Since the light in the alley was dim, only when Xu Nan leaned closer to the distant streetlights, could he see a bit better.
This fellow was dressed in black. When she stood up, her height most probably didn't reach his chest.
It was a child?
He was calmer now. "What favor?"
"Do you have money?" The black-robed person leaped like a carp. Her movements were adept, and her ability to control her body was very strong.
"Yes." Xu Nan asked, "Are you hungry?"
This time, he saw clearly. It was a young girl with a dirty face, but her features could still be considered delicate and pretty. Her height was quite short and she looked to be about 14-15 years of age, similar to Xin`er.
No matter how foolish a thief was, they wouldn't observe a family for days. Also, the fall this young girl had just taken was definitely painful.
Xia Nan felt that she should be some rebellious kid who had left home because she had quarreled with her family, and thus she had climbed the wall to look for something to eat.
As a kind and good-hearted person, he naturally ought to stretch his hand out to help a young girl that had lost her way.
Who knew that the girl actually happily clapped her hands and said.
"Can you let me steal your money?"
"Huh?"
Lin Wu was stunned for three seconds before he realized that he didn't hear things wrongly.
"You want to...steal...my...money?"
This was the first time Xu Nan felt speaking was difficult. The way her mind worked was pretty strange; he almost couldn't follow her thinking.
"I don't really want to steal your money!"
The young girl straight-forwardly spoke, "Have you seen those popular short videos online? Those humans with special powers?"
"I'm actually one of them! It's just that my powers have not developed, and the proficiency of many skills is not enough yet. I don't have many friends, and I also have no one who would help me. I can only try to level up alone.
"I have a skill that requires me to keep stealing things to raise its proficiency level. But all the monitoring devices now are too high-tech. The first time I went up a town bus to steal things, I was caught and almost sent to the police station. After that, I no longer dared to steal money from people on buses."
"Also stealing things in those places is more troublesome. I return the things I stole, but if I stole their bus card or identification card, it would be troublesome if I returned them to the wrong people. Yesterday, I stole a handphone from a couple. In the end, when I returned it, they ended up quarreling not long later. I heard them mentioning about having extramarital affairs and whatnot, and they almost fought in the shopping mall. I felt really bad and awkward after that."
"Now, my skill only needs a little more before it maxes out. Can you help me?"
Xu Nan was thinking if he had met a silly, dim-witted child?
During this sensitive time where online videos and comments caused many people to feel fear in their hearts, how could there be anyone saying that they had superpowers the moment they met others? Was she not afraid that she might be targeted by bad people?"
He couldn't help but cast an identification spell on this silly child.
[Qin Lele/female/15 years old/ level 4 thief]
Xu Nan was greatly shocked!
This Qin Lele was already a level 4 thief! Although her stature was small, if they really fought, he completely wouldn't be her opponent. Most probably, she would beat him effortlessly.
Qin Lele's perception was much stronger than Wenxin. At the instant Xu Nan cast his identification spell, she sensed it.
Her blinking large eyes stared at him warily. "Do you have 'special thoughts' toward me?"
Just when Xu Nan wanted to explain, the side door in the alley opened at this moment.
An old man with a crutch stretched half of his body out. "Aiyo, Lele. Are you injured? The falling sound earlier was quite heavy!"
Qin Lele patted her bum and carefreely replied, "No worries. I'm quite light in terms of weight, and I'm resistant to falling."
"Grandpa, you should rest earlier. Tomorrow, I'm coming to your place to steal things again."
That old man smiled kindly. He glanced at Xu Nan and said that everything was good if she was fine. After that, he closed the door.
In the alley, only Qin Lele and Xu Nan remained, staring at each other.
"What situation...is this?" Xu Nan decided to reflect on this world.
Qin Lele mumbled 'oh.' She then replied, "Actually, I only got to know Grandpa Zhong for three days. He is the only one that discovered I came to steal things and still happily welcomed me. His daughter already went to America, and he is here all alone, so I can see that he feels lonely. When he heard that I will be here to steal things every night, he was quite happy."
Xu Nan, "…"
"Why don't you find him for help then?"
Qin Lele seriously spoke, "[Breaking in to steal] and [Pilfering] are two different skills. They cannot superpose over each other and be trained together. Moreover, Grandpa Zhong is so old now. The difficulty of me stealing things from him isn't high, and I won't gain much experience."
Xu Nan decided to stop her. If this continued, he might have to reveal his identity. Rather than telling her, it would be best if he kept it a secret.
"Although you obtained a superpower, you must not be so high profile."
Xu Nan spoke with a stern look on his face, "What if some bad guys targeted you? What if I'm a bad guy?"
Qin Lele had a look of contempt on her face as she stared at him. "Stop joking, you are a bad guy? Ever since you entered the alley, I've been paying attention to you. Your footsteps are light, and there's a bunch of roses in your hands. From your despondent look, it's clear that you have just been rejected after a confession.
"Your external appearance is clean, and you are quite handsome. My mother always says that your appearance is determined by the state of your heart. If you are handsome, your inner heart wouldn't be too bad.
"For a handsome guy like you to get rejected, it's already not that normal. I feel that the girl who did it definitely has some problems with her brain. However, all of that has nothing to do with me. How about this? I must steal your money, so just let me gain some experience to increase my proficiency, and I will introduce a great beauty to you in the future!"
Xu Nan glanced at the roses in his hand. He was speechless.
