Xyrin Empire
Chapter 291 - Chapter 291 Chapter 291 Encirclement and Escape (Part 1)

Chapter 291: Chapter 291: Encirclement and Escape (Part 1) Chapter 291: Chapter 291: Encirclement and Escape (Part 1) “Robbery?”

After receiving the spiritual connection from Big Sister and sharing the scene that happened in her vision, Lin Xue and I looked at each other in disbelief.

“Ah, yes, a robbery,” Big Sister’s voice sounded almost enthusiastic, as if the boredom of the past few days had finally given her a burst of energy with such an incident, “I’m trying to figure out how to deal with them without causing an anomaly…”

“That’s a bit odd.”

Lin Xue suddenly murmured to herself.

Compared to us, who might be powerful but lacked experience, Lin Xue was the professional. So when Lin Xue expressed doubt about what appeared to be a straightforward robbery, we all perked up our ears.

Lin Xue focused on the department store not far away. It wouldn’t take long before the calm of this street was shattered, likely by a comical mishap resulting in the tragic accidental deaths of three unfortunate robbers.

“The department store…” Lin Xue frowned, “That should be a property of our family…”

“Your family’s property?” Although I knew the Lin family was wealthy, I decided to show a bit of surprise at this unexpected revelation.

“Yes,” Lin Xue nodded, “About half of this district is owned by our family.”

…Now, I was truly astonished…

“Don’t look so surprised,” Lin Xue said, seeing my expression and looking smug as the epitome of evil, “Compared to the wealth of the entire Lin Family, a street like this is nothing… Yes, I remember now, that department store definitely belongs to our family, no wonder it looked so familiar…”

“Okay, there’s been a serious armed robbery in your family’s department store, and now, as a direct member of the family, you’re calmly recalling how much wealth you have in this district, to which I’ll make no comment… But does this prove there’s something unusual about the robbery?”

Lin Xue thoughtfully tapped her chin with her right thumb, slowly recalling, and broadcasting her analysis over the public spiritual connection: “I remember the basic structure of that department store… The floor where Sister Chen Qian is now mainly sells crafts and folk art stores, and above that floor is the jewelry section… If you were a robber, would you target a crafting store instead of the obviously more lucrative jewelry section?”

“That’s one point, and secondly… the structure of the department store isn’t suitable for a robbery…”

…I had never heard of a building design concept that included being ‘suitable for robbery’…

“Alright, I know you’re a bit thick when it comes to this, but to put it simply, there are many passages, a high volume of people, and numerous intermingled stalls in that place. If you rob there, there’s a hundred percent chance a hostage will escape, and once someone gets out, things start to spiral out of control. More importantly, it’s a people-dense rather than cash-dense area; a professional robber would definitely not choose such a place… It would be more suited to a terrorist attack or something…”

Don’t you find it eerie to so calmly analyze the most economical way to commit a crime on your own family’s turf? Big Sister, it’s your family’s property where the armed robbery is happening!

Also, could you please refrain from using phrases like “thick as a plank” on the public channel… There are hundreds of Imperial Officers listening… Just try to save my face a bit…

My internal commentary, of course, didn’t reach Lin Xue, who remained calm and collected as a demi-immortal, analyzing the situation: “Most importantly, you also shared those images before, did you notice? The two henchmen were wearing masks for disguise, but the bearded leader didn’t have one–he’s not afraid to show his face!”

“So, this robbery is too unprofessional, and those amateurs seem more like they’re… here to create chaos. If I’m not wrong, it won’t be long before more attention is drawn to the department store, and then they’ll start shooting people…”

A feint.

This analysis was conducted entirely on the spiritual connection level, so by the time Lin Xue finished her last word, not even two seconds had passed. Inside the building, the bearded man’s declaration of “just here for the money” had just ended.

Without a word from me, Sandora, who was always on the public channel and in charge of tactical direction, had already begun assigning tasks in an orderly fashion: “Teams one to eight, pay close attention to movements within a five-hundred-meter radius of building eight. Perimeter soldiers initiate traffic accidents to block all regular movement within the area. Asida-Asidora, prepare to deploy rapid response teams… Boss, two more baskets of buns… Ah, wrong channel…”

This girl is still eating! She’s going to scare the shop owner to death!!

Meanwhile, at the scene of the robbery.

“Good, everyone stay calm. If you cooperate, you can live.”

