Victor quickly gathered all available personnel and ordered a full sweep of the manor, not leaving a single corner unchecked. He, Bruce, and Harrison immediately headed to Subier's bedroom—right to the hidden passage entrance of the secret chamber.
"Shit! That damn Kaitō Kid… he must have a high-tech team backing him!"
Victor paced the bedroom floor, overwhelmed by everything Zhang Yang had shown tonight. It all felt unreal.
"Technology?" Harrison gave a wry smile and shook his head.
"Commander Victor, some of Kaitō Kid's gadgets—even the world's most cutting-edge tech probably couldn't pull them off."
"Never underestimate him. Even if he does use tech, his skills are beyond question."
Outside the manor, reporters were blocked behind the iron gates. But even though Zhang Yang had only appeared for a few minutes, he had the entire world buzzing.
[Damn, Kaitō Kid is just unreal!]
[Oh my god! No one's even figured out who he really is. At this point, I honestly think he's a real magician.]
[Magic or illusion—who even knows anymore? Every second of his appearance tonight was a highlight reel.]
[Still can't wrap my head around how he blocked bullets with playing cards. That's even crazier than catching bullets by hand!]
[And those dozen or so agents still frozen in flower petals—how did he freeze them instantly like that?]
The heavy rain pouring down did nothing to dampen the media's excitement. By now, they weren't even filming for work anymore—they were staying purely to see how it would end.
No matter what Victor and the others tried, they couldn't find any trace of Kaitō Kid in the manor.
Even half an hour later, when the rain finally began to let up, they were still coming up empty.
"Fuck! That damn Kaitō Kid—I'm gonna lose my mind!"
"Where the hell is he hiding?!"
Victor was furious, shouting at the top of his lungs in the bedroom. He hadn't dared to leave the spot even for a second.
After that dramatic, public appearance… he vanished without a trace.
It was agonizing for Victor and Bruce. Even the viewers in the livestream couldn't figure out what was going on.
[What's happening? He just popped in and then vanished?]
[So Kaitō Kid just showed up to flex and then dipped? That's it?]
[Never try to guess what he'll do next. You'll never get it right.]
[Kaitō Kid totally owned tonight. Victor and the others couldn't do a thing!]
[Who knows where he is now, or what he's planning next?]
By now, Zhang Yang had already left the manor and was speeding toward the Enforcement Bureau headquarters.
He had Victor's ID card in hand, and the Imperial Jade Seal of Empress Dowager Tianyuan was sitting in the vault inside the Bureau.
"Victor got too cocky. Never put all your eggs in one basket. That's just basic."
Not only had they stuffed all the relics into the vault, they didn't even bother tightening security there.
By the time Zhang Yang arrived outside the Bureau, the rain was almost over, just a light drizzle tapping on the windows.
He tugged his coat tighter and walked briskly toward the main entrance.
"Commander!"
"Commander Victor!"
Zhang Yang now looked exactly like Victor—same face, same clothes. The guards at the entrance stood up straight and saluted him at once.
Zhang Yang just nodded coolly in return. 'No need to talk. The more you say, the more likely you'll slip up.'
Once inside, he headed straight for the elevator and pressed the button for the twelfth floor—the vault's level.
That floor was mostly occupied by high-ranking officers. As soon as Zhang Yang stepped out of the elevator, he ran into one.
"Commander Victor? Why are you back?"
The man standing there wore a brown trench coat and was tall and broad-shouldered.
Zhang Yang's mind raced. He casually replied, "There's a problem with Subier's collection. I need to check it."
Without waiting for a response, Zhang Yang quickly stepped out of the elevator and didn't say another word.
Relying on memory, he soon located the entrance to the vault. He held Victor's access card up to the scanner.
But the heavy steel door didn't open. A red light flashed on the panel above the reader.
"Beep-beep. Access denied!"
Zhang Yang stared at the message on the small screen, visibly surprised.
"'Access denied'? Don't tell me the vault access is single-use?"
He frowned. All that effort, completely wasted.
There was no backup method to open this vault. Access permissions were the only key.
Forcing the door open by brute strength wasn't realistic, and Zhang Yang wasn't planning to go that route anyway.
Victor's office was also on this floor. Zhang Yang found it quickly.
On the office computer, he pulled up the access system. Sure enough, the permissions for the vault were single-use.
Every new access required a request and needed to be approved by higher-ups at the Enforcement Bureau.
"Well, that's easy."
Zhang Yang let out a small chuckle and temporarily exchanged for a max-level Super Hacker skill.
In just five minutes, he cracked the system.
He also left behind a little "gift" in the Bureau's internal network.
The moment Zhang Yang stepped into the vault, Victor—still at the manor—finally realized his ID card was missing.
He had been yelling in rage, but now his heart skipped a beat and he froze in place.
"Shit! Kaitō Kid stole my ID card!"
"Damn it… he knew from the beginning we moved the relics!"
Bruce and Harrison were both stunned.
It had already been over an hour since Kaitō Kid's appearance.
The rice was cooked. The side dishes had long gone cold.
Victor immediately grabbed his radio and called in all Bureau agents to return to HQ right away.
A massive convoy rolled out of the manor. The media captured it all on live stream, clear as day.
[What the hell? Everyone's leaving? What's going on?]
[What kind of stunt is this? Did they actually catch Kaitō Kid?]
[Ha! You think they'd leave quietly if they caught him? No way!]
[Exactly! If they did, Victor would be in front of the cameras bragging by now.]
[The entire Enforcement Bureau just pulled out—where are they headed?]
The chat exploded with speculation. Reporters jumped into their vans and followed the convoy to continue their live coverage.
Zhang Yang had just gotten into his car when he spotted Victor's vehicles racing toward the Bureau.
"Close one. Just made it."
He grinned and reversed out of the Bureau's parking lot, slipping away.
Victor, once out of the car, ran straight for the entrance.
His ID card might be gone, but the guards at the gate still recognized his face. And the urgency in his voice didn't leave room for doubt.
"Damn it, let me in! Open the gates!"
The two guards, confused but obedient, quickly followed orders.
Victor and Bruce were the first to rush in, heading straight for the twelfth floor.