Victor bent down, picked up the rabbit talisman, glanced at Jackie unconscious in the wall, then took a look at the little girl in the orange-red hoodie stomping her feet anxiously at the corner—Jade.
He weighed the fourth talisman he had unexpectedly acquired in his hand, his face revealing an expression mixed with absurdity and schadenfreude.
"What is this? A gift from the heavens?"
He muttered quietly, recalling an ancient proverb from an Eastern country.
"This is truly... failing to steal a chicken and ending up losing the rice, little girl."
He ambled over to the red-eyed Jade, ignoring her threatening, teeth-baring expression, and unceremoniously ruffled her neatly combed hair into a complete mess with his large hand.
"But then~"
Victor squatted down, meeting Jade at eye level, wearing that signature, brilliant smile that both Wednesday and Enid found both endearing and infuriating.
"Children who do wrong things always need a little punishment, right?"
"What do you want, you villain! Give the talisman back to me!"
Jade, like an angry kitten, tried to kill Victor with her glare.
Vik chuckled, his gaze falling on the Super Moose plushie Jade was clutching tightly to her chest.
Five minutes later, Jackie Chan, rubbing his nearly shattered back, slowly regained consciousness.
The first thing he saw was Jade sitting by the roadside, hugging her knees, her little shoulders trembling, eyes red, and her arms empty.
"Jade? What's wrong? Are you okay?" Jackie's heart tightened. Ignoring his own pain, he quickly asked, "Where's the rabbit talisman?"
Jade looked up, her lips quivering, golden teardrops instantly falling. She cried with heartbreaking sorrow:
"Waaah— Uncle jackie! That bad guy! He not only took the rabbit talisman, but he also... he also took Super Moose! Said it was a greeting gift from me to Sister Enid."
"Wuwu... I don't even know any sister."
"It was a limited edition! I saved my allowance for so long to buy it! Wuwu... Big bad guy! Super big bad guy!"
Meanwhile, back at his hotel, Victor was triumphantly weighing the fluffy Super Moose plushie in his hand.
He imagined the delighted expression Enid would have upon receiving this gift, a genuine, happy smile spreading across his face.
"Heh heh, not a bad haul. Four talismans, plus a gift to make the girlfriend happy."
Elsewhere, in the top-floor office of the Dark Hand headquarters, the atmosphere was as oppressive as the sea before a storm.
"You're telling me..."
Holy Lord's voice finally sounded, carrying a suppressed, almost twisted calm.
"That damned thief... has already acquired four talismans in a single day?"
"Y-yes, Holy Lord."
Afan answered with gritted teeth, not daring to look up at the statue.
"We followed him secretly, trying to find an opportunity... and we saw Jackie Chan."
Rasu quickly chimed in, trying to redirect Holy Lord's wrath.
"Jackie Chan tried to steal the talisman from that guy's hands! Guess what happened? He didn't even get a single move in, got embedded directly in the wall! Even worse off than us!"
Chow added from the side, simultaneously elbowing the grimacing Andrew beside him.
"Didn't manage to steal the talisman, and the rabbit talisman he brought himself got swiped instead. Compared to that, Andrew at least exchanged a few blows with that guy."
Blood seeped slightly through the bandages wrapped around Andrew. Being elbowed in his injury by Chow made him suck in a sharp breath of pain.
If he hadn't reacted quickly earlier, grabbing a few Shadowkhan Ninjas to use as human shields against that monster's claw, he probably wouldn't be wearing bandages now, but lying directly in a coffin.
"Four talismans... so smoothly..."
Holy Lord fell silent, but this time, its thoughts were racing.
Too unusual.
Recalling the moment the young man appeared in the office, Holy Lord keenly caught a detail it had previously overlooked.
At that time, there seemed to be an extremely faint, almost imperceptible tremor within its body, as if something had been quietly drawn away.
The feeling was fleeting; at the time, it had merely thought it was a ripple of anger in the face of provocation.
Now, thinking back, perhaps it wasn't an illusion.
A bold, even somewhat crazy notion began to sprout and spread within Holy Lord's consciousness.
Dark... could it have chosen a new host?
That young man, acting erratically, defying convention, yet always achieving his goals through various absurd methods—didn't he perfectly embody the chaotic, rule-defying nature of dark chi?
If that were truly the case... this wasn't a bad thing at all, but a once-in-a-millennium opportunity!
It meant that Holy Lord, the demon representing dark chi, would no longer be the sole target relentlessly pursued by "good chi" and its chosen ones!
good chi's attention would be heavily diverted towards that new, even more unpredictable "Darling of Dark "!
Its chances of gaining freedom, reuniting the talismans, and restoring its peak power would increase dramatically!
Perhaps... we don't have to be his enemy anymore.
The red light in Holy Lord's eyes suddenly blazed intensely, like two burning hellfires. Its hoarse voice even carried a trace of an uncontrollable, almost gleeful tremor:
"Perhaps... we can try... cooperating with him."
These words struck like thunder in the ears of Valmont and his subordinates.
Valmont abruptly stopped in his tracks, looking at the statue on the wall in disbelief, his mouth agape but unable to utter a sound.
Cooperate? With that deranged thief who ransacked their headquarters, caused them heavy losses, and nearly got them all killed?
Had Holy Lord... gone mad with anger?
However, Holy Lord was already completely immersed in the ecstasy and infinite possibilities brought by this new line of thought.
Cooperate, use that "Darling of Dark " to draw fire, to create chaos, while it could calmly scheme from the shadows, waiting for the opportune moment to seize ultimate victory... "Yes... cooperation..."
Holy Lord chuckled lowly, the laughter echoing through the empty office, carrying a bone-chilling undertone.
"A marvelous cooperation... where each gets what they need."
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