Chapter 649: Stealing the Painting

Red Dust Base.

Hum—

The relief gate trembled slightly, and under the influence of "Guernica" and the abstract key, a gap had opened.

At this moment, inside the frame where the Second Hall was located, a giant hand made of trapezoidal pieces was gripping "Guernica" tightly, its triangular eyes filled with surprise and anger.

" 'Guernica' has failed... How is this possible? What did you do?!"

The Second Hall never expected that "Guernica" would be empty—completely empty, as if it had been ransacked by bandits... One had to know that even with Plum Blossom 8 trapped inside for so long, he hadn't been able to harm a single character. And Chen Ling was only Third-Order; how could he have achieved this?

Moreover, Chen Ling had seized a portion of the relief gate’s authority, so the Second Hall naturally couldn't let him go. Just as it was about to take action, a sudden flash of white light passed before its eyes.

The next moment, "Guernica" had vanished without a trace.

The Second Hall was stunned, and that massive abstract face turned sharply toward the rear, only to see a figure standing upside down on the hollowed-out dome of the corridor!

Pure silver snake-shaped earrings swayed gently. A figure wearing a white duck-billed cap was playing with a rolled-up scroll, with a large bump on the back of his head.

"Did I make it in time..."

Bai Ye breathed a slight sigh of relief.

"The Dao of the God of Thieves?" The Second Hall’s eyes narrowed. "It’s the Fire Tamperers... No, it’s the Twilight Society?"

"You guessed right." Bai Ye lifted the brim of his duck-billed cap with his fingertip and smiled slightly. "Unfortunately, there’s no prize."

As the words fell, his figure turned into an afterimage, speeding along the semi-hollowed dome toward the distance. However, even though Bai Ye’s speed was fast enough, the Second Hall still snorted coldly, and a domain expanded rapidly!

Just as Bai Ye, holding "Guernica," was about to escape the corridor, the dome beneath his feet suddenly twisted. The originally gorgeous and aesthetic dome was as if someone had wiped away its colors, crushed its shape, and pulled its lines... In the blink of an eye, it turned into a simple, abstract square.

In the center of the square was an absolute blank void, as if connected to a bottomless abyss.

It wasn't just the dome; all matter covered by the Second Hall’s domain transformed into abstract geometric shapes. A sense of crisis flooded Bai Ye’s heart, and he jumped off the square dome without hesitation, his figure briefly suspended in mid-air.

The next moment, all the geometric shapes transformed from two-dimensional to three-dimensional. Countless massive pillars, like the sharp teeth of a giant beast, crushed the space where Bai Ye was into fragments!

Boom—!!

Before the relief gate, the Second Hall’s voice came low:

"Daring to break into the Red Dust Base all by yourself... Should I call you brave, or stupid?"

In the shattered space, a figure jumped lightly out of the geometric shapes. He pinched the brim of his duck-billed cap, and the next moment, the cap actually turned into a tall magician’s top hat.

"Who said... I came alone?"

Bai Ye tossed the black magician’s hat high into the air, where it spun, mysterious and profound.

A chill flashed in the Second Hall’s eyes. It snorted coldly, and a circle floating by instantly pulled away into a black line, shooting out like a bullet and piercing through the black magician’s hat!

However, the moment the line broke through the magician’s hat, the latter transformed into a sky full of white doves, flying in all directions.

Just as the Second Hall’s attention was drawn by these white doves, Bai Ye’s figure seemed hidden by light and shadow, seizing the opportunity to continue fleeing outside the corridor, with no intention of engaging the Second Hall head-on.

Although Bai Ye was Seventh-Order, he had almost no chance of winning against an Eighth-Order... This one-order gap was like a chasm that couldn't be easily bridged. Moreover, Bai Ye’s [Dao of the God of Thieves] was not specialized in combat. Since the painting containing Chen Ling was already in hand, there was no need for him to stay.

However, the Second Hall could not possibly let him leave just like that.

"Playing tricks on me?" The Second Hall realized it had been fooled by the hat trick, and its anger grew even more intense. A pair of abstract arms reached out from the frame.

"Do you think you can escape from under my nose??"

The moment the words fell, the geometric shapes surrounding Bai Ye simultaneously extended dozens of abstract arms, sealing off his path from all directions.

At the same time, a section of Bai Ye’s sleeve suddenly twisted, turning into three abstract concentric circles that bypassed his wrist and bound themselves to "Guernica," forcibly dragging and separating it from Bai Ye’s hand!

Bai Ye was startled and immediately reached out, attempting to "steal" the scroll back, but the latter was directly rolled into a nearby cube, flew out from another cube across the air, and crossed hundreds of meters in an instant, returning to the front of the Second Hall.

The Second Hall reclaimed "Guernica," its expression visibly relaxing slightly. A pair of abstract palms grabbed the scroll and slowly unfolded it, seemingly to confirm whether Chen Ling and Plum Blossom 8 were still inside...

Immediately after, it froze in place.

In those triangular eyes, there was undisguised astonishment... The scroll in its hands was completely blank, empty.

This was not "Guernica" at all!

"A wonderful performance."

A voice came from the other side.

Beside Bai Ye, the tall Plum Blossom J was wearing a black magician’s robe, one hand slowly placing the top hat back on his head. He snapped his fingers gently, and eighteen identical "Guernica" paintings floated beside him.

"...Unfortunately, your luck doesn't seem very good. Would you like to try again?"

"You have eighteen more chances, or..."

"It could be eighteen thousand times."

Plum Blossom J clapped his hands, and the eighteen "Guernica" paintings surrounding him frantically replicated and spread, turning into eighteen thousand identical scrolls in the blink of an eye, filling every corner like grains of sand in the desert, vast and endless.

And among them, there was only one real "Guernica"... or perhaps none at all.

Seeing this, the anger in the Second Hall’s eyes almost solidified. All the abstract shapes filling the domain twisted, and it spoke grimly:

"...Do you really think I have no way to deal with you?"

"This is the Red Dust Base, my home turf... As long as I seal this place, you won't be able to escape no matter how great your abilities are! As long as I kill you, 'Guernica' will naturally fall into my hands."

Facing the Second Hall’s threat, Bai Ye didn't seem too surprised. He put his hands in his pockets and smiled:

"You’re right, this is the Red Dust Base... But the Red Dust Base isn't just you, is it?"

"What do you mean?" The Second Hall’s triangular eyes narrowed.

"Besides you, the Hall Master, the Red Dust Base has a large number of ordinary Floating Life Painting members, as well as newcomers who haven't been trained yet... And our Twilight Society didn't just send the two of us."

Bai Ye pointed outside the domain.

"Guess what they are doing right now?"