Chapter 202 Setting up the Stage (4K)
Everyone knows that the Bloody Earl is going to challenge the Phantom Thief. Although there are only two days left, with the full cooperation of the Governor's Mansion, Purficott is still The thief prepared a grand stage.
“For such a person with strong self-confidence and desire for expression, such a stage that can attract everyone’s attention cannot be rejected no matter what.” Purficott walked in the arranged venue. , looking at the red carpet laid around and the guards in full formation, with a satisfied smile on his face.
This is the largest luxury hotel in Xinshang City, and it was completely booked by Purficot in the name of the Governor's Palace.
In order to ensure that there would be no accidents this time, the Governor specially transferred a regiment of soldiers to take charge of security work. A full battalion of troops was packed into the venue, which can be called a literal five-step one-post. , every ten steps and one whistle.
All soldiers are loaded with live ammunition. Although the flintlocks they use are slow to load, after arrangements have been made in advance, all soldiers now have a bullet preloaded in the chamber. If necessary, They can unleash heavy firepower or barrages at any time.
A grand performance, in addition to the stage, of course also has an audience.
In order to better fish out this thief, Purficott used the name of the Earl of the North to invite all the celebrities in New Shaker City, and the reason she used was to catch the thief. In addition to housing this thief, she also has to show everyone her latest invention - the Flying Stone.
In the center of the venue, an unobstructed booth has been set up. Surrounded by four Steam Riders, they stand at the four corners of the venue facing the booth, ensuring that most of the line of sight can be covered. While at the venue, you can also stare at the booth all the time.
There are four Steam Riders around the booth facing the four directions of the booth with their backs to the booth. They cover each other's line of sight with the other four Steam Riders, forming a surveillance area with no blind spots. .
Of course, using people to monitor will lead to fatigue and negligence. Even if the steam knights are extraordinary, their energy is limited and they will get tired.
So this time, Purficott did not let the White Bear Knights be responsible for driving the Steam Knights. Instead, he directly asked eight female servants to put on the Steam Knight armors to form the Self-Disciplined Steam Knights.
The self-disciplined steam knights only need fuel. After filling up the fuel, they can continuously monitor the area that Perfecticot asked them to monitor without making the slightest mistake.
In order to ensure nothing goes wrong and prevent the thief from sneaking in while the Steam Rider was refueling, Purficott even prepared four more self-disciplined Steam Riders and four White Bear Riders as backup.
The four spare self-disciplined steam knights will exchange with the four self-disciplined steam knights in the venue every 6 hours, and the steam knights that have run out of fuel in the venue will be replaced for refueling and maintenance, and wait until 6 hours later Then start a new round of exchange with four other self-disciplined steam knights.
As for an autonomous steam rider, if it is filled with fuel, it can actually be on standby for more than 16 hours. It needs to be replaced every 6 hours. This is just to ensure that even if an accident occurs, the autonomous steam rider will be able to stand by for more than 16 hours. Can react quickly and fight at full strength for more than an hour.
To be honest, using an array of this scale to catch an extraordinary thief is a bit of a fuss. It can even be described as using a cannon to kill mosquitoes.
But for Purficott, she just wanted to take this opportunity to test the practical application of the self-disciplined steam knight, so as to announce to the world that she had invented the flying stone.
To achieve this, Purficott has switched the flying stone back to its active state and placed it on the stand in the center of the venue.
Right now, this gem emitting blue light is suspended in the air, covered by a transparent glass cover. Although it is only the size of a pigeon egg, it is enough to attract the attention of the entire venue.
"Your Majesty, is it unsafe to leave this flying stone like this?" The governor, who accompanied Perfectcott to inspect the security preparations of the venue, looked at the flying stone, with a desire to own it uncontrollably in his eyes: "Although you have sent the steam knights as guards, will they fail to take into account some details..."
The governor said that the steam knights did not take into account the details, but in fact what he meant was Sixteen steam knights are too exaggerated. If they really take action, they will have to demolish the largest luxury hotel in Xinshak.
So the Governor hopes to persuade Perfectcott to stop playing like this.
After all, if all sixteen Steam Knights were to move and fight with all their strength, it would only take half an hour. Not to mention this luxury hotel, even the surrounding streets would be steamed. The knights were razed to the ground.
"Don't worry, considering safety issues, I didn't let the steam knight carry a portable recoilless rifle." Of course Purficott could see through the governor's mind, but she had no intention of changing her mind.
She just turned to look at the Flying Stone and smiled at the Governor: "During the exhibition tomorrow, the Steam Rider will ensure that no one can get within ten meters of the Flying Stone. Even if the thief has great abilities, there is no way he can do it." Stealing the Flying Stone in full view of everyone.”
Perfect has done a comprehensive survey of this venue. Candles and oil lamps are used for lighting in the hotel venue, which is also the most common lighting in this era. equipment, and the electric light had not yet appeared in this world.
So there is no such thing as the scene where the monster thief turns off all the lights and then steals the treasure under the cover of darkness.
Perfect also installed a lantern for lighting on all the steam knights, which is enough to ensure that even if all the lighting in the venue is extinguished, the steam knights themselves can become the light source for illumination.
Not to mention that the flying stone itself can glow. When the whole place is dark, the flying stone is the most conspicuous existence.
Not only that, Purficott also specifically checked the building structure of the venue. This is the first floor. There is no basement below, so there is no question of exploding the floor and causing the booth to fall to the next floor and take it away from an unexpected angle. Possibility of treasure.
