Chapter 52: Chapter 52 The Three of Us
On the van, Big Face Cat cursed loudly:
“That bitch actually dared to deceive me!”
He looked at Lin Xian wearing an Ultraman mask:
“Brother, you know about my father and daughter and about my three little brothers… I knew you were no ordinary person; I trust you!”
“But,” he continued, “you said you could take me to tons and tons of gold bars— is that really true? I’m not doubting you, brother, I’m just curious where in this city there could be so many gold bars?”
Just now, after Lin Xian stopped Big Face Cat in the square, he called him over to the van for a detailed chat.
Given the dramatic difference in their intelligence, Lin Xian quickly gained Big Face Cat’s trust by using his information advantage.
The second step was to persuade Big Face Cat to put aside past grievances and join his own cooperative plan.
Lin Xian nodded, looking at Big Face Cat:
“Since I’ve told you so many secrets already, why would I lie to you about this?”
“I know this city too well, including where the money is hidden. You see, there are people in this world whose riches cannot be kept in a bank, and even if you steal it right in front of them, they wouldn’t dare to make a police call. Robbing this kind of money is the safest.”
Lin Xian glanced at his watch and shook his head:
“It’s just that we definitely don’t have enough time today; I can only take you to rob it tomorrow.”
Big Face Cat slapped Lin Xian on the shoulder and laughed heartily:
“What’s one day’s difference, eh? Tomorrow it is! So what shall we do today?”
Lin Xian pulled open the van door and jumped out:
“Just wait here, I’ll go call over the Code Expert. Remember our agreement: I’ll take you to make money tomorrow, and the grudges between you and her will be wiped clean. Today, you two follow my orders.”
After getting out of Big Face Cat’s van, Lin Xian closed the door.
He adjusted the mask on his face.
Lin Xian walked towards the other side of the square.
Soon, he spotted CC’s location.
She was the same as always.
Her oversized black trench coat, bulky bun, a figure as slender as a model’s, and the Ultraman mask on her face serving as a covert sign for meeting up.
Lin Xian walked straight up to her:
“Long story short. Our goal is the same—to open the bank vault with the safety deposit box labeled with ‘Lin Xian’.”
“This is not a simple task. Your little computer can hack into the vault’s password lock, but the safety deposit box uses an old-fashioned mechanical lock, which renders your expertise in electronic decryption utterly useless. We won’t have enough time to open the safety deposit box before the main power is back on.”
“Trust me, I know that vault and that safety deposit box better than you. I know how to open it, and I’ve already dealt with Big Face Cat. If you want to open that safety deposit box… join my team and let’s cooperate.”
CC looked at Lin Xian with a puzzled face.
Yet, she patiently listened to him finish.
Then she took a step back and sized up Lin Xian again from head to toe:
“Do you know the combination to the safety deposit box?”
“I don’t,” Lin Xian replied truthfully:
“But opening the safety deposit box doesn’t necessarily require the combination.”
“I’m planning to steal a set of ‘oxygen-acetylene cutting torch’ equipment from a construction materials market. Using its high-temperature flame to directly cut through the safety deposit box is both efficient and reliable, far more so than trying to crack the combination.”
“So… do you want to join us or not?”
Lin Xian glanced at his watch, turned his wrist to show CC the time:
“Without you, we might spend a little extra time at the electronic door of the vault, but it’s not like we can’t use a C4 explosive to clear the way.”
“We’re short on time. I’ll give you 30 seconds to decide.”
CC fell silent, pondering for a while:
“I have just one question.”
CC looked at Lin Xian:
“You seem to know a lot of intelligence. Since your goal is also Lin Xian’s safety deposit box… could you tell me how much you understand about Lin Xian?”
Lin Xian shook his head:
“There are many people named Lin Xian in this world, I’m not sure whether the Lin Xian written on the safety deposit box is the Lin Xian I know.”
“Then what kind of person is the Lin Xian you know?” CC stared at Lin Xian unwaveringly and asked softly:
“I’m very curious, why do you also want to open this safety deposit box? What is your purpose?”
“I don’t have a purpose, I’m simply curious. On the contrary, you have been secretive, haven’t you? Are you willing to exchange information? I will tell you about the Lin Xian I know, and you tell me your reason for wanting to open the safety deposit box. How about that?”
As expected, CC fell silent again.
Lin Xian wasn’t surprised.
She’s been incredibly stubborn about “her unusual attitude towards herself” and “her purpose for opening the safety deposit box,” refusing to reveal even a little bit of information.
Lin Xian had long given up on prying open her mouth.
He checked his watch:
“I’m in,” CC answered directly, arms crossed:
“But on the condition that you’ve truly dealt with Big Face Cat—he’s no easy target.”
Lin Xian lowered his wrist, thumb pointing at the van parked on the roadside:
“Pleasure doing business.”
“Let’s go, I’ll take you to meet our teammates.”
With a huge advantage in intelligence, everything proceeded smoothly.
Lin Xian pulled open the sliding door of the van’s rear seat and invited CC to seat herself first, then he followed closely and sat in the back, pulling the sliding door closed from the inside.
The rattling door closed, causing the whole vehicle to shake a few times.
For a moment, nobody spoke.
The three least likely characters to sit together did just that, silently seated inside a van.
Big Face Cat swallowed and observed the backseat through the van’s rearview mirror.
He saw two righteous, fierce-looking Ultramen staring straight ahead, and in the corner of the rearview mirror… a Rhein Cat whose face was squeezed between layers of flesh, distorted into a forced smile.
This combination was too bizarre!
Big Face Cat coughed twice, turned around, and through the small holes in his mask, looked left and right at the twin Ultramen:
“Well… which one of you is going to hurry up and explain what’s going on?”
“Female Ultraman, you don’t have to be so alert, let’s let bygones be bygones, the money issue the Male Ultraman said he would help me with.”
“Male Ultraman, didn’t you say you were going to command tonight’s operation? Start discussing the plan then!”
Lin Xian also straightened out his thoughts for what came next, and spoke up:
“Enough talk, let’s get to work.”
“Big Face Cat, head to the east side’s building materials market first, we’ll look there for an oxyacetylene cutting torch.”
“If we don’t find one there, we’ll circle around to the southern advertising store; we need that device to cut open the safety deposit box.”
The van started and headed towards the building materials market.
On the way, the three of them had no communication.
He crossed his hands over his stomach, watching the evenly retreating streetlights ahead, reminiscent of passing time, like he was cycling through the same dream over and over.
In that safety deposit box…
What exactly was hidden inside?