San Francisco, Dark Hand Headquarters, top floor office.
The air seemed to freeze.
The pupils of the Shendu sculpture on the wall burned with tangible rage, locked dead onto the young man pushing a cleaning cart with a "I'm just working seriously" expression.
"Thief!" Shendu let out a raspy roar that sounded like grinding stones, shaking the air. "Stop right there!"
Vic turned around slowly, a look of surprise in his eyes.
"Whoa," he exclaimed genuinely, looking the talking dragon sculpture up and down. "You can talk? I thought you were just... well, a uniquely styled decoration."
"You took something that doesn't belong to you!"
Shendu suppressed the urge to grind this bastard kid into powder. The fury in his words almost ignited the surrounding air.
"Oh~"
Vic immediately put on a look of realization, then gave a sincere bow of apology, his movements standard as a strictly trained waiter. "I am truly very sorry! Sir!"
This reaction threw Shendu off.
Such a... polite thief? Did he really blame the wrong person? Was this just a janitor who wandered in by mistake?
However, Vic's next words thoroughly shattered his naive fantasy.
"I shouldn't judge a 'dragon' by its cover."
Vic's tone was sincere, but his gaze, like a top appraiser, began scanning the texture of the dragon scales and the sense of historical age in the stone with burning intensity.
"Thinking you were worthless junk just now was a grave error on my part!! This material, this carving, this sense of historical vicissitudes..."
"Especially since you can talk! This added interactive function is museum-grade! You are absolutely the treasure of this house!"
Saying this, he pulled a gleaming chisel and a hefty hammer out of the seemingly ordinary tool bag on the cleaning cart like a magic trick.
Vic looked Shendu's wall-embedded body up and down like he was appreciating an antique, eager to try.
"Let me think, how can I invite you down from the wall intact without damaging your artistic value... The wall structure is a bit tricky, but it's not a big problem."
He weighed the hammer in his hand, seeming to calculate the angle and force.
"DAMN IT! You go too far!"
Shendu's composure, accumulated over a thousand years, completely collapsed in this moment. Rage overwhelmed reason. "My soldiers! Seize the talismans! Tear this reckless bug to pieces!"
The shadows in the office seemed to come alive, writhing and coalescing. Rows of Shadowkhan, dressed in ninja garb with glowing red eyes, emerged silently, surrounding Vic instantly. A cold killing intent filled the air.
Seeing this formation, Vic sighed helplessly, tucked the chisel and hammer behind his waist for now, and spread his hands:
"Hey, can we be reasonable? Why does everyone nowadays like ganging up? Isn't a one-on-one duel better? Where are the professional ethics for villains?"
"Ant!" Shendu's voice was like ice. "I'll give you one last chance. Return the talismans to me! Otherwise, I will make you experience pain deeper than hell!"
Hearing this, Vic wasn't scared at all. Instead, he straightened his back, his face written with four big words: Righteous and Confident.
"Oh, buddy, that's where you're wrong. Logically, that makes absolutely no sense!"
He counted on his fingers, reasoning with Shendu:
"Look. First, I am a thief. This is my professional identity. Second, I chose to steal your stuff, which means I acknowledge the value of your collection. It's a roundabout compliment to your taste. Third, and most importantly—"
Vic paused, then announced loudly in a tone of "isn't this common sense":
"I already chose to steal it! Why would I give it back? Wouldn't that mean I stole it for nothing? That violates my professional ethics and life creed!"
Shendu's stone brain seemed to crash for half a second due to this powerful logic, the red light in his eyes freezing.
Immediately after, even more turbulent rage erupted: "FUCK! Even a thief dares to be so self-righteous!"
He completely lost his last shred of patience, his roar echoing through the entire floor: "Shadowkhan! Kill him! Retake the talismans!"
Just a second before the Shadowkhan were about to touch Vic—
BANG!
The heavy solid wood door of the office was pushed open violently.
Valmont, wearing a dark green suit and leaning on a cane, strode in spiritedly, followed by Ratso, Finn, Chow, Hak Foo, and his other subordinates.
