742 Go Big or Go Home! (2/2)
The Thousand Spirit Sect robbery could've been considered an isolated incident. But now the Water Refinement Sect had been targeted as well. This wasn't something that could be easily explained away as an inside job. A serial robber appeared to be on the loose!
Any criminal tagged with the word ”serial” was going to create an uproar. Many sects on the main Divine Eye planet went on high alert instantly. They felt threatened, and they poured everything they had into protecting their own battleships.
While numerous sects were panicking, the disciples of the Thousand Spirit Sect were laughing at them. Gongsun Hou laughed the loudest. He hadn't revealed details of the robbery that had targeted their battleship in order to preserve whatever reputation remained of their sect. He had run through the entire robbery in detail and even tried replicating it. He had been left with the realization that he was dealing with an extremely difficult opponent, and he hadn't been willing to share that information. Besides, he had been looking forward to… seeing other sects suffer as well!
”Weren't they all talking about how the Thousand Spirit Sect was supposed to be a galactic pirate but ended up being pirated by someone else? The Water Refinement Sect seemed especially cheerful mocking us. Who's the idiot now?”
The Thousand Spirit Sect continued to mock the other sect's misery with great glee. The Water Refinement Sect's investigation went on for two weeks, but no clues surfaced, even when they put up significant rewards. It was then that the third robbery happened and shocked the sects!
This time, the target wasn't a sect from the fifth mountain ring, it was multiple sects from the sixth, seventh, and eighth mountain rings!
Within a single night, within the span of two hours, seventeen battleships that belonged to sects on the sixth to eighth mountain rings were robbed. The robber's target wasn't the resources the battleships carried but the components of the battleships themselves!
An uproar overtook the entire main Divine Eye planet. The Grand Supreme Elder of the Water Refinement Sect was shocked by the scale of the robberies that had been committed. After some deliberation, she approached her longtime rival, Gongsun Hou. No one knew what they discussed, but the day after their private discussion, the two sects made a joint declaration calling for all sects from the fifth to the eighth mountain rings to join them in a joint investigation. They swore to find the wretched culprit behind the series of shameless and brutal robberies!
The large-scale investigation took the fifth to eighth mountain rings by storm. There was no end in sight. Despite the ruckus that had resulted from everything, the three main sects, which were stationed on the second to fourth mountain rings, didn't seem to care. The difference in power between the three main sects and the remaining sects was too great. To the former, it was like watching a group of children crying over broken toys.
The massive search didn't yield the results that the sects desired. During this period, battleships belonging to sects on the sixth to eighth mountain rings continued to be raided. The robber's activities had worsened. There was now a casualty count and people dead. Battleships were no longer simply missing parts, entire battleships were stolen!
That led to a greater uproar. Voices demanding for the culprit to be found and for his death began to resound in every sect. Upon hearing what had been going on, Wang Baole himself was enraged as well.
Damned scoundrel! Who's trying to use me as a scapegoat for their malicious deeds? Wang Baole was displeased. The last robbery he had committed was the string of seventeen battleships. Everything that happened after that hadn't been him at all. It was obvious… that no one man could've stolen entire battleships. Only a sect was capable of doing that.
Others might have guessed the same, but Wang Baole was certain that some sect was exploiting the current situation and trying to fish for profit while the situation remained murky.
He didn't care to find out which sect—or sects—was responsible. As an icy glint flashed across his eyes, a plan formed in his head.
So, someone's gutsy enough to try and make me a scapegoat. Are they gutsy enough to bear the consequences? Wang Baole narrowed his eyes, hiding the frosty look within. He charged out of his chamber then and, with the aid of his essence technique, raced towards the heavens without detection. The next robbery he was going to commit was going to be a big one. He only lacked that final batch of resources. He'd stop after this robbery.
Besides, he wanted shit to hit the fan. He wanted the upper sects to take notice and get involved.
Wang Baole had the skills to accomplish what he set out to do, and he had the guts to do it as well. He had his essence technique, which would keep him hidden, so he wasn't afraid of any investigations. The sects that were trying to use him as a scapegoat, however… were different. Once it was discovered that they had been involved in the robberies, the rage of the upper sects and every sect that had been robbed would fall upon them like a heavy fist. They could swear that they had only done it that one time, but no one would choose to believe them.
After all… finding out who had committed the robberies might appear to matter, but in reality, it didn't actually matter all that much. There was only one thing that mattered in this world that put profits above everything else and based the development and growth of the civilization on invading and robbing other civilizations, and that was finding someone who could compensate their losses many times more than their actual losses. That would be enough.
When the time came, even if someone did see through his ploy, they would choose to remain silent as well.
”We'll see who becomes the final scapegoat.” Wang Baole sneered before he transformed into a cloud of smoke and sped away.