FB: Chapter 133 – Assault On HeroTen

They are holding.

I looked at the message from one of my fans in HeroTen and smiled. The Illuminati were everywhere. HeroTen’s leadership might have chosen to evacuate their vault, in that case an interception would have been risky. But now that I had confirmation from Tim that they were remaining in place, hoping to hold on until the Vigilance Paladins arrived, I could only smile.

Vaults were a huge investment by the super guilds. The materials, enchantments, and everything about them was super costly. Their entire purpose was to remove a point of failure by having a singular player carry all their valuable items they had collected over the years.

It wasn’t unreasonable to say that vaults were one of the key pillars that supported super guilds. In my past, there had been several attempts to rob a super guild’s vault, but none had ever succeeded. Well it was time to change that this time around.

Super guilds also used their vaults as bunkers for in game executives and high ranking players. Last time Quant Z was qualified for the vault, but I hadn’t reached that level in the corporate hierarchy Vaults were fairly easy to get into, but it was getting out that was the problem.

All the items were set up specialty glass containers that were super strong, but easy to open, it only took a minute. The entire idea being, that you had to keep your hands on the container to open it, while Champions rushed in to kill you. Insanely expensive, but the best way to protect an item.

One might think to use the NPC’s banks, but they could be robbed much more easily than super guild’s vaults, unless someone was willing to pay an insane price. Also, there would be transaction headaches. So, while hiding an item in an NPC bank or union might seem like a good idea, it didn’t scale well. It was QAI’s way of forcing super guilds to build their own vaults to save on costs. And since the super guilds were run by bureaucrats, they focused a lot on costs. That might change after I was done with the super guilds, but it was fine.

Getting up, I pulled a concealing cloak out of my inventory and put it on. I used a high grade monster deterrent on myself to avoid complications. I descended from the rooftop restaurant and made my way calmly through the streets as NPCs and players ran around screaming and fighting.

I joined my fans, many of whom were also wearing concealing cloaks as they kept coming through the portals and rushing HeroTen’s vault location. The building the vault was beneath had been completely leveled and there were countless rabid fans rushing in and being killed by HeroTen’s elite Champions defending the staircase downwards, set into some high rank stone.

Even with the elite Champions sharding several players every second, they were endless. Like a horde of zombies, they rushed forward and used Murk Barf for the memes and other joke skills. Since they were going to be killed, it didn’t matter if they dropped the skill shards.

The elite Champions were getting worn down, well not really with all the consumables they were using and their teamwork. If they lost the entrance to the vault it would be much worse than the couple thousand platinum they were currently burning.

“Any time,” I muttered. A minute passed and then two, before I finally let out a sigh of relief. Purple smoke began to rise out of the staircase that led to the vault. It wasn’t poison or anything that would kill. But it was an incredibly annoying itching gas, a gag item used for crowd control.

Just leave the purple gas and the effect would instantly go away. But if someone was determined they could rush through it without an issue. Like bugs crawling all over one’s skin. The executives and other players hiding in the vault, wouldn’t be able to manage. I activated a stolen emergency teleporter that only top executives of HeroTen were supposed to have.

It had cost me a billion dollars, plus another thirty percent of exchange fees. A lot of money for a regular person. It wasn’t trivial for me, but for my legacy it was worth it. It was a single use item, locked into HeroTen’s vault. I teleported into the vault and immediately felt uncomfortable from the itching gas.

HeroTen had showcased their vault to show how impressive it was and I also had inside information on the layout. I tossed out several more itching grenades and concealing smoke grenades, making it even harder to see.

There was screaming and shouting. I then activated five decoy dolls just before reaching the glass case containing the Orange Ooze. Several fake Foxys ran off into the other areas of the vault. While it was called a vault, it really should be called an underground treasure chamber with the size. It was a pain in the ass to remodel these things, so super guilds went big on the initial investment, planning for the long term.

I had actually done those sort of calculations. Figuring out loot space versus vault size and all that nonsense. Now I was going to take the something from a super guild. I paused just before the glass container containing the Orange Ooze.

