Alright, let's start..

Ash thought as he stood at the edge of the large warehouse, the place where the slave section had begun. The air was heavy and cold, filled with the faint metallic scent of chains and iron.

He was dressed in the same outfit and mask he had worn when entering the auction house, though his coat was now reversed. Over that, he drew a black cloak, its fabric thick and shadowed, meant to hide every bit of information about him that could be traced.

Closing his eyes for a moment, Ash steadied his breath. His mind went quiet as he began calculating routes, escape paths, and the exact sequence of moves he would take.

Every second mattered.

He had to collect everything and delay alerting the security for as long as possible.

Thanks to Snow's help, the layout of the vaults was already clear in his memory. He could teleport directly inside them with precision. The only problem was timing—he had to make sure he did not alert the guards too early.

Ash opened his eyes, and faint streaks of blue lightning flickered at their corners. Inside his body, lightning roared and sparked through every nerve, heightening his awareness. [Lightning Instinct] activated across his forehead, hidden beneath [Concealment].

Then, with a calm expression, he triggered [Omni Thought]. The world seemed to slow around him as his mind processed every detail at incredible speed. [Absolute Concealment] remained active, completely erasing his presence.

A heartbeat later, Ash vanished.

Within his grayed world of movement, he appeared inside a cage filled with humans. They were chained together, their faces lifeless, eyes dulled by despair.

Without wasting even a fraction of a second, Ash touched the chains that bound them. In an instant, they disappeared.

Learning from that first teleport, this time he appeared directly above the chain and let his foot brush it lightly.

The group vanished again.

He appeared beside the next cage and repeated the process, each time leaving the cage empty.

Ash moved relentlessly, using [Transcendent Step] over and over, his figure splitting into faint afterimages that blurred across the warehouse.

With every flash, more captives disappeared.

Within ten seconds, two hundred people were gone.

Within another ten seconds, three hundred and forty more vanished.

Then, within the next ten seconds, four hundred and sixty disappeared.

His speed only increased. Every teleport flowed into the next, forming a rhythm that pushed his limits even further.

Not all the captives were human. Nearly half were, while hundreds were elves, several dwarves, and a handful of demons were locked in the other cages.

When transporting humans, elves, and dwarves, he removed only them, leaving the cages behind. But when it came to beasts or demons, he transported their entire cages. He couldn't risk them rampaging inside his Soul Vault.

Containment was safer than chaos.

If anyone had been watching, they would have seen countless figures of Ash moving together like a storm of shadows, consuming cages one after another like a wave that devoured everything in its path.

In another fifteen seconds, the last batch of four hundred seventy-six slaves vanished, leaving the once-crowded section completely empty.

But Ash didn't stop. He knew he had barely thirty seconds left before security caught sight of him through the drone footage.

He had to move fast.

Vanishing, he appeared at the far end of the warehouse, diagonally opposite to the slave section he was earlier in.

Ash extended his hand.

With a light touch, entire metal compartments shimmered and vanished into thin air. He knew taking such large sections at once would increase the chances of being caught, but collecting the boxes placed on the compartments one by one would take far too long.

He had no other choice.

He continued rapidly, clearing fifteen massive metal rows that stretched up to the ceiling.

And the moment the 16th one vanished, the entire warehouse came alive with red light.

A loud siren blared through the air.

[Alert!!!]

[Alert!!!]

[Alert!!!]

[Alert!!!]

[Emergency Protocol Activated!!!!]

An unseen wave of energy passed by Ash. He felt it brush against his skin, yet he couldn't understand what kind of force it was or what exactly it did.

As expected, they caught on fast…

Even so, Ash stayed calm. In his eyes, everything was still moving slowly, as if the entire world had entered his pace. There was no need to rush, even though he still had many things left to take.

But the next instant, the unseen energy swept across the room once more, and Ash instantly vanished from his spot.

Abandoning the section he had been plundering, he reappeared above a large runic array carved into the floor.

Around the glowing formation stood several people, each holding boxes, and some even had cages, clearly preparing to move the valuables somewhere else after hearing the alarm.

Oh no… You don't.

Ash's eyes sharpened.

In the blink of an eye, he appeared beside the item he had entered the auction for. Instantly, he stored the box within his Soul Vault. Before anyone could even blink, he seemed to appear all over the place, moving like a blur.

Every valuable that was meant for the auction vanished one after another along with him.

The workers of the black market could not comprehend what was happening. To them, Ash looked like a dark phantom sweeping through the area, stealing everything in sight and disappearing before they could even turn their heads.

[All Gates Shutdown!!]

[Mana Sealing Array Activated!!]

[Anti-Teleportation Array Activated!!]

[Protective Shield Activated!!]

