Chapter 87: A Grand Fleece

She blushed, feeling very embarrassed.

"Of course. Please, feel free. I have some other matters to attend to."

Cole Dempsey nodded in understanding.

"Wait for me here."

Nina Jacobs had Wayne Warner wait in the hallway outside the restroom.

Once inside a stall, she took out a bottle of Invisibility Potion.

She had gotten a good look on the way over.

They were very close to the Goldsmith’s Shop.

She planned to use the Invisibility Potion to scout the situation first.

After drinking the potion, Nina Jacobs deliberately looked in the mirror by the entrance. It reflected nothing but an empty space.

When she came out, Wayne Warner was still waiting for her outside, standing as still as a statue.

Not daring to make a sound, Nina Jacobs quickly ran out of the building.

She quickly made her way to the back of the Goldsmith’s Shop.

Inside an RV, there were seven or eight men in security uniforms.

It was nighttime. Three of them were playing cards, while a few others were lying or sitting around, staring at something on a phone.

Nina Jacobs circled around and realized why they were so relaxed: the body of the RV was parked directly in front of the Goldsmith’s Shop’s main entrance.

Getting in through the front door was impossible.

The brick walls were also blocked off by a thick layer of plastic sheeting.

’Do I have to wait until tomorrow?’

Nina Jacobs checked the time. Only seven or eight minutes of the Invisibility Potion’s duration had passed.

She walked to the back of the Goldsmith’s Shop and stared at the soft turf, thinking.

A few seconds later, Nina Jacobs began to use her Earth Element Superpower.

She wasn’t sure if she could use her Earth Element Superpower to dig her way in from the back, but the thought of leaving the next day made her unwilling to give up on the goods inside.

’With so many people guarding it, there must be good stuff inside.’

As the seconds ticked by, a thin layer of sweat beaded on Nina Jacobs’s forehead.

Fortunately, the ground beneath the turf was soft soil. As she dug deeper, she felt a distinct resistance.

This resistance gave her hope.

She had dug her way into the Goldsmith’s Shop!

To avoid making any noise, Nina Jacobs channeled more and more of her Superpower.

With only ten minutes of the Invisibility Potion’s effect left, she finally felt the tunnel change.

She was through!

Wasting no more time, Nina Jacobs squeezed through the opening in the corner.

Her Earth Element Superpower formed a shield around her, protecting her from the dirt.

It was completely dark inside the Goldsmith’s Shop, but a Superpower User’s vision allowed her to see her surroundings clearly.

There were numerous metal cabinets along the walls. To save time, Nina Jacobs didn’t hesitate, swiping them all into her storage slots.

That included the ring of display counters in the center of the shop.

Once that was done, Nina Jacobs quickly scrambled back out through the tunnel and rushed toward Cole Dempsey’s office.

In the hallway.

Wayne Warner was still standing in the same spot.

"Your sister still hasn’t come out?"

Cole Dempsey had just finished dealing with the matter concerning Scott Stone.

Scott Stone was apparently furious that Summer Warner had killed the dorm manager.

The man was his cousin, after all.

He had placated Scott Stone by promising that once Summer Warner led them to the supply caches, she would be handed over for him to deal with as he saw fit.

It was a shame to lose two people with their abilities.

But Scott Stone was more important to him.

Wayne Warner didn’t even glance at Cole Dempsey.

It was as if he were just thin air.

’I didn’t realize he was an idiot.’

Then again, his sister isn’t too bright either.

Cole Dempsey shook his head.

Just then, he saw Summer Warner walking out of the restroom.

She was flicking water from her hands, her face slightly flushed.

"Dempsey, you weren’t waiting here for me this whole time, were you?"

Nina Jacobs asked in surprise.

"No, just passing by," Cole Dempsey said with a smile.

"That’s a relief, then.

See you tomorrow, Dempsey."

With a smile, Nina Jacobs gradually walked out of Cole Dempsey’s sight.

