Chapter 115: Ammunition

Before the casino closed for the day, Purple spread a blueprint before Scar, Marvel, and Amber. She carried a seriousness about her that went beyond her usual, revealing how much this mission meant to her.

“The auction will take place at the House of Jubilee. We can’t access the blueprints, but based on my memory, the layout should be roughly like this.”

She ran her hand across the blueprint, guiding their eyes to the areas she needed them to focus on.

“The lobby will host a banquet… a small gathering, followed by some display of wealth, as these people can’t move without marking their possessions. The auction will likely take place in the second hall, where security is the strictest due to its location.”

She stroked her chin for a moment.

“The actual target isn’t here. It’s the vault, deep underground beneath the second hall, and getting to it won’t be easy.”

Scar exhaled.

He had been thinking about this all day. At one point, he had even wondered whether it would be wiser to let someone else buy it and steal from them instead.

Even after everything Emma had said to encourage him, he couldn’t quite shake the feeling of Dain, and the Romans still threatened him, even if only slightly.

“The attack must happen precisely forty-five minutes before the auction begins.”

Purple locked eyes with Scar.

“For my plan to succeed, we need three additional groups. The first group should be no larger than three, but the second and third must each include at least twenty members. Besides that, we’d need a Rover to lead us in.”

Amber furrowed her brow.

“What do you mean? Wouldn’t bringing that many people in put us at a disadvantage?”

Purple shook her head in contrast.

“The moment they sense our attack, the plan is ruined. We have to act completely oblivious, so much so that we might even be on guard against each other.”

Scar raised his brow.

“Isn’t that way too risky? Forty-five minutes before the auction, the place won’t just be crawling with arrogant rich folk, Royal Knights and Akumas will be on high alert.”

She nodded in agreement.

“That’s precisely what we need. However, we won’t attack simultaneously. Only one of the three groups needs to engage with us time.”

Hmph.

Scar glanced through his mind for a moment.

“I think I’m beginning to understand what Emma told me. She said the Precognition of Fate can’t possibly see a fixed future in a situation like this, where even the slightest move could change everything. That doesn’t change my fate, though, it’s possible that if she ran the scenario a thousand times, I’d succeed only ten times.”

A soft smile tugged on Purple’s lips.

“That’s 1%. That’s plenty enough for me.”

When she spoke, Marvel grabbed her attention.

“I can mobilize the other teams, but are there particular people you want included?”

“I knew you would. Winning people over is the only thing you truly excel at. Without that charm of yours, you’d have very little, which is precisely why we need you here.”

Marvel smiled awkwardly.

Purple continued:

“All we need are ruthless professionals. Thieves who don’t ask questions, only about the goods. The same kind who stole King Vellum’s crown.”

Marvel hadn’t quite gotten over Purple’s words from earlier, though a bright smile remained on his face regardless.

“Relax, ma’am. This’ll be as easy as breathing.”

Amber’s eyes drifted to Scar, who was lost in his own thoughts, before she turned to Purple with a question.

“What exactly do we need these people for? And are they targeting the tablet too?”

Purple nodded.

“The party with three members would have objectives aligned with ours, but the remaining ones would be pursuing entirely different interests.

“After reviewing the auction list, I noticed two items that surpassed the tablet in both value and attention: Yeshe’s Journal and the Eternal Painting.”

Scar frowned.

Something wasn’t right. Why would the Eternal Painting be in the underground market of all places? He hadn’t heard of Yeshe’s journal, but the Eternal Painting was another matter entirely. It was a renowned work by one of the most celebrated artists before the Red Day.

The painting was also known as the Monalisa, a portrait of a beautiful woman whose very existence as a painting defied explanation.

Supernatural abilities hadn’t existed at the time, and yet everything about the way it was rendered was beyond what any ordinary human could have achieved.

Why would they sell something so priceless? On top of that, he had always believed the painting was on display at the Maroons’ royal museum.

“That was my initial assumption as well, but we later discovered the painting had been replaced with a counterfeit, while the original was prepared for auction that day.”

It was starting to make sense now why the Romans would be involved with the auction. This was no ordinary event. These people had plans of their own, and none of them were pleasant.

Purple didn’t waste time. She laid out her plan, every detail, and made one thing abundantly clear. Everything came down to timing.

On the surface, it sounded more than solid. Purple wasn’t completely done, there was still something she needed to confirm before everything fell into place, but even so, Scar couldn’t see how this plan wouldn’t work.

It made him wonder. How smart was Purple, really? She had crafted something that could not only fool powerful forces but also push back against fate itself. He wanted to know where that came from. He wanted to know more about her childhood.

But this wasn’t the time for that. He had authority over the flame of decay and despair, and just yesterday, he had defeated his predecessor, Cartel, and claimed his flame of chaos.

Chaos worked much like despair, but where despair broke the spirit through illusions, chaos tore at the mind with unbearable pain, destruction, and hallucinations until there was nothing left but madness. And it burned just as violently.

Tonight, he was facing King. King was a lazy man through and through, which meant it wouldn’t be much of a problem at all.

If they had any chance of success, his role in it was crucial. He needed authority over all his predecessors, and not merely for the mission. Surviving the injustice of the world demanded all the power he could get.

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