[Combat Drone Mode: On]

[Threat Level: 2]

A series of cold mechanical voices echoed through the large warehouse, one after another, as if the entire black market had declared war on a single intruder.

From above, hundreds of drones began to descend, their red sensors glowing like eyes of beasts. They immediately opened fire, sending dozens of laser beams toward Ash. But he easily dodged them, his figure flickering like lightning.

The blasts that missed him struck the nearby metal containers, yet instead of damage, an invisible barrier absorbed the impact, leaving only faint ripples of light.

Hmm…

Ash narrowed his eyes slightly. That invisible barrier was troublesome. If he couldn't physically touch the metal frames, how was he supposed to take them?

As if something like this will stop me…

At the same time, he sensed several powerful presences approaching rapidly from every direction. Instead of panic, a small grin formed on his lips.

They just gave me a booster. Idiots.

In a blink, Ash reappeared inside the barrier itself. His hand brushed against the nearest metal frame, and in an instant, it was gone—stored safely within his Soul Vault.

Meanwhile, the attacks from the combat drones continued to fall, yet every single one of them was absorbed harmlessly by the same protective mechanism that the black market had deployed.

For Ash, things suddenly became far easier than he had expected.

What guards?

What surveillance?

What combat drones?

Everything that was meant to stop him only ended up protecting him instead.

If Ash had known that the black market's own shields would serve as his cover, he wouldn't have bothered with such an elaborate plan in the first place.

While chaos spread through the facility, Ash's grin widened. Everyone else was panicking in confusion and fear, while he alone found himself enjoying every second of it.

***

"STOP HIM!!! What the hell are you all doing? He is stealing things right in front of our eyes!!!"

"CAN ANYONE TELL ME WHY THE HELL CAN HE TELEPORT!!!!"

"WHERE THE HELL ARE THE ARRAY MASTERS? I WILL KILL THEM ALL IF THE ARRAY IS NOT WORKING."

"S-sir, everything is working perfectly, t-there is no error!!!"

The security head in charge of overall security for the Fifth Layer shouted with bloodshot eyes, veins pulsing with rage. He grabbed the worker who had spoken and shoved him toward the CCTV monitors.

"IF IT IS WORKING, HOW THE HELL IS HE USING MANA, TELEPORTING, AND STORING THINGS???"

The worker trembled and could not speak. The security head shoved him harder and barked, "Turn off the emergency protocol at ONCE!!!"

"Damn you, why are you moving so slowly!!!!"

Frustration flooded him as he watched the CCTV: Ash teleporting inside the shields and taking an entire metal compartment as if it were nothing. Around him, the other operators of Fifth Layer security sweated and shook, hands trembling on their controls.

"S-S-Sir, it is impossible to stop the emergency protocol once initiated. We can only increase the threat level, other than—"

The worker's sentence cut off when the security head seized him by the throat, lifting him clear off the floor.

"WHICH IDIOT DID NOT ADD A FUNCTION TO STOP SOMETHING LIKE THIS!!!"

The security head's face went red, and his eyes bulged. If looks could kill, the trembling worker would already be dead.

"S-Sir, you were the one who removed it!!"

The security head froze. He remembered.

During testing, he had advised removing the [emergency protocol stop switch], arguing a skilled hacker could exploit it. Back then, he had been praised and even rewarded for that suggestion.

Now the memory twisted his stomach.

Fuck!!!

"Increase the threat level to maximum, call headquarters for assistance. Send every single guard to surround that bastard."

He threw the worker aside and sprinted toward where Ash had been seen last.

SHIT! Shit!! Shit!!!

I am fucked!!!

He knew nothing would change easily, even if every person present rushed the thief. The reason was the shield protecting the goods, the same damned shield the thief was using as cover while stealing.

The shield is linked to the main attack mechanism of the whole Black Market. Every attack on it gets absorbed, and that same energy is used to power counterattacks...

The function had been designed so that, if needed, combat drones and automatic guns would keep firing with enough power to injure a Legendary and kill a Grandmaster. They would fire without stopping.

Of course, the system had weaknesses, like the domain and other abilities. That was why the anti-teleportation array and mana sealing array were always used before the shield was deployed, so nobody could escape or use their abilities. In such a trap, anyone caught was meant to die while the facility stayed unharmed.

But... where the hell did this ghost come from? No array is affecting him, and he is using the shields to protect himself from all those attacks...

If that bastard escapes now, I will be executed on the spot for suggesting the removal of that function...

A shudder ran through him as he pushed harder and closed the distance.

As a Legendary-ranked person, he intended to stop Ash personally. Even knowing it was going to be futile.

"STOP RIGHT THERE, YOU BASTARD!!!!!"

****

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