The withered corpse lay sprawled across the floor, surrounded by trembling hostages. Some gagged at the metallic stench of blood. Gradually, soft sobs broke out, spreading like wildfire through the crowd—men, women, the elderly alike succumbed to despair. Hong Fei perched on a raised platform, his masked gaze colder than ice.
Jessica lingered beside him, unnerved by the chilling aura he radiated. After a long pause, she ventured cautiously, "Boss... no, Zhang San, are you upset?"
Hong Fei turned his head sharply. Even through the helmet's visor, his stare made her shrink back.
"Call me Boss. Zhang San sounds ridiculous. I might get sued."
"I was upset earlier," he admitted, his voice devoid of emotion. "But killing him made it better."
Jessica exhaled in relief.
"Good. But why were you upset?"
"I regret it."
"Regret what?"
"Not killing him sooner. Wasting my breath on him."
Hong Fei sneered.
"When he first spoke up, I thought he might be brave—someone unafraid of threats. Turns out he was just human-shaped trash."
Jessica chuckled darkly.
"Disgusting, really. All that talk of nobility and lineage—felt like we'd traveled back to the Middle Ages."
"There'll always be people like him," Hong Fei said flatly. "Desperate to claw their way into power. All their justifications are lies. Vanity and privilege—that's all it is."
Jessica nodded.
"He didn't die wrongly."
Hong Fei shrugged.
"Wrong or right doesn't matter. If you can't solve the problem, solve the person causing it."
Jessica pondered this, then grinned and gave a thumbs-up.
"Brilliant strategy!" The weeping continued unabated, swelling into a chorus of grief. It seemed to transcend their immediate plight, as if each person was mourning every hardship they'd ever endured.
Suddenly, the crying crescendoed without warning. People wailed, gasped for breath, even rolled on the ground in anguish. Hong Fei blinked, momentarily stunned.
"What the hell? I only killed one person. Why's it like you've all lost your closest kin?"
He shot Ulysses a pointed look. The man finally stepped forward, raised his gun, and fired a crisp volley into the air. The wailing turned to terrified screams, then silence. The hostages stared at Ulysses with tear-streaked faces, trembling. Ulysses glanced back at Hong Fei, waiting.
"If I hear another sob," Hong Fei said coldly, "I'll send them to join the dead."
Before his words faded, a piercing wail erupted from the crowd. A woman clutched a little girl, about five or six years old, who was the source of the crying. The woman panicked, covering the child's mouth, but the girl struggled harder, her cries growing louder.
Tears streamed down the woman's face, but she bit her lip tightly, refusing to make a sound.
"Bring them here," Hong Fei ordered, his tone unchanged. Ulysses hesitated, sighed silently, and strode toward the mother and child.
Jessica watched the pair trembling under Ulysses's grip and murmured, "Boss, isn't this... too much?"
"Too much? What's too much? You think it's too much? Fine—you're in charge of calming that child. If she doesn't laugh by today, you'll be here all night, testing your patience."
Jessica froze for a moment, then burst into laughter. She stepped forward quickly to comfort the mother and child, scooping up the little girl in one arm while wrapping the other around the woman's shoulders. The group watched Hong Fei with astonishment.
"What are you all staring at?" Hong Fei barked.
"If any of you feel like crying, go ahead!" The looting continued around them, but Hong Fei found himself growing bored.
This was child's play. Any of his subordinates could handle such a trivial matter—it was all just a matter of planning. Outside, news of the robbery at the British Museum was spreading like wildfire. The museum perimeter had been cordoned off by police, reporters, and curious onlookers, with media outlets scrambling to break the story.
With hostages still trapped inside, the police hadn't stormed the building. Instead, they'd set up a perimeter and dispatched a negotiator.
Ulysses approached.
"Sir, they're insisting on negotiations. What's our response?"
"How's the packing coming along?"
"I just checked. We're only halfway done."
Hong Fei considered this.
"Go stall them. Make some ridiculous demands. Once everything's packed, we leave."
Leave how? By dragon, of course. An invisible dragon at that. Let them tremble at the thought. Ulysses nodded and hurried off, his team scrambling to gather their loot.
Jessica returned moments later, the little girl now giggling in her mother's arms a short distance away. She approached Hong Fei and murmured, "Boss, you don't think the Avengers will suddenly show up to arrest us, do you?"
"Possible," Hong Fei admitted, "but unlikely. Think about it—how many Avengers are there, and how many crises are happening worldwide right now? This is just a museum heist. Hardly worth their time."
"But this is one of the world's four major museums."
"So?"
"It's a major incident!"
"Will the world end if a museum gets robbed? Will Earth explode? Will the universe reset?"
"Well... no."
"There you go. If the Avengers have to handle everything, they might as well join the U.S. government."
"Why's that?"
"Doesn't the U.S. love sticking its nose in everything?" Jessica laughed.
"They wouldn't dare meddle with you."
Hong Fei shook his head.
"You underestimate them. They'll chase profit and power until their dying breath. Speaking of which, we must already be a thorn in their side."
Jessica frowned.
