This time, I won't be the devil.

"No! Grandpa, you will definitely get better. During the New Year, you clearly said, 'Grandpa is fine, Grandpa can still beat tigers.' You taught us not to go back on our words..."

After observing the argument between the unrelated grandfather and grandson for a while, Frey and Noelle took their leave.

On the way back to the tavern, Frey shuddered as he recalled what had just happened. Noelle, who was standing by, asked:

"Frey, are you cold?"

"Well, the wind is a bit noisy today."

The reason why Frey felt scared was that the moment he entered the ward, he checked the old man's information through [Identification].

[Name: Marius Jacob]

[Level: 35, Soul Strength: 3.9]

[Race: Human]

[Occupation: Hidden]

The hidden person, 30 years ago, in the welfare home, all kinds of information indicate that this Jacob is very likely the survivor of Team 86 - the phantom thief Robin Hood.

It's really like searching for a needle in a haystack, but when you look back, you find the person standing in the dim light.

If Jacob is really Robin Hood, then with his strength of level 35, Frey and Noelle alone are naturally no match for him, so Frey pretended not to know just now.

Despite being seriously ill, the dying counterattack of a strong man is also extremely terrifying.

In the current maze city, perhaps only Dark Knight Vandam and Paladin Leonard can safely subdue him.

According to common sense, Frey should immediately mobilize people to surround the hospital.

But he couldn't be 100% sure that Jacob was Robin Hood. To be honest, it was difficult for him to connect the image of the thief with the frail and kind old man just now. Without exposing his identification skills, he had no reason to let people catch an old man.

What's more, Frey's ultimate goal is not to capture the thief and bring him back to the Court of Inquisition, but to ask him about the whereabouts of the map and the truth of 30 years ago while ensuring his own safety.

Therefore, his overall plan has not changed. No matter who the thief is, Frey will wait until tomorrow night and, when everything is ready, he will officially fight him.

The next morning, Didoris, who had temporarily gained supreme power in the entire labyrinth city, announced a complete revision of the existing capture plan.

She asked Qis to gather the cadres from the Court of Inquisition and the Holy Knights, and after confirming that there were no suspicious persons, she began the meeting.

At the meeting, she announced the establishment of the command center for this operation, the [Phantom Thief Capture Countermeasures Committee], and then asked her assistant Frey to serve as chairman and take on on-site command on her behalf.

Regarding this matter, everyone naturally thought that the princess was planning to flatter her pretty boy again.

After becoming the chairman, in order to make these people willing to serve him, Frey gave them 10 times the overtime pay, and promised that once Robin Hood was captured, everyone would immediately receive a bonus equivalent to half a year's salary. Of course, this expense was charged to Qis.

Faced with such a generous reward, everyone felt both surprised and doubtful. They were worried that the chairman would assign them extremely dangerous tasks.

However, the combat plan proposed by Chairman Frey was not difficult and had a high safety factor.

Frey divided the troops under his command into several teams, each of which carried out different tasks. The tasks assigned to each team were simple and easy to understand, and they only had to perform their duties.

It was not difficult for Frey to command this group of people.

After all, compared to the brave man, the thief Robin Hood is obviously easier to deal with, and compared to those alien monsters in the demon clan, these professionally trained knights and clergymen in front of them are much easier to command.

Under Frey's deployment, after a whole day of preparation, the stage for capturing the thief has been set.

And before the action begins, he has to obtain the last piece of the puzzle.

……

That night, the night was as dark as ink, so thick that it could not be dissolved.

Frey glanced at his watch. It was now half past eight, and there was only half an hour left until the time Robin Hood had predicted.

However, at this time, the chairman did not stay in the courtroom, but came to a barren hill outside the labyrinth city.

Accompanying him is the city’s current strongest combat force, the level 42 security captain Leonard.

"The operation is about to begin. What on earth does our chairman want to do by bringing me to this place?" asked Leonard.

"I have learned from Qisi the reason for your demotion."

According to the information provided by Qis, Leonard worked as a thief for a period of time before joining the Holy See of Light.

Later, he was appreciated by the old Pope for his outstanding strength and joined the Holy Light Knights. He was promoted all the way and once became the leader of the ninth branch of the Knights.

But three years ago, the year the old Pope died, Leonard's experience as a thief was dug up, and he was demoted from branch leader to security captain of the labyrinth city.

Hearing Frey say this, Leonard asked back with some disdain:

"So, you suspect I'm the Phantom Thief Robin Hood?"

Frey shook his head and said:

"I did have doubts, but now that you're willing to come here with me, the suspicion is naturally cleared."

In Frey's opinion, the real reason why Leonard was demoted was not because of his past record as a thief.

In the Holy See of Light, there are many high-ranking officials with blemishes on their resumes. But Leonard's experience was dug up, and it was obvious that someone wanted to frame him.

