Chapter 30 A Bet That Ended in a Bare Draw
Lu Yusheng thoughtfully gave him the time it takes for three incense sticks to burn, and to protect her privacy, she also made it clear in advance that her belongings were not in her room.
Then I watched for a while from a first-person perspective as I observed the various maneuvers of the current top-tier thief.
...Of course, this only lasted until he finished inspecting the hall.
Perhaps he was getting impatient from not finding anything on the first floor. Before going up to the second floor, Sikong Zhaixing turned back to the smiling Lu Yusheng and instructed him, "I'm not going to your room, so don't follow me up. You'll be distracting me from my work."
In terms of impact, it's not too bad, but some methods are not suitable to be shown in front of her.
After being told off, Lu Yusheng stayed where he was, pouted and said "childish", and then ignored him.
He then continued chatting with Lu Xiaofeng about the swordsman from their hometown.
Her improvisational skills are also quite good. Now, after making some slight modifications to the original character, she has become a master of trash talk who knows how to seize opportunities and wields a silver sword.
After roughly recounting the swordsman's story, when he narrowly lost to another all-around expert who came from an internet cafe in a major tournament—
Duan Yu, unable to contain his curiosity, asked, "Are there many places like this where you live?"
“Of course…” Before she could finish her question, Sikong Zhaixing, with a somewhat sullen face, slowly walked down the stairs.
Even Lu Xiaofeng was somewhat surprised to see his empty hands.
But it's easy to imagine that Sikong Zhaixing's astonishment and frustration at this moment would be even greater than his.
He searched every corner of the building, both upstairs and downstairs, even picking at the tightly sealed floor tiles to make sure he didn't miss any hidden compartments, but in the end, all he could do was marvel at how sturdy the building was, and he found absolutely nothing.
Under the questioning gazes of the crowd, Sikong Zhaixing frowned and slowly spoke: "What you're talking about shouldn't be here."
Lu Yusheng raised an eyebrow, smiled meaningfully, and then said, "If saying it this way makes you happier, then so be it."
Lu Xiaofeng, with his arms crossed over his chest, remained silent, observing the two of them as if deep in thought.
Sikong Zhaixing knew his abilities best, but Lu Yusheng hadn't lied to them either, especially with so many strange and unusual mechanisms here...
Has Sikong Zhaixing really stumbled this time?
Seeing the opponent's still confident expression, Sikong Zhaixing spoke as he did, but his heart tightened involuntarily. He was the first to experience the wonders of this place, and now even the master Zhu Ting couldn't see through its mysteries.
Could it be... that there really is a hidden compartment that he hasn't opened?
To be honest, it was being witnessed by Lu Xiaofeng that broke his defenses more than the mistake itself.
Seeing that everyone was eagerly awaiting the result, Lu Yusheng stopped keeping them in suspense and walked directly behind the bar.
This place was naturally thoroughly searched by Sikong Zhaixing. In this tiny space, none of the drawers escaped his clutches. When he saw her walk over, his expression was somewhat thoughtful.
He then walked straight to her side. Lu Yusheng saw his actions but didn't say anything. He just turned around and silently put his hands behind his back when he reached the innermost side.
She reminded the system to locate and deliver the item to her hand, and then, in front of the completely focused Sikong Zhaixing, she took out a palm-sized square box.
After placing the projector on the table, he put his hands behind his back.
Sikong Zhaixing, who was closest, didn't think much of it, assuming the object had fallen from some nearby mechanism, but then her eyes lit up.
This scene didn't arouse his suspicion, but it inadvertently gave him an idea of how to break the deadlock.
A tension in his heart suddenly eased, and he quickly focused his mind again.
Lu Yusheng had just finished exchanging for the second item when he felt a weight fall into his palm.
Thanks to the system's enhanced power, even with hands behind the back, it's possible to catch the ball very steadily with one hand.
Before she could even grasp it firmly, she felt her hand go empty again. She couldn't see behind her, and for a moment she thought that the item she had just redeemed had been taken back by the system.
When she looked up, she saw Sikong Zhaixing in front of her holding something familiar and smiling at her.
She was stunned: "...You turned on auto-pickup?"
Is it stealing or robbing if someone takes something right in front of you?
Sikong Zhaixing naturally didn't understand the meaning of these words, but that didn't stop him from being smug. He waved the unopened cylindrical curtain in his hand, and his smile returned to his face: "Thank you for yielding, Xiaolu." The others' view was blocked by the table, so they couldn't see the two's actions. When they saw Sikong Zhaixing get the item, they all felt it was only natural. After all, the King of Thieves... was famous.
Only Lu Yusheng couldn't help but look at his empty palms, his heart filled with uncontrollable surprise.
