Lackey's Seducing Survival Odyssey

Chapter 1681: Becoming a Thief: Part-2

The news broadcast spread across the colossal holographic displays mounted between skyscrapers. Buildings that once projected colourful advertisements, luxury products now display only scenes of carnage.

Blood-covered corridors, shattered walls, and broken bodies flashed across the towering screens that illuminated the city streets.

Besides the footage appeared the image of a rabbit-masked man. Next to him stood another wanted individual whose face looked horribly disfigured. Bright reward notifications blinked around their images, accompanied by golden digital effects.

[Reward: 10 Aevum]

The bounty announcement sparkled as though it advertised some grand festival rather than a manhunt.

Yet behind those glowing effects, the footage of the massacre continued to play. Bodies lay scattered across metallic floors while emergency drones hovered above them, their crimson scanning beams sweeping through pools of blood.

A young man wearing a black hat stood among the crowd and watched the broadcast with a blank expression.

Around him, citizens gazed at the screens with varying degrees of curiosity. Some raised their wrist-mounted communicators and captured images of Lackey’s wanted poster before immediately uploading them to social media networks.

Others merely glanced at the footage, shrugged indifferently, and continued walking.

The deaths of a hundred people no longer seemed capable of disturbing them.

“Interesting, isn’t it? You’re standing here questioning yourself while they’re already blaming every corpse on you. Hehe~”

A dark voice echoed from the depths of his mind.

For a brief moment, dark mist flickered across the young man’s ice-blue eyes before he quietly shook his head and ignored it.

At that moment, several patrol drones descended from above. Their polished silver bodies reflected the neon glow of the city as anti-gravity engines hummed beneath their frames.

The young man’s expression remained unchanged, but he immediately lowered the brim of his hat, concealing more of his face before blending into the flow of pedestrians moving through the crowded avenue.

[SHOW YOUR IDENTIFICATION]

A mechanical voice echoed through the street.

One of the drones stopped before a tall, muscular man and projected a blue holographic panel into the air.

The man casually nodded and presented his digital identification card. The thick golden card shimmered with embedded circuitry beneath its transparent surface, while a barcode continuously shifted across its centre.

The drone scanned it with a beam of blue light before continuing on its patrol.

The young man observed the interaction for several seconds before turning away.

Leaving the bustling commercial street behind, he crossed two city blocks. The noise of traffic gradually faded as towering skyscrapers gave way to older structures hidden between their shadows.

Eventually, he arrived at a quiet street where far fewer people wandered.

Turning right, he entered a narrow alleyway.

Neon lights glowed overhead despite the daylight. Flickering signs buzzed against rusted walls while tangled cables stretched between buildings like metallic vines.

His eyes settled upon a glowing sign.

PAWN SHOP

The words shone in bright violet neon.

He remembered seeing this place two days ago while fleeing through the city. At the time, he had been searching desperately for somewhere discreet to hide.

Shady places attracted shady people.

That simple truth remained universal.

Considering his own circumstances, he had naturally ended up finding one.

The young man stepped inside.

The automatic door slid open with a mechanical hiss.

A mixture of antique metal, machine oil, and ageing paper immediately greeted his senses.

The interior looked surprisingly spacious. Glass display cases lined the walls, showcasing old-generation smartphones, OLED televisions, cybernetic components, energy batteries, and various pieces of technology that had clearly seen better days.

Several floating security cameras drifted silently near the ceiling while holographic price tags hovered above every item.

“Back again, huh?”

An old man sitting behind the register raised his mechanical arm and waved lazily.

He appeared to be in his sixties. Half of his left arm had been replaced with military-grade cybernetics, and the artificial fingers clicked softly against the counter as he stared at the young man with obvious annoyance.

The young man walked toward him without saying a word.

The old man narrowed his eyes.

“So? Did you bring the merchandise this time?”

Despite his irritated tone, curiosity lingered beneath his gaze.

The young man nodded.

