Chapter 970: The Power of the Crowd

"I can't find it directly now. I am a character in the story, I don't have subjective initiative. And, if I open the cabinet or lift the bed to face the thief directly, he will choose to escape. In the case of getting stronger when facing strong opponents, even if I can exert my power, I may not be able to catch it."

【So what are you going to do?】

"I want to make it take the initiative to find me, and then I will launch a shameless sneak attack."

"She" laughed softly, without asking Xia De how to do it.

Xia De tore off that page of paper from the notebook, and then tore it into three parts, each of which stated who it was for.

He stood up from the sofa and said in an exaggerated tone:

"Oh, it seems I have to go to the police officers for help. Staying in a house that has been stolen is really too dangerous."

Saying that, his right hand waved toward the door, and three notes flew toward the stairwell silently. Doctor Shi Nai De didn't even use a spell, the powerful mental power of a six-ring mage directly pulled the three notes over. He saw the names written on the folded notes, so he distributed the notes, and the three looked at them separately, and then each took action.

"I have to go to the bedroom to change clothes first, it's really too cold tonight."

Saying that, Xia De walked into his master bedroom and closed the door.

The living room with gas lamps lit returned to silence, and the sound of the wardrobe being opened sounded in the master bedroom. Then there was the sound of hangers colliding with each other, and the muffled sound of clothes being thrown onto the bed.

The kitchen bowl cabinet opened silently at this time, and the middle-aged man with a short and medium build wearing a black windbreaker drilled out without any sound. He wore a hat, and his face was covered by shadows at any angle. After landing, he listened carefully to confirm that the house owner in the bedroom was still changing clothes, so he carried Xia De's antique knight sword to the living room, and looked at the master bedroom with the door closed again, and then walked out of the room while holding his breath.

Entering the second-floor corridor, he didn't walk down the stairs, but walked toward the third floor, clearly thinking that leaving from the front door was not safe. But his feet had just stepped on the fifth step and stopped abruptly. He looked up and clearly saw the old man with scorched wings standing in the darkness at the stair landing leading to the third floor.

"Master Thief Jack" is usually strong when facing strong opponents, but also has its own limits, otherwise it would not be pulled into the story by the Angel-level relic 【Dice Story Collection】. It usually doesn't tend to attack when encountering strong enemies, but tends to escape, so after seeing Priest Ao Gu Si, it turned around and fled back to the second floor.

Still didn't choose to escape to the first floor, but walked along the corridor trying to go to Room 2 on the second floor. But just after crossing the door of Room 1, he saw a man standing at the end of the corridor with his hands behind his back. Doctor Shi Nai De stood at the boundary between light and shadow, and the scarlet light of strange eyes appeared in his eyes on the half of his face illuminated by the gas street lamp.

Darkness squirmed behind the doctor, as if there were more terrible things hidden in that thick darkness. 【Master Thief Jack】 turned around again, unable to move on the second floor, unable to go to the third floor, this time it finally chose to go to the first floor.

The sound of going downstairs was silent, but there were still people on the stairs going down.

Lei Qianya's Fate Ring was spinning at high speed behind her, standing on the left side was the match girl holding a bamboo basket, and standing on the right side was the sleeping princess holding a spindle.

Little Mia stood on the blonde girl's shoulder, and the princess held the 【Night Watcher】 with both hands, looking at the strange humanoid creature walking down the stairs like a

Even though she had already anticipated the terror of a Sage-level humanoid relic, when this thing that clearly looked like a human but whose intuition constantly reminded her that it was absolutely not human appeared before her eyes, Princess Lei Qianya still carefully took a step back.

The Night Watchman in her hand did not glow, which proved that the opponent could not be judged as an evil creature. Princess Lei Qianya bit her lip and pointed her sword at it, wanting to force it to retreat back to the second floor.

But unlike being directly forced back by Priest Priest Ao Gu Si and Doctor Shi Nai De just now, this time the thief didn't turn around directly but stood at the top of the stairs, hesitating.

"Sure enough, I still have to manifest power to force it back."

Carrying Xia De's cat, the princess of the Cavendish family prepared to face a head-on contact battle with a Sage-level humanoid relic. The flow of spirit made the bodies of the fairy tale characters summoned to her side more solid. She took a step up the stairs, and the Angel-level relic in her hand made the Sage-level relic in front of her retreat a step, but it still didn't turn around to return to the second floor.

Just at this moment, Princess Lei Qianya faintly heard footsteps coming from behind. Before she could turn around to confirm who had come, a hand reached out from behind Princess Lei Qianya and gripped the 【Night Watchman】 together with her:

"【My heart is clear, the sword slays demons】."

Standard Fourth Era common language was recited by Luweiya. The purple-eyed girl with short, brown, shoulder-length hair came to Princess Lei Qianya's side. Silver sword light radiated from the surface of that silver sword, and the runes on the sword body were lit up in a clear yellow color.

Luweiya stood side by side with Princess Lei Qianya. As the sharp light seemed to be slashing upward, 【Phantom Thief Jack】 was finally forced back to the second floor.

"Luweiya, you... oh, thank you so much. My condition is a bit poor, otherwise I could have done it myself."

The princess made the Sleeping Princess and the Match Girl disappear, panting heavily as she was supported by Luweiya. The female fortune-teller glanced at the Mia on her shoulder:

"Don't push yourself. What did you do just now? How is your mental power consumption so high? I have potions here... and, is there a need to thank me? In this house, we can also be considered sisters."

Princess Lei Qianya's face flushed slightly, not knowing what she was thinking. She took the mint-flavored potion and drank it in small sips. Luweiya said again:

"Hasn't Xia De finished this matter yet? I waited at the Divination Association for quite a while, which is why I rushed over."

