Vivian never imagined that she would return here so soon after her escape, and even more unexpectedly, as a phantom thief.

Moreover...

She always felt that Ethan's understanding of a phantom thief differed from hers. In her eyes, phantom thieves were charismatic figures who traversed the Kingdom's forbidden zones as if no one was watching, gracefully evading the Royal Palace's Forbidden Guard while leaving behind a notice of their intended crime, not like their current state of embedding parts of themselves below the neck into the ground, sneaking around and digging tunnels underground.

"Princess, you must have spent too long in the Royal Palace, there are many kinds of phantom thieves in this world."

Upon hearing Vivian's idealistic and even slightly girlish fantasies about phantom thieves, Ethan helplessly explained.

Another young girl poisoned by novels.

He still remembered that before the arrival of the King of Gold, Siwalant used to be acclaimed as the continent's art capital, nurturing many classic novels and plays. The Empire's aristocrats frequently invited Siwalant troupes to perform in the imperial capital at great expense.

And now, this former art capital had completely turned into a munitions factory for the King of Gold.

People wearing golden masks had no concept of day or night. Even after sunset, the "Hunter" assembly line in Oak City kept going. To help Princess Vivian understand the true meaning of a phantom thief, Ethan gestured to the small blue potato in the team and said, "Show her, what a real phantom thief is like."

The wind element nodded, her expression no longer dull, a blush appeared on her cheeks.

She ascended the staircase of the material storage factory to the top. The control room was situated at the factory's top, where a worker wearing a golden mask was operating the machine, sorting and screening materials for the "Hunter" production.

He did not notice the head poking out from the factory floor, nor the literary young girl approaching.

With a clanging sound, the control room door was pulled open.

The operator inside didn't even have time to react before the wind element grabbed him by the arm, yanking him out, not forgetting to deliver a kick that helped him lie down and enjoy an infant-like slumber on the ground.

Having completed all this, the wind element nonchalantly entered the control room, shut the door, and took the operator's seat.

Her operations were so seamless that Vivian incredulously widened her eyes.

"This is a basic skill every phantom thief must possess."

Ethan described his perception of phantom thieves to her—when you see a particularly flashy sports car on the road, you could walk up to it, pull the car door open, kick out the original driver, and then sit yourself in the driver's seat.

The wind element instinctively mastered this ability once more.

Only, instead of stealing a sports car, she was taking over a "Hunter" raw materials factory. Next, she was going to add a mysterious formula developed by the Old Sen Magic Technology Store into these bio-weapons, with Old Ba providing crucial technical guidance during the formula's development.

Vivian no longer tangled with the identity of a phantom thief as the operations room started up, revealing to her the full view of the factory.

As the Princess of Siwalant, she had never truly admired this city. Before this, she had only heard of this place named Oak City from her servants.

It was said to be a beautiful place, one of Siwalant's trade centers where you could encounter citizens from other countries, and many demi-humans had even settled there. For this reason, it was also a cosmopolitan city forged by different customs and cultures, where every few days, you could catch a singing and dancing performance in front of lively taverns after sunset.

After a busy day, people would gather, drinking chilled beer, and thoroughly enjoying life beyond work.

Vivian remembered how every time the servants from Oak City spoke of their hometown, their eyes would light up.

Yet, not long ago, they donned identical golden masks upon the King of Gold's arrival, and several had gone missing.

She finally saw with her own eyes the Oak City night that the servants spoke of, but it was eerily quiet, as if dead.

The diverse people they described were stored in the warehouse as materials for "Hunter." Before long, their bodies and souls would be converted into nourishment for life weapons.

Several-story-tall "Hunters" were patrolling the city, and it seemed the atmosphere here had grown more oppressive after she fled to the Empire.

On her way, she witnessed "Hunters" breaking through residents' doors, barging into their homes for forced searches.

"Do you intend to implant shadow lamps into the 'Hunters'?"

Vivian looked up toward the direction of the operations room. She had heard from those who called themselves Father of War's disciples about the technology known as the "shadow lamp," which was also the reason she could shed the golden mask.

She also learned that the King of Gold's rule wasn't as solid as it seemed. In Siwalant, there were many who were unwilling to succumb to the King of Gold's will, gathering strength and attempting to help more people be free from the influence of the golden radiation, which greatly encouraged her.

And now, she had finally seen the existence that the disciples had spoken of, the creators of the "shadow lamp."