Hong Kong variety show: The mastermind behind the scenes is emerging.

Nile City, North Africa.

This is a city that seems to have stepped out of One Thousand and One Nights. The ancient Nile River, like flowing jade, shimmers under the blazing sun, nourishing the date palm groves and earthen-yellow buildings on its banks. The air is filled with the dry smell of dust, the rich aroma of spices, and the unique, pungent odor of camel dung.

This is the last supply depot before entering the heart of the Sahara Desert, and a paradise for countless ambitious people, adventurers, and outlaws.

Two days ago, a seemingly ordinary caravan quietly checked into an inn belonging to the Lubbers family.

Lu Chen stood on the hotel balcony, looking down at the bustling market below, toying with the Third Reich gold coin he had seized from Adolf.

Although he had Adolf as a living map, Lu Chen decided to take an extra precaution to ensure the old man wasn't lying. According to his memories of the plot of "Operation Eagle" from his previous life, the entrance to the Imperial base where the gold was buried was located beneath a highly secretive indigenous village. The exact location of that village was known not only to Adolf but also to a Japanese girl named Momoko in the film.

She is a somewhat absent-minded enthusiast with a passionate pursuit of folk culture, and she is currently in some corner of this city.

"Boss, the vehicle and supplies are ready." Tian Yangsheng pushed open the door and came in, dressed in desert camouflage, his eyes still sharp. "We can set off at any time."

"No rush."

Lu Chen put away the gold coins, put on a pair of sunglasses, and said, "Come with me to the market to find someone."

……

The markets in Nile City are bustling and crowded.

Colorful tapestries, exotic bronzes, and fake antiques claimed to have been unearthed from pharaohs' tombs are piled up in abundance along the roadside.

In an inconspicuous corner, Lu Chen stopped.

It was a small stall filled with all sorts of strangely shaped wood carvings.

The stall owner was a young Asian girl with her hair up, wearing simple overalls, and her face flushed from the sun. She was squatting on the ground, enthusiastically but somewhat clumsily trying to sell her work to passing tourists.

"Sir, look at this! This is a totem I found deep in the desert; it's very spiritual!"

She held up a wooden carving shaped like a scorpion or a devil, her eyes as clear as a spring that you could see right to the bottom.

peach.

Sure enough, it's here.

"Beautiful lady, these wood carvings are very interesting."

Lu Chen took off his sunglasses, revealing his extremely approachable face. At this moment, [Affinity Lv5] and [Charm Lv5] were both fully activated, making him seem as if he had a built-in soft-focus filter in this noisy market.

The naive Peach had never seen anything like this before. Looking at the handsome man in front of her, dressed in an exquisite khaki hunting outfit and exuding a mysterious oriental aristocratic air, her face instantly turned red, and she even started to stammer.

"Ah...this...this...thank you for the compliment! I saw this in a very remote indigenous village, and I thought it was very artistic, so...so I carved it."

"I'm very interested in that village."

Lu Chen crouched down, his gaze level with hers, and said in a sincere and gentle tone, "Could you tell me roughly where it is? I'm a folklorist, currently researching the indigenous cultures of North Africa, and I'd like to conduct a field study."

As he spoke, he took out a thick wad of US dollars from his pocket, a full ten thousand dollars, and gently placed it on her stall.

"Use this money to buy this wood carving of yours, and the coordinates of that village."

Peach stared wide-eyed at the stack of US dollars. That money was enough for her to travel in Africa for several months! But what she couldn't refuse even more was Lu Chen's sincere eyes, which seemed to be filled with a thirst for knowledge.

"Of course!"

Caught off guard, Peach immediately pulled out a simple hand-drawn map from her large backpack and pointed to a location marked with a red circle.

"It's right here! It's about a three-day drive from here. But the people there are very xenophobic, and they have a lot of strange customs, like worshipping scorpions as gods..."

Peach talked on and on about what she had seen and heard, and even kindly reminded Lu Chen of some taboos.

Lu Chen listened with a smile, his gaze quickly sweeping across the map, deeply engraving the coordinates into his mind.

【Ding--】

[Key character detected: Momoko]

[Checking in at the movie "Project Eagle"]

[Check-in successful!]

[Reward: +1 Free Attribute Points]

A system notification sounded in my mind.

"Thank you, Ms. Peach. Your information is very important to me."

Lu Chen stood up and politely said goodbye.

"System, add both attribute points to the private space."

At this moment when we are about to move mountains of gold, space is money, and more importantly, it is the guarantee of victory.

[Attribute points successfully allocated.]