"Now that my suspicion has been cleared, shouldn't we go back to the courtroom? It's still not too late," said Leonard.

Through observations over the past few days, Frey discovered that Leonard was actually very concerned about catching the thief.

"No, we'll just wait here."

At this moment, with no one else around, Frey finally revealed his plan to Leonard.

After listening to Frey's plan, Leonard thought for a while, then showed an expression of admiration.

"It's amazing that you could come up with such a comprehensive strategy in such a short time."

"These are all the wisdom of the famous detective Didoris. I am just her mouthpiece." In this operation, Frey pushed all the credit to Didoris.

"Captain Reynard, are you willing to carry out this operation?"

Hearing this, Leonard, who had been expressionless, chuckled and said:

"Happy to oblige."

After reaching a cooperation with Leonard, Frey took out the magic communicator.

The effect of the magic communicator is similar to that of a walkie-talkie. Since there are no satellites or base stations on the Aiden continent, the communicator transmits signals through magic waves, so the maximum communication distance is only 10 kilometers.

But for Frey, it was enough.

At 8:40, Noelle's voice came from the other end of the communicator. In order to prevent Leonard from hearing it, Frey turned the volume to the lowest level.

Following Frey's instructions, Noelle is now squatting near the hospital where Jacob lives with the tavern owner Van Dam.

After returning to the tavern last night, Frey said that Jacob was a little suspicious, and then asked Noel and Van Dam to keep an eye on him tonight.

The two of them are the people Frey trusts the most at the moment, and neither of them has any ulterior motives.

"Frei, he disappeared. The old man in the ward disappeared!" Noel said in panic.

The level 40 Dark Knight Van Dam added: "No doubt, he used Shadow Lurk."

Van Dam also possesses the skill of Shadow Perception, which can detect lurking shadows.

At this point, the identity of the Phantom Thief is completely clear.

"I can still barely detect him now. Do we need to pursue him?"

"No, you guys follow the plan and ambush at point B."

After arranging Noelle and Van Dam, Frey adjusted the intercom and gave instructions to the rest of the team.

"Each team will conduct a final situation report."

"Report to the Chairman, the Earth Tiger Squad is in place... cough... cough... please give instructions!" Perhaps because there was too much dust in the environment, a cough was heard from the other side of the communicator.

"Earth Tiger Squad, hold your posts. You are the key to this operation."

"Report to the Chairman, the Xianglong team is in place. Please give your instructions."

"Xiang, move..."

The captain of the Xianglong team was a little confused by Frey's words.

"How do I move?"

"Move five centimeters to the left."

"Report to the Chairman, the general reserve force is in place, please give instructions!"

"General Reserve, don't move..."

Chapter 28 Dragnet

After activating Shadow Lurk, Jacob left the hospital and went to a pre-prepared hiding place and took out his Phantom Thief Suit.

A pitch-black windbreaker, a white mask that covers the entire face, a black wig to hide aging, a grappling launcher, a dagger, and a waist bag filled with various props.

After putting all these things on, Jacob, the director of the orphanage, transformed himself into the phantom thief Robin Hood again after three years.

Afterwards, after a high-speed rush all the way, Jacob arrived near the courtroom when there were only 10 minutes left before the scheduled time.

He used the grappling hook launcher in his hand to quickly climb onto the roof of a house.

(The image below is for reference. The image is from the game "300 Heroes". The character is Black from "Black Contract". Please delete if there is any infringement.)

Jacob's illness was not a disguise. Although the values ​​brought by the level were still there, his emaciated body was unable to support this series of actions.

His current strength comes from the C-level skill [Muscle Release]. This skill can temporarily release the brain's restrictions on muscles, greatly increasing strength. However, due to the huge side effects, ordinary warriors will only release it briefly at the moment of delivering a winning blow.

At this time, Jacob pushed [Muscle Release] to the maximum and maintained it throughout the whole process, squeezing out the last bit of strength from his atrophied muscles.

The reason he can do this is that the Dark One can manipulate his own muscles and nerves in a way that ordinary people cannot.

Jacob's current condition is equivalent to overloading a machine with broken parts and about to collapse. Every time he moves, he feels severe pain in his limbs that is enough to make him faint.

In order to prevent the pain from affecting his movements, he used another exclusive skill of the Hidden One, [Sensory Shielding], to cut off his sense of pain and ignore the cries of his body.

This kind of self-deception naturally could not last long. At this time, Jacob was like a candle in the wind, burning out his remaining life.

But this is enough, because today is his last theft.

Jacob stood on the roof, gazing at the courtroom in the distance. The cold night wind whistled past, and his windbreaker fluttered with it.

"It feels so quiet," Jacob sighed.

Since the streets had been blocked in advance and all residents had been evacuated, there wasn't a single pedestrian or light to be seen nearby.