Chapter Sixteen: The King of Thieves in the Eastern City

Chronicle Calendar, April 20th.

On Daxianqiao Street, a short-haired female reporter wearing a beret was interviewing a young man who looked thoroughly aggrieved.

"Hello, I'm Qiu Shilu, a reporter from East City Life News. Recently, Daxianqiao Street has been struck by a series of thefts, and you are the only victim who’s been robbed twice. Is there anything you’d like to say?"

Her wounds had healed quickly, but after she recovered, she was transferred from the News Bureau to East City Life News.

The young man, almost on the verge of tears, said, "That damned thief! I had only just moved into this neighborhood a few days ago. None of the neighbors had security windows, so, for my own safety, I installed one.

And then I was robbed. The thief even left me a note, saying, 'No one else puts up security windows except you—don't you have any trust at all?'"

The young man showed the note, which even had a name at the bottom—Night Crow.

Seeing the name, Qiu Shilu paused. Why did it sound a little familiar?

"So, what did you lose?" she asked.

The young man hesitated. "The loss was devastating. He’s a monster."

"Nonsense! What a heartless guy. I only took two apples from him, and I even fixed his door, windows, and table!" muttered Liang Zhi indignantly to Lord Crow, who was hiding among the crowd with him.

Qiu Shilu continued, "What about the second time you were robbed?"

The young man’s eyes filled with tears. "After what happened, I took down the security window. But when the other residents heard about my experience, they all put up security windows.

And then I got robbed again. The thief left me a note: 'Everyone else puts up security windows except you. You sure have guts.'"

By the end, the young man was sobbing so hard his voice went shrill.

Liang Zhi looked up and sighed, "The world is getting worse, and people are losing their way. The second time, I only took two bottles of almost-expired milk, but I replaced his lightbulb and reinforced his security window."

Lord Crow, hidden in his clothes, screeched, "See? All those extra things you did were pointless. No one’s going to appreciate it, no matter what."

Liang Zhi shook his head. "First, I didn’t do it for their approval, but for myself.

Second, what’s wrong with it anyway? After all, there’s only one thief like me in the world. Most others are just scum.

If, because of me, people start to have even the slightest expectation of what a thief could be, then that’s my mistake."

With a wave of his hand, Liang Zhi left the crowd and continued wandering around Daxianqiao, a stack of flyers in hand, his gaze lingering—intentionally or otherwise—on the doorknobs of the homes he passed.

Every so often, he would tuck a flyer around someone's doorknob.

This was a scouting trick: if the flyer on a doorknob stayed untouched for two days, it meant no one was home, and it was ripe for theft.

Thanks to his efforts, all the residents of Daxianqiao were focused on preventing burglaries. Several notorious thieves had already met their downfall in Daxianqiao recently.

Yet Liang Zhi never changed his target, continuing to look for weaknesses among the residents.

Since he had decided to become a true villain, he had to find some enjoyment in it.

...

Yu Nan, dressed in black nightwear with his arms crossed, hid in an alley watching the night shroud Daxianqiao.

He was the infamous King of Thieves of East City!

From childhood, he had exceptional hearing—he could pick out the sound of a coin hitting the ground amidst the clamour of a busy street.

With this skill, he had developed unparalleled lock-picking abilities.

No matter the lock, it never lasted more than thirty seconds in front of him. Thanks to this core skill, he’d become the flashiest thief in all of East City.

But lately, his reputation as the King of Thieves had been challenged.

On Daxianqiao Street, a mysterious figure was targeting only that street, stealing from its residents every night no matter how hard they tried to guard against him.

A few of his own underlings had tried their luck in Daxianqiao, only to stumble and get arrested.

Now, many thieves doubted Yu Nan. They believed the mysterious thief of Daxianqiao was the real King of Thieves.

Thieves in East City had a tradition: whoever had the most skill would be respected by all and could easily form a crew, earning a place in the city’s criminal underworld.

So, to maintain his special title, Yu Nan came to Daxianqiao. He had to prove himself as the true King of Thieves!

"Hmph, just a stubborn burglar. With me, Yu Nan, on the job, I’ll crush him easily," he muttered, though he felt a bit uncertain. But as long as he succeeded just once here, all the doubts would vanish.

After searching for a while, he found his first target.

The house was dark. The residents were clearly asleep.

It had a security door, but to Yu Nan, locks were a non-issue.

Click—the lock opened.

Yu Nan smiled confidently and gave the door a gentle push... but it wouldn’t budge.

His smile faded. The lock was open, so why wouldn’t it move?

After pacing around twice, he discovered the residents had jammed a cabinet against the door. The only way in from outside would be to force it open.

"Why would they go to such trouble? Don’t they find it inconvenient themselves?"

He tried the window next, only to find it barricaded with thick planks.

Yu Nan was growing frantic. "This isn’t just theft-proof—this is riot-proof! Even a robot would be held off for a while."

He tried five different ground-floor homes, but failed every time. There were even people patrolling the street at night; he was almost spotted.

Realizing the situation, the King of Thieves felt his resolve waver.

"The residents here are so vigilant. Even that ‘Night Crow’ probably can’t keep stealing here. So, I didn’t lose to him."

Creak—

Behind him, the door to the house he'd just failed to enter quietly opened.

A man in black, face covered, stepped out munching on a carrot.

"You... you’re Night Crow? You just came out of that house? How long have you been in there?"

Liang Zhi glanced at the man in black, surprised. "Hmm... more than two hours, I guess. The owner is a writer, but his outline was a mess, so I fixed it up for him."

Yu Nan’s face flushed, then relaxed. Night Crow’s thieving skills really were better than his. He had no shame in losing.

"I concede. You win. From now on, the title of King of Thieves of East City is yours."

Liang Zhi waved his hand. "No thanks, I don’t want that fame. But, brother, I do have a favor to ask."

Yu Nan clasped his fists in salute. "Anything within my ability, just say the word!"

Liang Zhi’s hand moved slightly. A strange power radiated out. "Tell me, have you ever heard of thieves robbing thieves?"