"You must be the thief who has stolen the paintings!" The middle-aged man rushed toward the other thief, trying to get everything he had stolen.

However, the other party was clueless either. "What are you talking about?"

They swung their swords at the same time, their clash causing the walls to crack and the kitchen tools to be blown away. They could do almost nothing to stop it.

The others joined the battle after the commotion. On the back of their minds, they also couldn’t help but remember that if they fought too much here, Clovis would find them.

They couldn’t imagine what would happen if the Hacfield family were on their back, especially with the rumors that the Melesviet family had started regarding the Ghost being a part of the Hacfield family. 𝓯𝓻𝓮𝙚𝙬𝓮𝙗𝒏𝙤𝒗𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝒐𝓶

That was why they had to take this battle somewhere.

They kept exchanging blow after blow. Some people were also sent to search for the treasure, but the only thing they found was an empty vault.

The door had a mark that looked like it had been destroyed by a Tier 8 human. It shouldn’t be that easy to break into the vault, but it was clear that someone had got in.

Those who had reached the vault definitely believed that the paintings had been stolen.

The surrounding people would hear the clicking sounds and some rumbling sounds, signaling that the battle was going on. Obviously, the police and military immediately went to suppress any commotion, especially since they knew that the area that got attacked was the location of their assets.

Unfortunately, everything had happened quickly.

Hana arrived at the mansion one hour later.

"What is going on?" Hana asked, looking around.

"I am Police Chief Areon. There seems to be a fight breaking out around this area, and after checking the mansion, we’ve come to a conclusion that the mansion has been raided."

"Wait. Don’t tell me..." Hana gasped.

Chief Areon nodded with a grim expression. "Yes, Ma’am. The vault door was opened. There was a sign of the door being damaged, so they must have broken in. We didn’t know what was stolen, but some equipment was still there."

"Kh..." Hana gritted her teeth.

"Ma’am?" Chief Areon could see what was stolen from Hana’s expression alone. "Are the stolen items... the rumored paintings?"

Hana snorted. "Just do your job and find those thieves."

"..." Chief Areon really didn’t like the situation. It was really hard when an influential person was in a mess like this. A single phone call could cause the entire team trouble.

Hana took out her phone. "Hey. I need you to suppress the media right now. We can’t let this matter spread."

Then, Hana called another person. "I need you to create a new team. We need them to be on the road in one hour."

Chief Areon could only smile and just walk away, doing his job. The situation had gone a bit too big for him to handle.

Little did he know, his action had been observed from afar.

"How is the situation?" A man in his late thirties asked.

"Hana Skylark is panicking. It looks like she’s calling several people right away. I don’t think it’s a trap. The paintings must have been stolen, so we need to find the thieves."

"..." The man frowned. "Whoever did this must have been fast and pretty strong. We really need to tell the captain about it."

It was happening the next day. It might be due to Hana calling every connection she had that the matter reached the president’s ears.

"What?" The president widened his eyes.

"How many paintings are gone?" The president panicked. These paintings might belong to Clovis, but they could be assets to the country. If Clovis had just agreed to show them to the military for training purposes, it would have benefited many people.

He couldn’t afford to have those paintings gone.

There was a chance the country would benefit much more if it could track down the culprit.

So, the president ordered, "Tighten our security right now, especially around the borders. We can’t let them escape with the paintings. And there are high chances that they are leaving through the underworld, so make sure to consider that option as well.

"I need a new task force to track down the thieves."

"But, sir. This will be a huge blow to the Libation Fiesta’s reputation."

"Then do it secretly. Don’t blow it up. Warn relevant parties. I may not do something bad to them, but don’t forget that behind Clovis is the Hacfield family and the rumored Ghost. I can probably do something with the Hacfield family, but the Ghost can destroy their company easily."

"Understood."

"How many paintings are lost?"

"According to Maya’s testimony, seven paintings have been stolen."

The number was not too high, but not too low either, making it more believable.

The stolen paintings had become a massive confusion, not only to the country but also to the thieves.

Even among the thieves, they suspected each other.

In one group, the middle-aged man said, "The country has tightened its security. They must be trying to find the thieves."

"But who are they? Who can even do something like this?"

"I don’t know. However, there was no big time window for the thieves to break in, so whoever did it must have moved with precision."

"Do you mean there was a mole?"

"Most likely. It shouldn’t be the Libation Fiesta. Most likely, people from Hana Skylark. She was one of the few people who had been granted access to the mansion. Just by observing Hana Skylark’s movements, the thief should have figured out the time the Libation Fiesta left the mansion."

"It looks like there is a major movement from the OpenSky Company. It looks like you are correct, boss."

The middle-aged man nodded. "In that case, we need to find the thieves. Also, figure out how many paintings were stolen."

"Understood."

All the thieves who sneaked into the country were suspecting each other, trying to figure out which group actually stole the paintings.

Unbeknownst to them, Clovis’ agent, Rena, finally met the president privately.