Chapter 226: The Bank Heist

Chapter 226: The Bank Heist

As the massive robbery unfolded on Zhongzheng Street, an explosion rocked the Coastal Commercial Bank in the neighboring district.

The blast was so powerful that it caused a slight tremor underfoot, felt even on the street.

The bank's alarm soon blared.

It was at this moment that Lu Heng's phone rang. Answering it, he heard Chen Lianian's voice.

"Lu Heng, I need a favor. The vault at the Coastal Commercial Bank has been bombed. Our team is on its way, but I'm worried we won't make it in time. You should be nearby, right? Go and check it out."

"Sure, what's in it for me?" Lu Heng left a clone to handle the robbers on Zhongzheng Street while his main body dashed through the alley towards the commercial bank.

"I knew you'd help," Chen Lianian sighed.

"So you're taking advantage of my character, Inspector Chen Lianian," Lu Heng replied, a hint of annoyance in his voice.

"Consider it a debt I owe you. Once this is over, let me know what you want, and I'll do it if I can," Chen Lianian reluctantly promised.

Lu Heng didn't respond to this, instead ending the call abruptly as he rushed into the bank.

Several people had already collapsed in the bank's lobby, and a few tellers cowered in a corner, shivering.

Lu Heng grabbed one of them and asked loudly, "Where's the vault? Where's the vault?"

This teller was so terrified that he kept repeating, "Don't kill me, don't kill me."

"I'm asking where the vault is," Lu Heng said, a bit exasperated.

Just as he was about to rush in and search room by room, another teller pointed towards the back hall and said, "Go through this door, pass three intersections, turn right, and head down the stairs. You'll see the vault door."

Lu Heng turned and ran into the back hall. As he passed the first corner, his peripheral vision caught a glimpse of a figure, causing him to pause.

The figure was wearing a black cloak and hood, concealing their face.

Lu Heng focused his gaze and saw a pair of colorful, iridescent eyes beneath the hood.

It was Number 27, and he had encountered him here.

According to Zero Thirteen, Number 27 had defected.

Up until now, Lu Heng had only two contacts, and all the latest information about the Creator Organization had come from these two.

It was Zero Thirteen who had informed him of Number 27's defection.

Lu Heng now had some doubts about Zero Thirteen's claims, so encountering Number 27 here, he wanted to question him directly.

"Wait..."

Upon seeing Lu Heng, Number 27 suddenly turned and ran into the cornered passage.

Lu Heng rushed over and turned to look, only to see the last trace of Number 27's erased footprints.

He had fled.

Why did he run?

Why was he at the Coastal Commercial Bank? Was he involved in the bank robbery?

At that moment, numerous questions flooded Lu Heng's mind, but now was not the time to delve into them. He had to immediately stop the bank robbers.

Lu Heng quickly turned and ran back, passing through two intersections and descending the stairs. He then saw the vault door.

In fact, the vault door was gone, blown to smithereens, leaving only scattered rubble and a gaping hole.

Just then, a group of masked robbers emerged, carrying travel bags filled with loot. The vault had been completely ransacked.

Since the Abyssal Descent, bank vaults stored not only cash and gold bars but also crystal cores and various tempering and forging materials.

This group of robbers, having emptied the vault, would possess an immense amount of wealth and resources if they escaped.

Lu Heng, witnessing the robbers exiting the looted vault, drew his Aurora Blade and stood guard at the entrance.

The robbers, having acquired so much wealth, were frenzied. Seeing someone blocking their path, they didn't need orders and immediately opened fire.

Lu Heng sidestepped, avoiding the initial barrage, then released his Divine Incarnation and charged the robbers, unleashing a slaughter.

His clone had evolved into the S-Class skill, Divine Incarnation, possessing immense combat power. It was no longer an ordinary energy body that would dissipate with a single attack.

Of course, the Divine Incarnation could still be destroyed by concentrated gunfire.

However, it could use the main body's skills, and while its strength didn't match Lu Heng's, it was more than sufficient to effortlessly deal with Ability Warriors below level 25.

These robbers, reduced to a life of thievery, were not highly skilled in combat.

At their current Origin Energy level, Ability Warriors at level 25 and below didn't need to resort to robbery. There were plenty of corporations and capitalists eager to shower them with money.