While Cole Dempsey had been talking to Wayne Warner, no one had noticed her slip past from behind Wayne.

At that point, the Invisibility Potion only had about thirty seconds left.

Had she not stopped in the darkness outside to change into a clean pair of shoes, she would have had over a minute left.

Her other shoes had gotten covered in dust while she was running, and she was worried someone might notice the footprints.

The entire complex was quiet for the rest of the night.

...save for a few bursts of zombie roars and gunshots that echoed around at dawn.

Cole Dempsey even arranged a private breakfast for the two of them.

"I’ll be heading out with you both today, Miss Warner."

Cole Dempsey sat across from them, the corner of his mouth twitching.

This Wayne Warner could really pack it away.

He had already devoured more than thirty steamed buns in less than ten minutes.

If the hard-boiled eggs didn’t need to be peeled, he suspected the dozens provided wouldn’t have been enough for him either.

"We’re very grateful for your hospitality, Dempsey,"

Nina Jacobs said, eating at a leisurely pace.

She had heard that Superpower Users here usually only got half a piece of cornbread for breakfast.

Regular people without a Superpower got no breakfast at all and only one meal a day.

And that one meal was just the leftovers from the day before.

Cole Dempsey probably hadn’t expected Wayne Warner to have such an appetite. As he spoke to her, his eyes kept darting toward Wayne, who was wolfing down his food.

His expression was one of pure agony over the expense.

"It’s only right. Once you’ve made some significant contributions,

you can even go to headquarters. The benefits and living conditions there are much better than here."

Cole Dempsey said.

"Where is the headquarters? Is it far from here?"

Nina Jacobs asked, curious.

"That’s classified for now. Once you..."

Before Cole Dempsey could finish, Scott Stone burst in, frantic.

"This is bad!

Our Goldsmith’s Shop has been robbed!"

"What? How is that possible?

How much was taken?"

Cole Dempsey shot to his feet.

"All of it! Everything!

The safes, the shelves, the counters, all of it—

The shop’s been completely cleaned out!

There’s nothing—nothing left!"

Scott Stone’s face was a mask of disbelief.

"What about Liu and his men?

Weren’t they supposed to be guarding it? Are they all dead?"

Cole Dempsey exploded with rage, grabbing Scott Stone by the collar.

"They’re not dead! Just go see for yourself!

Liu and his men don’t know anything!

Someone... someone..."

Scott Stone was completely unable to explain.

Cole Dempsey shoved him aside and rushed out without another word.

In the now-empty private dining room, only the sound of Wayne Warner swallowing remained.

Nina Jacobs lowered her head, a flicker of shame in her eyes.

’Last night was just too rushed. I didn’t even leave them a single cleaning rag.’

Still, the amount of gold in that little Goldsmith’s Shop was immense.

The system gave me 15 new storage slots for it all.

’This trip to the Superpower User Alliance turned out to be a massive score.’

"Looks like we won’t be leaving for a while,"

Nina Jacobs said, taking a sip of her millet porridge.

Her guess proved correct.

Because of the robbery at the Goldsmith’s Shop, the entire complex was quickly locked down, with all entrances and exits sealed.

This included the teams that had been scheduled to go out on supply runs.

Cole Dempsey suspected the person who had robbed the Goldsmith’s Shop was still inside the complex.

All Earth Element Superpower Users became primary suspects.

Once Nina Jacobs saw that Wayne Warner had finished eating, she took him to the café where they’d had the buffet two nights ago.

She had been hoping to run into Shirley Lucas again and get some information from her.

But there was no sign of her in the café.

"Did you hear?

This time, they even called in all the Space Superpower Users,

to be interrogated one by one!"

"I bet it wasn’t just one Space Superpower User.

It was probably a group job."

"Definitely a premeditated, well-planned group job."

"..."

Nina Jacobs listened to the chatter from the side.

’She felt a twinge of guilt, but only a small one.’

’After all, she hadn’t planned it at all. The whole thing was just a spur-of-the-moment decision.’