"Quiet." A middle-aged man waved his hand down, signaling his group to enter the mansion while maintaining their low positions.

He looked around, watching the situation.

"Boss. Don’t you think this place is too quiet?" Another man asked. "I couldn’t see any guards. Maybe this is a trap."

"No way. Shouldn’t we leave right now? If it’s a trap, we might die."

The middle-aged man narrowed his eyes, observing the mansion. After a while, he also thought the mission was too dangerous. If they fell into traps devised by the Hacfield family or the Libation Fiesta, they would definitely die.

There was no way Clovis Hacfield would be prosecuted, not by this country. Besides, it would be seen as Clovis protecting his own home.

But before he could order a retreat, another of his subordinates found something. "Wait, boss. Take a look at this."

"Hmm?" The middle-aged man frowned and came to his subordinate, who seemed to be sniffing his finger.

The man pointed down, showing a small drop on the floor. Because it was night, they couldn’t really see the color.

However, the pungent smell was definitely something they were familiar with.

"This is..." The middle-aged man sniffed carefully and recognized what it was. "Blood?"

The team was surprised. What would happen if blood were found in this mansion?

"Boss. Does the Libation Fiesta or Clovis Hacfield have the tendency of killing people?"

The middle-aged man remained silent for a few seconds. "From what I know, Clovis Hacfield may show no hesitation to kill someone, but he is not the type of person who blindly kills people. If not, the number of people who have died at his hands will be much higher.

"However, no matter how hard you are trying to investigate, the number of people he has killed isn’t that high. Most of the time, it will be just his enemies on faraway battlefields, not at his home."

"Then this blood..."

They fell silent as if they recognized where it came from but refused to say it.

"This is not good." The middle-aged man panicked. "We have to go now. Looking at this situation, I am afraid that there is already another group entering the mansion. Andrew, Cain. You two will check the surroundings. If you see another trace of blood like this, inform me.

"Sarah, David, you two will enter the mansion with me. Jack, Arley, you two are to secure our escape route. Understood?"

"Yes, boss."

They immediately split their group into three. The middle-aged man led his group into the mansion directly while maintaining their thin presence. There was a chance it was a trap, so they approached the mansion carefully but stopped outside.

"Boss. I have found another trace of blood. This time, it’s more apparent. Looking at this trace, it should be a slit on the throat. We haven’t found any bodies though."

The middle-aged man’s expression turned solemn. His prediction turned out to be correct. There was indeed another group that had infiltrated this area. They must have overwhelmed the guards and removed them.

"Shit..." The middle-aged man made a hand gesture, asking David to open the window for them.

After that, they entered the mansion.

"Search for the vault. We don’t know its location, but we should be able to find it with no one around."

"Understood."

They split up further, searching for normal areas for a vault such as a basement, the office, or the storage area.

Sarah, who was trying to pass the main living room to get to the second floor, suddenly noticed something.

"Boss." Sarah could see the furniture in the living room had been moved. They had an angle in a weird way, making it difficult for her to believe the people from the Libation Fiesta would be comfortable gathering here. "They seem to have searched the living room as well."

"Understood. Proceed with caution."

Sarah took a deep breath before continuing to the second floor.

As soon as she reached the office, as one would expect, the office looked messy. Papers were lying everywhere. Half of the books on the shelves had been tossed to the ground.

"The office seems to have been searched as well." Sarah looked around. The thief didn’t seem to have found what he was looking for. So, she searched the office personally to see whether she could find anything special.

It was at this moment that she heard a disturbing report.

"Enemy spotted. Kitchen, now!"

Without hesitation, Sarah and David rushed to the kitchen as they could feel the clash between two Tier 8 humans.

After reaching the big kitchen, Sarah couldn’t help but widen her eyes. Her boss had been clashing with a man covered in black.

"I will be supporting you!" Sarah raised her sword. If they made a mess too big, like cutting this mansion in half, they might end up leaving enough trace for Clovis to find them.

So, it was better to hold back, at least not destroy the mansion completely.

Whether it was fortunate or unfortunate, David’s voice echoed before she could join the battle.

"Ehm, guys. We have a situation here. I have found the vault, it’s in the basement. It’s just..." David paused, unsure how to break the news.

He opened the vault door and looked inside.

There were a few things that could be valuable, such as gold bars or even a few pieces of equipment.

However, he couldn’t see a single painting. There were also signs of paintings having been hung on the walls but they had been removed. The positions of the equipment were unnatural. Some were lying in the center of the vault, lying upside down.

David couldn’t help but conclude a single possibility.

"Someone had gotten the paintings."

"!!!" The middle-aged man widened his eyes. The first suspect would be the thief in front of him.

If the group that was infiltrating the mansion at the same time as his group wasn’t the suspect, that meant there would be another group.

However, the fact that the paintings had been stolen was a big deal. "Fu—"