Master Thief's Skill

After seeing Sun Junfu off, Liao Zihui had to get down to business.

Chu Huaijun's death was unexpected by Liao Zihui. In all his years Guanfang Envoy, he had encountered many unexpected situations, but to have the power he had supported lose its life was the first time he had ever witnessed such a crazy situation.

It wasn't difficult to find out the cause of Chu Huaijun's death. The Second Miss Chu Family had returned. Not only did she refuse the deal with the Bai Le Men, but she also took over the Chu family's business. It's highly likely that Chu Huaijun died at her hands.

But what should we do with this woman next?

Get rid of her?

Getting rid of her won't solve anything; on the contrary, it will cause a commotion and make the situation even more tense than it is now.

Liao Zihui summoned his secretary, Ling Sujun: "Draft a report to postpone the acquisition of Bai Le Men and the action against He Yuxiu."

Ling Sujun took notes in her notebook and also offered her suggestion. "General Envoy, the task list we received previously included clear deadlines for the Bai Le Men and He Yuxiu matters. Proposing a postponement now might..."

Liao Zihui shook his head and said, "As long as I remain in the position of official General Envoy, this matter must be slowed down, otherwise it will lead to irreversible consequences."

"Should we also slow down our actions against Li Qi?"

Liao Zihui hesitated for a long time, then stroked his chin and said, "The operation against Li Qi will continue, but we need to change our strategy."

At Wonderful Sound Phonograph Store, Li Banfeng bought over a hundred boxes of film, almost emptying Ling Miaosheng's warehouse.

Ling Miaosheng was somewhat puzzled by this. "Mr. Li, as far as I know, you own a film company, so you shouldn't need to buy film from me. In terms of price, I don't have any advantage whatsoever."

Li Banfeng shook his head and said, "What I care about is not the price, but the art."

Ling Miaosheng's shop mainly sells record players and records, as well as Shadow Play Machine and film. He has strict requirements for the quality of his products, and you can buy top-quality film that is rare in Pro State from him.

This type of film is perfect for paying for projectors.

In addition to film, Li Banfeng also bought two wind-up record players, both of which were made in Amikan Country and used the same parts as Wife's.

These two record players are very well made, and in some details, they are somewhat similar to the Wife.

Li Banfeng admired it for a moment, then suddenly had some questions.

It is meticulously crafted, uses common parts, and has obvious technological features.

This is definitely not a personal handmade product, nor does it seem like the kind of craftsmanship that a small workshop could produce.

These two record players are likely products of a certain company.

In Outer State, electronic devices are ubiquitous, and electromagnetic playback devices are outdated. Does this old-fashioned record player, which plays records based on acoustic principles, still have a market in Outer State?

If there is no market for these record players in Outer State, will there still be companies in Amikan Country that specialize in producing them?

Are they just doing business in Pro State?

Even if Amikan Country enterprises specialize in doing business in Pro State, what about Che Man Country? What about Ingrid? What about Austria?

The market in Pro State probably isn't that attractive.

Li Banfeng asked Ling Miaosheng, "Is the Amikan Country you mentioned the same place as the Amikan Country mentioned in Outer State?"

Ling Miaosheng frequently imported goods from Amikan Country, so she naturally understood Li Banfeng's meaning.

"This is a difficult question to answer. There are two versions of the story, and I don't know which one you'd like to believe."

The first theory is that there is only one Amikan Country, which can be directly reached from Outer State. Their products are then transported to Pro State Amikan Country these Outer State.

"What's another way to put it?"

"Another version of the story is that there is an Outer Amikan Country and an Inner Amikan Country, and their relationship is like that of Pro State and Outer State."

Inner Amikan Country.

Does Amikan Country also have Pro State?

Li Banfeng asked, "You've had a lot of dealings with the outside world, so you should know which rumors are true."

"Mr. Li, you misunderstand. Actually, I don't have many opportunities to deal with the outside world. Whether it's Inner Amikan Country or Outer Amikan Country, anything coming from outside has to go through Outer State to reach Pro State. I can only source goods from Outer State."

The only official explanation is that these things all come from Amican, and there's no concept of inside or outside.

But if you want to know the truth, I can tell you with certainty that Inner Amican is a real place, Amican record players here all come from Inner Amican.

Li Banfeng believed Ling Miaosheng, but he needed to know the reason behind it. "How did you find out the truth?"

Ling Miaosheng looked at Li Banfeng for a moment, then told the truth, "When I was young, I went to Amikan Country in pursuit of art."

"Is it the Amikan Country?"

