Tang Xiaoman lifted a pair of binoculars and scanned the night sky, but visibility was poor. Nothing unusual stood out.

Zhou Yichen steered the assault boat to their destination, checked the location on his phone, and said, “This is the street. There should be at least three gold and jewelry stores here.”

Tang Xiaoman pulled out two sets of diving gear from her space, and the two of them quickly suited up.

Before going under, she deliberately tied a rope around both their waists.

The underwater environment was unpredictable. If a flash flood hit, she might not have time to drag Zhou Yichen into her space, and that could cost him his life. With the rope, at least she wouldn’t lose him.

She slung an oxygen tank over her back. Just before putting on her mask, she curled her lips into a mischievous, teasing smile at Zhou Yichen.
“No matter where I go, I like keeping you tied to my waist.”

Zhou Yichen: “…”

He didn’t react as strongly as before. He just gave her a look that was hard to read.

*What kind of trauma did the boss go through before this? Always messing with people like this…* he thought. *Honestly, I’d rather she just kept dangling empty promises in front of me like at the beginning.*

He sighed inwardly. *Well, when you end up with a boss like this, you just get used to it.*

Tang Xiaoman raised a brow. Huh. He was unusually calm.

She had expected him to panic and try to break free of the rope.

Looks like he was developing immunity to her antics.

*How boring.*

*

Fully equipped, the two of them dove underwater.

They arrived at the first gold shop. Zhou Yichen moved with practiced ease, breaking the lock and yanking up the security shutter.

Then he took the hammer Tang Xiaoman handed him from her space and smashed it straight into the glass door.

Crack!

The glass shattered in moments. He kicked the broken door open, and the two of them slipped inside without obstruction.

The waterproof headlamps on their helmets cast sharp beams of light through the murky water.

Inside the display cases lay gold, platinum, palladium, silver—along with all kinds of gemstone and jade jewelry.

Tang Xiaoman worked swiftly, sweeping everything into her space: gold bracelets, platinum crowns, silver bowls, agate jars, diamond necklaces, jade pendants, ornamental carvings… nothing was spared.

Zhou Yichen carried a cloth sack, moving just as fast. It filled up in no time.

Their coordination was seamless. In the shortest time possible, they stripped the store clean.

Once the display cases were emptied, Tang Xiaoman took the bulging sack from Zhou Yichen and tossed it into her space. Then she pulled out a crowbar.

She pried open the safes in the shop.

Under the bright beam of her headlamp, something dazzling caught her eye—a necklace known as *Ocean’s Heart*.

Each sapphire was flawless, crystalline, shimmering with shifting light. It was breathtaking.

“Whoa…” Tang Xiaoman couldn’t help but gasp in admiration. For a moment, she almost wanted to keep it.

But she knew—anything she put into her space would be absorbed.

As she hesitated, Zhou Yichen stepped in and collected it for her.

Tang Xiaoman nodded, increasingly pleased with this sharp and capable subordinate.

*Definitely giving him a bonus this month.*

*

They went on to loot three jewelry stores in a row.

When their oxygen tanks ran low, Tang Xiaoman pulled Zhou Yichen into her space, swapped out the tanks, and sent them back out again.

After three stores, they had no idea how much gold, silver, jade, and jewelry they’d taken.

By the end, whenever Tang Xiaoman closed her eyes, she saw nothing but a dazzling sea of jewels—like stepping into a fairy tale treasure vault.

In the past, these pieces could have been worth a fortune.

Now, they were nothing more than fuel for her space.

In the apocalypse, jewelry was far less valuable than food—and its value would only continue to plummet as disasters escalated.

Tang Xiaoman already had enough supplies.

What she needed now was more space—so she could stockpile even more.

An hour later, exhausted, the two of them surfaced—

Only to find their assault boat gone.

From somewhere above, the distant hum of a helicopter echoed through the night. This time, it was clearer—almost directly overhead.

Tang Xiaoman’s heart sank. She grabbed Zhou Yichen and dove back under instantly, pulling them into her space without hesitation.

Almost at the same moment—

Gunfire cracked through the air.

A burst of bullets tore through the exact spot where they had just surfaced.

Inside a low-hovering helicopter, Gu Heng lowered his sniper rifle and ordered coldly, “Descend and hover. Send two men down to check. I want to see a body—alive or dead.”

He was confident in his marksmanship. But without a body floating up, something didn’t sit right with him.

The helicopter descended, hovering three to four meters above the water.

Two bodyguards tossed down an inflatable kayak and awkwardly rappelled down.

One misjudged and splashed straight into the water. The other landed on the kayak—but nearly capsized it with the impact.

Fortunately, both were wearing life jackets. They scrambled clumsily back into position.

“Useless trash!” Gu Heng snapped. “Search the area! I want confirmation—dead or alive!”

This time, he had gone all in.

He’d even rented a helicopter and come personally.

There could be no mistakes.

*

Inside her space, Tang Xiaoman observed the outside through her mind.

She quickly spotted the kayak and the two men aboard it, scanning the water and occasionally firing shots into it.

Above them hovered the helicopter—Gu Heng inside, peering down, searching.

So he’d been tracking her since shortly after she left Tianlai Villa.

Tang Xiaoman let out a cold laugh. “Well, well. Quite the resources. Still got helicopters to spare? Perfect—my space just expanded again. I’ve got room for as many as you bring.”

She took out the sniper rifle she’d seized from the assassin and handed it to Zhou Yichen.
“You take out the pilot. I’ll handle those two idiots.”

Without the pilot, the helicopter wouldn’t be going anywhere.

It would be hers.

As for Gu Heng?

She would make sure he died far worse than Su Ke.

“Got it.” Zhou Yichen was completely confident in his sniping skills. He had never missed.

Tang Xiaoman gripped her handgun, chambered a round, ready to unleash.

Still in their diving suits, they slipped back out of the space.

They had entered the space underwater—and now reemerged the same way, concealed beneath the surface, waiting for the perfect moment.

Zhou Yichen adjusted his position, searching for the ideal angle to take out the pilot.

Since they were tied together by the rope, Tang Xiaoman had to move in sync with him.

Above them, the kayak drifted back and forth. One shot, and she could easily take out those two clumsy brutes.

But to avoid alerting the helicopter, she held back, waiting for Zhou Yichen to fire first.

He found his angle—

Just as he was about to shoot—

The water suddenly surged violently.

What had been relatively clear floodwater turned murky in an instant, churning like the sea, pushing with overwhelming force.

A deep, rumbling roar echoed from below, as if something massive was sweeping toward them.

A wave slammed into them, throwing both off balance.

If not for the rope binding them together, they might have been torn apart by the current.

Zhou Yichen tightened his grip on the precious sniper rifle and turned to find Tang Xiaoman—

But the water had grown so thick and muddy that he couldn’t see her at all, even though she was right beside him.