The gentleman thief "Black Emperor"

"From today onwards, you are the true Gentleman Thief, the ' Black Emperor '."

"In truth, you only lost a negligible sum of Pound, but gained endless praise. The victims will remember you forever and sing your name."

"... That's fair."

His gaze was calm as he watched the figure wearing a black crown float out of the Safe and follow him into the dilapidated, charred Restaurant.

Splash!

Tarot Card fluttered and landed on Capim's Corpse.

After the crowned figure left, Lorry slowly walked up to the Human Trafficker, bent down, picked up a Tarot Card, and covered the man's mouth.

"The Lovers" card!

"Everyone wants to leave some trace of their existence, and I, an ordinary person, am no exception." He chuckled softly and walked towards the Villa's gate.

At this point, Berris's Beyonder Characteristic had been revealed.

Lorry picked up the light blue, semi-transparent hexagonal prism, glanced back one last time in the direction of the Restaurant, and gently stroked the White Bone Ring.

"Teleportation!"

Tonight there is Beyonder Gathering organized by the "Eye of Wisdom" Old Gentleman.

Lorry's original intention was simply to join in the fun and see if he could buy some good value Sealed Artifact to keep as spoils for eliminating Cultist later.

But then I thought about how there had been no news from the Lieutenant Colonel, and I worried that my early investment would be wasted. In addition, I had a heavy Spirituality burden tonight.

He then changed his mind and "Teleportation" directly back to the Ceramics Factory.

A considerable distance from the workshop, in Detached House that also serves as an office and lounge, Lorry's figure was gradually revealed.

As soon as he entered the Real World, he heard the sound of words being recited.

Albert, the large Arbitrator Hound, stood upright and lay on the brown desk, reading Grammar Book and reciting the words aloud.

Sensing the movement behind him, Albert pitifully turned his head:

"Woof!"

--It has witnessed this more than once recently. At first, it was shocked, but now it takes it for granted as a sign of its master's strength.

Future Lorry could speak, the White Bone Ring floated off his finger.

An aged voice rang out:

"Have you finished the homework I assigned this morning? I'm going to check it now."

Albert's expression trembled in the air.

"Almost there."

"Hmm?" The aged voice rose in pitch, sounding both shocked and incredulous. "You haven't finished in a day?"

It sighed and floated in front of Lorry:

"Albert is indeed a hard-working student, but his innate shortcomings limit him, and I must find ways to unleash his potential."

Lend me a bit of your Spirituality.

"Uh..." Lorry hesitated slightly, glanced at the Arbitrator Hound fur was no longer as smooth as before, and coughed, "Won't this cause trouble?"

"No, don't worry," the aged voice said firmly.

"Alright, as long as it doesn't kill the dog..." Lorry secretly breathed a sigh of relief, stopped dawdling, and readily transferred some Spirituality to the White Bone Ring.

"I'm going back to restore my Spirituality; I'm entrusting Albert to you."

He ignored the pleading look in the Arbitrator Hound's eyes, gave it a "good luck" look, turned and walked towards the lounge, locking the door with a click.

Tonight's exertion was indeed quite high.

Lorry washed his face and rested on the bed for about fifteen minutes until he felt a little better before getting up to organize his evening's haul.

First, there's £3,000 in Cash, which he's already deposited into his "Lucky Money Bag."

Gold Bars and similar items are not included until they are converted into cash.

"Not counting the two hundred pounds I had on me, I had 6,500 pounds in total, which means... after deducting the thousand or so pounds I had to keep, I could use about 5,500 pounds."

"Add that Mask, and we should be able to get a Sealed Artifact from MI9 —as long as it doesn't involve the Demigod level."

Then there's "Knight's Hand," it...

As he was thinking about something, he suddenly heard a pitiful barking from outside:

"Awooo! Awooo!"

Then, a frail voice quickly rang out:

"Hurry up and choose, or you'll get another ' Spirit Piercing '!"

"Spirit Piercing"?

The "Spirit Piercing" by the "Interrogator"?

Lorry chuckled dryly, quietly got out of bed, Door Opening. He saw "The Curse of Knowledge" having Albert identify words from Grammar Book.

If you choose the wrong option, it'll happen immediately.

However, he also realized that the power of "Spirit Piercing" was obviously very weak and would not harm the Spirit Body. At most, it would make the Arbitrator Hound feel the Affliction of not studying properly. So he did not make a sound to disturb the other party's teaching. He picked up the Ritual Silver Dagger and created a Spirituality environment to keep the outside noise from disturbing him.

Suddenly, the lounge returned to tranquility.

Lorry picked up his thoughts from earlier:

"After tonight, MI9, or rather the faction close to the Royal Family, will probably have their Informant frantically searching for the whereabouts of the ' Knight's Hand.' I cannot sell it at the Beyonder Gathering in Backlund, much less give it to the Lieutenant Colonel, otherwise it will definitely cause very fatal trouble."

"Klein fought with Harras and must remember this Sealed Artifact, which means I can't let Fors sell it at the Tarot Club either."

"Keep it as a trump card? It seems like that's the only option."

After much deliberation, Lorry decided to save "Knight's Hand" as his last trump card, never to reveal it to anyone unless it was a matter of life and death.

After all, its power is strong enough to easily influence the outcome of a battle. And naturally, the fewer people who know about its trump card, the better.

"The remaining two spoils are the Beyonder Characteristic of Sequence 7 ' Interrogator ' and Sequence 6 ' Judge.' If we can also get the ' Sheriff ' trait from Klein and find a way to crush ' Knight's Hand,' Albert won't have to worry about Advancement to Demigod status..."

Uh, wait a minute!

"Damn! It lives more comfortably than I, its owner! It just lies at home doing absolutely nothing, and it's already reached Sequence 5?"

Lorry, who suddenly realized what was happening, paused for a few seconds and then exhaled forcefully.

He plans to tell the Old Gentleman tomorrow:

Albert has vowed to become the most knowledgeable dog, so please step up your efforts!

Friday, 15 Minsk Street.

Klein ate a piece of white bread with Jam on it while flipping through today's Newspaper.

"What? Safe? And what's with this ' The Lovers ' brand?" He coughed a few times, almost choking on his food.

Klein took a sip of Xibo Black Tea to calm himself down and carefully reread the description of Capim's death scene.

"The ' Judgment ' and 'Emperor' cards covering Capim's eyes, that's definitely what I did... And what's with the ' The Lovers ' card on his mouth?!"

"Blown by the wind? Well, it's certainly possible the window was broken."

"But when did I take all of Capim's belongings? There were only land deeds and house deeds in that Safe!"

"Gentleman Thief ' Black Emperor '... I like that title..." Klein muttered, unconsciously frowning slightly. "But why does something just feel off..."