Chapter 1280: Hakain Taken Away
This time, the grand prize still used the body labeled 'the grand prize.' It was really quite insightful.
There could only be one villa owner for each villa. If, theoretically speaking, 'Ji Shanqing' was not considered an item, then one of them would have to continue being a drifter. Lin Sanjiu looked around the courtyard and suggested to the grand prize, "I'll go inside the house and find the safe, and you go to the entrance to check the nameplate?"
"No," the grand prize immediately vetoed. "I'll follow you, Sis."
"What about the two of them..."
Hakain's face was now exposed from the center of the floor as if the floor had swelled and a face had grown on the bulge. The short-haired woman sat in the cage, staring blankly at the pool.
"Take the cage inside, and this one inside the floor can't run away anyway." The grand prize was indeed unwilling to separate. Before they entered the villa together, he didn't forget to instruct Hakain, "Remove your ability."
"Okay, okay..." Hakain closed his eyes tightly and, after a while, said, "It's removed."
Lin Sanjiu was about to walk away when the grand prize grabbed her. He looked up at the villa and its partially open door.
"I said, remove your ability."
Hakain's facial muscles froze for several seconds. "You—I already—"
Ji Shanqing said nothing, just tilting his head at him.
Hakain's eye muscles twitched a few times. Finally, gritting his teeth, he spoke through the gaps, "I... I've removed it."
"Kevin in charge. Playback has been interrupted." A female voice came from inside the villa. "Data recording canceled."
It was a good thing he kept his guard up. Lin Sanjiu patted the grand prize's head, picked up the cage, and walked into the villa with him. The dumbbells hanging from the railing on the second floor had disappeared, and the kitchen, which was originally full of broken glass, had all disappeared without a trace. Everything had returned to its original state.
According to Hakain, there was a property ownership certificate in the study safe on the second floor. As long as they changed everyone's names to their own, the nameplate at the villa's entrance would naturally change as well. He didn't want to hand over the villa so easily, so the truthfulness of his words was yet to be determined. Thus, when Lin Sanjiu found the safe key in the small box on the study desk, she was slightly surprised.
"This guy didn't lie," she said and inserted the key into the lock, opening the safe. "Was he afraid that we would harm him if we left?"
Ji Shanqing didn't say anything, just stretched his neck behind the safe door to take a look. The safe was empty except for a thin white file bag near the bottom. Lin Sanjiu used the [Defense Forcefield] to protect her hand as she pulled out the papers from the file bag.
"Villa Ownership Certificate F05... Huh?"
She had originally thought the papers were individual pages, but when she opened the bag, she realized it was a long strip of paper folded many times. There were more than ten folds, each filled with dense text. When she finally unfolded it completely, it reached all the way to the ground. After searching for a while, they found the place where the names had to be changed, which was at the very end of the document.
After crossing out Hakain's name, the row of letters disappeared from the paper. Lin Sanjiu looked at it and was about to write but stopped. Then, she and Ji Shanqing looked at each other and said in unison, "I feel..."
"Hmm?" the grand prize's eyes sparkled as he looked at her, "Do you also feel that something's not right, sis?"
When she used to work in the company, she dealt with various types of documents and naturally developed an intuition. Lin Sanjiu hesitated for a moment and asked, "Why is it so long?"
The document should only certify the ownership; what else needed to be written that made it so long?
"Moreover, shouldn't the property owner's information be written at the beginning?" The grand prize picked up the first page and read, "This holiday villa was built in 2032 and covers an area of 30 hectares... Hm, is it all just an introduction?"
The following several pages of the paper included detailed introductions and explanations about various matters. They started reading from both sides towards the center, and not long after, Lin Sanjiu suddenly exclaimed, "This is a contract!"
Still unsurprised, the grand prize asked, "Where did you find something wrong, sis?"
"In this part here, 'Both parties will jointly perform maintenance and upkeep work on the villa.' Where did the 'both parties' come from in the property ownership certificate?" She quickly checked. "Strange, besides this, there is no other use of the term 'both parties.' Saying this is a house purchase contract doesn't make sense either, because they haven't even defined who Party A and Party B are. Let me try to convert it into a card."
If it was a product of the pocket dimension, it would mean it was a part of the pocket dimension, so she couldn't convert it into a card. However, after her hand passed over the document, the stack of papers that were originally on the ground suddenly disappeared, leaving only a pale blue, thick paper in the center. She now had an additional card in her hand.
"This is the real property ownership certificate," the grand prize said, picking up the diploma-like paper and handing it to her to see. "Look, the name is still Hakain's."
"Then what about the one in my hand..." Lin Sanjiu raised the card and carefully examined it.