Therefore, Lu Heng and his clone charged forward, slashing and killing the robbers, leaving them in disarray.

After cutting down all the robbers, the Divine Incarnation remained unharmed.

The last robber, seeing Lu Heng effortlessly dispatch over a dozen of his men in an instant, immediately knelt and begged for mercy, "Big Brother, please don't kill me. I'll give you everything, all the vault items are yours."

Lu Heng placed his sword against the robber's neck and threatened, "Then hurry up and hand them over."

Since both the Energy Core and Tempering Materials were special substances from the Abyssal world, they could be stored in the inventory.

These robbers weren't stupid; they knew that cash and gold bars couldn't be stored in the inventory, so they carried them in travel bags. However, the Energy Core and Tempering Materials were stored in the inventory of the robber leader.

Therefore, this robber leader wasn't carrying a travel bag.

Hearing Lu Heng's words, the robber leader thought he had a chance to survive and quickly took out a large pile of Energy Cores, placing them on the ground. "Take them all. They're yours now. Just let me go."

"Is that all?" Lu Heng looked at the Energy Cores on the ground, his eyes cold and piercing.

"There's also... there's a B-Class Forging Material. Forging Materials are in high demand now, and their prices are skyrocketing. If you let me go, I'll give you the material as soon as I walk out of the bank." The robber leader wanted to keep a high-grade material for himself.

"Forget it. I don't want the material," Lu Heng said as he raised his sword.

"No, Big Brother, please, I'll give it to you now..." The robber leader had no choice but to take out the B-Class Forging Material and offer it with both hands.

Lu Heng looked at the B-Class Forging Material and was quite tempted to take it.

The Aurora Blade no longer needed this B-Class Forging Material, but Su Muyu's Crossbow could use it.

However, since it belonged to the bank, he couldn't take it even if he wanted to.

He had to stick to his principles.

At that moment, Chen Lianian arrived with the Iron Blood Investigators. They rushed to the vault door and found the battle had already ended. The robbers had been thoroughly defeated, leaving only the robber leader.

"Leave one alive for questioning," Chen Lianian quickly reminded.

Lu Heng sheathed the Aurora Blade and turned to say, "Then I'll leave this to you. I can still make it home in time for dinner."

Just as Lu Heng was about to leave, the robber leader suddenly lashed out, his palm flipping to reveal a gleaming dagger. He stabbed at Lu Heng's back.

"Be careful!" Chen Lianian warned.

In truth, it didn't matter if he warned him or not.

Such a petty trick couldn't harm Lu Heng.

Lu Heng reached back with his left hand, grabbing the robber's wrist, and then twisted his arm with force, breaking it.

"Ah!"

The robber leader let out a heart-wrenching scream.

Lu Heng took the dagger from his hand and found it to be a C-Class dagger, the Frostlight Dagger, with a Tempering level of +3.

At this stage, a Metahuman capable of tempering weapons wouldn't need to resort to robbing banks.

So, this Frostlight Dagger was likely stolen from a murder.

Lu Heng held the dagger and, with a quick flourish, stored it in his inventory.

Chen Lianian glared at him but said nothing in the end.

Lu Heng hadn't touched anything in the bank vault, which was already very principled.

If Lu Heng had been more underhanded, he could have killed the robber leader and taken all the Energy Cores into his inventory. No one would have been able to trace those stolen goods.

After the threat was neutralized, the bank manager rushed over and was greatly relieved to see that almost nothing in the vault had been taken.

Lu Heng pointed at the B-Class Forging Material on the ground and said to the manager, "I need that B-Class Forging Material. I'll send someone to buy it at market price another day."

At this stage, Forging Materials were scarce. After gaining experience with Tempering Materials, major corporations, families, and organizations hoarded similar materials and refused to sell them.

As a result, Forging Materials were rarely available on the market, especially high-grade ones.

B-Class Forging Materials were nearly impossible to find.

So, Lu Heng considered buying this B-Class Forging Material to help with the second tempering of Su Muyu's Crossbow.

The bank manager was still in a state of shock and only nodded in response to Lu Heng's words. But the final decision to sell or not wasn't solely his to make.

...

And so, the bank robbery came to an end.

These robbers were unlucky to have encountered Lu Heng, a Metahuman with peak combat power.

