It was as if they had planned it with Chu Bamboo.
The instant he finished his series of actions, the robbers burst out like phantoms from a steam-powered vehicle that resembled a van at the entrance, sprinting over. Their figures flickered in and out of the smoke, their steps hurried and frantic.
"Big A, Big B, go deal with anyone who can still move… Is that someone still standing over there? No, wait. Big C, is that all the damage your firecracker can do?"
"Boss, it's me! I'm B2, the one who gave you the intel!" Chu Bamboo rushed forward without hesitation, but he didn't speak to the leader, the robber in the tiger-head mask. Instead, he addressed the man in the dog-head mask behind him.
Chu Bamboo frantically patted his chest, a fanatical look on his face. "Loyalty!"
The dog-headed man: "???"
The other robbers: "!!!"
"...How did you!" The dog-headed man fell silent for a moment, at a loss for words.
Before the dog-headed man could question him further, Chu Bamboo smoothly took the lead. He turned, vaulted over the shattered glass of the bank counter, and said, "Follow me! I know where the operational intel is."
'I can't risk continuing the conversation. In all the previous resets, a long conversation was what exposed me.'
The robbers exchanged glances, finally all looking at the dog-headed man. The dog-headed man ran a hand through his hair, unable to comprehend. 'No, could he really be... That's not right. Even if he's the real intel broker, how did he recognize me?'
The dog-headed man couldn't understand. He had never even met B2.
Although he was the true leader of this band of robbers, the dog-headed man chose to stay in the background, letting his younger subordinate act as the leader. Of course, this was also to draw any potential sniper fire from the Officials later on.
'Even if he really was B2, he should have approached the tiger-headed man, right? Could it be...?'
'B2's intelligence gathering is this terrifying?' The dog-headed man sucked in a sharp breath. 'Could he have anticipated our entire plan? No, that's impossible. So there's a mole on my team? Someone leaked my plan to B2?'
Noticing the dog-headed man's sharp gaze, the other robbers glanced at each other uneasily.
"Boss, you know me..."
"Alright, shut up! Not another word!" the dog-headed man cut off his subordinate's rambling.
"So... Boss, are we still... going with that?" the tiger-headed man asked, his expression conflicted.
"Big A, Big B, stick to the original plan. Round up everyone who's still alive! Anyone who can still move and might fight back, cripple them," the dog-headed man commanded coldly.
The two men wearing pig-head and monkey-head masks nodded and began to go through the struggling people one by one. They dragged them out and tied them up with rope like pigs for slaughter.
Hiding behind the remains of a money tree, Lu Muxue: "..."
Shivering in fear.
...
"No way, you actually know how?" In the bank's back room, the dog-headed man watched in disbelief as Chu Bamboo skillfully typed in the numbers nine-one-eight-seven. Then, he dragged over the bank manager, who was limp as a dead dog, used the manager's clothes to wipe his blood-soaked fingers, and pressed one onto the combination fingerprint lock.
CLANG.
The great door opened.
The dog-headed man's mind reeled. 'Could it be? He has spies inside the bank, too? B2... he's terrifyingly skilled!'
"Still, this is a bank, after all! So rich." The dog-headed man glanced at the combination fingerprint lock with envy. "They even use Ancient Relics to monitor who comes and goes."
Chu Bamboo's body stiffened for a moment before he returned to normal and walked into the vault. This was one of the key reasons... he believed this world was a Dream World.
It seemed similar to the Real World, but it was actually worlds apart. The prices for things like cell phones and other electronics used for communication couldn't even be described as "expensive" compared to his previous life. That was because, in this world, they all went by a single, unified name: Ancient Relics!
That's right. According to the information Chu Bamboo had gathered, these things were all dug up from who-knows-where, not manufactured. The people of this Dream World didn't even seem to consider them man-made. It felt more like they viewed them as Divine Artifacts...
'Ignorant! Illogical! The thought is laughable.'
'Besides, electronics break down after a few decades. How could they last for countless years to become "Ancient Relics" that still function perfectly?!'
'But... I came to terms with this long ago. It's just a dream, after all! It would be weirder if the logic was actually sound.'
Chu Bamboo skillfully walked to the third bank of safe deposit boxes, skillfully entered the password, then took out the access card he had fished from the bank manager's pocket and swiped it forcefully.
"BEEP!"
The safe deposit box opened automatically.
Inside was a yellowed map and a key.
"This is it, Boss!" Chu Bamboo took them out and turned to the dog-headed man with a grin.
"..." The dog-headed man was silent for a good while before he said in a low voice, "You're a bank insider. So why did you hire us to rob... no, you're using us as scapegoats..."
"You've got it all wrong, Boss!" Chu Bamboo raised his hands with a look of pure innocence, his tone playful. "Even if I knew everything, if you guys didn't break in, how could I have possibly walked out of here with this in broad daylight? Makes sense, doesn't it!"
"Besides, you'll get your commission as long as the job is done! With me helping out, the difficulty is lower, your chance of dying is lower—isn't that a good thing?"
"I offer my heart to the moon, but the moon shines on the gutter!" Chu Bamboo said, feigning grievance.
The dog-headed man fell silent. The tiger-headed man glanced at his boss, saw that he also thought the words made sense, and quickly provided a way out of the awkwardness. "Alright, next we need to rob the main vault as a cover! Big C, get ready to blast..."
"Oh, no need for that!" Chu Bamboo calmly interjected. "I know the password for the main vault, too!"
All the robbers: "..."
'Seriously, dude, how do you know everything? You're a scary-level schemer!'
'Don't tell me you're the last manager of this bank, got fired, and now you're back for revenge? You're not even trying to hide it!'
"Boss," said Big C, who was wearing a bear-head mask, hesitating for a moment before speaking carefully, "I actually think that instead of robbing cash... robbing these Ancient Relics might be more profitable!"
Chu Bamboo: "...?"
'Wait a minute.' Chu Bamboo looked at the conflicted dog-headed man, his heart twitching.
'Dude... you're not actually considering it, are you?'
...
Bundle after bundle of cash was stuffed into burlap sacks. In the end, they didn't go for the electronics... The reason was simple: they tried to pry one open, but they broke it. It wouldn't even turn on in their hands.
Of course, Chu Bamboo knew they had broken it. But this group of robbers, who had never handled electronics before, had no clue. Unable to understand what went wrong, they ultimately opted to take the cash—something they could actually comprehend.
The dog-headed man silently carried the sacks of cash and placed them on the front counter of the bank. At that moment, police sirens began to wail outside.