Chapter 522: The Vault Thief

He Yuzhu strolled toward the vicinity of the HSBC Bank, looking left and right as if casually, but in reality, he was silently activating his detection function.

After circling this heavily guarded building, he gradually had a plan in mind: the vault was buried deep in the second basement level, built in a "hui" character shape, entirely cast from reinforced concrete, with every wall three meters thick.

No matter what, he had to sneak into the building first.

After calculating for a while, He Yuzhu set his target on the sewage pipes.

Although it was a bit dirty, the moment he thought of the bright, heavy gold in the vault, plus the bundles of colorful US dollars, this bit of filth was nothing at all.

A cold expression curled the corners of his mouth; HSBC Bank was an outfit that started through colonial plunder and the opium trade, so it would be a waste not to rob them, especially since they had frozen the Eastern Shipping Company's account funds, and had done so by executing M Country's so-called justifications. Thinking of this, He Yuzhu felt a fire rush straight to his head.

Obtaining this money would not only compensate for the losses of the Eastern Shipping Company but also support the construction of his industrial park.

Thinking of this, his whole body was filled with energy.

No sooner said than done.

He crawled into the sewer from a manhole far from the building, and a thick, fishy, rotten stench rushed toward his face.

With a thought, He Yuzhu entered his space.

He nimbly put on a Diving Suit, carefully put on his Gas Mask, and fastened the buckles.

Once prepared, he exited the space again.

Stepping into the sewer, beneath his feet was sticky, slippery sludge, and the sewage rose above his ankles, icy and bone-chilling.

He Yuzhu switched on his headlamp, a beam of light cutting through the darkness. He groped his way forward, each step stirring up murky water sounds.

After walking about three hundred meters, the waterway ahead was tightly blocked by a water-net grate welded from steel bars.

The grid was so dense that not even a cat could squeeze through; it was clearly designed by the architect to block anyone trying to enter the building.

"This thing can't stop me." He Yuzhu grinned silently. With a thought, the entire steel grid was instantly collected into his space, and the view ahead suddenly opened up.

After winding through various turns, he finally reached the area directly beneath the bank building.

Here, there was another equally sturdy steel grid.

He Yuzhu followed the same procedure, removed the obstacle, and finally entered the underground pipe room inside the building.

He pried open a heavy cast-iron sewer cover and carefully poked his head out, discovering he was already on the second basement level.

But the place he was in was just an area for laying pipes; he couldn't get into the vault side at all.

Thick concrete-poured walls completely isolated him from the vault.

He Yuzhu squatted at the base of the wall, tapped the hard wall surface with his fingers, and pondered: since the space could collect the vault door, could it also open a hole in the concrete wall?

"System," he asked in his mind, "can you help me open a door in this concrete wall so I can get in?"

A sweet female voice responded: "The host's request can be fulfilled, but your current collection system does not have this function; a system upgrade fee is required. Price: one ton of gold."

"That's too much of a rip-off, right? Can it be cheaper?" He Yuzhu tried to bargain.

The sweet voice remained completely emotionless: "This is the system's minimum pricing."

Thinking of the wealth within reach behind the wall, He Yuzhu no longer hesitated: "Fine, upgrade!"

As soon as he finished speaking, he clearly felt that several large crates of gold stored in his space had instantly vanished.

"Ding-dong! System upgrade complete!"

He Yuzhu immediately pressed his palm against the cold concrete wall and whispered: "Open a passage for me that allows a person to pass through."

A miracle happened. A piece of the cement wall in front of him, two meters high and one meter wide, vanished silently, and an opening just large enough for one person to pass through appeared.

He Yuzhu quickly squeezed in and looked back, saying: "System, restore the opening!"

The hole instantly sealed, and the wall surface was as smooth as before, as if it had never been damaged.

He Yuzhu's heart pounded wildly; with this ability, where in the world could he not go?

He passed through the wall, and in front of him was another dense steel grid, spanning the narrow space.

