Chapter 19: What Treasure Wants, Treasure Must Have

She slipped into the Su family estate with liquid grace, relying on a phantom potion and memories from her past life to locate the entrance to the treasure vault hidden within the study of the main manor. She descended through levels lined with sophisticated technological security. She had even prepared herself to charge in and seize the loot if the thermal sensors detected her, but fortunately, magic is the only thing that can defeat magic.

She felt as though she had descended several meters, passing through three doors. Just as she reached the final threshold, an alarm suddenly blared. Glancing at the floor tiles, she clicked her tongue, immediately guessing that pressure sensors were embedded there. Without hesitation, she consumed another phantom potion, passed through the ancient, intricately crafted door, and stepped into the vault.

The treasure room was no smaller than the manor above, divided into sections for rare books, jewelry, antiques, and gold. As Yu Xun'ge ran through, the glint of gold soon dazzled her eyes. In a small glass room, stacks of gold bricks were arranged with precision. Each brick was slightly smaller than a mobile phone but half a finger thick. Having handled so much gold lately, she estimated at a glance that each brick weighed about ten pounds.

Who on earth claimed that wealthy families lacked liquid assets? They had plenty of wealth; they simply kept it all in gold! She rushed in, frantically stuffing the bricks into her spatial inventory. Fortunately, she had bought a new bag; of its 72 slots, 44 were currently empty. In other words, if she filled it completely, she could carry 4,356 gold bricks. She could have carried more if she had taken the time to pack them into storage boxes, but she was running out of time.

Sounds erupted from outside—the opening of doors, the clacking of firearms being readied—growing closer by the second. Yu Xun'ge was practically sprawled over the gold pile as she loaded her bag. Just as the swarm of guards burst in, she stopped, sacrificing the remaining 20 empty slots. She abandoned the gold chamber and sprinted away, gulping down another phantom potion. Yu Xun'ge was greedy, but she understood restraint and sacrifice.

Sure enough, just as she reached the main gate, the line of armed bodyguards opened fire on the gold chamber at the command of the Su family patriarch, indifferent to the destruction of the gold and decor within. Electrical currents crackled across the floor ahead. Yu Xun'ge skidded to a halt, pulled several bags of homemade explosives from her inventory, lit them, and hurled them into the corridor. She dove behind a door just as a series of deafening explosions followed. When she looked back, the floor was charred and empty.

She pressed on. Although her phantom potion only lasted 15 seconds, its cooldown was a mere 30 seconds. Fortunately, the Su family clearly trusted technology more than their bodyguards; the group that had stormed the basement were likely the patriarch's inner circle, and no further reinforcements followed.

Instead of fleeing the estate, Yu Xun'ge headed for Su Yitong’s room. Upon entering, she found Su Baige, Su Jinxuan, and Su Yitong sitting in the bedroom, playing the game. Despite the massive commotion below, the three remained unmoved, whether out of blind faith in the patriarch’s competence or an inability to tear themselves away from the life-changing game. Yu Xun'ge did not hesitate, casting three Stupefy spells in quick succession.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The three of them collapsed one after another. As they fell, Yu Xun'ge checked their phones, only to see the screens go black. It seemed the game was linked to the user’s consciousness; that explained how the skills she learned in-game translated to reality.

Suddenly, two inventory bags appeared in front of Su Yitong. A pleasant surprise! She stepped forward and tucked them into her own gear. Although she only had two active equipment slots for bags, she could technically carry more; only two would remain "active," much like how one could wear a dozen vests but only benefit from the properties of the one in the primary slot. She could carry Su Yitong’s bags, even if they wouldn't function for her.

She had hoped to hide here for a while, but with the bags secured, Yu Xun'ge dared not gamble. She had never imagined bags could drop this way. Even with her "Thief God" talent, she could only steal items or equipment from within a bag—or even the bag itself—but she could never steal a bag currently equipped by a person. To force a bag off someone, one had to kill them; otherwise, one would just grasp at thin air.

Yu Xun'ge pulled an axe from her bag, weighed it, and approached the trio. Liang Yuchuan had paid her with an arm as interest; what would these three offer? An ear seemed fair. Since you believe everything Yu Xunhuan says, surely losing an ear isn't too much to ask?

She pulled out a butcher's knife, knelt beside Su Yitong, and lifted her hair, revealing a blue diamond stud in her right ear. Her eyes lit up; she quickly sliced the ear off. The sharp pain shattered the unconsciousness effect, and Su Yitong woke with a scream, clutching her bleeding head. She scanned the room, but saw no one.

Yu Xun'ge, already under the effects of invisibility and phantom potions, fled with the ear and the blue diamond stud. On the way, she peeled off her blood-stained gloves and stuffed them, along with the ear and the earring, into her bag. She sprinted to the nearby Han family estate and slipped into a nanny’s room in the auxiliary building. It was empty—at 11:35 PM, the staff were at their busiest. Unsure if the room had surveillance, she crawled under the bed out of habit.

This place was comforting. It was even a sunroom, which made it all the more pleasant.

12:12 PM. Yu Xun'ge, still under the bed, logged into the game on time. After shapeshifting into a goblin, she went to find her goblin instructor.

Twenty-two slots were filled with gold bricks, plus another slot holding 15, totaling 2,193 bricks—or 21,930 pounds of gold. When she asked her goblin instructor to exchange it all for gold coins, the goblin remained silent for several seconds.

A dialogue box popped up: "I do not have that many gold coins, my friend."

Yu Xun'ge was genuinely furious. She had risked her life and worked herself to the bone to earn this, and he couldn't even cough up 60,000 gold coins?

Ge Wuen: "You don't even have 60,000 gold?!"

Goblin: "...Do you?"

Yu Xun'ge: "Are you being sarcastic with me?!"

Ge Wuen: "Then how much do you have, my friend?"

Goblin: "20,000."

Ge Wuen: "Do you have no friends?"

The goblin fell silent again.

Say something, honey!!!

After a long pause, the goblin said, "I'm not trading."

Ge Wuen: "I am your most loyal friend!!!"

Goblin: "Disgusting."

Ge Wuen: "Fine, let's just trade the 20,000 gold then."

Goblin: "Very well, my disgusting friend."

Yu Xun'ge held back her temper. She then found the goblin engineer to ask about exchanging more coins, but he ignored her.

Ge Wuen: "Teacher?"

The goblin was focused on tinkering with a copper pipe.

Ge Wuen moved her avatar closer: "Teacher?"

On her third attempt to address him in the dialogue box, a response finally appeared. The tiny goblin on the screen flew into a rage: "No money!!! I have no money!!! Stop asking! Can't you see I'm busy? All my money goes into research! If you really considered me your teacher, you'd pay more tuition! If you don't have it, get lost and go find that fellow Bill!"

Yu Xun'ge: "..." Never mind.

Ten minutes after entering the game, Yu Xun'ge grumbled as she took her 20,000 gold to the auction house. The first thing she did was spend 10,000 gold to bid on the SS-grade "Apparition" skill, then began her shopping spree.