Chapter 143 A Masked Deception Part Four

Blank-Faced Joe ordered his subordinate to hand him the remaining keys he lacked, and after looking at them for a long moment. His hand moved as he began assembling them in a mysterious way; this unknown fact was the last defensive wall to protect the treasury. The seven keys were in fact a hidden puzzle that needed a special assembling before they could open the door that led to the treasury.

After a minute of concentration, he managed to assemble the seven keys into a star shaped object, and his subordinate looked at him with awe as they didn't even know that the key needed to be used like this. A few of them couldn't help but feel shame as they had thought of treason when they dealt with the keys, but now they didn't feel any regret when they saw that they simply weren't qualified. His fluid action clearly showed them that he had dabbled with the seven keys more than once, as if he was one of their creators.

After assembling the keys, he got up and began walking toward the door of the treasury, and his hand began sliding along its rough surface. All over the door's body was Filthy Jade Palace's history, and he couldn't help but fall again in reminiscence before sliding the star shaped key into what seemed like a random dent in the door. A blinding light was projected from the door, and after a few clicking sound the sound of the door sliding spread through the floor. The door's weight made the entire floor shake during the entire ordeal, and it only stopped when it was fully opened.

"Guard this place, and wait for me. Do not enter through this door if you want to keep your head in place…", he exclaimed before entering the door. After a few seconds, he disappeared in the dark of the large treasury, and the minute sounds his steps made couldn't be heard anymore. After a few moments of silence, a few members of his team began voicing their dissatisfaction due to the weird event.

"We can't even follow there… Don't we deserve a little more trust for following him all those years!" one of them said as he kicked rubble away to empty his frustration.

Richard couldn't help but scold him, "Shut up! Do you need me to remind you of the first rule when following Joe?". He exclame while pointing toward the man who exclaimed.

"No, he is right…", one of them mumbled while clenching his fists. "All this bullshit of a trade is done, Filthy Jade Palace is no more, and we should get as many gains as he-" before he could even finish speaking, a bullet hurled through the room. It swiftly pierced through the space between his eyebrow, destroyed his brain in an instant and left through the back of his head. This made a splash on the wall behind him with a mixture of the broken skull, grey matter, and blood.

"We don't question… We follow!" Richard exclaimed as his grip tightened on his rifle. He was aware that greed could be birthed in a man's heart when met with certain conditions, and that was just in sane civilized humans. The individuals in front of him were cold blooded murderers that had dealt with the Core's shadiest business. He knew that whatever Joe was doing, he couldn't be bothered by the pleads from greedy followers and had decided to deal with it in his own way.

Thankfully after his intervention, no other discontentment was voiced as the rest of the team sat in what was left in the room. The open space filled with a desk that had been turned into a battlefield, turned to silence as the gang member waited for their leader.

Blank-Faced Joe advanced through the darkness, and his memory led him through the path to the heart of the treasury. As the treasury of Filthy Jade Palace, it was quite big in size and contained several rooms for different things to secure. He was interested in the room that contained Pandora's Box, and that needed him to tread in the maze like path of the treasury before reaching it. As the treasure that had created Filthy Jade Palace, it had been hidden in the treasury to avoid constant mutineer from the general and to avoid birthing greed easily in their hearts. Thus keeping them in check, and avoiding many inconvenient events in Filthy Jade Palace's history. But he knew where to go, and his silent steps effortlessly took him inside the maze without the need of any other sense.

After what seemed like he was mindlessly turning around for a few minutes, he finally came to a stop in one of the many random paths of the treasury. His hand traced the wall to his left as he sensed his surroundings; he had stopped when he felt what he had been looking for. A tiny bump in the steely wall was right under his palm, he pressed on it with all his might, and the protuberance sunk into the wall with difficulty. A click resounded through the path as he felt that the bump completely sank on the wall and after that, several other clicks happened as if something was being lifted.

A door appeared out of nowhere in the darkness; he smirked before stepping inside as he felt that the long journey was close to its end. He didn't know why he was doing all of this. In the end, he knew that Pandora's Box had been empty all those years. It was his idea, and even with that, he felt a type of calling from it. As if after all those years, the lie had turned into reality and Pandora's Box had gained a treasure out of nowhere. This type of thinking was completely contrary to his habits, but he couldn't brush it off and felt the need to finally open it. He was ending Filthy Jade Palace's history by his own hands.