If Lu Heng hadn't been nearby, and if the Metahuman who arrived had less formidable abilities, these robbers would have likely escaped, or at least a majority of them.

Moreover, once they fled the bank, it would have been much harder for the Iron Blood Investigation Bureau to capture them again.

After all, metahumans possess all sorts of bizarre abilities, and there were too many ways for them to escape pursuit.

Chen Lianian escorted the leader of the robbers back for trial, while the crime scene was handed over to the forensic team for investigation.

The valuables in the bank vault, including gold bars and cash, could be accounted for, but some crystal cores were missing.

During the chaotic robbery of the vault, the plan was for the leader to safeguard the crystal cores.

However, some robbers immediately placed the crystal cores into their item slots, intending to embezzle them.

Therefore, some crystal cores were indeed missing.

Following the standard procedure, Lu Heng should have been questioned to confirm if he had taken any crystal cores.

But Chen Lianian signed off, confirming that Lu Heng had not taken any.

Since there was no way to investigate this matter, it didn't matter if Lu Heng had taken any crystal cores; it couldn't be traced.

If Lu Heng were summoned for questioning, it would only cause him discomfort.

Before the Abyssal Descent, this matter would have been thoroughly investigated, but with such an urgent incident, they were grateful for Lu Heng, a peak metahuman, stepping in to help. It would be ungrateful to interrogate him, and it might discourage others from assisting in similar situations in the future.

Chen Lianian signed as a guarantor, and Lu Heng was not summoned for questioning.

...

Two days later, Lu Heng asked Lin Ze Yu to send a manager to the Coastal Commercial Bank to discuss the purchase of B-Class Forging Materials with the bank manager.

That very afternoon, the bank manager, He Songwen, personally led a team to express their gratitude to Lu Heng and presented the B-Class Forging Material as a gift.

Lu Heng had intended to purchase it, but the bank's direct gift surprised him.

After all, he had helped the Coastal Commercial Bank apprehend the robbers and prevented a significant loss.

For the Coastal Commercial Bank, exchanging a B-Class Forging Material for the entire vault's gold bars and cash was a very profitable deal.

Lu Heng accepted the gift and prepared to use the B-Class Forging Material to upgrade Su Muyu's crossbow.

This was an excellent opportunity for Guru Master, who was ambitious and eager to showcase his skills.

It was also a chance to improve his forging techniques.

After seeing off He Songwen, Lu Heng brought the forging material to the Flame Emblem Club.

He first consulted with Guru Master about the materials needed for the crossbow's second forging.

The B-Class Forging Material was excellent for the crossbow, but other auxiliary forging materials were required.

Upon entering Forge Castle, Lu Heng noticed a larger-than-usual crowd.

Even the forging chamber was packed with people.

Inside, Lu Heng learned that Guru Master had taken on three forging jobs and was working diligently.

Lin Ze Yu was assisting him.

He had already gained the secondary profession of Forging Assistant while helping with forging.

This secondary profession, although not a forger, is still valuable, and a high level can unlock its unique traits," Lu Heng thought.

He also had this secondary profession, but since his other secondary profession was High-Level Tempered Master, he focused on that path.

In addition to Guru Master's forging, there was a group of people at the tempering forge.

Gao Yuankui was tempering metahuman weapons.

With his government background and tempering talent, he had earned Guru Master's approval.

It was now November in the Abyssal Descent, and according to the timeline, it wouldn't be long before the Western world discovered the second tempering forge.

Therefore, Forge Castle needed to gradually open up.

Otherwise, the Western nations might dominate the tempering industry.

To gain an advantage in this field, relying on a single person was insufficient.

Lu Heng had always supported Guru Master's decision to involve other tempering masters, but the ones they had encountered previously were of average skill.

After Guru Master finished his forging job, Lu Heng discussed the second forging of the crossbow.

Guru Master's concern about upgrading Su Muyu's weapon, as he had also helped Forge Castle and held high esteem there.

"My forging materials are almost depleted. I'll make a list, and you can send someone to acquire them. These are the materials needed for the second forging of the crossbow," Guru Master said, handing Lu Heng a list.

Lu Heng waited for Lin Ze Yu to arrive and gave him the list, asking him to procure the materials.

Lin Ze Yu leaned in and whispered, "I just received news that the appearance of a tempering forge in the Lionheart Empire has caused quite a stir."

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end