Chapter 27
“If Miss Xia'er can find two more guarantors, I can vouch for you.”
Xia'er replied, “Oh? Well then, thank you.”
So, it’s a straightforward... rob the bank and walk away?
A few minutes later, Xia'er was striding toward the city center, dragging a sack nearly half her size.
The city center was the financial hub, bustling with large banks, chambers of commerce, and insurance companies.
Xia'er decided to wait until the last ten minutes of the simulation to pull off a big score!
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**Chapter 27: The Standard Deviation of Charlie Bank (Part One)**
“Want to grab a bite after work?”
“Not sure, maybe check out some food in Bole City.”
“Bole food? I’ve lived here for 48 years and never heard of any delicacies from Bole... does fish head soup count?”
“Uh... definitely not!”
“Hahaha... By the way, I remember your home is quite close to Bell Tower Alley, right? You should be careful not to go near there lately; I saw in the news that there’s an unknown epidemic, and quite a few people have died...”
“Thanks for your concern, Manager...”
In the lobby of Charlie Bank, a middle-aged man in a three-piece suit was chatting and laughing with a young woman in a professional skirt suit who had just joined the bank.
His name was Pauli, and he had just been promoted to bank manager yesterday, feeling quite pleased with himself.
With the enthusiasm of a new official, Pauli couldn’t sit still in the manager’s office; he spent the entire day moving around, trying to invite more people to his promotion party that evening.
At 48, becoming a manager was quite an achievement; if he worked hard for a few more years and delivered results, he might even be transferred to the headquarters in Ansu.
A bright future awaited him, and Pauli felt he was living up to an old saying from Ansu—“riding high”—which meant achieving great success.
Just then, the luxurious revolving door at the front swung open, and Pauli turned to see a girl dressed simply but carrying a large sack.
“Stay sharp, little girl, we have a customer,” Pauli said, patting the receptionist on the shoulder, stepping back to assess her performance.
At the same time, he scrutinized the beautiful girl with red hair, trying to gauge her intentions with the keen eye of a banker.
Her fingers were delicate, her clothes clean—she didn’t look like a child laborer. She was strikingly beautiful, yet her demeanor was calm and understated, exuding an air of noble composure.
She must have received a good education, but one couldn’t judge a person’s background solely by their appearance; that sack she carried might be filled with bundles of hundred-dollar Su pounds.
Pauli had heard that many wealthy gem merchants were quite low-key, and Bole City was the largest gem processing center, home to the biggest gem companies and factories. He began to speculate which wealthy family this girl might belong to.
“Hello, welcome to Pauli Bank. May I ask what business you have, Miss?” The receptionist stood up, smiling at the girl, her eyes reflecting a hint of envy.
“I’d like to see the manager,” the red-haired girl said, extending her hand and placing a gold pound on the desk, pushing it toward the receptionist.
A tip of 1 gold pound right off the bat?!
A big client!
“Thank you for your generosity, Miss.” The receptionist quickly pocketed the gold pound and turned to Pauli, unhesitatingly revealing his position.
Pauli stepped forward a few paces, now even more convinced that the red-haired girl was a rich heiress.
Speaking of performance, wasn’t it just delivered to his doorstep?
Truly, the goddess was looking out for him.
“Dear Miss, my name is Pauli, the manager of Charlie Bank’s Bole branch. How may I assist you?” Pauli approached the girl, leaning slightly forward and bending his knees a bit to show enough respect to the petite girl.
“It’s my first time at a bank,” the girl looked up at Pauli and smiled, “I’d like to deposit some money.”
“Of course, no problem. Are you a new client? Have your father or mother ever opened an account at Pauli Bank?” Pauli turned slightly, gesturing with his right hand toward the main hall behind him, “Please, follow me.”
The lobby was grand, made of marble and adorned with massive decorative columns, while the main hall behind it remained spacious, with a dozen independent counters where many people were conducting business, looking both professional and efficient.
