36: Chapter 36 Spoils and Division of the Loot

"Water... Pei Ji, give me water."

Just as the door to the safe house at Binjiang No. 1 Courtyard was kicked shut, Qin Feng, looking as if his dragon tendons had been pulled out, threw himself into the expensive Italian leather sofa without a shred of dignity.

He ripped off his tie, his Adam's apple bobbing up and down, his throat so hoarse it sounded as if he had been screaming in a desert for three days and nights.

Pei Ji scrambled to pull a bottle of Evian from the fridge, twisted off the cap, and handed it over, the flesh on his face still trembling with excitement: "Brother Feng! You're my own brother! That 'Leap of Faith' from a hundred meters up just now, I swear I almost peed myself in the car! Even Newton would have to kowtow to you if he saw that!"

Qin Feng took the water and chugged more than half the bottle in one breath. The ice-cold liquid exploded down his throat, finally calming the heart pounding wildly in his chest.

He casually set the remaining half-bottle of water on the marble coffee table with a crisp "thud."

"Standard procedure, don't be amazed."

Qin Feng steadied his breathing, reached into his suit pocket, and his fingertips brushed against that cold, round bead. With a flick of his wrist, the object traced a deep blue parabola through the air.

"Catch, a souvenir."

"Clap."

The bead rolled twice and came to a stop right in front of Su Tang.

The air instantly froze.

Pei Ji widened his beady eyes, his mouth hanging open wide enough to fit a fist inside. Su Tang covered her mouth, her peach-blossom eyes filled with stars of disbelief, forgetting even to breathe.

"The... heart of the ocean?!"

Pei Ji tremblingly extended a finger, wanting to touch it but afraid to, as if it were a scorching hot iron: "Brother Feng, you... you really swiped it? What was in that police chief's pocket? A pebble?"

"That was the real one."

Alice, who had been leaning against the window wiping her Glock, suddenly spoke up.

She put away her gun and walked to the table with long, slender legs. She pinched the blue bead between two long fingers and held it up to the crystal chandelier.

"This is Yiwu junk, a high-end A-grade fake. The craftsmanship is passable, but the wholesale price is at most 150."

A playful smirk tugged at the corner of Alice's mouth, her deep blue eyes turning to Qin Feng, who was sprawled on the sofa: "You gave the real one worth three hundred million USD to that fat chief, but brought this fake back as a trophy?"

"The real one was too heavy; it was a drag." Qin Feng shrugged, fished an unopened bag of potato chips from under the coffee table, and tore it open. "Besides, the police officers played such a big scene with me—all that blockading and chasing—they deserve some appearance fee, don't they?"

He rolled his eyes internally: *That thing has a built-in GPS. If I kept it, wouldn't I be asking for prison food?*

But he couldn't say that out loud.

"Cool! That's so damn cool!" Pei Ji gave a thumbs up. "This level of detachment—this is what you call treating money like dirt!"

Su Tang hadn't even heard what was real and what was fake.

She snatched the bead from Alice's hand, like a little girl who had just received a candy, and immediately held it up to her neck.

"Who cares if it's real or fake! This is a trophy brought back by Joker! This is a priceless treasure!" Su Tang ran to the floor-to-ceiling mirror, admiring herself from left and right, her cheeks flushed. "This color really makes my skin look fair! I'm going to lock it in my safe as a family heirloom!"

Watching Su Tang's carefree demeanor, Alice looked at Qin Feng with a complex expression.

This man was chewing potato chips without a shred of dignity, his face practically saying, "I want to get off work." But that figure from a moment ago, high up on the thirtieth floor, arms wide open to embrace the abyss, was now branded into her mind.

Madness, elegance, treating rules as nothing.

This is the real "Joker."

"Qin." Alice holstered her gun back into her thigh holster, her eyes harboring a hint of fanaticism she hadn't even noticed herself. "Count me in for the next act."

Qin Feng paused, nearly choking on his potato chip.

*Big sister, this is just a drill, not a real raid on the Pentagon! Why is everyone getting so deep into character?*

Just then, the system in his head, which had been playing dead the whole way, finally came back to life.

[Ding!]

[Congratulations, Host! Volume 1, "Hidden Dragon" main mission successfully settled!]

[Mission Rating: SSS (Perfect Criminal Artist)]

[Settlement Explanation: You completed an impossible theft in front of everyone's eyes, staged a god-level escape from a desperate situation, and successfully played all your pursuers in the palm of your hand. You are the god of tonight!]