No, they actually managed to stop her? Is this even within the realm of normal human behavior?
When the "settlement animation" ended, Sikong Zhaixing saw that Lu Yusheng was still standing there and thought she had lost something and was still feeling sorry for her.
He had already felt somewhat cheated in his victory, but now that he had saved face, he generously handed the item back.
"This is?"
Lu Yusheng didn't quite understand what the other person meant. Wasn't he a professional? Why was he returning the favor?
The young man in front of him shrugged indifferently: "I'm not entrusted by anyone, I don't rely on it to save my life, and I don't even know how to use it. There's no point in keeping it. I might as well try it out with you and see what new tricks it has up its sleeve."
Seeing the other person's mood change from serious to relaxed, Lu Yusheng suddenly felt that losing like this wasn't so bad.
If she actually wins in the area where the other person is most proud, with the help of the system, regardless of whether it will be discovered afterward, she may not be able to accept the victory without any resentment.
So she naturally reached out and took the "scroll," this time remembering to hold it firmly.
Lu Xiaofeng laughed along, "Although you weren't the first person to fail at stealing, you were the first to return all lost items to their rightful owners."
In the end, the battle to protect the title of "King of Thieves" ended in a draw.
Fortunately, everyone else assumed she had taken the item from some kind of contraption, and Sikong Zhaixing, who was closest to her, was too pleased with herself to investigate the item's origin.
So even though we didn't win anything from this master thief, we still didn't lose out.
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Zhu Ting watched her fix the curtain and plug in the power all the way, paying attention to the details.
Finally noticing that Lu Yusheng was having difficulty fixing the curtain while standing on the table and chairs, she spoke up: "It's just hammering in a nail, let me do it."
Upon hearing this, Lu Yusheng, who was standing on a stack of tables and chairs, silently looked down, seemingly assessing whether the table and chairs beneath his feet could support his weight.
Zhu Ting didn't think too much about it and remained standing by the table, waiting to take her place.
He had noticed long ago that she was clumsy in her movements. Although there were so many mechanisms and props, it was clear that she had not made them all herself, and she lacked these basic skills.
Seeing that the other party seemed very persistent, Lu Yusheng, who was holding a power drill, no longer hesitated and carefully moved down from the chair while holding onto the back of the chair.
At first, others offered to help, but she worried that they wouldn't be used to using the electric drill, so she did it herself.
But when I actually used it, I found that although I am not afraid of heights, it was difficult to exert force from the bottom up. Not only did my arms ache from holding it up for so long, but the fixed position kept shifting. After a while, it was a very tedious and time-consuming process.
She was curious about the skills of this professional in everyone's eyes, so she handed the electric drill to him.
Zhu Ting curiously imitated Lu Yusheng and pressed the trigger of the electric drill. At this time, the others also came over. Since the user of the item had changed, Lu Xiaofeng naturally put on the plunder buff and took the item to play with.
Sikong Zhaixing followed suit, using his talent skill "Stealing" to snatch the item from his hands.
Of course, Lu Xiaofeng had no intention of competing with him; otherwise, with his unique skill, the Spirit Rhinoceros Finger, he would never have let someone steal his things right in front of him.
Feeling the drill bit vibrating violently in his hand, Sikong Zhaixing's curiosity intensified, and an impulse to do something arose spontaneously.
Lu Yusheng did his best to stop it, which saved his table and the other person's fingers from being damaged.
By the time the item was finally returned to Zhu Ting, he had already climbed onto the top of the table using agility that was different from his obese body.
Once Zhu Ting actually followed the instructions to insert the nail from his pocket into the drill bit and began using the electric drill, he immediately discovered its ingenious use.
Not only is it fast, but it also ensures even force application. Using it to nail or drill holes can make the work twice as efficient. After using it, I couldn't help but wonder if she had any other better tools.
However, those thoughts were quickly drowned out by the girl's sincere thanks.
As the tables and chairs were gradually put back in place, Zhu Ting sat down at the table and watched as the curtain, as Lu Yusheng had said, slowly descended as the mechanism was activated.
The blackout curtains were drawn, but considering that she was the only girl there, the lobby door remained open.
Seeing her hold the door in place so it could be opened smoothly, the awkward atmosphere in the room instantly dissipated.
Amidst the tense and expectant gazes of the waiting crowd, Lu Yusheng sat down near the bar and selected a movie via the main computer connected to the projector.
Holding onto some stereotypes and fearing they wouldn't be interested, Lu Yusheng specifically excluded romance films when selecting movies.
Releasing a live-action film at this time is a bit too ahead of its time; in the end, we can only choose from suspenseful or political intrigue-themed anime.
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