He steered his staff and concealed his figure as he passed through one heavily guarded city gate after another.
It was like traveling through completely different worlds.
He saw everything, from the outermost refugee district with its overflowing sewage, shacks, and numb stares, to the commoner district where houses were more orderly but people were weary, and finally to the scantily clad ladies of the night soliciting business on street corners while drifting between wealthy mansions.
He clearly witnessed the naked and cruel class divide of the City-State Era.
Each ring was a massive chasm, strictly separating people.
The area of the Carter Royal Capital was astonishingly vast.
Lin Gui followed the central axis and flew through several gates for a full twenty minutes before arriving at the entrance to the wealthy residential district.
As the social class increased, the strength of the gate guards became increasingly powerful.
The soldiers guarding the Fourth Ring gate had actually reached the High-tier Transcendent rank.
They even had a High-tier Transcendent perception-type mage stationed there.
His sharp eyes scanned every single person who entered.
Lin Gui drifted silently over the mage's head.
He went straight into the wealthy residential district of the Fourth Ring.
The scene here was entirely different from the outer areas.
The streets were paved with white stone slabs.
The shop windows on both sides displayed glittering jewelry and fine clothing.
The air was filled with the scents of spices and fresh flowers.
Villas of various styles were dotted throughout meticulously maintained gardens.
The pedestrians, regardless of gender, wore clothes made of high-quality materials and exquisite tailoring.
Their faces bore the composure and arrogance belonging to the upper class.
Lin Gui randomly chose a magnificent restaurant.
He silently climbed onto the tall beams inside.
Then, he began to wait patiently.
He was waiting for a "show" that took place almost every day without fail.
He used this show to deepen his own disgust, ensuring that he could take what he wanted with a clear conscience.
Sure enough, it wasn't long before a sharp, mean-spirited stream of verbal abuse drifted up from below.
In a corner of the magnificent restaurant lobby, a crystal chandelier cast a dazzling light.
A noblewoman dressed in a velvet gown and adorned with pearls and gems on her neck and wrists was pointing a silk-gloved hand sharply at a young server.
The boy looked to be no more than fifteen or sixteen years old; he currently had his head lowered deeply, his body trembling slightly with fear.
The silver tray he had been holding lay on the floor.
A glass of expensive red wine had spilled, leaving a dark red stain on the polished marble floor.
"You filthy, blind, lowly creature!"
The noblewoman's voice was high and shrill.
"Do you have any idea how much this dress is worth? You couldn't afford an inch of the hem even if you sold your entire family!"
One of her friends covered her mouth with a feathered fan.
She let out a soft laugh, her eyes sparkling with the pleasure of someone watching a play.
As a noble, she thoroughly enjoyed the fun of trashing others.
This was far more interesting than going to the theater to watch those boring knight operas or royal epics.
The boy murmured in a voice as soft as a mosquito.
"I-I'm sorry, Madam... It's because you suddenly turned around, and I..."
"You dare talk back?!"
The noblewoman reacted like a cat that had stepped on a tail, her voice becoming even more piercing.
"Are you saying it's my fault?!"
"As expected of a cockroach that crawled out of the refugee district, you don't even understand the most basic etiquette or social standing!"
"Scum like you should stay in the sewers of the Seventh Ring where you belong."
"Who gave you permission to come here and pollute the air?"
Her mean-spirited words struck the boy like a whip, lash after lash.
He bit his lower lip tightly, almost to the point of drawing blood.
His eyes were blood-red, but he didn't dare let a single tear fall.
The noblewoman caught the approving glances from her friends out of the corner of her eye, making her feel even more triumphant.
She lifted her chin and disdainfully kicked the broken glass fragments on the floor with the toe of her shoe.
"Look at what you've done! Truly unlucky! Where is the manager? Call your manager here!"
"I will make sure you are kicked out of here today, and I'll let you know the price for offending a noble!"
Her performance became even more intense; every expression and every gesture was filled with exaggerated anger and contempt.
It was as if the trembling youth hadn't just accidentally spilled wine, but had committed some unpardonable crime.
All of this was merely the daily entertainment of the nobility.
They derived great enjoyment from the sense of superiority gained by trampling over those weaker than themselves.
In the shadows, Lin Gui watched the situation unfold in silence.
Once the noblewoman had finished her venting, she held her head high like a victorious peacock and led her friends out of the restaurant.
Lin Gui quietly trailed behind her, and as he passed a salvage station, he picked up a wooden crate.
Soon, they arrived at the noblewoman's home.
It was a three-story villa with a private garden located in a quiet neighborhood.
The woman's return immediately drew the diligent attention of several maids.
Lin Gui followed her and wandered through the flamboyantly decorated interior of the villa, getting a general sense of the layout.
Taking advantage of the noisy moment when the noblewoman gathered her friends for an afternoon tea party, Lin Gui began to move.
He scanned the entire villa quickly and silently.
Soon, he followed a steward carrying a ring of keys and found the goal of his trip.
It was a storehouse in a side wing of the basement, with seven or eight different types of large locks hanging on the door.
He slipped into the storehouse following the steward.
Inside were glittering jewels and accessories, far superior to what he had scavenged in Caran.
As the steward turned around to inventory a new batch of porcelain, Lin Gui struck.
In a corner, a small mountain of neatly stacked gold coins vanished into thin air.
Several shimmering gemstone necklaces on the display shelves quietly disappeared.
The steward seemed to sense a slight change in the air.
He sneezed and looked around suspiciously, but found no one.
He glanced toward the exit, then stuffed a small gold ring into his pocket.
"Cough, cough. Auntie is so rich, but she doesn't know how to share even a little with her nephew..."
"Leaving the money here is just a waste anyway."
"I might as well go spend some at the Nightingale and Rose."
"I can even help propagate the Doron family branch."
"Cough, cough. I'll just take a tiny bit."
Listening to the little steward's words, Lin Gui silently lowered the brick he had been holding over the man's head.
He thought to himself that if the man was going to take something, he should be thorough about it.
That way, when someone checked later, the evidence of his crime would be solidified.
Lin Gui controlled two other strings of pearl necklaces that looked even more valuable and tucked them gently into the inner pocket of the steward's coat.
After making this small "gesture of thanks," Lin Gui began to loot even more brazenly.
One pile of gold coins after another flew up and vanished.
To help the little steward cover up the evidence of his crime, Lin Gui thoughtfully stuffed the wooden boxes beneath the piles of gold coins.
This propped up the remaining gold, making the inventory look mostly intact.
A moment later, he followed the secretly delighted and completely oblivious steward out of the storehouse.
After leaving the villa, Lin Gui didn't stop there.
Instead, he made a circuit around the wealthy district.
He drifted into an opera house, a massage parlor, a racecourse, and a pleasure house...
Soon, Lin Gui locked onto several more targets.
Unfortunately, no kind-hearted steward appeared to help him open the storehouses.
Just as Lin Gui was about to leave the home of a wealthy merchant involved in slave trafficking, a black-clad assassin flipped through the window with agile movements.
He landed directly at Lin Gui's feet.
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