"Go ahead and steal then."
Xu Nan, in the end, was a kind person. Although this Qin Lele was a little weird, she didn't seem like a bad person. It wouldn't be too bad for him to just lend a helping hand.
"Alright! Here I come!" Qin Lele had an excited look as she stealthily moved toward Xu Nan.
However, at this moment, a dialog box flashed across Xu Nan's vision.
=====
[Ron Warlock Secret Mission Activated!]
Mission name: Go back on one's words
Mission description: As someone who vows to throw away your sense of shame, how can you not go back on your words? As long as you promise someone something, you must definitely break the promise! Prevent the female thief from stealing from you for at least 5 times.]
Mission reward: Ron Warlocks secret arts list will be unlocked; you will be rewarded with a secret art and gain 1 shameless point
=====
Just when Qin Lele's fair little hand was stretching toward Xu Nan's pocket, Xu Nan suddenly grabbed the hand in the air!
"Cough cough… I suddenly feel that this is a little inappropriate."
After that, Qin Lele stared at him. "What are you doing!"
This mission came too suddenly, and Xu Nan could only react at the last moment. He could only casually find an excuse. "I...I…"
All of a sudden, inspiration struck him. "Why don't we change the position? Stealing stuff from me so openly causes my heart to feel a little uneasy."
After speaking, he released Qin Lele's wrist.
[Notification: Stopped her successfully (1/5)!]
Qin Lele gladly agreed. "In that case, why don't you turn around? I'll come from behind."
Xu Nan hesitated and turned. But when Qin Lele was preparing to act, he suddenly turned and grabbed her wrist again!
"What's wrong now?!" Qin Lele felt a little angry.
"I just want to remind you that I've no money in my right pocket. All my stuff is in the left pocket," Xu Nan explained seriously.
[Notification: Stopped her successfully (2/5)!]
Qin Lele grunted and Xu Nan relinquished his grab. He turned while his mind rapidly spun, trying to think of more excuses.
Qin Lele acted for the third time. Her hand moved toward Xu Nan's left pocket, but at the very last moment, her wrist was grabbed by Xu Nan again.
"What the hell do you want to do exactly?!" Qin Lele blew her top.
Xu Nan's expression was filled with apprehension. "Can you let me breathe deeply first? I'm not mentally prepared yet. This is the first time someone is going to steal from me, so I feel a little nervous."
Qin Lele then giggled. "Just spit it out directly. Did you fall in love and want to take advantage of me?"
"How can that be? I have no interest in small kids. I really feel nervous."
Qin Lele didn't believe it. "If you don't want to agree, just tell me directly. Stop acting like a little girl. Alright, hurry up and breathe deeply a few times. Before I headed out today, I checked the air pollution index. PM 2.5 is quite high."
Xu Nan let her wrist go, succeeding for the third time. However, he was running out of tricks.
Qin Lele wasn't a fool. On the contrary, this little lady was quite intelligent. As to why she would have such an attitude toward Xu Nan, it might have something to do with Xu Nan's 19 charm points.
If his charm stat was slightly lower, this female thief might have already beaten him up.
But now, things were getting dangerous.
After breathing in deeply for three times, Xu Nan smiled. "My preparations are done."
"Really? If you grab my wrist again, I will no longer be polite." Qin Lele cast a suspicious look at Xu Nan. This time, she grabbed at Xu Nan's pocket with the speed of a thunderbolt!
This speed exceeded Xu Nan's imagination.
He decisively leaped backward, avoiding Qin Lele's pilfering technique!
"Big brother, I'm begging you. Don't create chaos if you don't want to help, alright? My proficiency in Pilfering is about to drop to zero due to the constant failure!"
Qin Lele was frustrated to the point that she wanted to cry.
Xu Nan also didn't know what to feel in his heart. He was a good and honest person, so why did he have to develop toward the direction of shamelessness?
"No...your speed is too fast, I thought you wanted to hit me…"
"In fights, thieves like me would use daggers!" Qin Lele suddenly produced a fruit knife from an unknown location, and she brandished it quite agilely. "For the last time, you better stand there properly. If not, you better believe that I'll cut you!"
Xu Nan felt his skull aching. There was one more time!
How should he stop it? She had already taken out a knife!
Money wasn't a problem, but how should he complete the mission?!
Over there, Qin Lele moved closer, like a tiger eyeing its prey.
She stared fixedly at Xu Nan's movements, and Xu Nan's smile gradually stiffened.
Qin Lele's sinful hand stretched toward Xu Nan's pocket for the fifth time.
Now, Xu Nan no longer had any choices left.
However, at this moment, he saw the roses in his left hand from the corner of his eyes.
It was as though ghosts and demons were at work.
For some reason, Qin Lele's hand was grabbed once again. But this time, it was held by both of Xu Nan's hands, along with the roses.
Xu Nan stared at her with deep emotions. "Maybe...I've really fallen in love with you."
[Notification: Stopped her successfully (5/5)!]
[Mission - Go back on one's words completed.]
[Ron Warlock secret art list unlocked!]
[Gain 1 shameless point!]
[Obtained secret art - Xu Nan's Workstation]
...
"Stop talking nonsense."
Qin Lele calmly glanced at the roses. "You fell in love with me just like this?"
"Do you even know my name?"
"Qin Lele," Xu Nan spoke.
The young girl was instantly stunned.
...