33: Chapter 33 Framing? No, it's using someone else to do the dirty work.

The banquet hall doors were tightly shut, resembling the gaping maw of a closing beast.

The air was stagnant, almost choking.

Dozens of fully armed SWAT officers pulled back their bolts; although the pitch-black muzzles were not pointed directly at the guests, the chilling aura of slaughter made the usually pampered socialites afraid to even breathe heavily.

"Everyone, men to the left, women to the right. Line up for inspection."

Xie Qingshang stood on the high platform, his voice raspy, as if it had been rubbed against sandpaper.

The chocolate foil in his hand had been crumpled into a tight, silver ball, his fingertips turning white from excessive force.

He didn't believe in bad luck. He really didn't.

The display case containing the fake diamond was right under his nose; except for Qin Feng, no one could have tampered with it under the dual surveillance of himself and Director Zhao.

Since the person was still in the hall, the item must still be here.

"Isn't this too rude?"

"Exactly, are they treating us like criminals?"

Low complaints drifted through the crowd, but upon seeing Director Zhao's face, which was as dark as the bottom of a pot, everyone tactfully shut their mouths.

Qin Feng stood in the middle of the line, still holding his unfinished glass of red wine.

He even had the leisure to smile at a socialite beside him who was pale with fright: "Don't be afraid. This is just an 'immersive experience' specially arranged by the police to protect everyone's property safety."

The socialite looked at Qin Feng's handsome, peerless face, blushed, and actually stopped trembling.

"Next." The SWAT officer in charge of the body search shouted with a cold face.

Qin Feng adjusted his collar, handed his wine glass to a passing waiter, and walked over with his long legs.

Xie Qingshang suddenly raised his head, his bloodshot eyes locked firmly onto Qin Feng.

If gazes could pass through security, Qin Feng would have already been riddled with holes.

"Raise your hands." The SWAT officer took a metal detector and scanned Qin Feng's body.

"Beep—" The detector sounded at his chest.

Xie Qingshang's pupils contracted instantly, like a shark that had smelled blood, and he stepped down from the platform: "Take it out!"

Qin Feng shrugged helplessly and reached into his jacket.

The surrounding SWAT officers immediately raised their guns.

Even Director Zhao subconsciously covered his own... right pocket.

Qin Feng slowly pulled out... a pair of gold-rimmed glasses.

"Consultant Xie, does this need to be surrendered too?" Qin Feng placed the glasses on the bridge of his nose, his 'gentlemanly scum' aura instantly peaking, "This is an accessory I quite like."

Xie Qingshang's face twitched.

"Keep searching!"

The SWAT officer didn't hesitate, searching from his hair to his heels, even tapping the soles of his leather shoes twice.

Except for a mobile phone, wallet, and handkerchief, they found nothing.

"Report! Nothing!" The SWAT officer put down the detector, his tone tinged with confusion.

Xie Qingshang was stunned.

He walked over quickly, pushed the SWAT officer aside, and took over himself. He searched Qin Feng's suit lining, cuffs, pant legs... every place that could possibly hide an item.

Empty. All empty.

"How is it possible..." Xie Qingshang muttered to himself, then looked at Su Tang beside him.

Su Tang had already been searched by a female officer and was currently wrapped in her backless dress, shivering from the cold like a frightened quail.

"Nothing either." The female officer shook her head.

Xie Qingshang felt as if something had snapped in his brain.

He had clearly calculated everything. From Qin Feng getting on stage to the lights going out, and then that damn magic trick... all the time nodes were in his deduction model.

He had only missed the whereabouts of the stolen goods.

"Consultant Xie, it seems your intelligence is flawed." Qin Feng straightened his wrinkled collar, his tone three parts teasing and seven parts innocent, "Perhaps the thief has already flown away?"

"Impossible!" Xie Qingshang turned around abruptly, looking at the sealed doors, "Not even a fly has left this place!"

"That's not necessarily true." Qin Feng smiled meaningfully.

He turned around, preparing to return to the crowd. When passing by Director Zhao, a sudden change occurred.

The banquet hall was covered in thick wool carpeting, slightly curled at the edges.

Qin Feng's toe "happened" to kick that curled edge.

"Ouch!" This exclamation had absolutely no trace of acting.

Qin Feng lost his balance, like a falling pillar, and lunged straight at Director Zhao.

"Damn it!" Director Zhao was nursing his foot, swollen from being hit by the iron balls, and seeing this, instinctively reached out his hands to catch him.

This was a human conditioned reflex. Especially when a grown man over 1.8 meters tall came crashing over, even a director had to serve as a meat cushion first.

"Bang!" The two collided head-on.

In the chaos, Qin Feng's arms were waving "panickedly," and coincidentally, he wrapped his arms around Director Zhao's waist.

More accurately, he pressed onto Director Zhao's right pocket. In that instant, time seemed to stretch infinitely.

In the corner, the waiter codenamed "Thousand-Hand Guan Yin" was collecting plates. She saw this scene.

Her eyes widened instantly, and the plate in her hand almost slipped. If one didn't look closely, this was just an ordinary accidental fall.

But in the eyes of an expert, this scene was nothing short of a miracle!

