At night, Inari Memorial Hall had only minimal lighting.
The corridors were dim, the exhibition halls were dark, no one was visible, and even the nocturnal small animals had disappeared.
Cameras firmly locked onto every entrance and exit, and the Hero Association's specially arranged guards protected the exhibition hall twenty-four hours a day, ensuring that no abnormalities occurred.
—Because Magic Girl Inari’s guardian star was stored here.
As Hong Kong City's once-illustrious protector, Inari handed over her guardian star and fox mask upon her retirement, completely disappearing from public view.
These two items thus became extremely valuable memorabilia, and it was rumored that someone in the black market had once offered a sky-high price to buy Inari's guardian star, but to this day, no one has been able to obtain it under such heavy guard.
“So, this exhibition hall at night is the most heavily guarded place in Hong Kong City, right?”
Cat Girl squatted by the grass, peered at the heavily guarded sentry post in front of the Memorial Hall, and said into the magic communication.
“That’s right, there are three shifts of sentries, equipped with the most advanced psionic thermal imaging cameras, a masterpiece from S-Class Hero Cobra.”
Xin Yuehu’s voice came through the magic communication.
“And the exhibition hall has an independent power supply, with three internal emergency power sources; after the main power is interrupted, it will switch to emergency power within one minute.”
“In other words, after cutting off the power, Cat Cat, you only have one minute to enter the center of the exhibition hall, take the fox mask, and then retreat the same way.”
“It’s a tough mission, right?”
“Yeah, trying to sneak in and steal the fox mask under such strict guard without alerting anyone… it’s quite thrilling.”
Nan Jiayu whispered, as if talking to herself.
According to tonight's plan, after Volcano Monster and Rabbit Little Gray Wolf tied up the Magic Girl team, she would sneak in undisturbed, ensuring that no one was alerted.
And based on their reconnaissance during the day, she and Fox Fox had already found a perfect infiltration route:
“Sneak in through the central air conditioning on the roof. I’ll find a way to get into the power room and put your familiar, Fox Fox, inside to wait.”
“Then I will control the familiar to prepare to cut off the power, and once everything is ready…”
On a distant rooftop, Su Tianqing maintained magic communication with Cat Girl, grinning lightly.
The thrilling treasure heist was truly exhilarating.
“So…”
Su Tianqing said softly to the other end of the magic communication,
“…Let’s begin.”
“Clink.”
An extremely faint sound of landing.
Under the cover of night, the girl wrapped in a dark blue cloak removed her flight magic, her toes touching the ground as she lightly landed on the exhibition hall roof.
Hell Shrike looked around, confirming that the surroundings were the same as during the daytime reconnaissance, and silently walked to the central air conditioning vent. Her cloak tightened around her body, forming a close-fitting magical dress, and she looked into the vent.
“Hmph… Even the vent has a grate… but unfortunately, it can’t stop me.”
Nan Jiayu whispered to herself, magic forming a blade at her fingertips, easily cutting open the vent's grate, and she effortlessly slipped inside.
The vent was very narrow, but with the agile movements of a feline, Cat Girl was still able to move freely.
With the help of the familiar’s positioning, Cat Girl stealthily moved, and when the vent became too narrow to proceed any further, she emerged from the nearest grated vent.
This was a storeroom, surrounded by cardboard boxes and stacked goods, like a souvenir warehouse for the exhibition hall.
There were no guards in front of the storeroom door, and no one was visible in the corridor, only a camera directly facing the storeroom door, making it impossible to walk out directly through the main entrance.
“Do you see the window over there? Climb through the window onto the ceiling. I remember there’s a loose ceiling panel at this spot, and you can get into the interlayer.”
The dark blue cat familiar lay behind her, whispering into her ear.
Nan Jiayu felt a bit like a righteous Magic Girl with an Observer, but as soon as she remembered that the cat behind her was actually Fox Fox's remote-controlled familiar, she quickly dismissed that illusion.
“How’s the storeroom here?”
“!”
The moment Nan Jiayu climbed onto the ceiling, footsteps suddenly sounded from outside the storeroom, and two patrolling security guards walked past the door, chatting casually.
“Everything’s normal. The last patrol was at…”
“Hey, have you heard? It seems like a blockade is being organized on the coastline.”
“Blockade?… Oh, Xin Yuehu summoned Volcano Monster on the coast, right? I saw that news.”