[Private Space: Lv2 -> Lv4; Current Space Size: 8 cubic meters]

[Evaluation: Your personal storage space has expanded again. Now, it can not only hold tons of weaponry, but even a small mountain of gold. This is the foundation of your confidence as the world's largest transporter.]

8 cubic meters.

Based on the density of gold, even with space left for equipment and miscellaneous items, its reserves are already sufficient for Lu Chen to carry out his audacious "heaven-stealing and sun-changing" plan.

……

Three days later, deep in the Sahara Desert.

The scorching sun baked the golden sand dunes until they were burning hot, and the air was filled with a suffocating heat. As far as the eye could see, there was nothing but sand, with only a few withered poplar trees standing there stubbornly, as if telling a story of despair.

"Boom!"

A deep engine roar broke the deathly silence of the desert.

Six specially modified heavy-duty pickup trucks, like six steel monsters, raced across the undulating sand dunes, kicking up clouds of yellow sand. Their wide off-road tires crushed the quicksand, and the M2 Browning heavy machine guns mounted on their roofs gleamed with a cold metallic sheen in the sunlight.

There were fifteen people in the convoy.

Apart from Adolf, who was thrown into the back of the wagon like a dead dog and forced to eat sand, the rest were all elites among elites.

Lu Chen personally led the team, with Tian Yangsheng and the second, third, and fourth senior fighters by his side.

Sofia remained at the safe house on the Nile, leading three other members of the Seven Sons of Heaven and a group of assassins to provide support and logistics.

This was a suggestion that Tian Yangsheng took the initiative to make, and it was what moved Lu Chen the most.

On the eve of his departure, Tian Yangsheng spoke solemnly to Lu Chen:

"Boss, this time the target is two hundred and forty tons of gold. That's an astronomical figure, enough to buy half of Nile City. Money can be tempting, and even we brothers have to avoid suspicion. I'll have Arn and the other two stay in Nile City to protect Miss Sophia, and they'll also serve as 'hostages,' that's the rule."

This statement, though blunt and cruel, perfectly embodies the rules of the martial world. Lu Chen couldn't sway his insistence, so he agreed. This almost cruel rationality is precisely why the Seven Sons of Heaven have survived to this day.

A two-day, three-night trek.

The convoy traversed the Gobi Desert, shifting sands, and countless dried-up riverbeds. With Adolf as their living map guide, and with the precise coordinates obtained from Peach for verification, they finally arrived at their destination on the morning of the third day.

"Boss, we've arrived."

The voice of Tian Yangyi from the front car came through the walkie-talkie.

Lu Chen picked up the binoculars.

Through the rising steam, between two massive sand dunes resembling camel humps, a cluster of earthen-yellow buildings nestled against the mountainside can be vaguely seen. The houses are half-hidden in the yellow sand, like a forgotten ruin.

That's the indigenous village that Peach mentioned.

The secret base of the German Empire, which contained 240 tons of gold and captivated countless people, lay quietly beneath this barren village, sleeping for half a century.

"All vehicles stop and turn off the engines."

Lu Chen gave the order.

The convoy stopped after passing sand dunes two kilometers from the village.

"Boss," Tian Yangsheng put down his binoculars, his brow furrowed slightly, "there are about two hundred people in the village. Although they are all armed with cold weapons, their numbers are too large. If we launch a direct attack, it will cause a huge commotion and may damage the base entrance, or even attract nearby warlords."

"A direct assault? That's something only a reckless fool would do."

Lu Chen took a silver metal box out of the truck bed, opened it, and inside were several canisters of compressed gas labeled with skulls and crossbones.

"This is a laboratory-grade, fast-acting anesthetic that the distillery obtained through special channels from the black market in the Soviet Union."

Lu Chen glanced at the anemometer in his hand. "The wind is currently blowing from the southeast. Ah Sheng, take a few men and sneak over there to open these canisters upwind of the village. Remember, everything must be done quietly."

"clear."

Tian Yangsheng nodded, then, along with his second and third brothers, picked up the gas canisters and vanished into the shadows of the rocks like a raccoon dog.

Ten minutes later.

The invisible gas, carried by the wind, was like a pair of gentle hands, softly caressing the entire village.

The locals, who had been working, began to move slowly, their eyes glazed over, and then, like dominoes, one after another collapsed onto the sand, emitting a chorus of snoring. Even the few barking dogs at the village entrance seemed to have had their bones removed within seconds, collapsing limply to the ground.

This medicine was a high-grade agent used by the GGB to handle large-scale mass incidents. It was colorless, odorless, and extremely fast-acting, with the only side effect being a splitting headache and lethargy for a week after waking up. But for these indigenous people who might have lost their lives in the conflict, this was already Lu Chen's greatest mercy.