"They'd really dare?"
"Absolutely."
"Then what do we do when they come after us? They'll use every conspiracy and smear campaign in the book."
"Don't worry," Hong Fei said with a smirk. "We can play dirty too. It's not just me—Frank, Xu Wenwu, Big Head—we're all experts. Our smaller scale gives us an advantage. If they get angry and start a war? Even better. If we can't beat them senseless, then consider them clean!"
"Boss!"
Jessica burst out laughing.
"That's disgusting!"
Half an hour later, tension mounted outside the museum. The police grew restless, hostages' families were frantic, and the on-site commander rubbed his temples, feeling a headache building.
A police officer approached cautiously.
"Sir, the Countess is pushing again."
"Pushing for what?" the commander snapped. "Is it any use pushing me? If she's so capable, let her go in there and push those robbers!"
The officer lowered his voice.
"Sir, keep it down. The reporters..."
The commander glanced at the sea of reporters with their cameras and microphones, his irritation deepening.
Meanwhile, inside the museum, Jessica thrust her phone in front of Hong Fei.
"Boss, look at this!"
Hearing this, the Police Officer hurriedly reminded in a low voice: "Officer, keep your voice down, there are reporters!"
The Commander turned to look at the long guns and short cannons in the hands of a group of reporters, and his heart became even more irritable.
Hong Fei glanced at the photo and raised an eyebrow. Jessica leaned in close, her voice dropping to a whisper.
"The Count—it couldn't be that old man, could it?"
She frowned.
"The Count wouldn't show up with just three bodyguards, right? Who knows, though. This Count doesn't seem special at all." She paused, then added, "Look at the photo."
Jessica searched for a moment, her eyes widening in surprise.
"It really is him!"
Hong Fei chuckled, his tone dismissive.
"If it's him, so what? The man's already dead. What's he going to do about it?"
He scoffed.
"Dragon bones? Pfft. I wouldn't even feed them to the dogs for him."
Jessica's expression turned calculating.
"Then we need to make good use of our Hidden Identity."
Her gaze shifted to Ulysses's back, sharp and dangerous. It was clear she intended to pin the blame on the poor arms dealer.
Ulysses had no choice. He was the perfect scapegoat. Hong Fei mused silently that after today, Ulysses would likely become an even more infamous international arms dealer—a wanted criminal on a global scale.
A moment later, Hong Fei surveyed the scene. More than a dozen large boxes were nearly packed, yet countless treasures remained scattered, uncollected. Even more items hadn't been touched—99% of the collection still lay untouched.
He sighed inwardly. I'll have to take more next time.
Jessica's voice broke through his thoughts, brimming with excitement.
"Boss, if we sell these things, it'll be enough to keep us operating for a thousand years!"
Ulysses stayed silent, his expression skeptical. Dream on, he thought. But who would dare buy them?
Hong Fei shook his head.
"We can't sell much in a short time, and there's no need to rush. The Dragon Palace is already under construction. These treasures will decorate it beautifully."
Jessica nodded enthusiastically.
"True. I've seen the blueprints for the Dragon Palace. It's magnificent—spectacular, even!"
Hong Fei smirked. Chen Qi himself had designed the Dragon Palace blueprints, drawing inspiration from the greatest imperial palaces in history. If not for Hong Fei insisting on building it atop mountain peaks, Chen Qi might have thought Hong Fei intended to crown himself emperor in North America.
Still, compared to the grandeur of the Dragon Palace, the contents of these dozen boxes seemed almost insignificant. That's why Hong Fei mentioned "next time"—it wasn't an idle remark.
Back in its heyday, Britain had been known as the "Empire on which the sun never sets," amassing treasures from every corner of the globe. If those treasures remained untaken, it would be a sin. The histories of the world's four great museums were steeped in plunder and aggression. Their collections were built on greed and blood, and the stories behind every artifact from foreign lands were enough to leave one speechless.
Hong Fei didn't bother to sugarcoat his actions this time. They robbed, so I can rob too. Why don't others come to rob? Because I'm stronger. Fiercer. More lawless.
By the way, what were the other three major museums in the world?
Hong Fei barked an order. "All hostages, on your feet! Face the wall!"
The White dragon descended into the inner courtyard, its presence unmistakable.
Once the boxes were secured, the group tied themselves up as well. They couldn't climb onto the White dragon's back—it would go berserk if they tried. Just as Hong Fei prepared to leave, his ears twitched. He sighed and turned around.
A portal flickered to life, sparks flying, but no one emerged.
"Alright, is this asking me to be self-aware?"
Hong Fei waved a hand at Jessica.
"You guys go back first. I'll go visit an old friend."
Jessica didn't argue. She nodded and leapt onto the White dragon's back. The creature hovered briefly, water vapor swirling around it. In an instant, the dragon and everything tied to it vanished without a trace.
Hong Fei turned his head and stepped through the Portal.
Silence swallowed the museum.
The hostages still faced the wall, motionless. Outside, the crowd shifted restlessly—none of them knew what had just happened.
Hong Fei also turned his head and stepped through the Portal...