Chapter 830: Stealing the Cabinet and Returning the Pearl

A four-meter-long cold weapon could pose some threat on open ground, but in the not-so-wide underground passage, it was basically just a decoration—it was uncertain whether it could even be wielded, and its lethality was nearly nonexistent.

When the two armed guards with weapons saw Lin Mo approaching with the Longinus spear, they didn’t take him seriously. They continued to carry their M4 carbines and intercepted him at the vault area’s entrance according to safety regulations.

However, Mr. Ross, the owner of Scarlet Manor, came back to the vault area at that moment. Hearing voices behind him, Lin Mo turned around and saw a middle-aged white man accompanied by a dozen armed personnel. About fifty meters away, a hidden door was quietly closing in the passage wall.

These people seemed to have just emerged from a secret passage. If not, they would likely have fallen victim to the recent beast riot.

The middle-aged white man fixated his gaze on the Longinus spear on Lin Mo’s shoulder, then shifted his focus back to Lin Mo and spoke in a deep voice, "Young man, where did you get that Longinus spear?”

"Found it."

Lin Mo glanced at the spear in his hand and shrugged. It was just standing alone in the ground when he casually picked it up; he never expected it would be so effective, making it a fortunate find. As for the old fellow he saved, did he have any proof it belonged to him? To who possessed it went the claim; it was simple logic.

"Found it?" The middle-aged white man looked stunned, a faint sadness crossing his face. His gaze dropped as if mourning someone, and he muttered, "Claude DuPont, old friend, have you also left us?"

Although hiding in a secret refuge underground, as the owner of Scarlet Manor, Mr. Ross was still able to grasp the events happening within the manor. The urgently activated second monitoring system could only cover key core areas and couldn’t fully monitor all of Scarlet Manor. Through the cameras, Mr. Ross could see his old friend DuPont’s forces fiercely battling two fierce beasts, suffering heavy casualties. Large container trucks had been overturned, yet he had not seen the fate of his old friend Mr. DuPont.

None of the over a hundred U.S. Army soldiers in the manor could save old DuPont’s life, sending chills down Mr. Ross’s spine. The products of the military’s secret bio-laboratory were terrifyingly powerful.

It wasn’t until confirming that the two beasts that had escaped were completely exterminated that Mr. Ross finally emerged from his hiding place with close aides and family. He rushed to the vault area to check if someone was taking advantage of the chaos, only to unexpectedly spot the Longinus spear he had just traded away.

“Young man, did you see Mr. DuPont’s body? Or any of his belongings?”

The gaze Mr. Ross directed at Lin Mo sharpened gradually. Accustomed to commanding others due to his high status, he naturally developed an aura of unspoken authority.

To give his old friend’s family a proper response, he felt obligated to retrieve his old friend’s body. The underground gladiatorial arena "crystal cage" had suffered a mishap; the incredibly sturdy transparent bulletproof glass walls could not withstand the bio-war beasts from the military’s secret bio-laboratory. After repeated crashes, they exceeded their design tolerances, creating a large hole, allowing the beasts to burst out and rampage, even sparing no one, not even the senior engineer in the laboratory.

The arena descended into chaos, becoming a hell on earth. If not for the backup emergency plan controlling the underground structures and the transition through the secret passage, Mr. Ross and Mr. DuPont would have likely encountered those two beasts head-on.

The intelligent combat mechanical soldiers set in the underground passage failed to stop them, and those beasts broke out, tragically costing Mr. DuPont his life in the rush to escape. Mr. Ross regretted not keeping his old friend in the secret passage a bit longer; his moment of kindness had resulted in his friend’s tragic fate, filling him with guilt.

“Mr. DuPont? Who is that?” Lin Mo shook his head. He was coerced into coming here and wasn’t familiar with the people at the manor at all.

“How do you not know?”

Mr. Ross couldn’t believe Lin Mo’s words. Although the second monitoring system wasn’t densely distributed, logically, Mr. DuPont’s location should have been near the Longinus spear. Since Lin Mo could find the spear, he should have had a high chance of seeing old friend Mr. DuPont’s remains. Was he devoured by the beasts? Mr. Ross’s heart tightened at the thought, yet he stubbornly repeated the description of his friend.

As soon as he finished speaking, Lin Mo replied, “Oh, that old gentleman! He’s fine! Probably just a bit shaken up?”

“Shaken up? What? He’s alive?”

Mr. Ross’s eyes widened suddenly, and he stepped forward, staring at Lin Mo. “Are you telling the truth?”

Lin Mo nodded vigorously, not saying a word.