Throughout the entire process, not a single gunshot was fired, and not a single drop of blood was shed.

"action."

Lu Chen gestured for his men to put on gas masks, then waved his hand.

Six pickup trucks slid down the sand dunes like ghosts and drove straight into the village.

Under Adolf's trembling guidance, the group cleared away the thick sand and sacrificial stone slabs beneath the altar of the temple in the center of the village, finally unearthing the alloy door that had been sealed for half a century.

On the gate, the menacing imperial eagle emblem gleamed in the sunlight, as if telling a bloody story.

Tian Yangsheng took out the alloy key that he had rushed to make overnight, inserted it into the complicated mechanical lock, and then entered the password.

"Crack... Crack... Rumble..."

With a dull creak of gears turning, the doors slowly swung open to the sides. A blast of cold air, carrying the smells of engine oil and stale odors, rushed out, as if opening the gates to hell.

"Go and turn on the power."

As several high-powered generators, which had been prepared in advance, roared into operation and connected to the base's backup lines, this underground fortress, which had been dormant for forty years, was forcibly awakened.

"Sizzle—"

A hissing sound rang out, and the rows of explosion-proof lights overhead lit up one by one, their dim yellow glow sufficient to illuminate the massive underground fortification.

This place is like a museum frozen in time.

The massive wind tunnel testing ground, the unassembled V2 rocket components, and rows of military trucks covered with dust cloths... all speak to the insane ambitions of the Third Reich back then.

But the crowd's gaze did not linger on these astonishing war machines. Their breathing became rapid, and their pace quickened involuntarily as they headed straight for the enormous vault at the deepest part of the base.

The door wasn't locked; it was just slightly ajar.

Tian Yangsheng led his men forward and forcefully pushed open the heavy iron door.

"Squeak—"

The moment the vault doors were fully opened, everyone held their breath.

Golden light.

Pure, dazzling, and boundless golden light.

The neatly stacked gold bricks, like walls, filled the field of vision. Under the lights, this most primal wealth exuded a most intoxicating magic, impacting the retinas and souls of everyone present.

"Gulp."

Someone swallowed hard, the sound clearly audible in the deathly silent vault.

Greed is a human instinct. Even the most trained assassins of the Lubbers family, after years of training, couldn't help but waver slightly when faced with such enormous wealth.

Lu Chen didn't immediately look at the gold; instead, he quietly retreated to the side. His gaze, sharp as a knife, slowly swept over everyone present through the lenses of his gas mask. His right hand, seemingly casually tucked into his pocket, was actually ready to open a canister of highly concentrated nerve gas stored within his pocket at any moment.

This poison gas was a top-tier contraband obtained from the Soviet black market. Once activated, everyone present, except for the specially made gas mask he was wearing, would die painlessly within three seconds.

This was his last line of defense.

If even one person dares to raise their gun by an inch, or if there's anything amiss in their eyes, he will not hesitate to open the vault, turning it into someone else's grave.

One second, two seconds, three seconds.

The four sons of Tianyang were the first to react. They quickly turned their backs, faced the outer perimeter, and stood guard with their guns, completely ignoring the gold mountain behind them.

Immediately afterwards, the ten assassins sent by Sophia also lowered their heads. Although there was still a glint of greed in their eyes, under Lu Chen's cold gaze and the intimidation of the Lubers family's strict rules, none of them dared to cross the line.

Because they knew that even if they got the gold, they had to be alive to spend it. Without the protection of the Lubbers family, even if they got the gold, they would only die miserably in the black market.

"very good."

Lu Chen released his grip on the gas release pin, a satisfied smile playing on his lips.

"Listen up, everyone," Lu Chen's voice echoed in the empty vault, carrying an undeniable authority, "The reason is simple: without me and Sophia protecting you, even if you take this gold out, you won't live to spend it. Intelligence agencies, gangs, and warlords around the world will tear you apart like sharks."

"But!" Lu Chen changed his tone, "As long as you remain loyal, I guarantee you'll have gold, status, and women! That's the rule for those who follow me, Lu Chen!"

He pointed to the bottomless wind tunnel next to him and glanced coldly at Adolf in the corner.

"As for the traitor... that's where he'll end up."

"I swear to be loyal to the boss to the death!"

Under immense pressure and the promise of benefits, everyone roared in unison, their voices making the vault vibrate.

"Get to work!"

With a wave of his hand, Lu Chen officially began this earth-shattering relocation.