She walked upward with the blonde girl. At the top of the stairs, they met Priest Priest Ao Gu Si and Doctor Shi Nai De coming from upstairs and the other side of the hallway.

The old priest and the middle-aged doctor both felt very surprised by Luweiya's appearance, but then they didn't feel particularly surprised; after all, theoretically speaking, none of the people here should have appeared here tonight.

Phantom Thief Jack, wearing a black trench coat, was originally standing at the door of the first room. Seeing the four people surrounding it, it decisively retreated back to the first room on the second floor. Its footsteps still didn't make any sound.

But when it re-entered the room and turned to look at the window, it was greeted by a fist and a reprimand full of anger:

"Oh, you damn thief! You actually dare to show yourself voluntarily!"

【Mortal's Luck】 Xia De Hamilton enters the final battle stage.

"【Mortal's Luck】 Xia De Hamilton returns home and keenly discovers the theft in the house at the first moment. Roll the dice to determine if he discovered what the stolen item is. If the points exceed 90, gain a 20-point bonus for any checks related to 【Phantom Thief Jack】 in the following segments."

"I want to declare!"

At the Divination Association, Yiluna under the light looked at the parchment in her hand:

"Due to Hamilton's trait 【I Love My Home】, any check performed at No. 6 St. Deran Square gains a 1.2x coefficient on the total value."

The people around all gasped and thought of the rumors about that house.

Clang, clang, clang~

Yiluna read out the number:

"55 points. Symbol point bonus 20 points..."

Because it enjoys a 1.2 coefficient at this time, it is still eight points short. Yiluna's eyes quickly swept over the content on the parchment. After Xia De returned to No. 6 St. Deran Square, the information in her hand had increased by half. For example, the trait "I Love My Home" only appeared after Xia De entered the house. The seventeen-year-old girl thus understood what Luweiya often said about Xia De's obsession with that house:

"Special scene bonus - Hamilton Detective Agency. Since he is doing detective-like work, provide an extra 20-point inspiration bonus. Total points 95 x 1.2 = 114."

Although they knew that such a simple check couldn't possibly fail, people still let out a long breath. After all, someone had rolled three 1s in a row just now, which shows that anything is possible in the story.

"The returning detective keenly discovered that the stolen item was the knight sword knighted by 'Hamilton of Lei Jiede.' Although the detective was angry at being stolen from, this anger did not give him keener perception to find the top-tier criminal hiding in the house. What will Xia De Hamilton do next?"

Yiluna frowned and thought for a moment:

"Don't give instructions; let him act randomly according to his own thoughts."

After speaking, fearing being suspected, she added:

"That thief is definitely in the house, but with Hamilton's investigation, he won't be able to find him. Rather than giving him ineffective instructions, it's better to wait for the thief to act voluntarily. I don't believe he can hide for a whole night."

After waiting for a while and hearing no questioning of this decision from the companions behind her, she finally breathed a sigh of relief. The voice in the darkness continued to tell the story of the detective and the thief; this story was about to come to an end:

"Looking around, pacing constantly, suppressing his complex mood of panic, guilt, anger, and anxiety, 【Mortal's Luck】 Xia De Hamilton cannot understand his own bad luck, and is even more angry at losing a precious symbol of status. He suppresses the thoughts in his heart, sits on the sofa trying to calm himself down, and after writing and drawing, finally decides to go to Lide Weiqi Field to report the crime himself."

Everyone stared at the tabletop set. After Xia De entered No. 6 St. Deran Square, the original large-area set disappeared, and now the blocks on the table were piled up into the appearance of Xia De's home.

"The detective entered the bedroom and closed the door behind him, which will increase his sense of security. Perform an additional luck check; if it is higher than 350 points, discover the sound of the thief walking in the living room."

Clang, clang, clang~

"Check successful. The detective, who is changing clothes, keenly perceives the footsteps outside the door. He decides to walk out of the bedroom to take a look. Note: because the gun holster was left on the desk, this weapon cannot be used in the following segments."

A sigh came from behind Yiluna, but the seventeen-year-old girl knew that Xia De had deliberately not taken it.

"The night is slightly cold, and panic occupies the young detective's heart. He doesn't know if the faint footsteps outside at this moment are just his own hallucinations or a criminal who hasn't left yet. And at this moment, the image of the strange, evil monster from urban legends that he had heard of in the distant past, which haunts the city on winter nights, seems to flash behind that door."

Yiluna thought this psychological description felt quite funny.

"He reached out and pushed open the bedroom door. The familiar and warm home now seemed incomparably strange. Even though the light of the gas lamp shone here, he still struggled to convince himself that everything was very normal when he took the first step."

"Did you find Phantom Thief Jack? Should a check be performed?"

Yiluna asked, and the hoarse voice telling the story responded:

"Xia De Hamilton came to the living room, checking the living room where there were actually no clues at all. He gained nothing, then carefully came to the door of the first room on the second floor."

The voice paused imperceptibly, then immediately said:

"Xia De Hamilton encounters 【Phantom Thief Jack】 head-on. The battle begins."

Almost everyone held their breath, only Yiluna sighed long; the story had finally reached its end.

------------------ Side note ------------------

PS: Actually, the five members of the group don't have many opportunities to take action together; after all, the five of them combined have almost no weaknesses. It's only on occasions like this that the five of them can appear in the same event together.

Of course, at the end of this volume, after Xia De enters the Central District, he will face more dangerous things, and the frequency of the five members of the group acting together will be higher then.

I am considering who should participate in the final battle at the end of the volume. By the way, you can guess the location of the final battle of this volume without a prize.