In December, Zhonghai City's days are short and its nights are long. Just after six o'clock, the sky outside gradually darkens, and streetlights along both sides of the road begin to light up, allowing the city to continue shining. Crowds of people leaving work fill the streets and alleys of this metropolis like a huge spiderweb, with various sounds echoing in the urban air.

"Whoa..." Zhuang Rui pulled down the shop's roller door halfway, carrying several metal boxes filled with items and sealed with tape to the counter. He casually shut the safety door. The stuff inside these boxes was worth millions. Usually, two security guards and Zhuang Rui would handle it together, but today was the weekend, and the security company had called them back for training.

The workday was coming to an end. Although it wasn't very busy, Zhuang Rui, a young man, still showed signs of fatigue on his face. Perhaps it was because it was the end of the year, and he hadn't been home for a year; Zhuang Rui felt a bit homesick.

Zhuang Rui is 24 years old and was born into a single-parent family in an ancient city in northern Jiangsu. Standing at 1.8 meters tall, although his appearance is not particularly handsome, his smile gives off a friendly feeling. His every gesture exudes calmness and maturity, making him appear older than his actual age.

During his college years, Zhuang Rui was also a lively person. However, after graduating, things didn't go smoothly for him, which made Zhuang Rui much more reserved and mature. Besides yelling at certain teams during soccer games, he spent most of his time after work reading historical novels in his rented apartment. He just bought "The Emperor Kangxi" by Yuehe a few days ago. If he wasn't worried about it being inappropriate, he would have even brought it to the office to read.

In 2000, Zhuang Rui graduated from a well-known university's finance and accounting major in Zhonghai City. According to reason, college graduates at that time were not worried about getting married, it was not difficult to find a job, but Zhuang Rui's luck was not very good. A few days after graduation, he fell ill and missed the civil service exam that year. After recovering from his illness, he worked for a few days in a small company in his hometown. He didn't feel like there was much room for development, so he returned to Zhonghai and joined this pawnshop as an accountant.

Generally, private companies prefer experienced financial professionals, while government departments often prioritize connections. When Zhuang Rui first arrived in Zhonghai, he couldn't find a suitable job for over a month. It was finally through the help of Zhuang Rui's college classmate and former dorm leader at Zhonghai University that he landed a position at this newly established pawnshop.

Speaking of pawnshops, people's first impression is probably that they are pawn shops. When you think of a pawn shop, the phrase "moth-eaten and rat-bitten, with broken boards, ragged coats" from the recently aired TV show immediately comes to mind.

Actually, with the development of the times, pawn shops have become multi-functional places that integrate financing, treasure hunting, and storage.

In the pawn shop where Zhuang Rui works, the area for high-end pawned goods displays items such as diamond rings, jade bracelets, and brand-name watches. Because the price charged for these items is generally about half their original value, once these items are pawned off, the selling price will only be slightly higher than the price at which they were pawned. This holds a great appeal for those who may not have large sums of money but still desire branded luxury goods.

Zhuang Rui had seen many handsome men wearing gold and silver, but when he came here, he directly pawned all the jewelry he didn't like, and then went to the pawnshop area to find the items he liked. In this way, not only did the pawned goods circulate, but it also avoided the situation of capital accumulation.

The staff structure of the pawn shop is quite simple. Master Te, the chief appraiser, also serves as the manager. There are two young appraisers who returned from abroad, mainly responsible for appraising foreign artworks and luxury goods. They are all in their thirties and have been in this circle for a while. They are graduates of specialized institutions, but these two often look down on Master Te and refuse to get along with him. In addition, there's the cashier Xu Ling and the sales clerks at the pawn area.

Master Ma DeLin, nicknamed "DeShu," was a clerk at a pawnshop in ZhongHai before liberation. Afterward, he continued to work in the field of cultural relic appraisal and excavation, specializing in miscellaneous items and calligraphy and painting. He is highly respected in ZhongHai's antique collection circle. Before opening the pawnshop, much effort was spent recruiting DeShu, who had retired from ZhongHai Museum, as the chief appraiser and manager of the pawnshop, essentially the "big shopkeeper" of the old days.

Uncle De really liked Zhuang Rui, a down-to-earth and diligent young man. He wanted to bring him into this line of work, but although Zhuang Rui enjoyed reading historical novels, he wasn't very interested in antiques. Uncle De's teachings went in one ear and out the other. As they talked, he would steer the conversation to a certain historical figure or story, often making Uncle De so angry that his beard bristled.

According to regulations, the cashier Xu Ling was supposed to hand over the day's takings from the vault to the armored car with Zhuang Rui after work. However, the materialistic Bai Jin had a date with her Nth boyfriend today and went out for dinner at the Oriental Pearl Tower early. Xu Ling, being a local from Zhonghai, always found excuses like this, and it wasn't the first time. Zhuang Rui was used to it.

The pawnshop closes at six o'clock in the evening, while the bank's armored car usually arrives around six thirty. By six o'clock, Uncle Tak and the clerks from the pawnbroking district had all left. The two high-paid appraisers were even more punctual, clocking in and out like soldiers. Only Zhuang Rui was left. He pulled down the rolling shutter halfway and sat inside behind the counter waiting for the bank people to arrive. According to regulations, the cash box and the case containing valuable jewelry are to be collected by the armored car guards who will also check the seals for any damage.

As he stood by the glass door, on his last night at the shop, Zhuang Rui suddenly felt a shadow fall before him. Three figures crept in from under the partially lowered roll-up door.

It's only 6:10, banks usually don't come this early.

Zhuang Rui was taken aback. Although armored trucks would arrive a little earlier on weekends, they usually arrived around 6:20. Since the few people coming in were all wearing their backs to him, Zhuang Rui couldn't make out their appearances at first glance. However, he knew these weren't bank armored car guards. He could see that there was no bank armored truck parked outside.

