Chapter 50: Bluebird of Happiness
After 4 hours had pa.s.sed by, the members of the White Dragon thief gang who had been revived hours ago started their meeting at their secret hideout in Lockheart City. Obviously, they were talking about Sila.
"What should we do next, Boss?" One of the underlings asked.
"What do you mean?" The old Thief555 replied.
"It"s revenge time, Boss. That b.a.s.t.a.r.d Sila is nothing if you"re serious."
Thief555"s face turned pale. The one who suggested this terrible idea was one of the members who had been guarding the hideout, so he didn"t know how strong Sila was. Meanwhile, the members who fought against Sila with him were all sitting silently.
"Ermm… of course we will get our revenge. But it still isn"t the right time."
"When is the right time, Boss? Our hands are very itchy." There were many shouts and laughs in agreement. Some of them mentioned wanting to drown Sila in the ocean, some mentioned dragging Sila"s body down the street, while some mentioned burning Sila alive.
Hearing the words "burning alive", the boss shuddered. He was looking left and right. Everyone seemed to be confused about what had happened to their boss.
"What happened, Boss?"
"Nothing, nothing." Thief555 recalled his previous experience of being burnt to death. He had never been burnt to death before. Even with a tenth of realistic pain, he still felt tortured. Fortunately, he was the last person in the gang to die, so his underlings did not see him dying pitifully.
"So, when is the right time, Boss?"
"This d.a.m.n brat… stirring up trouble for me again," Thief555 thought.
"That b.a.s.t.a.r.d Sila isn"t our objective," He said.
All the underlings fell in silence, turning their attention toward their boss.
"What do you mean, Boss?"
"Our objective isn"t that b.a.s.t.a.r.d Sila. It"s that pink creature," Thief555 said.
One of the underlings raised his hand. "I do not understand, Boss. That pink creature is Sila"s pet. Except for taking it from him, how can we obtain it?"
"Stupid! If I"m not around, what are you guys even capable of? Use your brains. Use them or they will wither."
"Sorry, Boss. So, what is the boss"s plan?"
"My strategy is… If you want to eat chicken, you have to find an egg," Thief555 explained.
The underlings felt confused beyond words. They were looking at each other to see whether someone could comprehend what their boss had just said.
"What proverb is that, Boss? I haven"t heard of it before," One of the underlings raised his hand and asked.
"It"s not a proverb. It"s my own words of wisdom. It"s very clear by itself. Why don"t you bunch understand?"
"Very clear?"
"Yes. Our objective is to get our hands on that pink creature. We have to think in reverse. We have to find out where that b.a.s.t.a.r.d Sila got his hands on it."
A clamor erupted when they finally understood this method. Thief555 secretly smiled in his heart. At least he had successfully diverted the previous topic. He would do his best to prevent anyone from mentioning getting revenge on Sila.
There was no way he would choose to do such a stupid thing.
"I finally understand, Boss. You mean if we know where Sila got his hand on that pink creature, that place might have more pink creatures for us to get our hands on. If we are able to sell them all, we will surely…"
"Be insanely rich," Thief555 finished the sentence.
A clamor emerged again. This time it was about praising their boss"s intelligence.
"Stop. Everyone stop!" Thief555 shouted.
The sound died down. Silence filled the room.
"Now, what we need to figure out is what exactly is the ident.i.ty of that pink creature."
A clamor emerged yet again. Many people commented that they had never seen such a creature before.
"I think it is surely a monster from Beginning Island. Sila has not been playing the game for very long."
Everybody nodded in agreement.
"I personally think it is a slime," One of them gave a comment.
"Slime?"
"Slime? Don"t slimes look far more disgusting?"
"Yes, but maybe that is its real form."
"Real form?"
"Yes, Boss. Many monsters in the game usually have their real form. For example…"
"Enough. I already know that. I"m just considering the possibility that the real form of slime is that cute. More importantly, it can even talk," Thief555 said.
"It wouldn"t be hard to confirm this information. I will ask one of our guys at Beginning Town to ask the NPC at the Card Shop. I once heard that there is only one player playing as a slime. Asking for the name of that player shouldn"t be troublesome."
"Do it now."
"Yes, boss." Afterward, that man opened his system window.
The White Dragon thief gang was actually a small group of bandits with a large information network. Its members were scattered in many guilds and many cities. Despite the fact that its number of members was low, it was still able to survive to this day without being wiped out. This was thanks to Thief555 paying tributes to the right people.
No more than ten minutes had pa.s.sed before there was a response. The same man nodded before closing his system window.
"Now it"s certain. That b.a.s.t.a.r.d Sila is really playing as a slime."
"A Slime-race player? Are you sure?"
"I"m positive. This news is 100% correct."
Thief555 was deep in thought. Based on Sila"s ability, Sila shouldn"t be a slime-race player, should he? Isn"t this race supposed to be weak?
"Maybe it"s time for us to use that thing," Thief555 muttered.
"That thing?" Everyone raised their voices.
"Yes. That thing."
"But, Boss. The time isn"t appropriate, is it? We should be dealing with the slime issue first."
"What? What do you guys mean? I"m going to use that thing to handle the slime issue."
"Huh? Boss, how can a Portable Karaoke Box do that?"
"Portable Karaoke Box? Why do you guys bring it up now?" Thief555 wondered.
"Ah? Every time you tell us to take that thing out, we always ended up singing karaoke, don"t we?"
Thief555 loudly slapped his hand on the table. He shouted, "Stupid! Do you guys eat gra.s.s instead of rice? I mean that other thing!"
A silence fell again.
"In the end, what exactly do you mean by "that thing", Boss?" One of the bandits asked.
"That thing I"m referring is obviously the Dimension-Crossing Device," Thief555 finally revealed the answer.
The sound of "oh" in understanding could be heard all around the room.
"What are we using it for, Boss?"
"I stole the Dimension-Crossing Device a long time ago. I planned on using it to break into the treasure vault of a millionaire but I"m always reluctant to actually use it as it can only be used once."
In this game, there are many special dimensions. Normally, Invitation Cards or specific conditions are required to access each dimension. The personal secret vault is especially hard to access. However, this Dimension-Crossing Device can be used to unconditionally break people into any dimension. It was a rare and very expensive device that was mostly used during wars.
"Where are we going?"
Thief555 smiled at his own wisdom, then declared, "The Slime Kingdom."
"The Slime Kingdom?"
"Yeah. That place is surely full of cute little slimes that are harmless, just waiting to be harvested by us. If we can collect and sell them all, then, we will definitely…"
"Be insanely rich," Everybody filled in the sentence.
"Now it"s time to use that thing. Take it out," Thief555 said.
"The Dimension-Crossing Device?"
"Stupid! I mean the Portable Karaoke Box! Today, we are celebrating in advance. We will invade the Slime Kingdom tomorrow and then we will be rich!!"
A party had begun.
Meanwhile, Thief555 coincidentally shot a look at a blue bird. It was perched on the windowsill.
"A blue bird?" He muttered softly.
Seeing that their boss staring at the bluebird, one of the underlings said, "It"s called a bluebird, Boss. Haven"t you heard about it? A bluebird is a symbol of happiness."
"Symbol of happiness?"
"Yes, Boss. This means we"re about to be really lucky."
The party continued. The little bluebird calmly looked at Thief555 for a moment before flying away.
***
After the incident in the market square, Sila went to the beach, walking in the direction of the Underwater Palace. Luckily for him, the Underwater Palace was close to Lockheart City. Sila used this chance to wait for Burapha there.
One particular blue-colored bird was looking at Sila. It quickly followed him out of the city.