— Meanwhile - Morning- Hong Kong —
After a full day of excitement and discovery at Ocean Park yesterday, the mischievous Sylvana had thoroughly enjoyed herself, participating in various activities and marveling at the sea life in the aquarium. Exhausted, she nestled between her father, Daniel, and her mother, Koyuki, in bed, a peaceful and contented smile lingering on her face as she sleep-talked about her Papa, Mama, and even Mama Greed from time to time.
Although their time together might be short, Sylvana's innocent mind already regarded Greed as one of her Mamas, and she even saw her sister Michaela, as a potential Mama as well.
Now, it was 6 AM in the morning, and the energetic Sylvana had already risen and prepared herself to play with her father and her various Mamas. However, it appeared that her father, who enjoyed extending his sleep when he didn't have to work, was still slumbering. With permission from her Mama, Sylvana decided to wake her father up.
"Papa, wakey wakey! It's morning!" Sylvana, the little troublemaker, jumped up and down on the bed where Daniel was sleeping.
"Ugh... hmm?" Daniel picked up his phone and checked the time. "It's still 6 AM. Let me sleep a bit longer," he groggily murmured, pulling the blanket over his head.
"Papaaa, wake up!" the little troublemaker cried out, determined to rouse Daniel from his slumber. Eventually, Daniel relented and slowly emerged from beneath the covers.
"Ugh... Okay, okay... I'm awake, I'm awake," Daniel grumbled as he sluggishly got out of bed and made his way to the bathroom, greeting his wife, Koyuki, who couldn't help but stifle her laughter at her husband's sleepy state.
After a short bath and a few moments passed, Daniel was engrossed in his phone, deciding on their next destination. As it was their first time in Hong Kong, he hadn't yet visited Victoria Peak, a must-see location for him as a Hong Kong film enthusiast.
Just as he was pondering their next move, their hotel room door swung open, and Greed rushed in, a hint of panic in her voice.
"Danny! Did you forget something!?" Greed asked urgently.
"Huh? No... Forgot what?" Daniel replied, his confusion evident. He couldn't recall forgetting anything important, especially since it was a four-day holiday in Tessia Kingdom. He had planned to relax and take his family on a tour of Hong Kong until tomorrow afternoon.
Upon hearing Daniel's response, Greed let out a sigh.
"Of course, you would forget... It's Monday, Danny!" Greed said, trying to jog Daniel's memory.
"Yes, I know it's Monday. What about it?" Daniel continued to inquire, still unaware of what Greed was getting at.
"Gaaaahhh," Greed groaned in frustration before mustering her resolve. "The surgery, Danny! Do you have Alzheimer's!?" she exclaimed, this time more directly.
"The... surgery... sur...ge...!!!!" Daniel's face turned pale as he suddenly jumped up from his chair.
"Shit! The surgery!" Daniel exclaimed, frantically searching for a solution.
Greed explained that the doctors, who had an appointment to assist with the surgery, were waiting for Daniel's instructions. Paladin Christopher had informed them that Daniel needed to be present to gather some information for designing a surgical bot.
Upon hearing this, Daniel quickly regained his composure and asked, "Did they ask you? Are they still on the line?"
Greed nodded and tossed her phone to Daniel. He caught it and immediately spoke with the doctor, the leader of the surgical team. Daniel reassured them on the other end that the surgery would commence at 1:00 PM, and they would be compensated for their disrupted schedule. After hanging up, he returned the phone to Greed.
Daniel let out a sigh and then turned to his little troublemaker.
"Sweetie, I'm sorry, but can you go out with your Mama, Aunt Greed, and Sister Michaela without me?" Daniel asked his young daughter.
Sylvana's face fell, but she tried to mask her disappointment. With her extensive knowledge of business and work-related matters, she understood that her father was a busy man who had even forgotten about his work due to his desire to spend time with her. However, that didn't mean she was happy about it. She nodded and replied, trying to maintain a sense of normalcy.
"Um... Okay, Papa," the little one responded, suppressing her disappointment.
