Chapter 27 - Scouting
The moment the door closed behind Jane, I let out a long breath.
"Thank God she didn’t ask for my badge."
I leaned back against the sofa and rubbed my temples.
Pretending to be someone important was far more mentally exhausting than I thought.
One wrong sentence and the whole act would have collapsed.
Fortunately, the Continental’s own secrecy had worked in my favor.
The fewer people knew about the mysterious Zero Orders, the easier it was to impersonate one.
Not to mention, Jane was a niece of a Zero Order.
"Still, I don’t feel like doing that again."
Unfortunately, the Continental was an indispensable part of my plan.
After all, I was literally planning to rob a vampire’s estate.
I didn’t feel the slightest bit guilty about it.
The owner wasn’t some misunderstood aristocrat.
He was a genuine monster who had built his fortune upon countless human lives.
If anything, I considered this as a compensation.
The fatigue from the long flight gradually caught up with me.
Jet lag was no joke.
After making sure the hotel attendant hadn’t "accidentally" misplaced any of my belongings, I unpacked everything and checked the contents one by one.
Nothing had been stolen.
"Good."
I stretched lazily.
"I’ll start scouting tomorrow."
For now, I needed sleep.
***
I slept like a log.
And when I finally woke up, almost an entire day had passed.
The clock beside my bed showed me the time: 4:50 in the morning.
After taking a quick shower and getting dressed, I noticed several items neatly arranged on the living room table.
’Nobody saw me asleep right?’ I thought in distress.
Maybe my fake identity as a Zero Order really scared Jane that she didn’t even wake me up when delivering the items.
But looking at them once again, I sighed.
"I guess she didn’t find out."
A black invitation card embossed with golden lettering was the VIP Invitation.
Beside it rested another card, an ICB bank card.
A small handwritten note had been placed underneath it.
[The PIN is written below.]
[I apologize. This was all the funds I could gather on such short notice.]
"..."
There was also a motorcycle key.
And a compact pistol made from matte-black alloy.
I picked it up, turning it over in my hand.
"Did she think this was my preferred weapon?"
I placed the weapon back onto the table before activating my smartwatch.
The first thing I did was log into my newly created ICB account and check my balance.
"Holy shit."
100,000 Credits.
I stared at the number twice to make sure I wasn’t hallucinating.
Converted into dollars, it was worth roughly one million.
Credits were the closest thing the world had to an international currency.
While every nation still maintained its own currency, anything related to Rifts, Monster Crystals, artifacts, rare materials, were almost always traded using Credits.
The World Bastion had standardized it decades ago.
In other words, I had just become considerably richer.
I quietly logged out before I became tempted to admire the balance any longer.
After enjoying an unnecessarily luxurious Japanese-style breakfast provided by the hotel, I finally headed outside.
For the next ten days, my objective was simple.
Scout, observe and plan.
Only after understanding every possible variable would I move.
The first destination was the auction venue itself.
Conveniently, it was located inside the Continental Hotel.
The event hadn’t begun yet as the workers were still preparing the grand hall.
Display cases were carried inside one after another.
’Most of them should already be here.’
The Continental merely rented out the venue.
The real organizers were the people I was interested in.
I slowly closed my eyes.
Then, activated my new perception.
The world disappeared as countless life signatures bloomed around me.
Each presence radiated its own unique rhythm and several presences immediately stood out.
’Found you.’
Vampires.
Well, most of them weren’t true vampires.
Only a handful genuinely originated from demonic realms.
The overwhelming majority were humans who had willingly consumed the blood of true vampires, transforming themselves into lesser versions of those creatures.
Some were likely Blood Mages who had taken a different path to achieve similar abilities.
Either way, they all traced their power back to the same source.
And, I knew exactly where that source was hidden.
That was the treasure I had crossed continents to obtain.
Satisfied, I withdrew my perception before anyone particularly sensitive noticed it.
There was no need to attract unnecessary attention.
I quietly left the hotel and entered the underground parking.
Rows of expensive vehicles filled the massive space.
I glanced at the number written on the key.
7563.
A few moments later, I found it.
A sleek black sports motorcycle.
"Not bad."
I mounted the bike before activating the map on my smartwatch, searching for the place I needed to go.
A route immediately appeared.
Unlike New York, Warsaw was completely unfamiliar territory.
There was no point pretending otherwise.
No matter how many memories I possessed, there was simply no way I knew these streets like the back of my hand.
Sometimes, the greatest treasure hunt began with something as ordinary as following GPS directions.
***
After leaving the hotel, I followed the navigation until the city gradually gave way to quieter suburbs.
A few minutes later, I arrived at that place.
In the distance stood an enormous manor surrounded by high stone walls and dense woodland.
From the outside, it looked like the private estate of some obscenely wealthy noble.
The front gate remained open as trucks continuously entered and exited the property.
Workers unloaded crates.
Luxury cars occasionally drove through the gates.
Nothing about it appeared unusual.
If anything, it looked like preparations for an extravagant private gathering.
"A perfect disguise."
I parked my motorcycle some distance away before walking toward one of the trucks that had just finished unloading.
The driver was smoking beside the vehicle.
I pretended to be mute and asked him for directions.
The driver immediately understood.
"Oh."
He looked slightly apologetic before trying his best to communicate through gestures.
I smiled politely.
While the driver’s attention remained on me.
My perception quietly spread outward.
Like an invisible wave, it reached the outer walls of the estate, stopping before entering the true mansion.
I deliberately stopped there.
I still had no idea whether someone powerful was inside.
As Vampires were sensitive to another person’s observation.
Pushing deeper on the first day would be incredibly foolish.
Instead, I slowly mapped everything I safely could.
The main entrance.
The delivery route.
Several storage buildings.
The gardens.
Security patrols.
Camera locations.
Every detail settled neatly into my memory.
After several minutes, I thanked the driver with a small bow and walked away.
The best reconnaissance was the kind that nobody realized had happened.
As I rode away from the estate, I mentally organized everything I had learned.
This was only the beginning.
Over the next several days, I would slowly build a complete picture of the mansion.
One layer at a time.
There was no need to rush.
And besides, reconnaissance wasn’t my only priority.
I still needed to train.
No matter how valuable the treasure waiting inside that mansion was.
If I wasn’t strong enough to walk out with it.
Then all this planning would amount to nothing.