"I've been to both Inner and Outer Amikan Country," Ling Miaosheng said with a hint of melancholy. "I paid a very heavy price for it; a part of my memory was taken away—my memories of Inner Amikan Country."

But some things cannot be taken away: the art from Inner Amikan Country, etched in my mind, will never fade.

"What kind of art is it?"

Ling Miaosheng shook her head and said, "I can't describe it because I don't know how to express it, and the process of expressing it is extremely painful."

"Then don't force yourself." Ling Miaosheng had already been quite frank by bringing things up to this point.

Ling Miaosheng added, "Mr. Li, I hope you won't tell anyone what I've told you today."

Li Banfeng nodded, lowered the brim of his hat, and had someone deliver the film reels and record player to his outer residence.

After delivering the items to Portable Abode, Li Banfeng returned to Carefree Dock. Ma Wu brought him an invitation. "The General Envoy invites you to dinner the day after tomorrow night at the Guanfang Hall."

Li Banfeng glanced at the invitation, then handed it back to Ma Wu: "I'm not going."

"Seventh Brother, Liao Zihui personally invited you, and you didn't even bother to come?"

"It's not that I don't want to honor you, but if you go to the Guanfang Hall, I'll kill him."

Ma Wu laughed and said, "Don't say such angry things. Our future business will still depend on the Guanfang Envoy."

Li Banfeng didn't laugh, "I'm not saying this out of anger. If I go to the Guanfang Hall, he might kill me. Rather than waiting for him to kill me, I'd rather kill him first."

This is Li Banfeng's logic, and Ma Wu can't find any logical problems with it.

"How about this, I'll invite Liao Zihui to Carefree Dock. If he's willing to come, you can meet him."

"Alright."

Ma Wu then produced another invitation. "Boss Li from Hibiscus Studio invited us to his house for a gathering. He also made an appointment for the day after tomorrow, but I told him I had other things to do. He then suggested tomorrow. Shall we go?"

Li Banfeng nodded. "We can go."

Ma Wu sighed and said, "I'm truly impressed. In your eyes, Li Haoyun has more influence than Liao Zihui?"

"Is Hibiscus Studio a nice place?"

Ma Wu nodded repeatedly. "It's a great place. Once you go there, you won't want to leave."

"Why would I go to the Guanfang Hall when there are better places to go?"

Ma Wu blinked, thinking that what Li Banfeng said made a lot of sense.

At midnight, Li Banfeng went to the back building of Carefree Dock, went to the third floor, entered his private suite, hid the key, and returned to Portable Abode.

In a good mood today, Li Banfeng carried the Oil Pot straight to his Wife.

The record player trembled and said, "My lord, my lord, listen up, this Little Slave has something urgent to tell you..."

"It's really important!" Li Banfeng hugged the record player from behind. "Come on, my Wife, tell me slowly."

Two o'clock in the morning.

The door to the suite was opened.

Li Banfeng's door and lock are specially made, making it difficult to forcibly break in, let alone unlock it silently like this.

The person unlocking the lock wore a ring on their index finger; it was a treasure for unlocking locks.

The man, dressed in black, entered the room without making a sound; even the high-ranking observers present could not hear him.

Not only because this person's cultivation level was high, but also because his shoes and clothes were treasures. The soles of his shoes made no sound when they stepped on the ground, and his clothes made no sound when they rubbed together.

After scanning the room and finding no one inside, the man in black took out a multicolored feather from his sleeve and tossed it into the air.

Stealing cultivation skills No Treasure Escapes.

This is a method used by cultivators to find treasures; the higher their cultivation level, the more sophisticated their treasure-hunting methods become.

With the black-clad man's cultivation level, he could easily pinpoint the location of a treasure by simply using a speck of dust to observe where it landed.

However, Li Banfeng's suite is very large, and to accurately find the treasure in such a large room, some external help is needed.

This feather was a specially made tool for burglary. After fluttering in the air for a moment, the feather landed on the safe next to the bed.

The man in black gripped the roulette wheel, spun it twice, found the correct combination, and easily opened the safe with his finger cot, revealing it stuffed full of checks, gold bars, and silver dollars.

Are these treasures?

It was an absolute treasure to the thief, but that wasn't the man in black's target. He wouldn't touch anything outside of his objective, lest he cause any unforeseen complications.

After closing the safe, the man in black threw the feather into the air again. The feather floated for a moment before flying under the bed.

There is a great treasure under the bed.

The man in black bent down and reached under the bed, finding a key hidden in a crack in the floorboards.

He held the key and pondered for a long time, trying to deduce its purpose.

