Apparently, this carriage didn't have any springs, so the ride was incredibly bumpy.
Before the dog-headed man could react, his head slammed directly into the ceiling. His face contorted in pain for a second, and almost subconsciously, his heart lurched. 'This is bad...'
The next moment, he found that Chu Bamboo had snatched the handgun from his grasp with a single, fluid motion. It was so impossibly smooth, as if he had been about to hand the gun over himself. It even gave him the bizarre illusion that Chu Bamboo must have practiced this move many times before...
The dog-headed man: "...Wha—?!"
...
「An empty backstreet.」
"...Wha—?!" The young man stared, dumbfounded. He glanced at the departing carriage, then back at the second floor, and the reality of the situation suddenly hit him. He was on the verge of tears.
"I... Wait, no! They saw it. They must have seen it and gotten scared, right? I... I haven't erased that part of their memory yet!"
"It's over. I've screwed up this badly during my internship? Can I still get a permanent position? Nooo!!!"
"Wait, don't run! I honestly don't mean any harm..."
The young man gave chase in anguish, but his physical fitness was clearly no different from that of an ordinary person.
Before long, he was left far behind by the carriage.
Chu Bamboo hummed a song, toying with the handgun. He wasn't even looking at the two horses, casually cracking the whip to the left and right. Yet he drove with the magnificent air of a reincarnated Song Taizong, his god-tier driving skills making the two horses gallop wherever he willed.
"...I give up!" After a long while, the dog-headed man broke his silence. Perhaps it was because the bump on his head had finally stopped throbbing, allowing him to think clearly. He finally spoke.
"So, what's your game? A hostile takeover? Or something else... Heh. To think that after all the years my brothers and I have been in the game, we'd end up getting taken down by you."
"No, no, no," Chu Bamboo said, wagging the gun gently. "Like I said, I don't have any major ill will toward you."
"You're not going to kill me? Is that even possible? We're not kids anymore. Don't say things that wouldn't even fool a three-year-old," the dog-headed man scoffed.
He continued asking, as if he had nothing left to lose. "What was that just now? A Superpower User? Looked like they were planning to raid the bank through the pipes... Heh. I never thought things like that actually existed! Why haven't I ever run into one before?"
"I've robbed banks before... Is it because I only ever hit banks in small towns? Jinghai City... truly lives up to its name as one of the three major international financial hubs of the East!"
"Ugh..." Chu Bamboo's eye twitched. 'The reason a Superpower User showed up,' he mused internally, glancing at the key and map he'd set aside, 'is because of these... Simply robbing a bank wouldn't be enough to make the Officials deploy that kind of force...' However, he didn't say any more on the subject.
"Don't worry. Your men will be caught, but their lives won't be in danger for the time being," Chu Bamboo reassured him. After a short pause, he continued, "But back to my question: do you want to know how Zhang Xun died?"
The dog-headed man stared at Chu Bamboo for a long moment, then closed his eyes. Finally, he said, "Just tell me what you want us to do. If you have a way to save my men, I'll risk my life for you!"
"Perfect." Chu Bamboo clapped his hands, a look of delight on his face. 'Most people in this situation wouldn't trust the person in front of them, but I'm different.' He knew the dog-headed man was a boss who kept his word and was fiercely loyal. Otherwise, it would've been impossible to put together a crew daring enough to rob a bank in this day and age.
Chu Bamboo casually tossed the gun back.
"...Wha—?!" The dog-headed man had lost count of how many times he'd been shocked today. He shot Chu Bamboo several glances, but he didn't go back on his word. He just silently tucked the gun into his waistband and went to check on the condition of his subordinate, the bear-headed man.
「After more than half an hour of bumpy travel.」
"Officer, we're headin' out... right, right, we're farmers!" the dog-headed man said, meekly presenting his farmer's identification. His speech was a jumbled mess, making him look exactly like an uneducated, honest-to-a-fault commoner.
"This carriage..." The Gatekeeper, dressed in a sloppy uniform, gave it a once-over, his eyes narrowing.
The carriage looked completely different now. The enclosed compartment had been dismantled, its planks stacked on the flatbed... Moreover, the vehicle was now being pulled by a donkey. As for the two horses, they were, of course, still stabled back in the city!
"Officer... about that..." The dog-headed man gave an embarrassed smile and pulled two copper plates from his robes.
"Hmph! Who wants these two measly coins?" Despite his complaining, he pocketed the money. The Gatekeeper glanced over at Chu Bamboo, whose unchanged clothes stood in stark contrast to the fresh attire of the dog-headed man and bear-headed man. The Gatekeeper found it a bit odd, but didn't want to cause trouble. He waved his hand impatiently. "Scram."
'This era is really something else!' Chu Bamboo was at a loss for words. 'The bank gets robbed, and the city gates aren't even sealed? Granted, some of the robbers are still in the city and have probably already been captured, but still...'
"So, where are we headed?" the dog-headed man asked.
"Head toward the sun, then follow the map," Chu Bamboo said lazily, tossing the map to the dog-headed man as well.
"..." The dog-headed man truly had no idea what this guy was playing at. 'So, he actually wants me to help him carry out the rest of the plan now that he has the map and key? But he didn't want to pay for the job, so he pulled all that crap earlier...? Huh?'
'No... It can't be, right?'
'This is outrageous!'
'But that seems to be the only logical explanation right now?!'
'What have I done to deserve running into a freak like this? He's an animal!'
He could curse all he wanted internally, but the dog-headed man still obediently started driving, checking the map as he went. Of course, part of the reason was his persistent obsession with the cause of his father's death.
"The Big Boss," the bear-headed man began tentatively.
The dog-headed man looked over at him. "???"
"Boss... well, I figure he's your boss now! So doesn't that make him my boss's boss?" Sensing the dog-headed man's confusion, the bear-headed man explained with simple honesty. "The Big Boss?"
"I...!" The dog-headed man choked. A thousand retorts died in his throat, and in the end, he could only nod in silent resignation.
"I know what you're going to ask!" Chu Bamboo's eye twitched. Even after going through this a few times, hearing that title still made him subconsciously think of those brick-like cell phones from the Real World.
Sighing, he explained, "Don't wonder why you never ran into anyone like that when you robbed banks before. And don't be surprised that you've never even heard of Superpower Users."
"Because, theoretically, they're beings from another world... Normal people aren't supposed to know about them. And they don't interfere in ordinary matters... ahem, and yes, robbing a bank counts as an ordinary matter."
"Theoretically, if you'd robbed the bank and gotten away, and the police couldn't catch you, they wouldn't have gotten involved."