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'Wasn't the City supposed to be safe?'

That was the question Liu Ye asked himself as he stared outside and saw ten NPCs holding Elemental Weapons. All of them had tattoos all over their arms and their faces were covered with black bandanas. When Liu Ye tried to inspect the robbers, all he saw were red question marks as their identities and level were hidden from him. 

"How about setting a return destination and back away with the car?" Liu Ye suggested in a whisper when the ground shook and their car lifted at least a meter in the air. 

"Don't try to play with us! We know all the tricks!" A buff man shouted angrily and stabbed his flaming scimitar in the crack in the door. The edge pierced right through and stopped only inches away from Liu Ye's head. 

That was the moment he knew they could either fight back or surrender. 

"Alright, we are coming out. Don't kill us please," Liu Ye called out calmly as he opened the door and walked out with his hands in the air. Marco wasn't any different and didn't panic in the slightest. 

Their calmness threw the robbers off as the buff man immediately aimed his weapon at their faces. 

"What are you hiding?! Why are you so calm?" 

Liu Ye shrugged unbothered, being in a similar situation countless times. "Why should I panic? You are not trying to kill us, right?" 

The whole team raised their eyebrows in surprise. They probably expected them to shiver in fear but they were unlucky to meet with Liu Ye and Marco. The latter spent months within Bandits as a spy so robberies were an everyday occurrence to him. 

"That's right, we are after your money and possessions," the buff man nodded while waving his scimitar in a threatening manner. "What are you waiting for? Give us your money now!" 

"Well, if you are not here to kill us then I guess you will leave empty-handed," Liu Ye replied while giving each of them a casual look. "We just arrived in this City and spent all of our money on the Permits. I even had to sell my items to afford it." 

While looking at them, Liu Ye searched for any alternative ways to escape but they were surrounded. He could only use the art of bullshitting to get them out of this dead end. 

"If you don't believe me then you can search me," Liu Ye muttered as he spread his arms to the side. "We don't want any trouble." 

So far Liu Ye didn't experience any special skills in this game so he trusted the system wouldn't fail him. With the way the game was constructed, it wouldn't put focus on any skills like stealing, lockpicking or even stealth. Everything focused on mastering the Elements and his Player inventory should hide his items securely. 

The buff man looked at him suspiciously and looked behind at the only woman in the group. She wore a tight leather uniform that underlined all her sexy curves. 

"Do it," she ordered coldly while staring deeply into Liu Ye's eyes. "If you try anything funny you are dead." 

She held a small rock in her palm and suddenly tightened her fist, crushing the stone into dust. Her demonstration of power was impressive but Liu Ye knew it was just a trick. Watching Marco's face, it wasn't hard to do for an Earthbender.

"Why would we try anything funny? Not only are we surrounded but I also started mastering my elements just yesterday," Liu Ye explained as he patted his Waterskin with a smile. "I learned a few basic Waterbending abilities so I was happy to visit the famous Emerald City. I wish to learn more and explore the world."

The thieves rolled their eyes but the woman approved, "It's good to be ambitious. This City is great for us benders but try to stay away from this area. My Black Panther Gang is in control of this part of the City so you will only get in trouble coming here." 

Her subordinates looked at her weirdly but she only shrugged at them, "What? Do you expect them to have any gold for the next few years? If they are broke now, they will stay broke trying to pay for the Academy fees. They are not our targets." 

"Fair enough," the buff man nodded and walked up to Liu Ye to pat him down. He tapped around his body and checked his pockets but thankfully didn't find anything. 

Black Panther squinted her eyes and questioned, "You said you paid for Permits, right? Where is your Permit?"

"Oh, my friend holds it for me. He is a guard from my village," Liu Ye replied casually while pointing at Marco. "He is mute and deaf so he won't hear you even if you talk to him. Our Permits are in the front pocket of his armor." 

Liu Ye turned to him and did some random finger signals as if trying to communicate to him. Marco was definitely confused but he simply nodded, playing along to his plan. They spent enough time together to know when something was up. 

The buff man didn't suspect anything and began searching Marco as well. It was then that Liu Ye finally moved, giving Marco an eye signal. He didn't hesitate and reached forward to hug the thief with all his strength to restrict him.

Liu Ye tapped on his forearm as he lunged at the thief and stabbed at the tattooed neck with the Ice Serpent that appeared in his palm out of nowhere. 

"Arghh!" 

-300

-300

The man cried out while trying to push them away but Marco wasn't weak either and held him tight as the ice slowly paralyzed his body. Large numbers of damage ticked every second, signaling the man was a whooping 30000 HP! Without his Ice Serpent, they wouldn't be able to scratch him. 

"Don't move or we will kill him!" Liu Ye threatened immediately, stopping the rescue before it even started. "I have frozen his heart! If you attack, I will crush it to pieces!" 

"You bastard…"