“Live, my foot!”

Big Sister mentally remarked, already aware of Lin Xue’s analysis through the spiritual connection. She then concentrated her spirit, watching the trio’s every move intently.

Just a random trigger point was all it took for chaos to erupt.

Soon, that trigger point emerged.

A suppressed sob rose from the crowd; it belonged to a young girl who looked to be in junior high. Buckling under the immense pressure, she finally couldn’t hold back her emotions and let out a sound.

“Alright then, this is your choice,” the robber with the muttonchop beard theatrically shrugged his shoulders, “I’ve always been a man of my word…”

He spoke in a tone of regret as if he really was sorry for the action he was about to take. And then, he lifted the gun in his hand, pointing it at the crowd.

Then, “Bang–”

The sudden explosion made everyone shudder, and many people almost cried out in alarm. But quickly, they realized the situation was different from what they had expected.

The young girl remained unscathed, squatting on the ground.

The gun had backfired.

The now useless pistol clattered to the ground, and the bearded man who was arrogantly threatening a second ago stared dumbfounded at his bloody right hand, seemingly unable to comprehend what had just happened.

“Squeak, creak…”

While everyone was briefly silenced by the shock, an odd noise suddenly came from above. A strong sense of impending danger flashed through the bearded man’s mind, causing him to uncontrollably dive to the side in a clumsy escape. In the next second, a large crystal chandelier, intended as a decorative piece, came crashing down with a “crash” right where he had been standing. The scattered shards blossomed like fireworks, with eighty percent of them raining down in the direction of the robbers–who clearly were not ordinary people, as they agilely dodged the beautiful but deadly shards.

The crisis was far from over!

Just after narrowly escaping the falling chandelier, the bearded man had an intense intuition that another lethal accident was about to happen. His exceptionally strong perception of danger, honed from years of life-threatening situations, warned him of the next fatal incident, even though he didn’t know where it would come from. Still, he instinctively did a barrel roll on the spot, moving as fast as possible away from his original location.

The intensity of the crisis sensation lessened slightly, but… it struck again the very next second!

The previously sturdy-looking marble floor suddenly cracked open with several wide fissures. Right as the bearded man moved away, a loud “boom” sounded as a large hole collapsed in the spot he had just vacated. Cries of alarm echoed from the floor below through the hole, but they sounded like just shouts of surprise; it seemed no one was hurt in the accident.

It appeared that the string of accidents was targeting just one person.

All of this happened within a few seconds. By the time some people caught on to what was occurring, the bearded man, referred to as Black Snake, had already faced several deadly crises, any of which could have claimed the life of an ordinary person.

“Black Snake…”

A robber in a monster mask had just started to speak when Black Snake bellowed, “Run! They might have already gotten in!”

If the first incident of the gun misfiring could be attributed to bad luck, the subsequent falling chandelier started to raise suspicions, and the ground collapsing right beneath his feet only clarified certain things.

If he were an ordinary person, he might have written off everything as mere accidents. But the bearded man wasn’t ordinary. He also knew there was a high likelihood of encountering some extraordinary individuals today. So when misfortune struck one after another, he immediately figured: something was terribly wrong!

The two robbers wearing monster masks exchanged a glance and then, without hesitation, fled in different directions.

At that moment, the ordinary people around also started to piece together what was happening. While bewildered by the series of accidents, nobody–except maybe a Demi Immortal who could calmly strategize how criminals could more efficiently commit their crime in the midst of a robbery at their own department store–would be foolish enough to discuss the probability theory and the construction quality of XX Department Store. Suddenly, chaos erupted utterly.

The crowd screamed and scattered in all directions, with many worryingly glancing above to see if another chandelier might fall or whether the ground beneath them might unexpectedly open up into a hole. In less than ten seconds, the area had cleared out.

Only the bearded man stood at the center, poised as if bracing for an attack, and the long-haired woman who had gotten up and was holding onto two little girls by their hands.

Mystic powers–the bearded man knew he was most likely being targeted by a Mystic System power user. Facing such intangible and unclassified abilities, simply evading was no solution once one was locked on; the only option left was to defeat the adversary head-on.

Now, it seemed that the power user in question was this long-haired girl in front of him, always with a gentle smile. But what was the deal with those two little girls?

Had the Superpower Team really recruited two such young power users? And they were brought in for a task like this… Were they that strong as well?

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