Chapter 144: Is Xu Mo Planning to Clear Out the Exhibition Hall?

A few minutes ago.

Monitoring Room.

The four-person team assigned by the Program Crew opposite Xu Mo, responsible for preventing Xu Mo from stealing the Blue Sapphire, were playing PUBG.

Suddenly, the Monitoring Room became pitch black.

The lights in the room went out.

Even the surveillance feed on the screen vanished instantly.

The only source of light in the room was the four people's phones.

"What's going on? A power outage?"

"I don't know, I'll go out and check."

When Gao Liming opened the door of the Monitoring Room, he found that outside was also pitch black.

The only light still came from the emergency illumination lamp.

Among the four, he was the sharpest.

Seeing the darkness outside, Gao Liming instantly felt an ominous premonition.

"Something seems to have happened!"

"At worst it's just a circuit fault; what could happen? I'll get someone to fix it now," Zhang Wenrui said nonchalantly, and reached for his phone to call someone to repair the wiring.

For this rich second-generation, anything that can be solved with money isn't even a problem.

Before the call could go through, he suddenly seemed to remember something.

"Wait, this place should have a backup diesel generator, right? You all go look for it," Zhang Wenrui said to the few employees he had hired to take turns monitoring the feeds in the Monitoring Room.

At that moment.

The intercom on the table suddenly rang.

"Brother Hao, there's a fire; people in the Exhibition Hall are queuing to evacuate. You all should get out quickly!"

Wang Hao: "???"

Fire?

The four exchanged glances, all stunned.

Everything was fine; how could there be a fire?

But now wasn't the time to overthink.

After all, a fire isn't something to joke about.

"What are you standing around for? Run!" Zhang Wenrui said without hesitation, immediately sprinting out following the light from the emergency illumination.

Gao Liming, Zhao Tianyi, and Wang Hao also didn't linger, instantly following Zhang Wenrui out of the Monitoring Room.

The few hired employees who had been watching the feeds also left with them.

Following the direction indicated by the emergency illumination, they walked from the Monitoring Room to the Exhibition Hall.

At that moment, people were evacuating in an orderly fashion.

Their group also fell in line behind the evacuating crowd.

"Where's the fire? Why didn't I see it?" Gao Liming frowned.

Running all the way here, he hadn't seen any source of flame, nor smelled any burnt odor.

"That's none of your business," Zhang Wenrui snapped. "The Exhibition Venue is huge; it's not just the Monitoring Room and Exhibition Hall. If the fire's in the restroom or Power Supply Room, you still run. Survival comes first."

He said that.

But Gao Liming still sensed something was off.

He felt very uneasy.

He even wondered whether this incident might involve Xu Mo.

The more he thought, the more possible it seemed.

He voiced his speculation.

"Tell me, could this be Xu Mo's doing?"

The moment he said that, the other three immediately refuted him.

"Impossible. Even if Xu Mo is daring, would he dare set a fire here? He can steal, but arson... if there were casualties, no one could cover for him!"

"Exactly, Xu Mo isn't stupid; he wouldn't do such a brainless act."

"What if?" Gao Liming persisted. "I'm not saying Xu Mo is bold enough to start a fire; I'm asking whether this chaos could have been orchestrated by Xu Mo."

He paused, then continued, "I keep feeling something's fishy about this."

"Just relax, there's absolutely no problem," Zhang Wenrui said.

Following him, Wang Hao added, "Even if this chaos really involves Xu Mo, so what? I believe he can stir up trouble, but can he also manage to take the sapphire?"

He paused, then lowered his voice, "Did you forget where the real sapphire is?"

"I think the same. Our immediate priority is to get out. Whether this chaos involves Xu Mo can be discussed after we exit. If it turns out there's no connection to Xu Mo and there truly is a fire, staying now means we won't escape later," Zhao Tianyi said, gently patting Gao Liming's shoulder twice.

Gao Liming's concerns were gradually being dispelled.

Indeed, even if this chaos involves Xu Mo.

He still couldn't possibly take the sapphire.

After all... the sapphire is stored in the safe in the Monitoring Room.

That safe was purchased at great cost by Zhang Wenrui and Zhao Tianyi, both rich second-generation.

Without a key or code, no one could open that safe, not even with explosives.

The only thing Xu Mo could do is steal the safe.

But that is even more impossible.

Xu Mo could never possibly lift that safety deposit box.

Even if he could move it, the security guards at the exhibition aren't meek.

Could they still let Xu Mo carry the safety deposit box away?

The most crucial point is.

Xu Mo has no idea that this safety deposit box even exists.

He certainly wouldn't know.

The gem displayed in the center of the Exhibition Hall is a fake; the real gem is actually stored in the safety deposit box in the Monitoring Room.

The gem is absolutely safe.

Not to mention Xu Mo— even a notorious thief couldn't steal the gem.

The dialogue among the four was heard word for word by a man standing ahead of them.

The man frowned, as if pondering something.

Then, he pretended to look flustered as he fumbled his pocket.

In a very low voice he muttered to himself, "Where's the phone…".

Afterward, the man turned his head toward the Restroom.

His eyes were filled with a struggling expression.

He guessed the phone had fallen into the toilet.

He seemed to be deciding whether to go to the Restroom to retrieve his phone.

After wavering, finally the man gritted his teeth.

He ran toward the Restroom.

The man quickly left the area lit by the emergency light, disappearing into the darkness.

Seeing this, Zhang Wenrui couldn't help but let out a cold laugh.

"You idiot, nowadays there are all kinds of people— money over life. How much is a busted phone worth, and you still go back for it? I'll burn you to hell."

His words, however, drew the attention of the others.

Unlike him, the others didn't make snide remarks; they tried to persuade the man not to do something foolish.

"What time is it to still worry about a phone? Escaping is what matters!"

"Buddy, hurry back, can a phone be worth more than your life?"

"Are you crazy? How much can a phone be worth?"

But the man gave no response at all.

Gradually, no one kept shouting.

Kind words can't persuade a suicidal fool.

……

After the people orderly evacuated the Exhibition Hall.

They didn't choose to leave.

Instead, they gathered at the entrance.

They wanted to find out whether there was a fire, and if so, how it started.

Spectating is human nature.

Amid the crowd, Zhou Qiaoqiao suddenly received a message sent by Xu Mo.

Reading the message, Zhou Qiaoqiao was slightly stunned.

Xu Mo hasn't come out yet, that's enough.

And he even sent a message asking her to create some commotion to draw everyone's attention?

What kind of Mischief is he planning this time?

He can't be planning to just wipe out the Exhibition Hall, can he!