As for the roof, it is even more impossible. Purficott asked Claudia to check it specifically. The top of the hall is made of cement prefabricated boards, not a common wooden structure, so it is not strong enough. Don't worry about the speed.
And there are guards guarding the rooms upstairs and on the roof to ensure nothing goes wrong.
Although the entire venue has multiple doors for entry and exit, the venue will close all the doors during the exhibition tomorrow, leaving only two doors, and only one can enter and one can exit. All guests can only walk along the Visit the established route and admire Perficott's masterpiece from a distance while keeping enough distance from the flying stones.
Perfect didn’t quite believe that the thief could still steal her flying stone under such strict security measures.
Even if the thief is able to bypass the tight security and access the flying stone, the flying stone itself will be the last security measure.
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In the venue, a guard was standing in a corner of the venue with a serious expression, and other people around him The guards make no difference.
But his eyes always followed Purficott and the Governor, and from time to time he peeked at the surrounding situation, constantly simulating and constructing the terrain structure and security situation of the entire venue in his mind. There is no doubt that this is the thief. After he saw the challenge published by Purficott in the newspaper, he disguised himself and sneaked into the venue regardless of the fact that he was hungry just last night.
He clearly knew that someone had scent-marked his body, but after understanding that the scent-mark was related to his blood, he also did some processing.
Although it cannot be said that the smell has been completely covered up, at least it is difficult to smell it when someone is not close to you.
In addition, he was pretending to be a guard, so there was no need for him to deliberately disguise himself. The impact of the poor hygiene conditions of this era was enough to make the smell of this guard very touching.
Even though everyone in this unit was required to take a shower and put on clean military uniforms before coming, some of the underwear that had been worn for a long time still had a strong smell.
Coupled with some deliberate disguise and some tricks, this thief believes that as long as he pays attention, he is basically unlikely to be discovered.
And he didn't come directly to steal the flying stone, but just to conduct on-site investigation.
As a thief who calls himself a Phantom Thief, he is indeed a person with extremely high self-confidence, just as Purficott expected.
He firmly believes that his stealing skills are perfect and there is nothing in this world that he cannot steal.
So his stealing is no longer limited to property, but wants to steal something with special significance, preferably something that can cause a sensation, thus establishing his name as the Phantom Thief.
Although he has indeed done some cases so far, for various reasons, his reputation is not actually that great.
This is also the most embarrassing thing about this self-proclaimed Robin Hood-style thief. He used to spend most of his time honing his skills. Although he became a transcendent, this also left him with no time. Go make your own name.
As of now, although he is somewhat famous in the circle, he is still far from being as famous as he expected, and making people panic all day long once they know he is being targeted. Great distance.
But this did not affect his self-confidence. He always believed that he was the strongest and there was nothing in this world that he could not steal.
This self-confidence was even a little too much, giving him a sense of pride that he was invincible.
Then he overturned his car last night and almost killed himself.
This gave the self-proclaimed monster thief a huge blow and warning, making him realize that there was a huge gap in combat effectiveness between himself and the combat-oriented transcendent.
And as a monster thief, rushing to steal a treasure without sufficient preparation is purely for your own sake.
Although if what was being chased last night was not an assassin, but a knight, he felt that he should be absolutely sure of escaping the pursuit, and there would be no need to use tail survival to abandon the stolen things and hide in Sewers are a way to get rid of pursuers.
But if you overturn, you have to overturn. You have to admit defeat and stand upright when you are beaten. This is the first thing he learned from the teacher who taught him.
While admitting this time, he was also extremely unconvinced. After all, this was the first time he had failed in his career as a Phantom Thief, and he was defeated so completely.
So after seeing the news in the newspaper that Perfection challenged him in the morning, he set off to the venue to conduct inspections without saying a word, preparing to make a grand debut for himself tomorrow night and completely establish the name of the Phantom Thief. At the same time, it also allowed me to regain the face I lost last night.
Of course, the most important point is to give this wanton countess an unforgettable lesson and let her understand that the New World is not a place for her to do whatever she wants.
Only in this way can he comfort his friends who were captured and killed during the bloody week.
Thinking of this, there was a trace of hatred in his eyes when he looked at Purficott.
However, even a subtle change in his eyes was enough for Claudia, who was following Purfict, to notice it, and her eyes instantly glanced over.
This frightened the Phantom Thief so much that he couldn't help but tremble, and quickly turned away his sight, collecting his mind and not looking in that direction again.
Because of his timely response, Claudia didn't notice any clues. She just looked in this direction a few more times and then turned away.
Seeing Claudia turn away her gaze, the Phantom Thief quietly breathed a sigh of relief and continued his observation.
He did not leave immediately. On the one hand, he did not have a suitable excuse or opportunity, and on the other hand, leaving in such a hurry was actually a very revealing behavior.
Just like last night, if he hadn't been so eager to escape, he might not have lost so embarrassingly.
It can only be said that he is still not experienced enough when dealing with such a big scene.
Finally, when the guards of his group changed, the Phantom Thief followed the others and left the venue, and then found an excuse to escape and left the sight of others.
It’s just that he didn’t go to the men’s bathroom, but turned into the women’s bathroom when no one was paying attention.
Then in a cubicle, he took off his military uniform and put on the clothes of an aristocratic lady. He dressed himself up as a tall, fashionable aristocratic lady and put on a hat. After covering her face with a big-brimmed hat, she walked out of the women's bathroom.
Although this hotel was rented out by Purficott in the name of the Governor's Palace, there were still other guests in the hotel itself, so a fashionably dressed aristocratic lady did not attract much attention. He successfully returned to the hotel room that the thief had reserved.
(End of this chapter)