[Hell Labor Contract]
This was a thirteen-page long contract. It could change its appearance according to the owner's wishes, disguise itself as other documents, and even the words and sentences could present completely different content under the owner's arrangement, all in an attempt to deceive people into signing the contract. Since this was a contract from the devil, there was no need to talk about ethics.
After signing, the signer is obligated to provide thirteen days of unpaid service to the owner of this item (for details of the service content, terms, and restrictions, please see the contract details). After the service period ends, the signer voluntarily follows the hell visitors back to the Hell Labor Talent Association and awaits the next job.
PS: Using force or other coercive means to force someone to sign is invalid. This contract will take effect smoothly only when the signatory is willing to sign.
Hakain was really cunning.
"I almost became a slave?" Lin Sanjiu almost crumpled the card in her hand, saying, " "It seems I was too lenient with him just now."
"Even if you signed, sis, it wouldn't have taken effect," Ji Shanqing said, gently patting her shoulder and comforting her. "I'm here."
After ensuring the genuine property ownership certificate contained no more tricks, she crossed out Hakain's name and replaced it with hers. The villa remained silent, and no changes were seen. They decided to check the courtyard's entrance.
Now that they had confirmed the villa's ownership, they passed by Hakain without giving him another glance. Ji Shanqing left most of his body inside the door, sticking his head out for a quick look, then happily shouted, "Sis, the last name has changed to Lin!"
"I have to thank you," Lin Sanjiu said, turned her head to Hakain, and snorted. "You gave me a Special Item for free."
"Actually." Ji Shanqing, who had just come back, happened to hear her words and immediately laughed, "He's quite generous. How can he give you only one?"
Hakain, who was sealed tightly in the floor, couldn't move. He got anxious after hearing this but could only struggle to turn his eyes and hoarsely say, "I'm not against you. That, that was just my backup plan..."
Lin Sanjiu couldn't be bothered to pay attention to him. She looked around, picked up the wet socks that the grand prize had taken off after being splashed by the pool water, and quickly stuffed them into Hakain's mouth. At the same time, the grand prize curled his toes, looking slightly uncomfortable. Then, she removed [The Power of Word Picture] and quickly dismantled Hakain's limb joints.
"Does it hurt?" She saw sweat forming on Hakain's forehead and smiled, saying, "Compared to your heartache, this is nothing."
If you want to talk about what [Planar World] is best for, it's undoubtedly for being a thief. Whether the Special Items are stored in props or integrated into ordinary objects, everything she touched turned into cards. In no time at all, Hakain, now skinny, was left with only a pair of white underwear.
At a glance, it was clear that Hakain was quite a successful posthuman. In addition to some good Special Items, he had many weapons, supplies, and even various seasonings for cooking. After binding him to a tree branch using one of his own restraining-type items and reassembling his joints, Hakain dangled from the tree outside the courtyard like a war criminal exhibited at the city gate.
By the time everything was almost done, the sky had turned dark, and the moon-like lights lit up the dense paths in the villa estate.
"Before the security comes, find a way to free yourself. This is your item, and you should know its nature best," Lin Sanjiu said, then turned and entered the yard.
Hakain dared not speak and struggled in silence. When she entered the house, she could still hear his heavy breathing and rustling outside the villa gate.
She and the grand prize sat together on the sofa in the living room, choosing a spot where they could see the courtyard outside with a glance. They talked absentmindedly, their gazes repeatedly scanning the rope dangling from the tree branch outside the wall. Each tremor of the rope represented Hakain's struggle. After an unknown period, the rope suddenly trembled violently and remained still.
Soon after, the rope was yanked down from the tree and disappeared outside the wall.
"Uh, it seems he really escaped." Ji Shanqing leaned against the back of the sofa, close to her, and murmured, "Sis, was it right to let him go?"
"If we talk about the trap I almost fell into because of him, I've already avenged him... There was a lifeline for me in his trap, so I also left him a lifeline." Lin Sanjiu replied casually, then looked at the clock and was slightly surprised. "It's already ten o'clock? We'll rest for another two hours and then go to the beach barbecue."
"Sis... sis..." the grand prize suddenly called, trembling.
"Hmm?" Lin Sanjiu turned her head toward the sound and was immediately stunned.
The streetlamp hardly illuminated the dark night outside the courtyard, and the shadows of trees stood still in the darkness, faintly tinged with a half-circle of light. From under the courtyard wall, a black shadow, almost as big as a train engine, slowly rose from the bottom to the top. It floated higher and larger until it blocked the streetlamp's light on a section of the road. The two of them on the sofa looked up and watched this huge creature turn its head silently, looking towards the villa.
Hakain's pale body floated and rotated within that large mass of shadows, apparently showing no signs of life.