"Gentlemen, we are off work now. If you need anything, please come back tomorrow. We are open on Saturdays and Sundays, eh?"

Zhuang Rui was speaking halfway when he suddenly realized that the three people who had come in were all men. What stopped him from continuing was that these three people all wore a knitted hat, the kind that could be flipped down to cover their faces, leaving only their eyes visible. This type of hat was very popular a few years ago, but now it's rarely seen worn. Although it was December, the weather in Zhonghai wasn't cold enough to warrant wearing such a hat. A sense of foreboding instantly arose in Zhuang Rui's heart.

"Kid, cut the crap and hand me that box you're holding."

Two people stood in front of the counter, while another person went straight to the pawn area. Judging by their actions, they were very familiar with this pawnshop.

"You're committing a crime. Bank security will be here any minute. If you don't leave now, you won't be able to escape later."

Zhuang Rui knew he had encountered robbers. Although the local police station had conducted several drills, he never expected that besides banks, pawnshops would also be targeted by these people.

However, besides the initial panic, Zhuang Rui quickly calmed down. Because the pawn shop's counter was completely designed according to bank anti-theft and robbery counters, steel window grilles separated the counter from the outside world. If they had arrived a while earlier, they could have robbed the vault area, but now that Zhuang Rui had put all these things inside, he believed that with just a few people, it would be absolutely impossible to break through the security door in a short period of time.

On one side, he was talking to the robber. Zhuang Rui sat back down in his chair, his hand reaching for the alarm button. As long as he pressed it, 110 police and nearby patrol stations would receive an alert immediately. At most, within five minutes, they could arrive. This wasn't a movie. Over the past year, several drills had been conducted on site, and Zhuang Rui was still very confident in the swift arrival of the police every time.

"Mom's older brother, everything here has been put away. There's nothing left, it's all clean. Didn't you personally step on the spot last time?"

The person who ran to the deserted area naturally couldn't find anything, so they shouted towards Zhang Yang's side in a genuine Northeastern dialect.

"Who the hell are you talking to? I told you to be civilized. Damn it, I've told you multiple times to speak Mandarin."

Jiang Rui was across a burglar net. The leader shouted angrily, he was very dissatisfied with the quality of his subordinates, or maybe it was because he had been questioned by his subordinates. Hearing this, Jiang Rui almost laughed. There are still robbers who follow five precepts and four virtues these days? However, he couldn't laugh anymore, because a black gun muzzle pointed at him through the security window.

Zhuang Ruihun gasped and pressed down on the alarm button with all his might. The piercing alarm sounded, and he believed that as long as he held them off for a few minutes, these people wouldn't be able to escape. However, just then, there was a screeching sound of brakes coming from outside the pawnshop entrance. Zhuang Rui looked out and was overjoyed to see that the bank's armored car had arrived early. This was normal on weekends.

Seeing the leader of the gangsters distracted by the screech of brakes outside, Zhuang Rui took the opportunity to crawl under the counter. That was a blind spot for the bandits; they couldn't reach him out there. However, Zhuang Rui's swivel chair spun as he tried to get down, causing him to retreat over a meter backward instead, putting him face-to-face with the gangster leader.

"Hey, you're cheating!"

With the gang leader's furious roar, he pulled the trigger at Zhuang Rui. Zhuang Rui, instinctively flinched when the other man opened his mouth to speak. The bullet whizzed past his eye, Zhuang Rui felt a fiery sensation streak across his vision, followed by a searing pain in his eye.

The eyes are the most developed and sensitive part of the nervous system. Zhuo Rui's fingers covering his eyes were already oozing blood, the intense pain causing Zhuo Rui to spin around and fall backward. He couldn't see where the back of his head was facing, but it was right above the alarm button.

"Bang!" A sound echoed as Zhuang Rui's head slammed against the glass box outside the alarm button. The impact shattered the square-shaped glass box, and blood instantly stained the side of the counter where the alarm button was installed. Zhuang Rui slumped against the counter, unconscious.

Gunshots and sirens startled the bank armored car guards outside. The heavily armed guards stormed into the pawn shop, while the leader's homemade pistol seemed to jam after firing the bullet that wounded Zhuang Rui. There were no hostages for them to take. After a brief struggle, it became apparent that these robbers lacked professional skills, and three of them were quickly subdued by several security guards.

"Little Zhuang, Little Zhuang, how are you? Can you speak?"

The bank teller, Zhang Rui’s acquaintance, shouted urgently from behind the counter calling out to Zhang Rui inside. But there was no reply. The hallway, still thick with the acrid stench of cheap gunpowder after the shot had been fired, began to weigh heavily on their hearts.

Standing outside, one could see the traces inside the counter, but the security door couldn't be opened. The crowd outside was helpless. After a few minutes, the police who received the 100 emergency calls also arrived at the scene. They cordoned off the pawnshop perimeter, and several robbers were covered in heads and taken away in a police car. However, everyone stared at the counter inside where only a piece of scalp remained from Zhuang Rui, waiting for the pawnshop staff to arrive and open the security door.

Nobody noticed that the blood seeping from Zhuang Rui's head slowly seeped into the gap of the alarm button. A blue electric current followed the blood to Zhuang Rui's brain, causing his slight twitching. The hands covering his face had already drooped down. If someone could see Zhuang Rui's face now, they would find a faint halo around his eyes, about five or six centimeters in diameter. However, this halo disappeared after only a few seconds.

Beginning Chinese Web www. Welcome all book friends to read, the latest, fastest, and hottest serial works are available on Qidian Originals!

(Editor in charge：graphic novels)