Chapter 21: Accomplice
That evening, the Grand Cathedral reopened. Believers of the Moon Goddess who had heard rumors of the 'Immortal Crystal Goddess Statue Theft' through grapevines rushed over. Only after witnessing the statue still in place did they breathe a sigh of relief, gathering in small groups to discuss how despicable the rumors were.
As for the spreader of the 'rumors,' Yueshitu had already gone to have tea with him. Such troublemakers who delighted in chaos needed 'verbal criticism.'
After today, no one would discuss the theft of the Immortal Crystal Goddess Statue anymore. Only a very small number of people knew about it, and the record of the incident was a highly classified document, now sealed away in the Lurenfei Palace.
The theft of the goddess statue made the Moon Goddess aware that uninvited guests might have arrived at her home. Therefore, she strengthened the defenses of various secret storage rooms. This task was handled by Shulang. Originally, fifteen Yueshitu guarded those locations, but now the staffing was changed to at least fifty people.
The Moon Goddess Monastery returned to its usual tranquility at night. In the central courtyard, a group of young young believers chased and played with each other.
The Yueshitu guarding the courtyard selectively ignored these little ones, because most of them had grown up the same way.
At this moment, the Moon Goddess was not in the monastery. Since the Ninth Squad helped find the goddess statue, she naturally had to show some appreciation. At eight in the evening, she hosted a banquet at the 'Pangteluoke Grand Hotel' in the imperial capital.
Su Xiao, Baha, and the Little Adjutant were all invited and were currently inside the Pangteluoke Grand Hotel.
This was the opportunity Su Xiao had been waiting for. According to his speculation, the Will Rune Stone should have no practical use for the Moon Goddess, yet it was still very important to her.
In the clues for finding the Will Rune Stone, Su Xiao had been repeatedly reminded that the Will Rune Stone was something that blasphemed against the gods.
And the Moon Goddess keeping the Will Rune Stone was obviously not to blaspheme the gods herself, but to prevent others from doing so.
During the banquet was the best chance for Su Xiao to obtain the Will Rune Stone. He, Baha, and the Little Adjutant were all attending the banquet. Even if the Will Rune Stone was stolen, suspicion wouldn't fall on him.
On a low building in the Moon Goddess Monastery, Bubu Wang sat crouched on the rooftop. The evening breeze ruffled its fur. This cool summer night significantly boosted its IQ. 'Smart cells' had taken the high ground, while 'silly cells' were temporarily dormant.
"Woof~"
Bubu Wang had just wanted to let out a long howl to the sky but held it back.
According to Bubu Wang's observations, the monastery had nine storage rooms. Six of them stored supplies, weapons, etc., with tight defenses but low security clearance.
The remaining three had both tight defenses and high security clearance. Storage Room 1 was guarded by fifty-six Yueshitu, Storage Room 2 by seventy-three, Storage Room 3 by two hundred and eighty, and Storage Room 4 by at least three hundred or more.
Under normal circumstances, Storage Rooms 3 and 4 had a higher chance of holding the Will Rune Stone. However, Su Xiao had instructed Bubu Wang to prioritize Storage Room 2.
Given the Moon Goddess's intelligence, this woman might not necessarily put too many guards in the most important places. Storage Room 2 was the top priority, followed by Storage Room 1, then Storage Room 3, and finally Storage Room 4.
Bubu Wang quickly arrived at the location of Storage Room 2. From the outside, it looked like a somewhat dilapidated warehouse with no guards at the door.
Bubu Wang activated the attached ability of [Sacred Traveler], passed through the wall, and discovered that over a dozen Yueshitu were guarding inside the warehouse, all in hidden positions.
Storage Room 2 was located diagonally below this warehouse. After traversing an underground passage guarded by more than twenty Yueshitu, Bubu Wang finally arrived at the door of Storage Room 2.
A steam door, five meters high and three meters wide, stood before it. In front of the door stood two believers wearing linen robes and hoods. They were barefoot, with thick calluses on the edges of their soles and palms.
Just seeing these two made Bubu Wang a bit uneasy. Their aura no longer seemed human; they were more like humanoid wild beasts contaminated by spiritual pollution.
Bubu Wang chose to bypass them and pass through the wall at the edge of the steam door.
As soon as it entered Storage Room 2, Bubu Wang stopped in its tracks. Countless threads crisscrossed horizontally and vertically. Touching any one of them would have serious consequences, and these threads were extremely thin, nearly invisible to the naked eye.
Storage Room 2 had over a dozen metal shelves displaying various items. Everything was connected to those threads.
Seeing this, Bubu Wang knew it only had one chance. The moment it picked up an item, the mechanism would be triggered.
Bubu Wang took a remote control from its storage space. With its control, six metal bees flew up, weaving between the threads. Their compound eyes began capturing images of the various items on the metal shelves.
Like fireflies, faint glimmers of light flashed occasionally. After the six metal bees completed a circuit of Storage Room 2, Bubu Wang retrieved them and began organizing the photos taken.
Although Su Xiao and Bubu Wang didn't know exactly what the Will Rune Stone looked like, they had some concept. Based on that concept, Bubu Wang started comparing the photos.
After comparing 176 photos, three items were suspected to be the Will Rune Stone. Bubu Wang used the mechanical bees for a second confirmation and concluded that the Will Rune Stone was not here.
Bubu Wang retreated along the path it came from and headed straight for Storage Room 1…
An hour and a half later, Bubu Wang lay on a beam in Storage Room 3. The terrain here was very dangerous.
Storage Room 3 was built above a cave. Inside the bottomless cave, metal supports were erected, extending deep into the cave.
Storage Room 3 was built on top of these metal supports. Once an intruder entered, the metal supports below would collapse instantly. The storage cabinets would lock and fall freely downward. The steam cushioning device below the cabinets would ensure the items inside were not damaged.
It could be said that if a thief entered here, the entire Storage Room 3 would collapse into the cave. The craftsman who built this place was a genius.
Bubu Wang had already located the position of the Will Rune Stone, inside the storage cabinet of Storage Room 3. However, there was another problem: while inspecting Storage Room 1, it had encountered an accomplice.
Upon discovering this, Bubu Wang notified Su Xiao. Su Xiao instructed it to follow that accomplice, preferably to find out their target.
At this moment, this accomplice had also infiltrated Storage Room 3. It was a woman with a slender figure, no taller than one meter fifty.
Seeing this woman's figure, Bubu Wang couldn't help but think that if Beini had a human form, this would probably be what she looked like. That's right, this was a woman as agile as a cat.
The cat woman walked on a metal support only five centimeters wide. She didn't trigger any mechanisms. It felt as if her body had no weight at all, insufficient to trigger the mechanism and cause the metal supports to collapse into the cave.
The cat woman wore no clothes. Instead, her entire body was coated with a black dye that absorbed light. Her hair was very long, reaching down to her heels. This smooth black hair was tied into dozens of thin braids. At the tip of each braid were tied metal items like hooks, thin knives, and lock-picking needles.
The cat woman could manipulate these dozens of braids. At this moment, she was already standing in front of the storage cabinet. Her target was also the Will Rune Stone.