“Old Zhang and his crew were supposed to be patrolling the coast tonight, but then, boom, their patrol tonight was canceled. I wonder which shelter they’re in, drinking and watching TV right now.”
“Tsk tsk tsk…”
The security guards left, laughing and talking, completely unaware of the Cat Girl suspended in mid-air in the corner of the storeroom ceiling.
“…Let’s go. The next patrol will be here in at least an hour.”
“Mm.”
Cat Girl responded softly, keeping to the camera's blind spot as she slipped out of the storeroom window, not forgetting to gently close the blinds behind her, and gracefully climbed into the interlayer from the loose ceiling panel.
Silent progress.
“Bypassing the cameras from the central air conditioning interlayer, your plan, Cat Cat, is truly genius.”
Su Tianqing couldn't help but exclaim.
If it were an ordinary person, it would be absolutely impossible to stealthily move through the fragile ceiling interlayer.
But Little Fish, with her magic enhancement, could protect the ceiling from collapsing under her weight, and no one would ever think that someone could infiltrate from such a place.
“I’m in position. Call me when you’re ready, Cat Cat.”
“Mm.”
A concise reply.
Nan Jiayu stealthily moved to the end of the ceiling interlayer, emerged from a cable inspection access point, and lay on the top floor of the central exhibition hall, looking down at the bulletproof glass display case firmly covered by a laser alarm net on the ground below.
“…I see the target.”
Cat Girl said through the magic communication.
From the top floor of the ceiling, Inari's fox mask lay quietly in the display case, emitting faint magical fluctuations.
This mask was Inari’s iconic attire; she wore it every time she appeared in public, without exception.
It wasn’t until her retirement that she removed the mask, revealing her mysterious face, with delicate and clever features that captivated countless fans, a beautiful sight that could no longer be seen.
“Do it.”
“Alright! Powering down now!”
The cat familiar forcefully pulled down the power switch.
In an instant, the entire exhibition hall’s power was cut off. The patrolling and guarding security guards were simultaneously stunned, and without prior arrangement, they all turned on their flashlights in the darkness, looking around. Chaotic sounds immediately erupted from their walkie-talkies.
“What’s going on?” “Why is the power out?”
“Has the coastline fallen?” “Quick, go check the power room!”
The dark blue Cat Girl leaped down from the ceiling, a magic rope hooking her ankle, hanging upside down in mid-air, her hands cupping the sturdy bulletproof glass display stand in front of her.
She had one minute to open this display stand.
But the moment she touched the display stand, Nan Jiayu felt a sense of unease.
…This glass had been enchanted with defensive magic by an auxiliary from Hai Lan Shi’s team.
It was impossible to destroy it with physical means, but if she used her own magic to break through this defensive magic, it would inevitably create a huge commotion and noise…
“Fox Fox, we have a problem. This display stand has powerful defensive magic attached to it. I can’t cut through it quickly.”
“Hmm… just as expected.”
Su Tianqing pinched her chin, her brows furrowed just like Nan Jiayu’s.
Fifty seconds, forty-nine seconds, forty-eight seconds.
The security team was rapidly switching to emergency power, and the lights in the corridor were already quickly restoring. A decision had to be made within this short minute!
“If we forcibly destroy the defensive magic, Hai Lan Shi and her team will definitely know what’s happening here, and they might come back to block us.”
“…Then let’s take the entire display stand with us!”
Nan Jiayu decisively changed her movements, extending the rope a few inches to lower her inverted body, and her magic blade precisely cut the base of the display stand, embracing the entire glass display stand in her arms!
Thirty seconds.
Twenty-nine seconds.
The magic rope tightened, and Cat Girl silently ascended in the dark central exhibition hall, returning to the ceiling where she had entered the hall.
However, the massive size of the display stand got stuck at the ceiling access point.
Twenty seconds.
Nineteen seconds.
Time ticked by, and Nan Jiayu decisively raised her hand to cut away a section of the ceiling, bringing the entire display stand into the interlayer, then meticulously used magic to put it back in its original place.
In the last ten seconds, emergency power was restored ahead of schedule.
The lights in the exhibition hall became clear and bright, the laser defense net reactivated, and the security guards immediately began searching various parts of the exhibition hall.
But when they arrived at the central exhibition hall and saw the central display stand that should have been there but was now empty…
—“Not good!”
“Emergency report! Emergency report!”
“Inari’s mask and star… are missing!!”