[Shock Value Settlement: Accumulated 1.2 billion Shock Value (automatically converted to 12 million RMB and deposited into the Host's anonymous account).]

[Distributing SSS-level completion rewards...]

Qin Feng's fingers gripping the potato chip tightened abruptly, veins bulging on the back of his hand.

It's here!

This was the real motivation for him risking his life to act!

Twelve million! He'd never seen so many zeros in his life!

[Ding! Rewards have been deposited.]

[Reward 1: God-level Disguise Technique (Permanent Version). No longer requiring system assistance, the Host can use any cosmetics, or even mud, to perfectly change facial features and bone structure within one minute, to the point where even your own mother wouldn't recognize you.]

[Reward 2: Master-level Combat (Experience Card x3). Each use lasts 30 minutes. During use, the Host's combat ability matches that of the world's top special forces kings; dismantling a Gundam with bare hands is no longer a dream.]

[Reward 3: Passive Skill "Villain Aura" Advanced. Now, you can not only scare children to tears but also make fellow villains bow in submission.]

A warm current instantly surged through his entire body. Qin Feng felt his hands become more agile, and his mind was flooded with countless insights into bone restructuring and muscle micro-adjustments. That sense of control over his body made him want to find a mirror right now and play around with molding his face.

"Awesome!"

Qin Feng roared in his heart, but on his face, he maintained that inscrutable, calm expression. He tossed the potato chips back onto the table and brushed the crumbs off his hands.

"Buzz—Buzz—"

The phone on the coffee table suddenly began to vibrate, like a death summons.

Caller ID: [Director Wei Guanqi].

Qin Feng raised an eyebrow and hit speakerphone.

"Qin... Teacher Qin!"

On the other end of the line, Director Wei Guanqi's voice was trembling as if he'd just been electrocuted; one could even hear the "pop" of champagne being opened in the background.

"It blew up! It completely blew up! That 'Leap of Faith' segment just now—the real-time online viewership across the entire network broke fifty million! The servers crashed three times! The boys in the tech department have worked themselves bald!"

Qin Feng calmly picked up another potato chip: "Oh, that's good. Director Wei, if there's nothing else, I'm hanging up. I'm sleepy."

"No, no, no! There is something! Something big!"

Director Wei Guanqi was so anxious he nearly crawled through the internet cable. "The sponsors just added three hundred million in investment! The station leaders said we must keep you! Your appearance fee for the next stage is going up tenfold! Fifty thousand! No, five hundred thousand per episode! And that's after tax!"

Pei Ji, who was scrolling through Weibo on his phone nearby, gasped: "Holy crap... five hundred thousand? Even robbing a bank isn't this fast, right?"

Qin Feng's fingers tapped gently on his knee twice.

Five hundred thousand?

For him now, this amount of money was just pocket change. But his current identity was that of a destitute extra; if he didn't show a desire for money, it would be easy to blow his cover.

"Fine." Qin Feng sighed, his tone sounding as reluctant as if he'd suffered a huge loss. "Seeing as Director Wei is so sincere, I'll play along for a couple more rounds. But I have a condition."

"Go ahead! Never mind one, ten are fine! I'll even move the station manager's leather boss chair for you to sit on!"

"Don't arrange any more high-altitude projects for me." Qin Feng rubbed his temples. "I have a fear of heights."

There was silence on the other end of the line for three seconds.

Fear of heights?

*Big brother, when you were swinging on a swing at a hundred meters up just now, you were laughing happier than anyone! You were even making a peace sign in the air!*

"Ahem... okay, okay, we'll definitely be careful!" Director Wei Guanqi wiped away sweat; this big shot really was humorous.

Hanging up the phone, Qin Feng was in a great mood.

Not only did he have the massive sum of over ten million from the system, but his visible income had also skyrocketed. Finally, he wouldn't have to worry about not being able to afford a ham sausage for his instant noodles next month.

"Right."

Qin Feng suddenly remembered something, picked up his phone, and opened the banking app.

He had only taken this crappy gig to pay the rent; that landlady, who was as fierce as a stereotypical slumlord, had probably been trying to smash his door down these past few days.

