"Alright! I admit I'm here to steal. State your requirements! How can you let me go?" Seeing the situation, Fang Yi had no choice but to confess his theft.
"Hehe... I knew you were here to steal. You still tried to fool me! Lady Tiffany is very smart, you know!" The little girl who claimed to be Lady Tiffany said with a beaming smile.
"Lady" is how female Celestial Dragons refer to themselves, just as male Celestial Dragons call themselves "Saint." They believe they are gods of this world and superior to all other races. The bubble helmets they wear are specially made because they don't want to breathe the same air as the lowly commoners.
"So it's Lady Tiffany! Then how can you let me go?" Fang Yi asked helplessly.
There was no mention of Lady Tiffany in either the original story or the intelligence Shakky had given him. So Fang Yi had no idea what kind of person she was and was always ready to take her out.
"Hehe... I want you to take me with you to steal. That must be so much fun! No one usually dares to do such a thing!" Lady Tiffany said cheerfully.
Fang Yi was stunned on the spot. Take her with him?
He couldn't tell if she was serious or joking. This seemingly innocent and cute little girl didn't seem that simple.
But after thinking about it, he felt it wasn't a bad idea. Having a little lady by his side was like having an insurance policy. If things got really bad, using her as a hostage wouldn't be a bad option.
"Ahem... It's not impossible to take you with me. But you have to follow my instructions on the way!" Fang Yi coughed and said.
"Follow your instructions?" Lady Tiffany frowned, seemingly not very willing.
"Right! Think about it. You're a Celestial Dragon, aren't you? All the things here belong to you. What's the point of stealing? You can just walk out in broad daylight, and those guards wouldn't dare to stop you!" Fang Yi nodded and started to reason with her.
Lady Tiffany thought for a while and then nodded, saying, "So you mean... I have to hide my identity?"
"Exactly. So you can't think of yourself as a Celestial Dragon now. You're my partner, and we're thieves! Only in this way can you really experience what it's like to be a thief!" Fang Yi nodded and continued to persuade slyly, "Besides, this should be your home, right? Stealing here isn't interesting. Stealing your own things doesn't give you any sense of accomplishment!"
Lady Tiffany seemed convinced by Fang Yi. She nodded and said in full agreement, "You're right! Then... shall we go to the next door? No, no! Next door is Saint Musgarud. His things are no different from mine! Then where should we go to steal?"
"How about... we go to steal from Saint Charmarko's place?" Fang Yi suggested as if by chance.
"Huh? Saint Charmarko?" Lady Tiffany's big eyes sparkled as she looked at Fang Yi and said, "Is your target Saint Charmarko? But his place is far from here! No wonder you said you took the wrong way. Are you a direction-challenged person?"
Fang Yi was startled and smiled bitterly to himself. Even an experienced hunter can get pecked by a wild goose. He had actually been tricked into talking by the little girl in front of him.
"Alright! Since we're partners from now on, I won't lie to you. My target is indeed Saint Charmarko! It's said that he has obtained a legendary treasure, and that's what I'm after!" Fang Yi decided to go along with the situation.
"A legendary treasure?" Tiffany Cho opened her eyes wide and asked, "What kind of treasure is it?"
"I'm not sure, but... according to the intelligence I've got, that legendary treasure is extremely beautiful. It's said that no one who has seen it can resist its charm!" Fang Yi said seriously.
"Really? I'm dying to see what this legendary treasure looks like! It's only natural that a Celestial Dragons like Saint Charmarko, who loves traveling around, could get such a treasure," Tiffany Cho said with longing. "You know, once we steal it, will it be ours?"
"If it were anyone else, I really wouldn't know how to answer. Because there's only one such treasure, and Saint Charmarko will know who stole it no matter whose hands it ends up in. But if it's you, Tiffany Cho... I think it should be okay," Fang Yi deliberately probed.
"Hehe... Don't worry. Once we get it, it'll be ours. Even Saint Charmarko can't do anything to me!" Tiffany Cho said confidently.
"Okay! Originally, I planned to sell the treasure after stealing it. My father is sick, and I urgently need a large sum of bounty for his treatment. So if we successfully steal the treasure, I'm wondering how much bounty you can give me, Tiffany Cho?" Fang Yi thought for a while and then said.
"Huh? Your father is sick? Is it serious?" Tiffany Cho asked innocently.
But from the previous conversation, Fang Yi had already realized that although this little girl was indeed innocent and cute, she was by no means stupid. On the contrary, she was very smart, and an ordinary deception wouldn't work on her.