“Solon, Hank, take a few people up to bring Mr. DuPont down and settle him properly. Bring along medical packs, and have Dr. Sass go up as well. Check if there are any survivors up there!”

Mr. Ross turned with a serious tone, layering it with a hint of hope.

“Yes, Mr. Ross!”

Two people stepped out from behind the group, hurriedly accompanied by five or six manor guards.

“Young man, I don’t know your name yet. What brings you here?”

Upon hearing that his old friend was alive, Ross felt a bit lighter despite the heavy mood due to the destruction of the manor and the casualties among the guests. His attitude toward Lin Mo became more friendly.

He was unaware of the grievances between Lin Mo and Zeger; he probably hated the Japanese man who had brought such terrible disaster to Scarlet Manor just as much.

“Mr. Ross, my name is Morin. I’m here to collect what belongs to me!” Lin Mo pulled out two alloy keys and waved them in front of everyone.

Mr. Ross recognized the special keys from the manor’s vault and immediately understood. There might be valuable items stored here, and the use of dual keys suggested it could be a wager, which was not uncommon.

“No problem, please proceed!” Mr. Ross nodded and instructed the two vault guards, “Open the door; I’d like to go in with Mr. Morin.”

“Yes, Mr. Ross, please wait a moment!”

The two guards immediately called the duty room inside the vault to initiate the unlocking process, going through a series of steps.

In no time, the heavy steel door, about four meters in diameter, swung open, and Lin Mo and Mr. Ross walked toward the entrance of the vault.

The vault door had a double-layer security measure, with an additional layer constructed of special alloys and composite materials inside, making it even sturdier.

Only four capable-looking confidants followed Lin Mo and Mr. Ross inside; the others remained outside on guard.

The real vault door slowly opened.

Clang!

The two alloy keys in Lin Mo’s hand accidentally fell to the ground, creating a crisp sound.

Inside the vault, compared to a few hours earlier, everything had drastically changed.

“What is this? What happened here?”

The Dragon Knight stared in shock at the bare, ugly concrete walls, concrete pillars, and concrete floor, with even firebrick laid bare.

A heavy metal wall that should have divided the area into blocks was entirely absent, and the view inside became extremely open.

The ground was cluttered with various odd items like porcelain, paintings, and a few metal products.

Almost all the alloy walls, alloy flooring, and metal plates wrapping around the pillars had disappeared, making the entire vault feel larger.

Dull light from hanging tubes weakly illuminated the eerily empty space.

“Goodness! What on earth happened here?”

Mr. Ross, stunned at first, suddenly became furious, “Guards! What is going on?”

“Ah! How could this be? What happened? Wait a moment!”

The guard stationed between the two vault doors looked in disbelief at the inner world of the vault, rubbing his eyes. It seemed like the entire area was unrecognizable, as if behind that door led to another dimension.

One guard, flustered, ran back to the duty room, only to find the monitoring display screen still showing a bright vault filled with metallic luster, presenting a perfectly normal and harmonious scene.

However, compared to what he had just witnessed inside the vault, the screen’s image looked strangely off.

The guard shivered, immediately realizing that perhaps the cameras or even the monitoring system had been tampered with. Just as he intended to report back, he suddenly felt a tight grip around his neck, yanked off the ground by Mr. Ross’s bodyguard.

A threatening voice echoed in his ear, “Tell me honestly, what happened here? Why is it like this? Has anyone else been here?” Evidently, the bodyguard suspected someone had taken advantage of the chaos.

“No, no! I don’t know what happened! I don’t know anything!”

The guard shouted his innocence, but the next second he shut his mouth tightly, a cold handgun pressed against his forehead, seemingly ready to pull the trigger and shatter his skull.

“Keep an eye on him. We’re going in!”

Ross, experienced with tumultuous situations, quickly calmed down. He knew that shouting and being hysterical wouldn’t change the fact that the most crucial part of the manor, the vault, had been turned into this state.

Leaving one bodyguard to watch the guard, the others cautiously entered one after another behind Mr. Ross.

Once inside the vault area, Lin Mo quickly walked toward the location of his and Zeger’s safety deposit box.

As expected, the partition walls and safety deposit boxes were nowhere to be found, but a large silver box sat in the spot where technical data and samples were previously stored.

The box was unlocked. Lin Mo reached out and opened it, finding the “Boyce Hydrogen-Oxygen Decomposition Tank” technology prototype along with the technical data, including a USB drive shaped like a key.

While examining this mysteriously appeared box, Lin Mo noticed something unusual.

“Hmm?”

Mr. Ross, who was checking for losses, suddenly gasped in surprise.