Chapter 23: Speedrun

Even in this balanced state, the sight was still more than Chu Zhu could bear to look at.

In the end, unable to stand it any longer, he chose to leave the union and remain merely as an observer and supervisor—which is the key reason why he spends his days wandering around, appearing to have no real work to do.

After half an hour of aimless movement, Chu Zhu finally entered the industrial district. He pondered for a moment, then tapped his foot lightly, his body darting forward like a gust of wind toward the bank.

…

Inside the bank.

"Miss Lu Muxue! If I were you, I would turn around and walk away right now without a second thought."

"?" Lu Muxue, who had just stepped into the bank, paused. She frowned and looked over, only to see someone sitting on the sofa with their legs crossed, exuding a carefree and uninhibited air... Was it a child? A teenager? A young man?

Lu Muxue blinked. The speaker looked very young, but there was a temperament about him that made it easy to overlook his youthful face.

"And why is that?" Lu Muxue grew interested. Realizing she still had some time before her appointment, she walked over and sat directly opposite Chu Zhu.

"Why ask so many questions? If you believe me, go; if you don't, stay. But you won't be seeing your mother show up today." Chu Zhu shrugged, then lowered his eyes, showing no particular desire to convince her.

She wasn't anyone important to him. If it was convenient, he didn't mind lending a hand, but he wasn't going to beg for her trust or try to persuade her—he didn't owe her anything. Believe it or not, it was up to her.

"What kind of attitude is that?" Lu Muxue's mood soured instantly. What kind of thing was that to say? It sounded as if he were cursing her mother to meet with some disaster.

If he hadn't looked so young, she would have already called the bank security to handle the matter. After all, as a premium client, she held a little bit of authority here.

However, Chu Zhu simply closed his eyes, ignoring her completely.

With a huff, Lu Muxue felt a sense of frustration, as if she had punched a pillow. Finally, she indignantly pulled her phone from her pocket and looked down, fiddling with it.

A moment later, she checked an incoming call, glanced sideways at the eyes-closed Chu Zhu, and intentionally put it on speaker. "Mom, I'm at the Industrial Development Bank. Where are you?"

"I ran into a friend today. There's no rush on your end; handle it however you see fit. If you can't get it done, just come home, and we'll go back to withdraw the money another time. That's all, bye!"

Lu Muxue: "!!!"

Lu Muxue was stunned, then put the phone down, feeling a mix of indignation and bewilderment. "Who is this person... huh?!"

Lu Muxue realized it only in hindsight, a cold sweat breaking out across her back. She stared at Chu Zhu in disbelief. *No, how could you know...*

Chu Zhu suddenly opened his eyes and leaped up. He stepped onto the glass coffee table and vaulted over it, landing directly in the middle of the lobby.

"What is he doing?"

"Is he showing off? Or performing acrobatics?"

"Sir, you are disturbing the order of the bank..."

Before those around could fully react, Chu Zhu reached out and caught a black bomb thrown from the door. With a 360-degree spin, he hurled it back in the direction it came from.

The next instant...

"BOOM..."

The steam-powered car to the left outside the bank entrance was overturned by the terrifying shockwave of the explosion. Smoke filled the air.

Even the bank's exterior windows developed dense cracks from the tremors.

The bank fell into deathly silence.

"It seems I can now perform like a movie hero without any special effects," Chu Zhu sighed with emotion. He then estimated the position—it was perfect. He had thrown the bomb in a way that would cripple the majority of the opposition's combat strength without actually killing them.

Lu Muxue: "..."

*It... it came true again?* Her expression was blank as she recalled the first thing Chu Zhu had said: *You should have left.*

"Miss Lu! Miss Lu? Miss! Lu! Mu! Xue!"

"...Huh? Oh? You!" Lu Muxue snapped out of it, shivering as she looked at Chu Zhu standing beside her. Her face changed colors rapidly; her lips moved, but she couldn't utter a word.

"Borrowing this!" Chu Zhu snatched the phone from Lu Muxue's hand and expertly dialed a number.

After a few moments of ringing, the call connected. The voice on the other end sounded somewhat wary...

"...Who is this?"

"Uncle Li, it's me!" Chu Zhu said leisurely. "Industrial District, Industrial Development Bank. There's a robbery. A little extra detail: this group is going after one of the black-coded boxes from the Industrial Development Bank's secure storage vault!"

Without waiting for Li Kang to ask more, Chu Zhu hung up the phone and tossed it back to Lu Muxue.

...

"Cough, cough! Big C, what the hell are you doing?" The overturned steam car's door was kicked open. A man wearing a tiger-head mask struggled to grab the edge of the car, trying to climb out. He cursed furiously, "Didn't you say you were a master thrower? How the hell did you throw that bomb..."

The tiger-masked man's voice cut off abruptly. He stared in astonishment at the man standing before him.

Chu Zhu was currently crouching on the overturned car, nonchalantly extending a hand. "Do you need me to pull you up?"

The tiger-masked man silently grabbed Chu Zhu's hand. Chu Zhu hauled him out and tossed him aside with a backhand motion.

The tiger-masked man was a tough guy; he landed head-first on the ground without making a sound, blood streaming down his face.

Chu Zhu picked up a pistol he had swiped from the man, toyed with it for a moment, and then looked down with a smile at the bear-masked man who was pointing a gun at him, his own mask having shifted to reveal half his face.

"Alright! If you were holding that rifle behind you and pointing it at me, I might be a little worried. But now... Big C, I remember you have a habit. Because you played with guns since you were a kid and once had an accidental discharge that hurt your sister, the pistol you carry never has a bullet in the chamber... right?"

The bear-masked man's movements froze instantly.

"Sigh, and you there, Zhang Kun. At a time like this, why are you still twitching?" Chu Zhu scolded helplessly. With a flick of his wrist, he fired a shot. The dog-masked man, who had been silently pulling out his own weapon, had his gun knocked away in a shower of sparks.

The dog-masked man grunted, then stared at his own hand in disbelief, gazing at Chu Zhu with shock. *How is it possible?* The steam car was filled with dust and haze; how had the boy sensed his movement, and how could he have struck the gun with such precision?

His hand throbbed with intense pain, but it wasn't from a bullet; it was a dislocated wrist caused by the gun being ripped from his grip.

"What do you want!" After a brief silence, the dog-masked man glanced at his unconscious accomplices and took a deep breath, forcing himself to stay calm. "Are you a cop? Or a bank guard... How did you know we were going to..."