However, he needed to find out the whereabouts of the user of the Ope Ope no Mi from her, so he smiled and pretended to be helpless. "Yes! So I have to save enough bounty and then hire a doctor to treat my father. That's why I'm taking this risk to steal," he said.
Tiffany Cho just gave a non - committal smile. She wasn't interested in Fang Yi's excuse. All she wanted to do now was to participate in the exciting The Thieving Game.
Yes, in her eyes, this was just a game. She didn't care what Fang Yi's real purpose was.
She didn't even care about Fang Yi's ultimate fate. All she cared about was whether this game could make her happy.
So Tiffany Cho said with a soft smile, "If we really manage to steal that legendary treasure, bring your father here. I'll treat him!"
"Huh? Are you a doctor, Miss Tiffany Cho?" Fang Yi pretended to be surprised.
"Idiot, this is Mariejois. It has the best things in the world, even the best doctors!"
Tiffany Cho declared proudly with a haughty air.
"Ah~ I'm really grateful to you!" Fang Yi replied with an excited look.
"Oh hehehehe... It doesn't matter. You're so interesting. I'll make you and your father my slaves then! I remember someone said that there's a pretty good doctor slave recently. Many Celestial Dragons deliberately torture their slaves to the brink of death and send them to him for treatment!" Tiffany Cho said with a smug look.
"Oh? A good doctor? Do you know where that doctor is, Tiffany Cho?" Fang Yi asked, a glint of light flashing in his eyes.
"Stupid! As long as I give the order, no matter where he is, he's gotta come to me right this second!" Tiffany Cho replied arrogantly.
After all, she's just a little girl. Even if she's a bit smart, she still can't outwit Fang Yi. Looking at Tiffany Cho, who had completely fallen for his trick, Fang Yi felt extremely lucky today.
The two discussed in the room for a while. With Tiffany Cho's assistance, Fang Yi managed to draw a more detailed map. After that, the two quietly left the room and made their way towards the place where Saint Charmarko lived.
However, the Celestial Dragons are who they are. Although Tiffany Cho was very interested in the theft, she got tired soon. She asked Fang Yi to carry her on his back.
Helpless, Fang Yi had to carry the little girl and continue moving forward.
Fortunately, Tiffany Cho was quite familiar with the surrounding guards. It seemed that she had long wanted to get rid of them and do something on her own. So the two managed to reach Saint Charmarko's residence without much trouble.
"This is Saint Charmarko's place. I don't know the guard strength inside. You'll have to handle that!" Along the way, Tiffany Cho had witnessed Fang Yi's abilities. He was agile and had strong observation skills, which made her more and more interested in him.
She mused to herself that after this adventure, she'd turn Fang Yi into her slave. That way, she could play these thrilling games all the time!
At this time, Fang Yi had no idea what Tiffany Cho was thinking. He was only thinking about how to find Shanks and Buggy.
"How about we catch a guard and ask?" After they sneaked in, facing the large number of rooms, Tiffany Cho suggested.
"Better not! Besides, those ordinary guards don't know where the treasure room is. Would you tell your guards where your treasure room is?" Fang Yi shook his head and said.
If they knocked out the guards, they would easily be discovered.
Tiffany Cho naturally wasn't afraid of being discovered, but Fang Yi was.
He hoped to quietly locate Shanks and Buggy and take them away. After that, he'd try to persuade Tiffany Cho, who was on his back, to bring the user of the Ope Ope no Mi over. Once that was done, their mission would be almost completed.
As for finding the legendary treasure, Fang Yi hadn't even thought about it. That so - called legendary treasure was just something he made up casually.
However, Tiffany Cho was still clearly immersed in the fun of treasure - hunting. It seemed impossible not to take her there.
So Fang Yi thought of getting some treasures for Buggy by the way and began to search seriously.
Before long, they actually found a room filled with all kinds of rare Babe, Gin, and Seki.
"Looks like this is the treasures room!" Fang Yi looked at the various treasures in the room and said softly.
"Huh?" But Tiffany Cho seemed very dissatisfied and said, "Is this all? These are so ordinary! I've got lots of rooms like this. They're just junk - storage rooms! This shouldn't be the treasures room, right?"
Although Fang Yi wasn't very interested in treasures, after listening to what Tiffany Cho said, he couldn't help but feel the huge gap between the rich and the poor, just like the Chinese idiom 'The rich let their wine and meat go to waste while the poor starve to death' (describing the extreme disparity between the rich and the poor).
The treasures in this room were what many people couldn't obtain in their entire lives, yet for them, they were just junk.