Without hesitation, he slipped his hand into his empty pocket.

A moment later, several expensive watches appeared in his hand.

One by one, the young man placed them on the counter.

Then he reached into the same pocket again.

More watches emerged.

Then belts.

Then rings.

Then designer glasses.

The pile on the counter steadily grew while the old man’s mechanical fingers twitched with increasing disbelief.

The old man blinked several times before glancing between the pile of luxury items and the young man.

“I don’t see any bulge in your pockets. Just how did you pull all of these out?”

The young man remained silent.

The old man shrugged and began inspecting the merchandise.

Using his mechanical arm, he picked up one of the watches. Tiny gears inside the cybernetic fingers adjusted automatically as he brought it beneath a magnifying lens attached to the desk. A holographic display flickered to life beside him while several scanning beams passed over the watch’s surface.

The precious gems embedded around its frame glowed under the analysis light.

One by one, he examined every item.

The rings were scanned through a gemstone detector that projected detailed molecular structures into the air.

The belts were checked with a material analyser capable of identifying monster-hide leather down to its species.

Even the limited-edition glasses were inspected through a verification system that confirmed their authenticity.

“Hmm… these didn’t come from ordinary people,” the old man muttered while studying another holographic report.

“Every single piece contains precious materials that only wealthy people can afford nowadays. Hah… honestly, these kinds of things were affordable 14 years ago. Even middle-class families could buy them without much trouble, but now…” He shook his head and sighed.

“Different times.”

He picked up one of the belts and rubbed the leather carefully.

“Interesting… genuine monster-hide leather. Rare quality too. Good… good… very good.”

The old man continued examining each item as though he were handling priceless artifacts recovered from some ancient ruin.

Several minutes passed before he finally leaned back in his chair.

“Altogether, this comes to nearly two million dollars. That’s far more than what I asked for in exchange for a fake ID.” He folded his mechanical arms across his chest and narrowed his eyes.

“What surprises me is how you got all this in only two days. Even some of my own underlings couldn’t pull off a haul like this.”

A grin slowly spread across his face.

“Ever considered working for me? I can give you 50% of what you bring? What do you think?”

The young man remained silent.

The old man sighed and shrugged.

“Well, your loss then.”

“Can you create a bank account and deposit the remaining money into it?”

It was the first time the young man had spoken since entering the shop.

His voice carried neither excitement nor hesitation.

Only indifference.

The old man stared at him.

“Not even a bank account?” He scratched his chin with a metallic finger. “Now I’m genuinely curious. Are you sure you’re not from the slums? Most people there are the ones who don’t have proper accounts or records and…”

“Can you do it?”

The young man interrupted him before he could finish.

The old man stared at him for a moment before chuckling.

“Fine… Fine… These items are valuable enough for me to buy another mechanical arm anyway.”

A greedy grin appeared on his face.

“When do you need it?”

“As fast as possible.”

“That’ll cost a little extra.”

“Fine.”

The young man’s response came immediately.

The old man shrugged.

“Then come back tomorrow morning. Everything will be ready by then.”

He pointed toward a restroom located deeper inside the shop.

The young man nodded and walked away.

As he entered the restroom… White ceramic panels covered the walls while an automatic cleaning system quietly hummed overhead. The room looked clean enough for someone to sit comfortably on the toilet lid without concern.

The young man approached the toilet and pressed the flush button twice.

A soft mechanical click echoed through the room.

The wall behind the toilet suddenly rotated inward, revealing a concealed chamber.

Inside stood a compact room containing a metal desk, several storage cabinets, and a sleeping couch positioned against the far wall. Soft blue lights illuminated the hidden space while soundproofing panels covered every surface.

The young man stepped inside.

Only after the hidden entrance sealed itself behind him did he finally remove his hat.

Black hair fell naturally across his forehead, revealing a handsome face hidden beneath the disguise.

Young Aether.

Young Aether released a long breath and shook his head before approaching the desk.