"I'm sorry, sweetie. Next time, I'll stay with you and take you on a trip. Unless it's a life-and-death matter, I won't go away first. Pinky promise," Daniel said, extending his pinky finger to make a promise with his daughter before he left, as he needed to return to the corporation before noon.
— 8:20 AM - Tessia Kingdom —
It had been over two hours since the thieves' group attempted to infiltrate Daniel's office. The second group had thoroughly searched the entire building, but had come up empty-handed. They had opened every accessible system and safe, but found nothing of significance—no blueprints or secrets related to Daniel's technology. The only potential value lay in the plans and pricing of Daniel's power plant, which, from a competitor's perspective, could be detrimental to their own business.
There was only one place they hadn't searched: Daniel's office. It boasted security measures even more absurd than the building's back entrance. They had even considered the most reckless approach, thinking that once inside, they would grab whatever they deemed to be data storage or a computer and make a swift escape, consequences be damned.
To their astonishment, not even the military-grade explosive charges they employed to breach the door made a dent. Now they were left with no choice but to crack the electronic lock by any means necessary. They had never failed a mission before, and they didn't want this operation to be their first failure. They had successfully stolen secrets from the U.S. military, and if they were to fail in this endeavor, their reputation would be severely tarnished.
They continued their attempts to crack the electronic lock, but it was nearing 9:00 AM and they were still stuck. Sokolov saw a silver lining in the fact that it was a long vacation and they had plenty of time. Even if some employees came to retrieve items from their offices, he was confident they could capture and silence them.
BEEEEEE—P
The error sound rang out again, eliciting a disappointed shake of the head from the computer expert among the thieves.
"Is it really that bad?" the leader of the thieves asked his team.
"Yes and no. Yes, because none of our known methods work. It's like trying to communicate with an alien using our voices when they use brainwaves. The disparity between our cracking system and this device is immense. However, if we can understand how to communicate with it, I think we could crack it. Unfortunately, we don't have the time to study it," explained the thief with programming skills.
Suddenly, the corridor lights brightened and the door to Daniel's office swung open, startling both the thieves and Sokolov, who was about to draw his gun from under his suit.
But as Sokolov caught sight of what was inside Daniel's office, his eyes widened in disbelief. Various cutting-edge prosthetics lay scattered around, some in the midst of adjustments as prototypes. Strange equipment and PC-like machines with unconventional designs were scattered about. Holographic projections, reminiscent of those seen in science fiction movies, displayed equations and various results.
"Holy shit... this... is... a treasure trove," Sokolov uttered in disbelief. He never imagined that all the things he had seen in sci-fi movies would be present here in real life, and they were all in Daniel's office. What did this mean? It meant that Daniel possessed the same genius as the protagonists in those movies, the inventors who became heroes and saved the world.
"Why did the lights come back on? And why did the door suddenly open?" one of the thieves asked with doubt, but Sokolov wasn't interested in pondering it.
"Don't waste time! Gather anything useful and retreat!" Sokolov commanded.
The thieves quickly regained their focus and went about their task. They swiftly opened their large bags and started collecting anything that resembled data storage devices. Within just 10 minutes, the lookout thief noticed that the elevator was in motion.
"Everyone, the elevator! Someone is coming!" he shouted.
Sokolov positioned himself near the elevator doors, gun in hand. A smile of anticipation spread across his face as he entertained thoughts of kidnapping Daniel, the mastermind behind these incredible technologies, and using him to create immense wealth, like a goose that lays golden eggs.
"Stop!" Sokolov quickly aimed his gun at the person who emerged from the elevator, expecting to see Daniel, the inventor and CEO of the tech company.
However, it wasn't Daniel who stood before him, but a middle-aged, one-armed priest, looking at Sokolov and the thieves with confusion. Upon observing the chaotic state of the room and the thief's bags filled with prototype prosthetics, coupled with the hostility emanating from Sokolov's aimed gun, a crazed smile formed on the priest's face, and he uttered a word with fanatical devotion.
"Amen!" echoed through the room, signaling the eruption of chaos.
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