I knew they would have dedicated protectors to wait for me. I could vaguely make out at least three in the swirling clouds of gas, ready to pounce on whomever touched the glass container. That meant there were at least five.

My target wasn’t the Orange Ooze, at least for now, I walked past it without hesitation. Everyone was expecting me to steal it, but there was no way I would be able to touch it. Instead I went to the back portion of the vault that was currently undefended. Everyone thought I would go for the Orange Ooze, that they had left the truly valuable items completely unguarded.

I placed my hands on the first glass container and a one minute countdown appeared in my vision. No alarms went off and I wasn’t attacked, as I took the Sword of Fire and put it in my inventory. Shield of Harmony, yoink. Oh, the Inverse Staff, Rippling Dragon Scale Armor, and Zodiac Fan. I yoinked them all. Six items worth a collective 400,000 platinum. It wasn’t about the price, but the pain in actually getting these unique items.

I activated several more decoy dolls and gas grenades that would release a gas that was highly flammable. Mixing in with the rest, no one would ever notice the extra gas or the one extra icon as a status effect. Well they might, but by then it would be too late. I then pulled out my last secret weapon for this attack. A large bomb. I set the timer to one minute exactly and began making my way around the vault closer to the Orange Ooze.

There was more organized shouting and I could tell that HeroTen had evacuated its executives out of the vault and were now preparing to sweep it. The itching was truly unbearable and quite distracting. I pulled out several consumables as I kept a mental count. Right at zero, I began activating them in rapid succession and closed my eyes.

The explosion was massive and shook the entire vault. Like the roar of a dragon soaring over a waterfall. The material was strong enough, that the blast went out the exit, clearing the gas and everyone inside. With the low visibility, they probably hadn’t expected an attack like this.

Opening my eyes once the brightness disappeared, I tossed out more itching and smoke grenades. The vault was intact of course. The materials used were really high grade to stop people from tunneling or blowing it open. Unfortunately for HeroTen its players were a lot squishier.

Reaching the glass container for the Orange Ooze, I put my hands on it as the timer started. There was shouting coming from the entrance, but that was fine. The container finally opened and I yoinked the item I wanted. I only had time to steal one thing once the explosion happened. HeroTen would be converging with all its forces into the vault.

Now it was time for the escape, the hardest part of this entire operation. Teleporting out was impossible with the materials and enchantments used. That meant I had to walk out somehow. I had no doubt they were double checking everyone after I had used the decoy dolls.

There was no way to tunnel and players with searching skills would go over this place several times. But what HeroTen wasn’t able to adjust for was that all the layers of security they would normally have outside their vault were now stripped away.

Their headquarters and reserve Champions, gone into the Bottomless Pit. The NPCs that would assist them, busy dealing with monsters swarming the city. Their outside defenses on their vault, gone from the assault of my rabid fans. They had all been stripped away one by one before I entered the vault, ensuring my escape before I had even entered.

The only tricky part was how much I could steal. Stealing seven items, six of which were highly valuable unique items would take me from regular legend, to new heights. I released more decoy dolls as I made my way towards the vault exit.

I activated a consumable, blowing away the gas in front of me past the vault entrance where a blockade had been set up. If they were smart they should have closed the vault door, but they needed to open it to evacuate the executives. I rushed forward as the players began shouting in Chinese.

Several skills came at me, but I leapt into a dive which transitioned in a handstand, springing over the heads of the surprised HeroTen players feet first. Landing at the base of the staircase leading upwards, I rushed past several surprised individuals, who didn’t realize what was happening. I cleared the staircase and rushed into the battle between the elite Champions and my rabid fans.

“Blink.”

I teleported away from the battlefield and kept running. There was no way to prove that it was me that had stolen from HeroTen, but everyone would know. Since the special amulet I was wearing blocked out the Eye of Vigilance, there would be no recording of my presence inside Hole City.

One of three key items acquired. Now to see if Patriot and I could work something out on the side. Six items for one would be quite the deal. They could say they didn’t want to fight me as the reason. I had a plan, but their counter measures were headache inducing. Better to avoid all of that if possible.