Spread across its surface was a detailed map.

The design consisted of a large circle surrounding a smaller inner circle.

At the centre, the inner circle bore the symbol:

α

Surrounding it, the outer circle had been divided into five sections resembling slices of a pie, and each slice of pie bore the symbols:

β

γ

δ

ε

ζ

Each sector connected directly to the central region.

Numerous glowing route lines connected the sectors together, while border checkpoints and transportation networks had been marked throughout the map.

Young Aether picked up a pen.

His gaze settled upon the β City.

He drew another X along one of its borders.

The map already contained numerous X marks spread across various boundary lines.

Young Aether had clearly visited most of those locations before.

“Twenty-five gates in total allow businessmen and wealthy citizens to enter and leave Beta City.”

Young Aether muttered with a serious expression as he studied the map spread across the desk.

The β city possessed three borders. One connected directly to the central α sector, while the left border connected to γ and the right border connected to δ.

The city he needed to reach was ε.

Epsilon City.

Unfortunately, Epsilon shared its border with Delta City rather than Beta City.

And Alpha City had entirely closed its borders.

That meant he would have to pass through Delta before reaching his destination.

Multiple security checkpoints ‘X’ along the border separating β and δ.

Unlike Gamma City’s borders, which contained numerous commercial gates and civilian transit routes, the Delta border was heavily fortified. Only a handful of gates existed there, and each one employed strict screening procedures, biometric verification systems, and advanced security scans.

Crossing it would not be easy.

For now, Young Aether’s priority remained escaping Beta City.

After that, he needed to find someone capable of helping him.

The entire city remained on high alert following the massacre.

More importantly, Genome Beta was still trapped within the Umbra Sanctum.

He could occasionally sense her presence wandering through its endless grassy land, searching for a way out.

He wasn’t sure how long the suit’s power would continue to function.

Perhaps it possessed an enormous reserve of energy that one day would dry out.

Perhaps it possessed an infinite one.

Either way, eventually, he would need to bring her out and deal with her personally.

Young Aether placed the pen down and walked toward the mirror mounted on the wall.

For several moments, he simply stared at his reflection.

A young man.

A dreamer~

Someone who had once believed the world would acknowledge his talent one day.

Someone who still carried hope despite everything.

Idiot Aether.

Young Aether raised his hand and snapped his fingers.

A faint ripple passed through the air.

Instantly, the reflection changed.

The handsome young man vanished.

Standing in his place now was a towering figure whose height nearly surpassed the mirror itself. Thick muscles stretched beneath scarred skin, while one side of his face appeared grotesquely damaged and disfigured.

Lackey.

He slowly removed his shirt.

The mirror revealed dark patches of burned flesh stretching across his chest, shoulders, and ribs. The injuries looked unnatural, almost as though the flesh itself had been scorched on a deeper level than ordinary burns.

His fingers moved across the damaged skin.

“How long will it take to heal, Log?”

!~Ding~!

[A day. A week. Uncertain.]

[The wounds were inflicted by Iteration No.27’s Armor.]

Lackey frowned.

“Then why is Dora’s illusion broken too?”

His fingers brushed over a particularly charred section near his shoulder.

[Isadora Pinkheart’s Reality Illusion functions as a secondary skin. It mirrors the condition of your actual body. For the illusion to heal, your real body must heal first. Whatever happens to your physical body will be reflected by the Reality Illusion. Unlike Nightfire’s illusion, which merely deceives the senses and visual perception of others, Isadora’s Reality Illusion remains directly linked to your physical condition.]

Lackey slowly nodded.

“That explains it.”

His gaze remained fixed on the scars.

“These burns weren’t caused by the concentrated energy beam. They came from the armour that No.27 lent me for a few seconds. Even Sera’s and Helena’s healing potions can barely repair it.”

His eyes narrowed as he stared at the reflection in the mirror.

A faint sense of unease crept into his thoughts.

“Just what the fuck is that armour?”