“Where will my money be stored?” the girl asked curiously, following Pauli.
“Of course, it will be kept in our underground vault. To put it frankly, we have the most secure security system in all of Bole City. Whether it’s valuables or cash, storing it here is absolutely safe,” Pauli replied patiently and professionally, not showing any disdain for the girl’s somewhat naive question.
“What if I want to deposit a large amount of gold pounds? Will it also go into the underground vault?” Xia'er inquired.
“Gold pounds?” Pauli was a bit surprised. Generally, large transactions were settled in Su pounds; gold pounds were often used for less-than-transparent gray market dealings.
“Absolutely, our underground vault has the largest reserve of gold pounds in all of Bole City, and our confidentiality measures are top-notch, which is why clients trust us,” Pauli said proudly. “Even some jewelers store their priceless gems with us.”
“Oh?” Hearing this, the girl’s eyes lit up, then she asked with a hint of skepticism, “Is it really safe?”
“Of course it’s safe! Our vault has the most advanced combination locks, and we change them weekly. Even the previous manager wouldn’t know the pattern; only I and the highest chairman know the weekly codes. Even I just received the code moments ago.”
Pauli, sensing the girl’s doubt, quickly explained, “As long as I’m guarding the code, no one can break into the vault!”
“I, Pauli, swear by the goddess that even if I’m shot dead, I would rather bite my tongue than reveal the code to anyone!”
“I understand,” the girl nodded. In the shadow beneath her, a brand-new revolver slowly rose, pressing against Pauli’s forehead.
The girl parted her lips slightly.
“Don’t move, it’s a robbery.”
...
A shadow slowly rose from Xia'er’s silhouette, holding a revolver to Pauli’s forehead. At that moment, many in the hall were still unaware of what was happening.
Another revolver was handed to Xia'er, and like a scene from a movie, she raised her right hand high and pulled the trigger toward the ceiling.
Bang—!
“Everyone, get down! Move, and I’ll shoot!”
The ornate crystal chandelier shattered under the gunfire, crystals raining down with the sound of breaking glass, and screams erupted, sending the entire lobby into chaos.
Xia'er frowned slightly; the situation was not what she had envisioned.
No wonder others brought several gunmen to rob banks; doing it alone was indeed hard to control.
However, the panicking crowd also obstructed the security personnel’s line of fire. Xia'er decided to act quickly; even if she couldn’t leave after robbing the bank, she just needed to fill that sack with something from the vault.
“Take me to the vault, hurry,” Xia'er pointed the gun at Pauli, while the shadow swiftly moved through the crowd, shooting directly at a nearby security guard.
Gunfire erupted, and a sweating Pauli trembled under the girl’s sharp gaze as he led her forward, arriving at a heavy iron door at the back of the main hall.
Two security guards stood by the iron door. The moment they heard the gunfire, they raised their double-barreled shotguns and blew their whistles.
When they saw Xia'er and Pauli, they momentarily didn’t realize the girl was a robber. By the time they reacted, an unseen shadow had already knocked them down with two punches, and the shotguns in their hands were snatched away.
“Miss, please, don’t kill me! I have an elderly parent and young children to care for...” Pauli’s voice trembled, now tinged with desperation as he pleaded with the girl behind him.
The chaotic gunfire and the fallen officers made Pauli certain this was no mere trick—he had encountered the legendary “messenger of the goddess.” But why would the messenger of the goddess come to rob a bank?
Outside the bank, alarms were already blaring. In less than five minutes, a large number of police officers would surround the place. Even if this girl had extraordinary abilities, she wouldn’t be able to escape... but before the police arrived, Pauli had to save his own life.
“I’ll take you there, I’ll take you there...” Pauli trembled as he fumbled for the keys at his waist, deliberately slowing down to buy time, but the next moment, with a bang, a gunshot rang out, and a searing pain shot through his toe.
“Hurry up, I don’t have much patience,” Xia'er’s cold voice came from behind.
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