“You didn’t even tell me what the plan is,” Liu Ye questioned, knowing Queen Luna was too hot-headed to follow her without hesitation.

“Can’t you just trust me?” Queen Luna asked, before sighing when Liu Ye remained silent. “The plan is simple. We are going to sneak out of here, teleport to one of our border cities before acting as trades as we travel to the Fire Empire. I want to rob one of their Treasure Vaults before returning back. Quick sneaky action for high reward. I will later give you 10% of all the goods we can steal.”

[Ding! New Hidden Quest available: Queen Luna’s Plan.]

As soon as Queen Luna finished speaking, Liu Ye’s arm vibrated, announcing her mission on a virtual screen.

[Queen Luna’s Plan]

[The Queen of the Earth Empire plans to weaken their enemies and needs your help. Follow her and rob the Treasure Vault in one of the Fire Land’s main cities. Kill all witnesses and avoid getting caught or you will risk starting a war and become wanted by the Fire Empire.]

[Difficulty: SSS]

[Quest Clear Conditions: Empty the Treasure Vault unnoticed.]

[Clear Reward: 10% of the stolen goods.]

[Quest Failure: 50,000 Gold Bounty on the Player’s head. A month of jail if caught in the act.]

[Would you like to accept the Quest?]

“Damn…” Liu Ye cursed under his breath with his eyes widening as he read through the Quest. “Are you really trying to rob a Treasure Vault with just the two of us?”

With just one look at the Quest difficulty, he knew it wouldn’t be a walk in the park. The penalties were also ruthless enough to think twice before deciding.

“That’s right. The fewer people the better,” Queen Luna replied with a shrug. “I also told you I want to strike where it will hurt. Stealing their money and precious items will cripple the economy of one of their main Cities. Naturally, we cannot be discovered, or else both of us will end up badly. We need to make it seem like an inside job to even further destabilize them.”

She pointed up at the map and a small rock moved to one of the bigger cities near the Earth and Fire land border. “That’s our target, the Dragon City at the mountain range by the border. It has the highest security, but the guards won’t expect anything. Who normal would mess around in the City with the highest amount of soldiers?”

“You already have everything planned, huh?” Liu Ye questioned while pointing at the entrance. “What about Ra? You don’t plan to tell anyone about it?”

“I actually planned to bring Ra with me but I was worried he will rat me out to my Uncle,” Queen Luna replied with a snicker. “They would definitely supervise me all day and night to prevent me from going anywhere. I could still escape but my departure would alert everyone.”

She walked up to him again and poked his chest with a finger. “So? Are you coming with me or are you a coward?”

“Such provocations don’t affect me,” Liu Ye replied casually as he pulled her finger away. “I will naturally accept your offer as long as the benefits are right.”

Queen Luna raised her eyebrows. “Is ten percent not good enough for you? I’m just going to use you as an excuse to leave the palace and then sneak into the Dragon City. I will handle all the killing and breaking into the vault. Ten percent is more than enough for this job.”

“Right now the risks outweigh the rewards from this mission. If I were to be discovered, the Fire Empire will send everyone after me and I will go to jail if they catch me. You can escape easily in case of emergency but I can’t. I think it’s fair to say that I’m in greater danger than you are,” Liu Ye explained calmly. “I suggest we change the distribution of the rewards.”

Queen Luna pursed her lips with interest as she wrapped her arms together. “Go on. Tell me how much you think you are worth.”

“Merit system and a flat fee,” Liu Ye proposed confidently. “Once we are done with the mission, you will judge my performance and give me as much as you think I deserve. Aside from that, I will receive an up-front payment of 10,000 gold. I am sure that shouldn’t be an issue for you.”

“And what if your performance doesn’t satisfy me? Won’t I just lose 10,000 gold?” Queen Luna asked without beating around the bush but Liu Ye wasn’t any different.

“Don’t hire me then.”

His response cause Queen Luna to pause in wonder as their gazes clashed and she walked towards a big wooden chest near her bed. To Liu Ye’s surprise, it was filled to the brim with small bags full of shiny coins. She threw ten bags to his feet and smiled. “You got yourself a deal.”

[Ding! You accepted a Hidden Quest: Queen Luna’s Plan. The Quest will be deemed as a failure if you separate from Queen Luna by a thousand meters.]

The quest got accepted automatically when Liu Ye touched the bags of gold and a few new conditions appeared. Not only did he have to stick to Queen Luna right away but if he dared to run away with the money, she would become his enemy and the Earth Empire would hunt him down. It was a fair rule so Liu Ye didn’t complain. Even if he died in the process of the quest, he was still left with 10,000 gold in his pockets.

“Alright, what is the action plan? Are we going to just leave through the entrance?” Liu Ye asked as he put his bandana back on.

Queen Luna simply threw the question back at him. “That is what I should be asking. I need an excuse to leave or else my uncle will try to stop me.”

Liu Ye looked around the room and approached the window to check how easy it would be to escape. Seeing they could easily jump down on the palace roof and then fly over the palace walls, he decided to go on with the most believable idea.

“Can you strip again?”