After his initial stupefaction upon witnessing what was behind the black door, a wide and excited grin spread on Alex's face.
"Bingo!" He exclaimed with joy as he looked beyond the door, revealing another room filled with mountains of treasures glowing with a golden hue.
The golden brilliance of the coins and others treasures was so intense that, as the door was forced open, its light spilled from the chamber and filled the usually dimly lit corridor, bathing it in a golden hue.
However, Alex wasn't thinking about how the glow coming from the other side was illuminating the corridor or his own face, for that matter; his gaze was focused on the treasures inside the chamber.
Golden coins, exquisite spatial rings, precious gemstones, radiant jewelries, finely crafted weapons, and an array of luxurious and rare items filled the room to the brim.
Gulping, Alex stepped forward into the treasury chamber, his expression brightening with each step.
'Calm down, it might just be another illusion,' considering everything he had observed even before entering this forest, there was a good chance that all the riches before him were illusions.
This time, instead of focusing on dispelling the illusion, like the other times, Alex simply bent forward and picked up a golden coin from the ground.
'Yeah, this couldn't be more real,' Alex grinned after confirming that the coin was genuine.
With his grin widening in each passing second, Alex decided to further explore the treasury room.
He barely took a few steps when the metallic ground under his feets disappeared, replaced by a floor covered in golden coins.
"Just how much is everything here worth, millions?" Alex wondered as he walked through the treasure room, each step producing jingling sounds as he walked on coins.
For a noble family like the Eswalds, who were one of the four duke families, a million golden coins wasn't an astronomical price. However, for a mere second branch, constantly suppressed by the main branch, a million coins could represent a fifth of their monthly budget.
'Yet, this fortune here before me might very well be above what even the main branch earns... yearly!' Alex thought with a wry smile.
'Should I consider transforming the secret organization from one that sells things to one that kidnaps nobles? Others nobles might just tie our organization to Night and wouldn't doubt the involvement of our branch. It must be doable,' Alex pondered with a serious expression on his face.
The treasury room he was currently in was vast, almost as vast as the training grounds in the basement of his mansion. Yet, this room was filled to the brim with treasures, and from what he understood, this was only one branch of Night; there were other branches with as much or even bigger treasury!
Imagining such a fortune was enough to make even a saintly man be tempted to commit horrid crimes, and Alex was far from a saint to begin with.
Soon, he shook his head, 'What am I thinking about?' He released a sigh, 'Besides the moral aspect of such things, it would really be a hassle. Plus, there is always the chance of being discovered, like we discovered today's base.'
Alex quickly discarded the idea of becoming a kidnapper but had another idea the following second.
'I can't become a kidnapper, but I can definitely become a kidnapper hunter, specifically hunting the Night group,' Alex grinned evilly.
He understood that as things stood, his Arcane organization would undoubtedly become an enemy of the Night group due to today's events. They should prepare themselves for Night to retaliate the instant they had the faintest lead about them. So, it was better to get rid of them before such a thing happened and collect their fortunes while doing so.
Bending down, Alex picked up a space ring and sent his mind to stare at the interior of the ring. As he thought, the ring was empty. But it wasn't for the treasure that might be inside that Alex had picked it up in the first place; what he wanted to observe was the space inside the ring.
An instant later, a stunned expression appeared on Alex.
'Four hundred square meters, it's at least four times more extensive than my current ring!' Alex thought in shock.
'Thankfully, there are space rings here. If I had to take everything with my own space ring, I wouldn't have been able to take even a quarter. Even with this space ring, I can't take that much,' Alex thought, releasing a breath of relief.
"From Amelia's words, the heiress will awaken soon. I shouldn't waste time here. I'll check on everything later. Right now, I need to take all these fabulous riches with me. It's better than leaving them in the hands of mere bandits," Alex grinned as he wore the space ring he had just picked up.
Placing his hand, in which the space ring was worn, on a pile of golden coins that was at least double his size, Alex instructed the space ring to suck that pile inside of it. Quickly, the pile of coins disappeared, and Alex moved to another pile on which a beautiful azure glaive with golden engravings stood.
Without paying attention to the glaive, Alex sent the whole pile of coins, with the glaive at the top, inside his space ring.
Moving from one pile of golden coins to another, Alex began sucking up all the treasures of the Night Group. When the space ring he was wearing was filled to the brim, Alex picked up another, which had a smaller space inside of it compared to the latter, and continued his journey to empty the Night's base treasury.
Several minutes later...
'I'm not quick enough,' Alex thought with a frown creasing his brows.
Even though he had cleared out at least a quarter of the treasure room, if he had to do it all alone, it would take more time than intended.
'All of that without mentioning the second treasury that I also need to clear, I need help.'
The very moment he had this thought, Alex heard gasps of shock coming from the entrance of the room.
Turning to stare behind him, Alex witnessed three charming women covering their mouths with their hands while scanning all the treasure in the treasury.
"So much money, I have never seen so much of it," Anita mumbled absentmindedly.
"Believe me, you are not the only one," Amelia replied, things to which Anna, who had finally woken up, nodded her head.
Anita and Amelia were wondering why Alex was taking so much time, even if he found the treasury, it wouldn't have taken him that long to clear it, right?
That was the thought process of the two before coming here and seeing the mountains of fortunes here.
"Good timing, you three, come help me take away all of those coins," Alex said as he placed his hand on a pile to suck it into his second space ring.
While Anita and Amelia took a second before following Alex's order, Anna had moved before he even finished talking.
Taking a space ring that was on the ground, she started sucking all the treasures one by one.
"As efficient as always, glad to see that you are finally awake," Alex smiled at Anna when she approached him to take another pile of coins in her space ring.
A faint blush appeared on Anna's cheeks when she remembered what had caused her to fall into sleep in the first place.
She flashed Alex a small smile and returned to her work.
Soon, Amelia and Anita rejoined the duo, boosting their speed.
With the help of the three ladies, in barely five minutes, they have cleared more than fifty percent of the treasury.
"You three continue, I'm going to check the other treasury, join me there if you finish here," Alex instructed the trio and left.
Returning to the corridor, Alex walked to the other treasury door.
'It appears to be the same as the last one, should be easy,' Alex smiled as he took on a punching position.
Without using mana like the last time, Alex unleashed a devastating punch to the black and lusterless door.
Bang!
Alex's punch packed so much strength that even a normal level 5 would feel a great deal of pain if he/she took it straight on, yet, the door didn't even budge.
'It seems that I have talked too fast; this door is tougher than the last one. In this case....'
Alex took on his previous position, and in a split second later, he unleashed a barrage of punches on the door.
Bang...! Bang...! Bang...! Bang...!
Several seconds passed as Alex continued to punch the sturdy door repeatedly. Just as he considered finding an alternative approach, he heard the metal groaning, and slowly, the door began to open.
Bang...! Bang...! Bang...!
A few seconds later, the door creaked one last time and swung open.
"Finall-"
Before Alex could finish his sentence, he collapsed on the ground.