He Yuzhu almost cursed out loud; the designer was truly a pervert, with one ring locked into another.

He did not stop, and with a thought, an opening silently appeared in the center of the steel grid again.

Next was the final three-meter-thick concrete wall.

He followed the same procedure, and the wall opened.

When He Yuzhu finally stepped into the interior of the vault, even though he had been mentally prepared, he was still stunned to the point of holding his breath by the sight before him.

Rows of steel shelves were neatly arranged, each level piled high with neatly stacked gold bars, glowing with a bright, alluring luster.

But this place was by no means undefended; in the air, infrared beams wove a flawless warning net, and once touched, the alarm would instantly ring throughout the entire building.

He Yuzhu thought, could even this stop me? He carefully moved to the alarm system and directly collected the alarm device into his space.

Next was the moment for him to collect the wealth.

Wherever he went, the gold bars on the shelves disappeared in rows, all collected into his space.

A rough estimate showed there were eighty tons of it! The hole in the Eastern Shipping Company could finally be filled now.

At the same time, the adjacent area also held crates of US dollars and Hong Kong Dollars.

He was not polite at all and swept them all away as well.

After the sweep was finished, He Yuzhu did not linger and retreated rapidly along the original path.

Every time he passed a spot, he had the system restore the passage to its original state, wiping away all traces.

When he returned to Liu Rusi's residence without anyone knowing, he even caught the tail end of lunch.

Liu Rusi was holding little He Mu, feeding him.

Seeing him enter, she asked with concern: "Was it... not very smooth?"

"It was too smooth." He Yuzhu said as he took off his clothes, "I took a trip through the sewer, it was too smelly. I'd better take a bath first, otherwise, my son will despise me again."

Liu Rusi handed He Mu to Pingping and followed He Yuzhu into the bathroom.

While helping He Yuzhu fill the bathtub with water, she asked: "Tell me, how smooth was it?"

"HSBC Bank is empty. This time, not only did I get back all the losses for our shipping company, but there is also a large surplus." He Yuzhu said.

"That's great!" Liu Rusi's eyes lit up, "I was already planning that if it really came to it, I would sell our Bicycle Factory to deal with the emergency."

"Hmm? That factory wasn't seized?" He Yuzhu asked.

"I kept a trick up my sleeve back then and didn't let the two companies have any overt connection, finding a reliable person to hold the shares on my behalf," Liu Rusi explained, her tone carrying a hint of relief.

That night, the night was deep and dark.

He Yuzhu set out once again, following the same pattern, and looted the vaults of the other two banks that had seized their funds.

Although the harvest was not as great as HSBC, he still hauled back nearly thirty tons of gold and a large amount of cash.

Three days later, the earth-shattering news that the vaults of three banks had been robbed in succession exploded, and the whole of Hong Kong was in an uproar.

Panicked citizens surged toward the banks like a tide to make withdrawals, but the banks with empty vaults were simply unable to pay.

For a time, the financial order of Hong Kong Island was teetering on the brink, the Hong Kong British Government was overwhelmed, and the Warship bombing case was even forgotten by people, as if it had never happened at all.

Inside a quiet villa, Zhao Ying watched as He Yuzhu piled thirty million US dollars and fifty million Hong Kong Dollar in the huge basement; she excitedly rushed over, kissed He Yuzhu hard, and said with a choked voice, "Zhuzi, you are too amazing! You don't know how relieved I felt when I saw the news about those three banks being run on! I have already sent a telegram to Su Qing, and he will arrive very soon."

He Yuzhu laughed, "I have already greeted Li Yong; even if the banks want to auction off our ships, no one will dare to easily take them over. We can buy the ships back at the lowest price."

"That's great!" Zhao Ying wiped the corner of her eye, "I have talked with Jin Hai, and he is willing to put up money for a stake, accounting for 20%. Our old employees are also all willing to come back. Now, we are just waiting for the banks to auction off our ships."