The bright moon was shining high in the sky. At 2:30 in the morning, Barnaby opened the car door and got out.
Barnaby's steps were light. He sneaked into the gate like an alert civet cat.
He took out the master key he had prepared. Then he clamped the card between his two fingers and swiped it.
BEEP!
The access control made a noise and then the door opened. Barnaby flashed into the building.
Elliott peeked out of the car window. He saw Barnaby flashing into the building and said with his eyes squinted, "Nice move, but we should keep an eye on him. Should he make any mistake, the failure of the whole mission would be on us."
"Whatever you say, sir. We'll be at your service."
"Group one and Group two, guard the front and back of the building. Group four, stay in the car. Group three, get into the building with me. Should Barnaby fail, we'll break into the house."
"Yes, sir!"
The four groups started to act according to Elliott's orders.
Elliott walked into the building with four other people from team three.
Just by then, Barnaby had opened the door of Maximilian's apartment with the master key. He pushed the door open without making a sound.
The door cracked a gab through which Barnaby could get in. He turned sideways and entered the apartment. Then he closed the door.
He closed his eyes for three seconds and then opened them, adjusting them to the darkness in the room.
The room was very dark because the curtain forbade the light from coming in. It was pitch dark.
Barnaby took out a flashlight and turned it on, and then he illuminated the corridor. His eyes were fixed on the innermost door.
Just as he was tiptoeing inward, he suddenly felt something odd under his feet.
It felt so squishy. Barnaby had a bad hunch about this.
He lowered his head and focused his flashlight on his shoe, only to see a layer of transparent mucus.
He lifted his right foot gently and saw it pulling up lots of strings. It was something colloidal. The shoes will be stuck as soon as anyone stepped in it.
If he stayed still there for a while, his shoes would be stuck to the floor by this glue.
"Damn it!" Barnaby swore in a low voice. He took off his shoes in a panic and backed up with only socks on.
He knew he had been ambushed. He realized someone had leaked their plan.
A normal family would never have the glue prepared unless they knew there would be a intruding. They smeared it on the floor as a defense.
Barnaby looked around hastily and feel a murderous aura in the living room. He raised the flashlight and checked. There was nobody in this room, or an ambush.
Barnaby wondered if he had been overcautious. He was so confused, but soon he made a decision that he could never be cautious enough.
He had been doing this for decades, and believed in his intuition. He had never made any mistakes on this.
"Who sent you here? Are you here to steal the Jade Dragon?" Maximilian asked. This was going just as what he had expected.
Barnaby nodded in fear, "Yes, yes. Harley sent me here. He wanted me to steal the Jade Dragon. It seemed you've already known it! You must be a great immortal!"
"Yes, your plan is all in my calculation, so I'm here today to give you an opportunity." Maximilian said and flashed away.
Barnaby watched Maximilian moving in surprise. The man floated to the innermost door like a ghost. Then he disappeared there, but the door was still closed.
"Oh my god, he's really an immortal."
Barnaby exclaimed because he thought Maximilian had used some magic power to pass through the wall and entered the room.
He was panicked, and couldn't stop bowing to the spot where Maximilian disappeared. He kept mumbling, asking Maximilian for his forgiveness.
"Please forgive me! I've made the wrong choice only because I was forced into this! I worked for Harley for a living, so I have to do this for him! You have to forgive me!"
While he was mattering, Maximilian floated back to Barnaby again.
Barnaby confessed more sincerely as he saw Maximilian showed up all of a sudden.
"Please forgive me for offending you! Please spare my life! I'll leave and never come back. I won't go back to Harley, either! Please, just let me go!"
The corner of Maximilian's mouth twitched slightly. He didn't expect that his plan could work so well. He had scared the hell out of Barnaby.
"I will let you go, but you'll have to go back to Harley because I need you to take the Jade Dragon to him. I need him to do something for me." Maximilian said coldly.
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