Federal Court, I want to make a deal with you!"

Lu Xiaobai was slightly startled and said indifferently,

"Hmm? You want me to let you go?"

The boy shook his head and said,

"I want to buy a Life Fruit from you to save my sister's life!"

"Life Fruit?"

Lu Xiaobai looked surprised, then said in an eccentric tone:

"Do you know the value of a Fruit of Life? It is the raw material for making Life Potions, and the market price of a single Life Potion is a million Alliance Coins!"

"I know!"

The boy had already looked into the market price, but he still spoke in a firm tone:

"I believe what I have is enough to buy a Fruit of Life!"

"Oh?"

A hint of curiosity appeared in Lu Xiaobai's eyes.

He wanted to know exactly what the boy had that could be worth such a fortune. If he really had something that valuable, would he still need to resort to stealing?

The boy said nothing more. Instead, he glanced at the combat robots in the room, clearly wanting them to leave.

Lu Xiaobai frowned slightly. After a brief moment of thought, he motioned for the robots to exit the room.

These were the Federal Government's robots, and they would record everything that happened at the scene.

"I hope you don't do anything stupid."

His expression was calm as a laser gun gleaming with a cold metallic light appeared in his hand, serving as an obvious warning.

The boy remained silent. He turned and walked over to his little sister's bed.

"Brother, you..."

"It's no use for us to keep this."

The boy sighed. He crouched down and pulled a small wooden box from under the bed. Surprisingly, he took out a white bead from inside.

"Hmm? A Star Skill Stone?!"

Lu Xiaobai's expression shifted slightly, a touch of astonishment in his eyes.

"This is my family's ancestral Star Skill Stone!"

"What Star Skill?"

The boy didn't answer right away. A conflicted look flickered in his eyes before he finally spoke a long moment later:

"A special skill used for stealing."

Hearing this, Lu Xiaobai spoke instantly, without the slightest hesitation:

"Sleight of Hand?!"