These days, there's fighting every year. So whether it's in the army or the city SWAT, what really matters is merit.
Only with merit can you get promoted.
To earn merit, your squad's strength has to be high—only then do you have a real shot. So when Leon Liu heard that this rookie SWAT, Landon Lu, was as strong as a seventh-level Warrior, how could he not be tempted? After all, in his squad, aside from himself, there were only three sixth-level Warriors; the other six were all fifth-level.
If Landon joined his squad, they'd have four sixth-level Warriors—and Landon's strength was said to rival a seventh-level.
Seeing Leon Liu look so eager, Sean Xiao found it amusing and waved his hand. "Alright, I'll leave Landon to you. Make sure you show him the ropes!"
"Thanks for looking out for us, Captain. I'll head out now!"
Once Leon Liu left the office, Sean Xiao's smile vanished, replaced by a worried look. "Ryan, you need to come up with something, or we're in serious trouble!"
Ryan Zhou shook his head. "This one's tough. I've already had people survey the vault scene, and we did find traces of the One-Eyed Thief there. But what baffles me is how he got inside. Don't tell me he can burrow underground or something?"
Sean Xiao mused, "For the One-Eyed Thief to keep pulling off jobs while the police are chasing him, he must have some extraordinary tricks up his sleeve. I'm guessing he relies on some special method to get away with it every time!"
............
Leon Liu walked out of the office and immediately spotted Landon Lu.
"You're Landon, right? I'm Leon Liu, captain of the Seventh Squad, Fifth Battalion. Welcome to Team Seven."
"Nice to meet you, Captain Liu. I'm Landon Lu—looking forward to learning from you." Landon smiled.
"No problem, no problem!"
Leon Liu agreed wholeheartedly, then clapped his hands. "Everyone, come say hi to Landon and get to know each other!"
"Landon, I'm Zack Huang."
"Hey, Zack."
"Landon, I'm Max Lin."
"Hey, Max."
After the introductions, everyone more or less knew each other. But since the whole squad had spent last night chasing after the One-Eyed Thief, they were wiped out from working all night. Landon didn't disturb them further and instead pulled up some case files on the One-Eyed Thief to read.
He'd browsed info about the One-Eyed Thief online before, but it was all pretty surface-level.
But here in SWAT, they've got every single job the One-Eyed Thief ever pulled, down to the last detail.
In five years, the One-Eyed Thief pulled off eighteen heists, stealing over five hundred million in loot.
Actually, the Nirvana Spirit Elixir he took this time isn't even his biggest score—it's just middle of the pack.
His first job was five months ago, in March, at Luoshui City, Yanghe Province.
He stole an ancient shuttle that'd only been dug up less than a month before.
Looking at the photo of the ancient shuttle, Landon narrowed his eyes. This thing wasn't just some old relic—the markings on it were spirit patterns.
Anything with spirit patterns carved on it is definitely a magical artifact.
Right then, Landon had a hunch about how the One-Eyed Thief did his thing.
He skimmed through all seventeen other cases super fast, and he was pretty sure he'd cracked the thief's method.
If he could catch the One-Eyed Thief, he'd be a hero for sure.
But right now, he's just a rookie—gotta follow orders. If he wants to dig deeper, he needs Captain Liu's okay.
So Landon walked over to Captain Liu, who was flipping through the files too.
"What's up, Landon?" Captain Liu greeted him warmly.
"Captain Liu, I think I found something in the One-Eyed Thief's case," Landon said.
Captain Liu straightened up, took a sip of tea, and pointed at a chair. "Sit down and tell me."
Honestly, Captain Liu didn't expect much—this newbie was a bit too eager. As if clues about the One-Eyed Thief were just lying around.
Landon could tell Captain Liu wasn't convinced, but he didn't care. He said seriously, "Captain, I've just gone over all the One-Eyed Thief's case files and found something weird!"
"Go on," Captain Liu said calmly.
Landon said, "Captain, you must've looked into these cases too. Did you notice that, except for the first job, which was pretty normal, the other seventeen were totally impossible to guard against?"
Hearing this, Captain Liu thought back to the records and was suddenly shocked. It really was just like Landon said—except for the first time, the One-Eyed Thief never left a trace, not even this time.
His eyes grew serious. "Keep going," Captain Liu said.
Landon nodded. "His first job, he barely escaped the museum guards by luck. But after that, his methods got way smarter. His second target was a priceless jewel, behind layers of security, but the One-Eyed Thief snatched it without triggering a single alarm—as if he just popped up out of nowhere!"
Captain Liu's eyes lit up. He almost got the key point, but something was still missing.
Third job, same thing—a national treasure, a bronze cauldron. The museum's security was way tougher than Luoshui's, and there was even a fire, but the One-Eyed Thief still managed to steal it without tripping any alarms.
Fourth time, he stirred up chaos before making his move.
Fifth time...
Sixth time...!
This time, he sent two women to draw everyone's attention outside the vault, but he snuck in and stole the Nirvana Spirit Elixir without anyone noticing.
Bang!
Captain Liu slapped the table, fired up. "I get it! Landon, you mean the One-Eyed Thief always throws out distractions, but actually he's got some way to just show up at the treasure. All the chaos and fires are just a smokescreen for his real trick, right?"
"Captain Liu, you're sharp! Didn't expect you to catch on so quick!" Landon grinned.
But Captain Liu immediately frowned. "But how does he actually get in and out without anyone noticing?"
"Captain, check this out!"
Landon pulled up the photo of the ancient shuttle.
"Isn't this the ancient artifact the One-Eyed Thief stole in his first job?" Captain Liu asked, looking skeptical.
Landon said, "Exactly. I think the One-Eyed Thief can get in and out of vaults because of this ancient shuttle. He must've known about its powers, so he risked everything to steal it first."
After he got the shuttle, he quietly stole a valuable jewel.
But he figured that would give away his secret, so starting with the third job, he began covering his tracks!
Great analysis! That totally adds up!
Captain Liu praised him loudly, giving Landon a look full of respect. The other SWAT guys, who'd already gathered when Captain Liu slapped the table, were now listening to Landon's breakdown—some thought it was wild, but it made perfect sense.