Chapter 8: The Operation Begins!
"An advance notice... the Phantom Thief Kaitou Kid," Amiya murmured, her lips curling into a sly smile as she gazed at the Ocean's Heart necklace before her. "I think tomorrow will be quite the spectacle, don’t you agree, Mill?"
"Of course, Your Highness. However... given the tight schedule, I’m still a bit worried someone might notice the replica..."
Amiya carefully pocketed the Ocean's Heart and pondered for a moment. "Then let’s do this—tonight, arrange for someone to slightly blur the glass of the exhibition case. With a faint layer of distortion, unless someone is intimately familiar with the Ocean's Heart, they won’t be able to tell the difference."
Mill considered the idea and nodded in agreement. "Understood, Your Highness. But I have another question. You’ve already stationed guards to watch over the Ocean's Heart, and with the assistance of the Chinese pursuit team, why take this extra precaution?"
"When traveling abroad, it’s always wise to have an additional safety net. Better to have it and not need it than the other way around," Amiya replied with a knowing smile.
Mill nodded, offering no further objections.
"Now, Mill, stop standing there. Come, help me put on the Ocean's Heart. Tomorrow, I’ll personally witness the legendary Phantom Thief Kaitou Kid in action."
"At once, Your Highness."
"Tell me, Mill, if that Phantom Thief Kaitou Kid truly manages to evade everyone’s eyes and steal the Ocean's Heart, only to realize it’s a fake... what kind of expression do you think he’ll make?"
"I imagine his face would be absolutely priceless!"
"My thoughts exactly..."
...
In front of his computer screen, Chen Feng removed his headphones, having obtained the information he needed.
Glancing at the time, he noted how late it had gotten. He had no interest in invading a lady’s privacy—such behavior was far from gentlemanly.
Closing his laptop, Chen Feng lay back on his bed, meticulously reviewing the details of tomorrow’s operation. A faint smirk tugged at his lips.
"Miss Amiya, you truly are an intriguing woman."
...
Time flowed steadily, and before long, it was 9 PM the following evening.
With just one hour left until the time specified in Kaitou Kid’s notice, crowds of "Thief Game" viewers had flocked to the exhibition site, some even traveling from other cities just to see if Chen Feng could deliver on his promise.
The show’s producers had thoughtfully streamed Chen Feng’s live feed directly into the exhibition hall, causing the viewership to skyrocket. In no time, the live audience surpassed 300,000.
The host, Xixi, had also been dispatched to the venue.
"Hello, everyone in the livestream! This is the live broadcast of 'Thief Game: China Region 3,' and I’m your host, Xixi."
"Like many of you watching, I’m eagerly awaiting Chen Feng’s arrival."
"His astonishing magic tricks have left us in awe before. What surprises does he have in store for us this time? With only an hour left until 10 PM, let’s all stay tuned!"
As Xixi spoke, the barrage of comments in the livestream never ceased.
"It’s already 9 PM! Why hasn’t Chen Feng shown up yet? Is he chickening out?"
"Who asked you? There’s still an hour left—are you in a hurry to catch your spouse cheating or something? Or do you think you won’t survive the next hour? Chill out!"
"Exactly! If Feng said he’d come at 10, he’ll be here at 10. Mind your own business."
"Who the hell are you calling out, you bastard?"
"Whoever responds first!"
"Screw you! You dare drop your address? I’ll come find you right now!"
"Bring it on! I live at City, County, Neighborhood! Come at me if you’ve got the guts!"
"You little punk, just you wait!"
...
Meanwhile, Chen Feng, disguised as a young man, quietly entered the exhibition hall, surveying his surroundings.
Unsurprisingly, the number of "special guests" had increased significantly compared to the previous day.
The Ocean's Heart display was under heavy guard—four burly men from Lorqing Country stood watch with steel batons, barring anyone from approaching.
Chen Feng remained inconspicuous, scanning the area for his target.
Before long, his gaze settled on two Lorqing Country repairmen in work uniforms stationed near the west side.
"Man, what rotten luck! Why did we have to pull duty tonight? All because of that damn Chinese thief—he just had to strike during our shift! Now I can’t even slack off properly!"
One of them, Lyle, grumbled in frustration.
"Shh! Keep it down, Lyle! What if someone hears you?" his companion, Caris, warned in a hushed tone.
Lyle waved him off. "Relax, Caris. We’re speaking Lorqingese—they can’t understand us."
"Still, better safe than sorry," Caris insisted.
Lyle gave up arguing and glanced around before nudging Caris with his elbow.
"Hey, since it’s still early, how about we sneak off to the restroom for a smoke?"
"Now?" Caris hesitated. "If we’re caught abandoning our post, we’re dead!"
"Come on!" Lyle pressed. "Those lazy slugs in the surveillance room are probably playing cards anyway. They won’t even notice!"
Tempted, Caris wavered but ultimately shook his head. "Nah, you go ahead. I’ll stay."
Lyle sighed. "Fine. But don’t rat me out, alright?"
"Do I look like a snitch to you?"
"Good. See you in a bit."
With that, Lyle set down his toolbox and, ensuring no one was watching, hurried toward the restroom.
"That Caris... no wonder he hasn’t gotten promoted in three years—too damn timid."
Once inside a stall, Lyle muttered under his breath before eagerly pulling out a cigarette.