Since this key is a priceless treasure, its value certainly doesn't lie in the key itself, but rather in what is associated with it.

This key can open a door—it could be a room door, a cabinet door, or a chest door. The real treasure is inside that door.

But where is that door?

The man in black then used his No Treasure Escapes technique to search every corner of the suite, but found no treasure.

He searched all the boxes and cabinets again, but still couldn't find what he wanted.

This matter still needs to be investigated. Before the investigation is completed, this key cannot be moved and must be put back in its original place.

Not only the key, but everything in the house had to be put back in its original place.

The man in black stood in the room and gently waved his sleeve. A whirlwind blew up, and all traces in the room disappeared. Even the dust he brought in from outside was collected into his sleeve.

The stolen skills No Trace Left Behind.

With everything settled, the man in black left Li Banfeng's suite, returned to his room downstairs, changed his clothes, and went to sleep, planning to search for clues from Li Banfeng the next day.

At three in the morning, the record player cried out in the Portable Abode: "Shameless madman, you've eaten the filth again, and have been with this Little Slave for three whole hours!"

Li Banfeng gently stroked the trumpet-shaped opening and said with a smile, "Wife, wait for your husband to go to the outhouse, I'll be right back."

"What, you still want to come?" The record player trembled as it watched Li Banfeng's departing figure.

She turned around and grabbed Hong Ying, Hong Ying struggled fiercely.

"Wicked Woman, this is your man! Why are you mistreating me?"

"You wretch, you've grown a gate, haven't you? Keeping it and not using it is just a waste!"

Li Banfeng returned to the suite and went to the toilet to urinate.

The glove circled the room and said to Li Banfeng, "Master, someone came in here."

Li Banfeng was startled and quickly crawled under the bed to look for the key.

The key was still in its place, and Li Banfeng breathed a sigh of relief.

The glove shook its index finger. "No, the key isn't in its original place; someone has moved it."

Li Banfeng felt his insight was strong enough; he couldn't tell the key had been tampered with, but he trusted the gloves.

"Honey, come for a walk with me."

Li Banfeng took the key and then left the room with the gloves on.

The gloves fumbled around in the corridor for a moment before reaching the stairwell.

Going down the stairs to the second floor, Gloves gestured for Li Banfeng to be quiet. He walked in the corridor for a while and then went into a room.

Two minutes later, the gloves were back in Li Banfeng's pocket, and Li Banfeng returned to his suite wearing the gloves.

The man with the gloves said to Li Banfeng, "I've taken care of that old bastard. Boss, let's rest easy."

Li Banfeng, fearing it might be unsafe, went back to his Portable Abode to inform his Wife that he wouldn't be sleeping at home that night.

The Wife breathed a sigh of relief and released Hong Ying.

Hong Ying scoffed, "He ate Huan Tu, aren't you afraid he'll sneak into someone else's bed?"

"I'm not afraid, it's better than being tormented by him!" The record player said with lingering fear. "Once we have a family to rely on, life might be a little better."

"Didn't you say it could grow a gate?"

The record player sighed, "That's what I say, but where are we going to get that single drop of blood?"

Li Banfeng took the key and went to Jiang Mengting's room to sleep for the night.

Jiang Mengting was afraid that Li Banfeng would get cold, so she took off all her clothes and covered him with Li Banfeng, then hugged Li Banfeng tightly in her arms.

In winter, it's really warm for two people to sleep together.

Before dawn the next day, Xie Juncong, the First Boss the Ghost Hand Gate, opened his eyes and prepared to take action.

There are still very important things to do today.

What was it again?

Xie Juncong sat on the edge of the bed, unable to recall anything for a long time.

What place is this?

It seems to be Carefree Dock.

What am I doing at Carefree Dock?

Xie Juncong looked around; he couldn't remember why he had come here.

It seems he's missing a part of his memory.

Knock knock knock~

Someone was knocking on the door.

Xie Juncong was startled and was wondering who had come from outside when he saw the cleaning lady in charge of cleaning the guest rooms at Carefree Dock push the door open and walk in.

"Oh my! Shameless old man!" Seeing that Xie Juncong was not wearing clothes, the old woman quickly closed the door.

Xie Juncong was stunned, only then realizing that he was naked.

Where are the clothes?

Where are the shoes?

Where's the ring?

Feathers?

What about my own personal treasures?

The old woman outside the door was still yelling and cursing, so Xie Juncong hurriedly tried to think of a solution.

Where are the bed sheets?

Where's the blanket?

Even a towel will do, just wrap it around me first!

P. S.: Can a towel really cover it?