[Transfer successful: 500,000.00 Yuan]

Qin Feng casually typed a line in the remarks column: [Auntie Landlady, rent is paid. The rest is ten years of prepaid rent; consider the extra as a treat for tea. Don't chase me anymore; I'm on a business trip out of town, busy.]

Meanwhile.

In the old city district of Jianghai City, in a dilapidated tenement building.

The landlady, who was wearing a cucumber mask, heard her phone suddenly beep. She picked it up nonchalantly to look, and her mask nearly cracked from the shock.

"One, ten, hundred, thousand, ten thousand... five hundred thousand?!"

The landlady's hand shook, and the phone smashed directly onto her face, causing her to yelp in pain.

She couldn't care about the pain, staring fixedly at the name of the sender—Qin Feng.

That little pauper who usually dragged out five hundred yuan in rent for half a month? That down-and-out extra who had to sponge hot water from neighbors to eat instant noodles?

The image of the fierce bandit from the TV news earlier, wearing a clown mask and turning all of Jianghai City upside down, flashed through her mind.

"Business trip... busy..."

The landlady gulped, her face turning deathly pale, her fat trembling all over.

*This is no business trip! This is clearly a bank robbery! This is dirty money! This is hush money! If I accept this money, wouldn't I become an accomplice? How many years will I get?*

"It's over, it's over... I'm not clean anymore!"

The landlady tremblingly grabbed the landline, her fingers shaking as she dialed 110.

"Hello... Comrade Police? I want to report a crime... I want to surrender... No, I want to report someone!"

"My tenant... that Qin Feng... I think he really robbed a bank! He transferred five hundred thousand to me! I didn't dare touch a cent! You guys, come and arrest him quickly!"

...

Binjiang No. 1 Courtyard.

Qin Feng let out a huge sneeze.

"Who's cursing me?" He rubbed his nose, not taking it to heart.

He stood up and walked to the huge floor-to-ceiling window.

By now, the horizon was already showing a hint of dawn. The city, which had just experienced a night of madness, was slowly waking from its slumber. Police cars on the streets were still flashing red and blue lights, like tired, wandering dragons.

Pei Ji leaned over, holding up his phone screen: "Brother Feng, look! Your fan club has been established! It's called 'Feng's Army'! The number of followers has already broken a million, and everyone is calling for you to debut!"

On the screen, countless comments floated by, dense and packed.

"Joker is so cool! From now on, novel protagonists have a face!"

"Begging you, big brother, step on me! I want to be that necklace!"

"I'm signing in blood, begging Brother Feng to start a livestream and sell goods—sell clown masks!"

"Don't mess around, the guy above; this is a fierce bandit, selling goods is illegal! But I want to buy one too!"

Qin Feng looked at those crazy comments with a playful gaze, revealing a confident smile belonging to a "God-level villain."

But what he didn't know was...

At the other end of the city, in the brightly lit conference room of the Jianghai City Police Headquarters.

Xie Qingshang was standing in front of a huge whiteboard, holding that pink sticky note in his hand. In front of him sat several big shots with stars on their shoulders; the conference room was silent, you could hear a pin drop.

"Chief, leaders."

Xie Qingshang spoke in a deep voice, his tone terrifyingly calm, but his eyes were burning with unprecedented fighting spirit.

"Qin Feng is no longer just an ordinary simulated criminal. His existence is challenging our bottom line, and he is inciting an extremely dangerous sentiment of worship."

He slammed the sticky note with the smiley face onto the center of the whiteboard.

"Volume One has ended."

"From now on, it will no longer be a drill."

"We are going to cast a net." Xie Qingshang turned around, looking at the gradually brightening sky outside the window, his eyes cold as ice.

"A death net that will make it impossible for him... to escape even with wings."

And in the deeper shadows, several mysterious figures of unknown identity were also staring at Qin Feng's photo on a screen, conversing in low voices.

"Did you find it?"

"Found it. His system... seems to have awakened."

"Interesting. Since he wants to play, let's show him what true—hell-level difficulty—is."

The wind rises from the smallest ripple.

Qin Feng stretched, looking at the morning sun outside the window, feeling sure that he would sleep very well.

Little did he know.

The real storm was only just beginning to brew.

"Su Tang, I'm hungry, cook a bowl of noodles."

"Coming right up, Brother! Adding two eggs!"

"Alice, put the gun away; it's making me dizzy."

"Heh, as you command, Boss."

A new day, on this seemingly calm morning, began its prologue.