Chapter 47 - 43: Heaven-Defying Acting Skills

KK is a minor side quest NPC in the game "Dawn," with far less screen time than Nuobai.

But this kid’s masterful deception skills and thieving techniques have left quite the impression on gamers.

More importantly, KK is considered a refreshing presence in the Frontier.

In this chaotic area, Su Mo has seen countless people who would con their dads and sell out their moms.

Fraud, betrayal, scheming... these things are almost embedded in the bones of Frontier people.

But KK is different. Though he’s a petty thief, he values loyalty and camaraderie.

In the related side quest, players encounter KK through pickpocketing, striking a friendship between them.

Later, the players entrusted KK to help steal something from the Hegemony Company.

The item was stolen, but a few days later, the matter leaked, and KK was caught.

He was held and beaten for days by the Hegemony Company, but even at death’s door, he never exposed the player.

When Su Mo completed this side quest, he felt sad for a long time.

So this time, upon receiving Audiana’s request for thievery, KK, the loyal little thief, was the first to come to mind.

...

Su Mo snapped back to reality and asked, "By the way, do you know anything about the Eagle Claw Association?"

KK: "Yes, they’re a violent group controlling the Binhe District, about one or two hundred people. They’re quite powerful, and they call the shots here."

Su Mo was a bit surprised.

One or two hundred people?!

This is no small scale.

Why wasn’t this mentioned in the original plot?

Su Mo continued asking, "What do they do?"

KK thought for a bit and said, "I heard they’re highway robbers. They specifically ambush on the countryside roads to murder and steal, taking the goods and treasures from those convoys to resell. That’s about all I know; I’m not one of them."

Su Mo was even more puzzled.

Highway robbers?

Could it be that the Eagle Claw Association robbed Audiana’s stuff?

That makes even less sense.

With Audiana’s prideful personality, would she tolerate her things being robbed? Still plotting a theft? Not sending people to take them down?

Su Mo didn’t indulge in idle thoughts and focused on the task.

He said: "Let’s get down to business. I need you to steal a silver briefcase from the Eagle Claw Association, about the size of a regular briefcase, and get it out by 2 AM, and we’ll call it even for the wallet issue."

KK stared at Su Mo, saying nothing.

Su Mo: "What are you daydreaming about?"

KK blinked: "A silver briefcase, regular briefcase size, by 2 AM, and then what? Where is the briefcase located? How many people are guarding it? Is someone carrying it around or is it placed inside a room? What’s in it? Will it make a sound if shaken?"

Su Mo coughed lightly: "I don’t know..."

KK was dumbfounded: "You don’t know anything about it, how am I supposed to steal it?"

Su Mo brazenly said: "Figure it out by yourself, Master Thief K."

"Man, you really know how to make people go through hoops..." KK scratched his head in frustration, "Alright, we should first go to the Eagle Claw Association’s territory to ascertain the briefcase’s location; otherwise, I really can’t make a move."

Su Mo reminded: "Remember, when you steal, you mustn’t let the Eagle Claw Association notice, nor leave any trace behind at the scene."

"Any hardware requirements? Speak now if you have them."

KK nodded: "Yes, yes, your situation is rather special, unlike pickpocketing on the street. I need some tools."

Su Mo: "Go ahead."

KK counted on his fingers: "I need rubber gloves to cover fingerprints, soft-soled shoes for noise reduction, electrostatic cloth to attract fallen hair—preferably made into a tie for easy wear, and night vision goggles—not the bulky military ones, but those that look like normal glasses."

These things weren’t hard to procure, so Su Mo took KK straight to Haywood to get the equipment he needed.

Soon, the two arrived at the Eagle Claw Association’s base, the Nightingale Bar.

In the game "Dawn," Nightingale Bar is a location players can visit, filled with quite a few girls, and players can spend money to, ahem, have fun with them.

But in-game, Nightingale Bar belongs to a group called "Crow’s Nest," not this Eagle Claw Association.

Su Mo speculated that within the month before the game started, Crow’s Nest might have been merged by the Eagle Claw Association, thus transitioning ownership of the Nightingale Bar.

Su Mo hid in the shadows, pulling out a sheet of draft paper on which he sketched the structure map of Nightingale Bar from memory.

Su Mo: "Next up, listen to my plan. I’m not good at handling bar scenes, so for safety’s sake, I won’t go in; you go in alone."

"I’ll support you from outside. The power box for Nightingale Bar is at the northeast corner; I’ll stay there, ready to cut the power anytime."

"Keep in touch with me. If you locate the briefcase and there’s a proper opportunity, you signal me to cut the power, and you steal the thing in the dark."

Looking at the various routes and structures drawn on Su Mo’s draft paper, KK couldn’t help but admire: "Man, you’re really familiar with the structure inside, quite the professional! Did you participate in the construction of Nightingale Bar?"

Su Mo: "Oh yeah, absolutely right, I’m a civil engineer."

He placed a miniature communicator into KK’s ear and gave him high-tech night vision glasses, saying, "These glasses have real-time camera functionality, and the footage will be transmitted directly to me. Keep in touch using the communicator."

"Okay, await my signal." KK departed.

...

[10:47 PM, 3 hours and 13 minutes until the task deadline]

Nightingale Bar is a bustling nightclub; the powerful sound system blasting heavy metal rock can be heard even at the entrance. The wall by the door adorned with purple-pink neon lights, interweaving to create shapes of the female body.

Standing at the entrance are two thugs from the Eagle Claw Association, burly and rough-looking, their pockets bulging, obviously with guns inside. At the slightest hint of trouble, they’re ready to spill blood.

Their eyes scanned the faces of guests at the entrance, suddenly, one of them stopped short an inconspicuous boy with glasses.

He looked KK up and down: "Where are you from? Haven’t seen you around."

KK, irritated, replied: "Wolf Raid."

The thug’s face first changed, then turned mocking: "Wolf Raid? With someone as short as you? Talking big without a script, beat it!"

KK took off his glasses, and those cold black eyes flashed with the fierceness of a wolf: "The boss lady’s been roughing up folks nearby lately, heard Nightingale Bar’s got some good alcohol, all looted from convoys, thought I’d pay a visit."

"You’ve got some nerve, kid. Daring to stop me? I’m from *Civilized Bin River*, does your boss Reuben know how cocky you are? Or do I need to call my crew and let you know the mess you’ve gotten into?!"

Facing KK’s cool gaze along with the reputation of "Wolf Raid," the thug felt a little uneasy.

He exchanged looks with his companion, both seeing the same message in each other’s eyes—forget it, just guards, less trouble is better.

The thug scanned KK’s body with a security device, found nothing, and let him through, boorishly saying: "Have fun, don’t cause trouble."

KK put his glasses back on and swaggered inside.

Soon, Su Mo’s voice came in through the communicator: "Honestly, Yueska owes you a little golden statue; you really can act."

KK chuckled quietly, "I’m small, lousy at fighting. If I hadn’t learned bluffing, I couldn’t survive the Frontier."

KK passed through a corridor and reached the dance area.

Here, light and shadow intertwined, heads swayed, heavy metal music continuously bombarded the ear, and all kinds of young men and women gathered in the dance floor, shaking their heads like crazy.

Many people mixed swaying with rolling back their eyes and drooling, clearly overdosed, while drug dealers roamed around continually.

The Frontier is a city governed by violent groups, without security forces, thus these dealers have no need to hide, openly flaunting their wares, asking anyone if they want a hit.

KK stepped onto an empty table, swaying to the rhythm, blending in naturally, not sticking out at all.