Four hours without a smoke was unbearable for a seasoned smoker like him!
"Never tried Chinese cigarettes before," he mused, his craving intensifying as he held the cigarette between his fingers.
But reality struck hard the next second.
"Dammit! No lighter!" Lyle cursed under his breath, reluctantly stepping out of the stall—only to nearly collide with a young man in a checkered shirt and sunglasses.
Spotting a potential savior, Lyle’s hope reignited. He fumbled through his limited Mandarin, gesturing animatedly.
"Friend... I... you... help..."
His comical pantomime seemed to work.
The young man reached into his pocket and pulled out a lighter. "You need this?"
young master of the Shen family—a figure of immense power and wealth beyond measure—and awakened the "Destined Ultimate Villain System"! His starting scenario? Running into his icy fiancée who shows up with a mountain-descending divine doctor to break off their engagement. The divine doctor arrogantly taunts: "What does your Shen family have besides a bit of stinking money? You're not even worthy of tying Qingxue's shoelaces!" Shen Fei just smiled. He completely defied the usual script: "Fine, I agree to break off the engagement. Also, notify the finance department to withdraw all investments from the Su family." Minutes later, with its capital chain severed, the Su Group teetered on the brink of bankruptcy! The once aloof and proud ice queen CEO was thrown into utter panic. That very night, she went to Shen Fei's villa, casting aside all dignity to beg and plead desperately... From then on, in this world teeming with Sons of Destiny, Shen Fei embarked on a path of extreme dimensional suppression! A mountain-descending divine doctor? Peerless medical skills? Shen Fei: "Reporting you for practicing medicine without a license! I'll gladly take your ancient medicinal cauldron and twin sister assassins." The Crooked-Smiling Dragon King? Commanding a hundred thousand soldiers with a single order? Shen Fei: "Illegal assembly and suspected treason! Let a fleet of attack helicopters sanitize the area and teach you what the state apparatus really means!" A reborn tycoon? Knows all the golden opportunities of the next decade? Shen Fei: "A trillion in capital to reverse and pump the stock market, making you blow your margin and jump on the very first day of your rebirth!" What Chosen Ones? What bearers of Heavenly Fortune? In Shen Fei's eyes, they're all just chives (i.e., suckers/marks) waiting to be harvested! Shen Fei: "Sorry, but as the Destined Ultimate Villain, I don't play by the rules of honor. I only play the game of dimensional suppression."
ions, keeping it grounded and realistic】 After quitting his job, office worker Su Yang accidentally binds with the "Enjoy Life System." As the name suggests, simply by indulging in life's pleasures, he can earn random rewards from the system—no need to spend money on beautiful women or grovel before anyone. Just enjoy, and the money follows, making it all about effortless fun. The system comes with a scanning feature, allowing him to establish a favorability bond with women rated 85 points or above. Every 20-point increase in favorability unlocks additional rewards. After suffering through over twenty years of hardship, Su Yang trembles with excitement, his dull eyes suddenly gleaming with newfound hope. "Enjoy life? How hard could that be?"
] [Lone Wolf, No Male Gaze] [Protagonist is pursued early on; extreme protagonist-stans, stay away!] The "Carnival Paradise" descends and slowly devours the real world in the form of a game. By chance, Zhu Yan awakens the talent [Roleplay], becoming one of the first beta players. He thought he could develop safely, but after clearing the first instance, he is branded by humanity as the chief culprit behind the game's spread—a traitorous villain. A villain? Who would ever... become one! He'll be the villain! From then on, Zhu Yan is not only a player but also a lackey for the Carnival Paradise. Between the straight path and the crooked path, he chooses the con. With his left hand, he dons the villain's mantle, staging scenes within instances, infuriating players who decry him as a despicable traitor, all while the game happily promotes him. With his right hand, he joins the non-human organization "Fangcun Mountain," which opposes the Carnival Paradise, transforming into a mysterious player who slaughters game bosses, earning cheers of "Long live the expert!" from fellow players. Gradually, Zhu Yan rises to become an S-rank human player in Fangcun Mountain's archives, while also being the Carnival Paradise's certified top game Boss. But when the final war erupts and both major factions place their hopes in him— Players tag his various aliases: "Experts, this offensive depends on you." The Carnival Paradise's supreme Boss throws an arm around his neck: "Bro, you're the iron, I'm the steel; you can't let me down again!"
he colors of other people’s emotions. Light red meant anxiety. Gray meant exhaustion. Orange meant excitement. Yellow... meant repression. At the same time, he could gain unlimited control over one of those colors. Pale cyan: relaxation. Using this ability, he started offering “two-yuan hugs,” spending an afternoon exchanging emotional-color experiences with others. Then came his final female customer of the day— a girl whose emotional color was pure black... —— A week later, Xu Chuan had become skilled at using pale cyan—Relaxation—treating it like a bottle of menthol balm whenever he needed it. That was when he discovered he had unlocked another unlimited emotional color: Purple, the color of fear. So these emotional colors refresh every week? Fine, I take it back—I’ll never call you useless again... —— Much later, after Xu Chuan had accumulated countless emotional abilities, one night, he suddenly found himself inside someone else’s dream. There, he could use the emotional colors he possessed to paint. And in her dream, he painted her a shower of pink shooting stars, spreading across the depths of the night sky...
