The Mage of Primordial Chaos

Chapter 258 - Scouting Mission

(Feng Mian's Perspective)

With Lan Xiao Su and I now inside the Ross Estate, we could begin our mission of scouting this place out. I've always had exceptional memory since I was a child, so I was confident I could memorize the whole layout of this place. In addition, Lan Xiao Su was here if I ended up forgetting anything, so the two of us together could piece together a map for this building once we were out.

Since we had already decided beforehand that our target was the lower floors, Lan Xiao Su and I began by scoping out the first floor - the one we were on right now. There was a receptionist desk a short distance away from the main entrance where we first entered the building, but...no one was behind it. Normally, there would be a receptionist waiting there to greet any guests, but...actually, there weren't any guests anyway, so I guess it made sense that there wouldn't be a receptionist.

But then...why build a desk at all?

Ah...for the auction. I see. So this place really only operates when an auction is going on - at other times, the lights and everything are on, and guards are stationed, to make it seem like a functioning company, but in reality, no one is doing anything.

Lan Xiao Su seemed to have more or less understand this as well, and we quickly moved around, looking for security camera locations and making mental notes of their locations. Soon enough, we were done with the first floor. The fact that there wasn't anyone around really worked in our favor.

We noticed an elevator going up, but decided against using them, since cameras were watching. We didn't want to create any suspicious phenomena, so the two of us looked for a staircase instead - and luckily, there was one. Undoubtedly, it was rarely used, with the entrance leading to it quite hard to find and access. I was honestly surprised they haven't removed it yet. Maybe they just don't have anything better to use this isolated space for.

In any case, we took the stairs up, and soon found ourselves on the second floor. I took note of the fact that there weren't any cameras in the staircase, since that could come in handy when we actually raided the auction in the near future. After looking through the glass pane of the door to make sure there wasn't anyone around, I gently pushed the door open, and the two of us stepped through. Once again, the location we were at was an isolated part of the floor, with no cameras around anywhere to guard it.

This is...certainly useful info. I find it hard to believe that the owner of this luxurious-looking building, and also a rich auction host, would leave such security flaws. But perhaps...they are just overconfident. And as they say, arrogance is the first step to downfall.

As we explored the second floor, we noticed that it wasn't too different from the first floor, except there was no receptionist desk, and instead of empty space, there were office cubicles all around, giving off the impression of a legitimate company. By 'not too different', I mean both the first and second floors didn't seem to be suspicious whatsoever.

We memorized the layout, and went back to the staircase, where we headed up to the third floor. As we went up, however, I couldn't help but notice that this set of stairs was a lot...longer than the flight of stairs we took to get to the second floor. At the time, I didn't give it much thought, but we would soon discover the reason behind this.

Upon reaching the third floor after a long climb, we gently pushed the door open, just like we did with the second floor. At first, everything seemed normal - just another floor of office cubicles, nothing out of the ordinary. I originally just wanted to skip this floor, but Lan Xiao Su, being the careful girl she was, insisted we still check it out, just to be sure.

And as it turned out, she hit the jackpot.

As we investigated the third floor, we eventually came across what seemed to be a bathroom. This wasn't here on the 2nd floor, even though the two floors' layouts were otherwise identical. Not only this, but the bathroom was also hidden in a very isolated corner of the floor, unable to be seen from the outside of the building -  much like the staircases.

Hm...that's weird. Why would they put a bathroom on one floor but not the other?

Deciding this was suspicious, Lan Xiao Su and I pushed open the bathroom door to investigate, after making sure no cameras were pointed in this direction - and luckily for us, there weren't.

At first glance, the bathroom seemed like...well, a normal unisex bathroom. The room was large, with a toilet and a sink. There was even a special area to breastfeed babies - as expected of a gender-neutral washroom.

They wouldn't put any surveillance equipment in a washroom, so I decided it was safe to talk.

"I get the feeling that this place isn't what it seems," I whispered, still keeping my voice low just in case. We also kept the Cloak of Invisibility on, just for good measure.

Lan Xiao Su nodded. "For some reason, I can't seem to shake the feeling that there's something we're missing here..."

"Like what?" I asked.

"Like...a hidden contraption, or something..." Lan Xiao Su murmured.

I frowned and began searching around for any hidden mechanisms. It was a bit difficult to do so, seeing as how the two of us had to remain extremely close to each other to both stay underneath the Cloak of Invisibility, but we could manage.

And then, I found something.

"A hidden contraption...like a button, perhaps?" I murmured.

"Hm?" Lan Xiao Su tilted her head, hearing my murmuring.

"Look here," I said, pointing at the bottom of the breastfeeding station attached to one of the walls of the washroom.

Lan Xiao Su complied, and her eyes immediately widened. "This is...a button...?"

I nodded. "I wonder...what will happen if we press it?"

"If it's placed in such a hidden spot, no doubt, whoever put this here didn't want anyone else to find it easily," Lan Xiao Su explained. "Could this...be the secret to this building?"

"Should we test it out now...?" I whispered nervously.

"It could be dangerous. If we activate this, we will give away our location, and also lose our escape route. Let's rendezvous with the others and report all this info back first, then come back here when we have a proper plan," Lan Xiao Su said thoughtfully.

I blinked in surprise. "Wow...you've really changed, Lan Xiao Su."

"E-Eh? Ahaha, thank you...Xuan Kai helped me a lot," she murmured, blushing. I frowned, slightly jealous.

"Okay then, let's head back," I said, taking a deep breath. "You ready?"

She nodded, and I pushed open the bathroom door.

*****

We didn't encounter any issues on the way out of the Ross Estate. Slipping by the guards at the gate with ease, we quickly went to the right side of the building, where Xuan Kai and the rest of the girls were waiting, and we took off the Cloak of Invisibility.

"Woah...you startled me," Yu An Yan said, blinking a few times in surprise. To them, it must've seemed like we appeared right out of thin air.

"Yeah, um...sorry about that," I said, bowing my head apologetically.

"What did you guys discover inside?" Xuan Kai asked, walking over.

"Before that...I just wanted to say, nice 'distraction' earlier," I giggled.

He averted his gaze. "We are not bringing up that topic. Ever again."

All the girls around us laughed, with the exception of Obsidia and Mei Gui, who were both emotionless as usual.

"It was not a bad tactic, in my opinion," Obsidia stated matter-of-factly. "It served its purpose, did it not?"

"Well, it did, but...it also completely ruined his image," Xiang Peng replied with a bright, beaming, innocent smile.

"Like I said, we are  not  bringing up that topic," Xuan Kai said once again, this time placing more emphasis on the 'not'.

"Well, let's head back to the hotel first," I said. "This isn't a good place to talk, and I'm feeling kind of tired. How about you, Lan Xiao Su?"

"M-Me? I'm fine..." Lan Xiao Su murmured, surprised by my question.

Hm...why is she fine when Xuan Kai isn't around, but almost turns back into her old self when he is? Is this what love does to girls, without them even knowing? Oh god, I'm scared to know how I've changed...

"Well, I can't blame you for being tired," Xuan Kai said with a sigh. "Even though it's only technically 2 AM, which would be 2 PM in the outside world, today's felt a lot longer than it really has been. Let's go back to the hotel, and you two can tell us what you discovered inside the Ross Estate."

We all nodded in agreement, and after handing the Cloak of Invisibility back to Xuan Kai so he could safekeep it within the Space Locket he had, we headed back to the hotel.