His face wore the joy of a harvest as he held up a stone carved with a rat pattern high in his hand.
"Shendu! Look what we brought you this time? A lost little rat... hm?"
Valmont's words cut off abruptly. He froze at the door, looking confusedly at the scene inside the office—
A group of murderous Shadow Ninjas were surrounding a young man pushing a cleaning cart, whose face showed no fear and who even looked like he wanted to laugh.
The atmosphere suddenly became very subtle.
In the moment Valmont was dazed, Vic's gaze had already locked onto the swaying talisman with the rat pattern in Valmont's hand like the most precise searchlight.
"Yo, new product launch?"
Vic's eyes lit up, his mouth splitting into an undisguised, greedy grin upon seeing the treasure.
Without needing his command, Venom, connected to his mind, had already acted.
A pitch-black symbiotic tentacle shot out from Vic's shoulder like a viper leaving its hole, or an arrow leaving the string—silent but swift—precisely curling toward the Rat Talisman in Valmont's hand!
"Huh?" Valmont only felt his hand lighten. The talisman he had worked so hard to get had been flicked into the air by a flexible and powerful force!
It tumbled through the air, drawing a perfect parabola, and then... landed squarely in Vic's palm, which had been waiting for a long time.
"Aha!"
Vic caught the talisman, playing with this unexpected windfall between his fingers. His smile was bright enough to illuminate this office full of evil aura.
"Buy two get one free! Today really is a good day. Great promotion you guys are running!"
Acting as naturally as if he were in his own home, he walked a few steps to the still-bewildered Valmont. Very familiarly, he patted the shoulder of that expensive dark green suit, his tone full of appreciation and encouragement:
"Great job, buddy! High efficiency! I'll thank Shendu for you; he must be thrilled!"
Saying this, he extremely naturally and fluidly stuffed the newly acquired Rat Talisman into his bulging trouser pocket.
Then, he pushed the cleaning cart loaded with "loot" and, like an honest employee who had finished a hard day's work, leisurely started to walk out the door.
Valmont's brain CPU was almost fried by this series of erratic operations. He subconsciously replied: "Uh... you're welcome?"
He suspiciously eyed Vic's back, then looked at the enraged Shendu on the wall, muttering in his heart:
This arrogant and overly familiar guy... could he be a new member recruited by Shendu?
"VALMONT, YOU IDIOT!! YOU'RE WELCOME MY ASS!!"
Shendu's roar exploded like thunder. The entire stone carving trembled violently, as if it would crack in the next second.
"OPEN YOUR DOG EYES AND LOOK CLEARLY! THIS GUY IS A THIEF! A ROBBER! FUCKING STOP HIM! GET THE TALISMANS BACK!!"
"What?!"
Valmont was startled awake, cold sweat pouring down instantly.
He quickly scanned the entire office. He hadn't looked before, but one look now and his soul almost flew away!
"Where is my golden Lucky Cat?! Where is my Ming Dynasty blue-and-white porcelain vase?! Where are the dozen stacks of cash I left on the bookshelf for the boys' bonuses?!"
Valmont's voice carried a sob and uncontrollable anger as he let out a heart-wrenching scream.
This felt worse than being stabbed a few times!
Just then, an untimely voice rang out, thick with grievance:
"Hey! Where's my chocolate milkshake?!!"
Ratso touched the back of his head, shouting with an honest face.
Everyone turned to look at Ratso in unison. Their eyes were complex, filled with silent questions like "At a time like this, you're worried about a milkshake?" and "How did this idiot get into our professional criminal organization?"
Ratso felt uncomfortable under their gaze, stiffening his neck to defend himself:
"What?! I lined up for a long time to buy that! Extra thick chocolate flavor, limited edition!"
"IDIOTS! IDIOTS! A BUNCH OF IDIOTS!"
Shendu felt his dragon life had never been so dark and hopeless.
"THE IMPORTANT THINGS AREN'T THOSE PIECES OF JUNK! IT'S MY TALISMANS! MY TALISMANS! AHHH! STOP HIM!!!"