The Great Thief

There was no way that Lu Li had died; he just didn’t run with Water Fairy. While Water Fairy ran away, he found a discreet place to hide by himself.

The campsite was in a mess; they had only just noticed that nine people were missing.

They actually didn’t need to count who was missing one-by-one – there would be people who reported on the missing members from their team. What followed was fear and rage.

Around a hundred people had become prey and nine of them were actually killed.

”Ravenholdt – it must be them. Find them! I’m going to break every single one of their bones!”

The commander, who was a semi-boss, instructed the Syndicate recruits to find the killers from their opposing faction.

The system gave them wisdom. In their heads, this was the Ravenholdt Manor provoking them.

The time when everything had begun remained unknown, but Ravenholdt and the Syndicate had been enemies for a long time, and players from these factions often fought against each other.

The loss of rational thinking and their tracking gave Lu Li a chance.

Their team formation had been broken, as most of them went to chase down Water Fairy. The few Syndicate Hunters were all sent out to cast Flare along the way.

Lu Li was once again happy for himself that he had chosen a good place to hide.

The heavy wall and the trees along the wall provided him a good hiding place, a place that wouldn’t expose him under the Flares.

As the crowd left, Lu Li came out from his hiding place.

The entire camp had settled and only a few recruits remained on guard.

Lu Li walked around the camp and actually managed to find a few weaklings. There were a few injured recruits in the barracks. This was when he finally realized the shortcut to the ques – the easiest targets were these injured recruits.

They only had half of a health bar and were mostly asleep or unconscious.

Lu Li spent an entire seven minutes to carefully kill five injured recruits. Soon, a dark red raven rose into the night and drew a dark light across the night sky.

Chances are, when the Syndicate Commander returned, he would be very cranky.

Lu Li landed close to Water Fairy. He had already seen the message that Water Fairy sent; he just didn’t have time to reply.

”Who...who’s there?” Any movement in the middle of the night seemed frightening, not to mention Water Fairy had just been pursued by a pack of level 35 monsters.

”It’s me,” Lu Li said as he walked out from the dark. The moonlight was dim, so his appearance seemed extra-eerie.

”You didn’t die?” Water Fairy asked as she examined Lu Li.

”Of course not,” Lu Li shook his head.

”So, you left a girl and ran on your own.”

Water Fairy decided to look down on Lu Li, but she discovered that Lu Li was too shameless to even recognize this. He didn’t think there was anything wrong with his actions.

”I didn’t run, you did,” Lu Li corrected her calmly.

”...” as expected from a smart person, Water Fairy immediately understood. ”You used me as a bait?”

”Yeah, you run pretty fast,” Lu Li complimented.

”Damn you!” Why did she feel like this guy was being spiteful? Water Fairy wasn’t impressed.

”Mission completed. I have to thank you for your help,” Lu Li thanked her sincerely, then checked the time. ”It’s late now. Let’s go offline and rest.”

Under the shocked gaze of Water Fairy, Lu Li teleported back to the city and his team portrait immediately dimmed out.

If she had a mirror by her side, she would have checked herself out, just to see if the Syndicate had poured sulfuric acid on her face.

After he went offline, Lu Li immediately went to his sister’s room.

Ding, ding, ding...

Lu Li pressed the doorbell again and again, which was connected to the virtual device.

This was the action that he had to repeat constantly over the past few days to send his sister to bed. She was a trading-skill player, so she had an extra two hours of game time compared to Lu Li, who was a combat player.

The gaming device kept the players in a light sleep, but combat players would use a little more energy.

”I had already slept. You woke me up,” Lu Xin said as she opened her door with a sleepy look on her face.

”Stop pretending. You were still online when I went offline.” Lu Li was speechless – it had only been a short amount of time and she had already learned how to lie to him.

”Bro…” Lu Xin felt slightly awkward.

”Hand over your helmet,” Lu Li commanded as he extended his hands.

”No! I’m about to reach advanced level in Alchemy. Just another hour…” Lu Xin begged as she batted her watery eyes.

Lu Li’s eyes were slightly longer than hers, and they were black and deep. Lu Xin’s eyes were quite round, so she seemed extra cute when she batted them.

”Xin Xin…” Lu Li bent forwards so that he was staring at his sister in her face. ”If you don’t listen, we’re moving out.”

”Ah! You’re threatening me!” Lu Xin exclaimed in shock.

A long time ago, when they moved out from the old house, she had wanted a home of her own. But now, her thoughts had begun to change. She was scared when she first moved into an unfamiliar place, but the three big sisters here had been extra nice to her and she had grown to like them.

”We have money now. We can afford to rent an entire house like this.” Lu Li didn’t feel ashamed to threaten a little girl at all. He patted his sister’s head and said, ”Pass over your helmet. I’ll give it back to you after I wake up.”

”...” Lu Xin pouted her lips, then ran back and brought out her helmet. ”Bro, can you get me a recipe for an Advanced Healing Potion?”

”Nope,” Lu Li declined without a second thought. ”Even if I have it, I won’t give it to you.”

”Why?” Lu Xin was envious of the alchemist who had learned the Advanced Healing Potion recipe. The alchemist was treated like a celebrity in the guild.

”If you learn that now, you’re going to have to make a lot of potions. It’s too tiring,” Lu Li comforted.

Lu Xin wasn’t an unreasonable child; she understood that she needed good rest too. As such, she was only slightly disappointed and didn’t press on the topic.

”The hospital called me yesterday; there’s good news. I think we’ll be asked for a re-examination within these few days,” Lu Li said gently as she pressed on his sister’s shoulders.

Lu Xin’s face was slightly pale. ”Do I have to go through surgery?”

In an advanced age like this, it was easy for a little girl to search and learn about heart transplants.

”Don’t worry, I’ll find the best doctor for you.”

A sour taste rested at the tip of his tongue, but he didn’t give in on this topic. There were no escape for some things.