In the split second their bodies made contact, in just 0.1 seconds, Qin Feng's fingers, like a pianist's, quickly, precisely, and gently reached into Director Zhao's pocket.

The movement was too fast. So fast that even the retina couldn't catch an afterimage.

Two fingers pinched the diamond necklace worth 300 million USD, her wrist flicked, using momentum to slide the item into his own cuff, then he instantly pulled his hand back, switching to steadying Director Zhao's arm.

The entire process was smooth as flowing water, without a single wasted movement. He even snatched the sticky note out, crumpled it into a ball, and held it in his palm.

"My god..." Thousand-Hand Guan Yin felt her professional outlook collapsing, "How many years of being single does it take to train such hand speed? Even a 'Qilin arm' isn't this fast, right?"

"Hiss— You kid, are you blind!" Director Zhao was knocked back two steps, grimacing in pain.

"Sorry, sorry! Director Zhao, this carpet needs to be replaced." Qin Feng stood up straight with a terrified face, and even thoughtfully patted the dust off Director Zhao's clothes.

In reality, he was confirming the pocket was empty.

"Alright, alright, get lost!" Director Zhao waved his hand impatiently.

He had no idea that he, the human safe, had just been "forcibly de-insured."

Qin Feng nodded repeatedly and retreated to the rest area. There was a row of air vents there; although blocked by decorative panels, a faint airflow could still be felt.

"Meow~" A faint cat's meow came from behind the decorative panel.

Qin Feng's lips curled up imperceptibly. This was Alice's plan B.

Using a sonic inducer, he lured this orange cat, which usually roamed the underground pipes of the convention center, to this location.

Qin Feng turned his back to the surveillance, pretending to tie his shoelaces. He crouched down. The necklace in his cuff slid into his palm.

At the same time, a chubby orange cat's paw reached out from the gap in the decorative panel, seemingly wanting to play with Qin Feng's shoelaces.

"Good boy, here's a new collar for you." Qin Feng whispered, his fingers flying.

The heart of the ocean was instantly hung around the orange cat's neck with a specially made soft clasp.

"Go on, there are dried fish waiting for you outside." Qin Feng gently scratched the cat's chin.

The orange cat, feeling comfortable from the scratching, meowed, retracted its paw, turned around, and burrowed into the intricate ventilation ducts.

Alice was waiting at the pipe exit to receive it. This cat, worth 300 million USD, was about to begin its parkour journey.

Qin Feng stood up and nonchalantly brushed the dust off his hands. He turned around, just in time to meet Xie Qingshang's gaze.

That gaze was full of suspicion, scrutiny, and a hint of... bewilderment.

Xie Qingshang walked over quickly. He circled the spot where Qin Feng had just crouched. There was nothing.

Except for a thin, orange-yellow... cat hair on the carpet.

Xie Qingshang bent down and picked up the cat hair. He looked at it closely in front of his eyes. Then he placed it to the tip of his nose and sniffed.

A faint, musty smell, as if from a sewer, mixed with... the scent of maintenance oil unique to high-end jewelry?

"Boom—" A thunderclap seemed to explode in Xie Qingshang's brain. He turned his head abruptly to look at the air vent in the corner.

There, only a gentle breeze blew by, as if mocking his incompetence.

"Cat..." Xie Qingshang's fingers began to tremble violently, the cat hair fluttering uncertainly at his fingertips.

"He... he gave the item... to a cat?!"

This absurd, bizarre, yet extremely logical modus operandi completely shattered Xie Qingshang's logical defenses.

This was Qin Feng. He was not only toying with the police and the director. He was even utilizing the mice and cats in this building!

"Block the ventilation ducts!!!" Xie Qingshang let out a shrill roar, his voice even carrying a hint of a sob, "Catch that cat for me!!! The orange one! Hurry!!!"

The SWAT officers in the hall were all stunned. Catch... a cat? Weren't they catching a person just now?

Director Zhao walked over, looking at Xie Qingshang with concern: "Old Xie, are you under too much pressure? How about... having a piece of chocolate to relax?"

Xie Qingshang looked at Director Zhao's innocent, large face. Then he looked at Qin Feng, who was standing in the crowd, raising his glass and smiling at him.

He suddenly had the urge to vomit blood.

"Pfft—" Xie Qingshang clutched his chest and sat down on the floor with a thud. The bitter taste of chocolate in his mouth was now a hundred times more bitter than coptis.

"Qin Feng..." Xie Qingshang gritted his teeth, squeezing two words out from between them. "You won. But this... is just the beginning."

At this moment, the system notification sound in Qin Feng's mind exploded like firecrackers.

[Ding! Detected that the host has completed a "God-level Pickpocketing."] [Operation Difficulty: SSS-level.] [Spectacle: Off the charts.] [Achievement Obtained: King of Darkness Under the Lamp.] [Current Shock Value: Skyrocketed to 1 billion!]

Qin Feng sipped his red wine, feeling the spicy, pleasurable sensation as it went down his throat. He said silently to the system in his heart: "This is just the beginning. The good show is still to come."

And that Thousand-Hand Guan Yin was currently huddled in the corner, looking at her own hands, falling into deep self-doubt. "Who am I? Where am I? Should I go raise a cat too? These days, is being a thief really this competitive?!"

Hello dear, I am the story!