I started by watching videos, and I chose 10,000 combat power.

7:50 PM.

On the streets of Dongcheng District in Longhai City, the streetlights are still on, their orange glow casting long shadows on the asphalt.

There were far fewer tourists around the Xianglong Museum than during the day, but there were still a few people taking photos of the dragon-shaped building with their phones.

The museum is even more spectacular at night than during the day. The scales on the facade gleam with a cold white luster under the moonlight, and the dragon's head is raised in the direction that is exactly facing the moon, just like a real dragon gazing at the starry sky.

A man carrying a backpack, a regular briefcase in his hand, and a bulging tool bag hanging from his waist walked through the crowd.

He was wearing a dark windbreaker, a baseball cap pulled low over his shoulders, and a mask that covered most of his face. From behind, he looked like a tourist in a hurry.

His backpack contained a specially made hang glider that could be easily folded into a hiking backpack, weighing less than five kilograms, but with a wingspan of seven or eight meters when unfolded.

His plan was to steal the Imperial Seal of the State, fly directly from the rooftop of the museum, and land at a predetermined location a few kilometers away, where a woman would be waiting for him in a car.

The hang glider landed silently in the night sky, folded up and stuffed into the trunk after landing, the driver got in the car and drove away quickly.

Everything was perfect.

The woman drove her car and parked it on an abandoned construction site a few kilometers southeast of the museum.

The car was rented, the ID card was fake, and the license plate was also a clone, so it's impossible to trace her back to her.

The engine was still running, and the exhaust pipe emitted a faint white smoke. The headlights were off, and only the dim light from the instrument panel illuminated her face.

She glanced at her phone; it was 7:52.

Eight minutes left.

Her hands rested on the steering wheel, her fingers tapping lightly, unhurriedly, as if counting a beat.

She and the man had been working together for over a decade, without needing walkie-talkies or secret codes.

At 7:55, the power company's maintenance personnel appeared below the substation.

Several construction vehicles were parked on the roadside, and workers in orange work clothes unloaded tools and warning signs from the vehicles, setting up a cordon around the substation.

Everything seemed so normal, so normal that passersby only glanced at it once.

The man stood in a narrow alley outside the museum's walls, observing the workers' movements through a gap at the alley entrance.

He saw workers open the substation's control cabinet, saw flashlight beams flickering inside, and saw someone talking on a walkie-talkie.

The corners of his mouth turned up slightly.

The inspection was genuine, not a charade, that's good.

At 7:58, the man placed the briefcase on the ground and adjusted its angle.

He modified this briefcase himself. It looks no different from an ordinary suitcase, but inside there are four strong springs.

Step on it and press the switch, and the spring will instantly release all its elasticity, launching you several meters into the air.

He stood on the briefcase, holding onto the wall for balance, and glanced down at his watch.

The second hand is moving, round and round.

At 7:59, his finger rested on the switch, but he didn't press it, waiting for that moment.

Luo Fei stood in front of the floor-to-ceiling window on the 25th floor of the museum, his hands in his pockets, gazing at the night view outside.

The streetlights were still on, car headlights continued to move along the street, and a few flashlight beams flickered in the direction of the substation in the distance.

Xiao Wan's voice came from the ceiling speakers: "Captain, the target is in position, outside the east wall of the museum. Backup power is activated, all lights in the museum are off, and the monitoring indicator lights are off. All cameras are functioning normally, with clear images and normal audio."

It's exactly eight o'clock.

That area in the eastern part of the city was simultaneously plunged into darkness.

The streetlights went out, the shop signs along the street went out, and the residential buildings in the distance were pitch black, with only the headlights of cars still on.

All the lights inside the museum were turned off. From the outside, the silver-white dragon-shaped building looked like a giant beast sleeping in the darkness, its outline blurred and its scales dull, with only the moonlight shining on its facade and giving it a faint white glow.

The man pressed the switch.

The four springs of the briefcase popped open at the same time, making a dull "thump".

His body bounced off the ground, flew over the wall, and landed in the museum's courtyard.

He bent his knees slightly to cushion the impact when he landed, without making a loud noise.

He stood up, reached out and tugged at the shoulder strap of his backpack to make sure everything was there.

Then he took out a small remote control from his pocket and pressed it. The spring of the briefcase outside the wall automatically retracted and reset, the lid closed, and a thin steel wire on the handle was connected to the retractor at his waist.

He pressed the button on the retractor, and the wire began to retract, dragging the briefcase across the ground, over the wall, and sliding to his feet.

He bent down, picked up the briefcase, and walked towards the side door on the first floor of the museum.

This was the first place he needed to use technology that evening—the door lock.

That's not an ordinary door lock, but an electronic lock that requires triple authentication: card swipe, password, and fingerprint.

He took a circuit board from his toolkit, connected it to the door lock's control panel, and lines of code appeared on the screen.

His fingers flew across the miniature keyboard, and ten seconds later, with Xiao Wan's help, the door lock clicked softly, and the green light came on.

He pushed open the door and went inside.

The museum was completely dark inside.

His flashlight was specially made, with a red cloth covering the head, and the light it emitted was so dim that only he could see the path under his feet, and it was completely undetectable from the outside.

He walked along the corridor toward the stairwell, each step light, heel first, then toes, like a cat stealthily moving in the dark.

He knew the museum’s interior structure by heart, not from blueprints, but from analyzing frame by frame the videos posted online by tourists.

He knew the location of the stairwell, the location of the Imperial Seal of the State display case on the 25th floor in the very center of the exhibition hall, how far that location was from the window, and that he needed to complete the entire theft in the dark before escaping from the rooftop.

He went up the stairs.

Take your time, breathe evenly, and keep your heartbeat steady.

This wasn't the first time he'd sneaked into a museum in the dark, nor was it the first time he'd taken something that no one else could right under the noses of the security system.

Luo Fei stood motionless in front of the floor-to-ceiling window on the 25th floor, his hands in his pockets.

Suddenly, his ears twitched slightly as he caught the sound of footsteps coming from the stairwell.

It was so light that an ordinary person couldn't hear it at all, but it was Luo Fei.

The footsteps paused at each floor, probably to confirm the floor.

We've reached the 25th floor.

Xiao Wan's voice came from the speaker, even softer than before: "Target has reached the 25th floor. Heading towards the exhibition hall. Display cases are unlocked, and glass covers are openable. All surveillance cameras in the exhibition hall are functioning normally, with clear images. Backup power is ready and can restore lighting to the entire hall within 0.1 seconds."

Luo Fei did not move.

His hands remained in his pockets, and his gaze was still fixed on the view outside the window.

The man pushed open the fire door in the stairwell on the 25th floor and walked into the exhibition hall.

He squatted down, placed the briefcase at his feet, took off his backpack and placed it against the wall, and opened his tool bag and spread it on the ground.

As the flashlight beam swept across the exhibition hall, he saw the standalone display case, right in the middle of the hall.

He stood up and walked towards the display case.

His flashlight shone on the glass cover, reflecting back and obscuring the details of the jade seal inside; he could only see a blurry outline.

But he didn't need to see it clearly; he knew it was inside.

He walked around the display case, checking the surroundings.

There were no infrared detectors, no pressure sensors, and no alarm devices that he could detect.

He went around again to confirm.

Then he crouched down, took a glass cutter from his toolbox, and made a cut on the edge of the glass cover.

The sound of the blade slicing through the glass was very soft, but his touch was off; the glass wasn't cut, not even a mark was left.

He tried a sharper glass cutter, but it still didn't work.

Sweat began to bead on his forehead, not from the heat, but from the anxiety of not having enough tools.

He took a small chainsaw out of his toolbox and attached a diamond saw blade.

The saw blade emitted a piercing noise the moment it touched the glass.

The saw blade whirred for over ten seconds, but not a single white mark was left on the glass.

The man's breathing became rapid.

He turned off the chainsaw, squatted in front of the display case, and rested his hands on his knees.

He had been a thief for over a decade, stealing top national treasures from more than a dozen countries. He had encountered the most complex vaults, the most sophisticated electronic locks, and the most sensitive alarm systems, but he had never encountered a display case that he couldn't open.

He looked up, the flashlight beam illuminating the glass dome. He suddenly noticed a detail—the edge of the glass dome had no latches, no sealing strips, and no structure he would need to break to open it.

He reached out, pressed his fingers against the edge of the glass dome, and pushed it to the left, but it wouldn't budge.

He pushed it to the right again, but it still wouldn't budge.

He took a deep breath, placed his palm on the top of the glass dome, and pressed down hard, but the glass dome remained unmoved.

He bit his lip, pressed his palm against the side of the glass dome, and slapped it hard to the right—"Click."

The glass cover slid slightly, revealing a narrow gap.

The man's eyes widened.

Without thinking twice, he grabbed the edge of the glass cover with both hands and pushed it open forcefully.

The glass cover slid to one side of the base, completely exposing the interior of the display case to the air.

The Imperial Seal of the State lay quietly in the groove of the base, with five dragons coiled together in the darkness, their heads raised and their claws outstretched.

He didn't rush to take the jade seal. Instead, he took out the small silver mask from his pocket and placed it on the base of the display case, with the mask facing directly forward, toward the entrance of the exhibition hall.

This is his rule, his signature, and also his provocation.

"The Thousand-Faced Thief was here."

The entire planet Earth knows about this mask and is searching for its owner, but no one has ever found it.

He straightened up, looked down at the jade seal, stretched out his hand, spread his fingers, and slowly brought his fingertips close to the warm, white jade.

For more than a decade, nothing has made his hands tremble before he touches it.

But today, he felt not fear, but excitement.

The Imperial Seal of the State, a symbol of the Dragon Kingdom, a national treasure lost for over a thousand years, is about to become the most dazzling item in his collection.

His fingertips were less than a few centimeters from the imperial seal.