Taking a look around the room, Mu Lin noticed a safe behind a painting. The safe was secured with a digital keypad. Following the information he had obtained, he entered the code, opened the door, and found inside a collection of cash and jewelry.
Mu Lin didn’t touch these items. Instead, he reached inside and twisted a small button, revealing yet another password-protected lock. Entering another set of numbers, he pressed a button and this time, a section of the adjacent wall slid open, revealing a descending staircase. Mu Lin made his way down to the third basement level, entering a secret storage chamber. It turned out the safe on the wall was merely a decoy; the real secrets and treasures were hidden in the third basement. Though this storage room was also located on the third basement level, it was built within a hidden compartment, completely undetectable from the basement itself.
Inside the storage chamber, there were quite a few items, especially various European antiques from the Middle Ages, primarily knight-related artifacts, along with other antiques originating from China, India, and Egypt. The not-so-spacious basement was packed full of these treasures.
“Tasteless nouveau riche,” Mu Lin muttered. “If these antiques were properly arranged, not only would it be more pleasing to the eye, but in the event of a theft, it would also be easier to quickly assess the losses.” Although Mu Lin knew these antiques were also just deceptive distractions, he still felt a bit uneasy inside.
He placed all the antiques into his ring, leaving the basement now feeling empty and hollow. Inside a small safe, Mu Lin found several keys. According to Hudson’s memories, these keys were the real keys to the family’s treasure vault—they were keys to safety deposit boxes in Swiss banks. All the more valuable securities and the most precious certificates were stored in those banks, and only the true leader knew exactly which bank they were in. Even if someone else obtained the keys, they wouldn’t know which bank to go to.
Additionally, as the leader of the criminal organization, Hudson was also in charge of the main financial accounts. These funds were deposited in several Swiss banks, all of which operated on password-based transactions and transfers. Even if the U.S. government seized their domestic accounts and froze their assets, it would barely affect their core financial strength. “A cunning hare has three dens,” and once again, Mu Lin was impressed by the wisdom of this worldly man.
After tidying up any traces he had left in the room, Mu Lin suddenly sensed someone spying on him. It wasn’t spiritual awareness—it seemed to be another application of mental power, much less strenuous than spiritual perception. Mu Lin was surprised that such a technique even existed in the mundane world.
Following this mental energy, Mu Lin tracked it to a person—a white man. Upon spiritual scanning, this man had no internal energy at all, but his mental power was quite strong. No wonder when Mu Lin had scanned the floor with his spiritual awareness, he hadn’t detected any experts. Now, he could feel someone observing him because his own mental power was stronger than the other’s.
This was the first time since descending the mountain that someone had managed to evade Mu Lin’s notice—even if it was due to his own carelessness. Still, he couldn’t help but become deeply intrigued by this person. Since the other party had detected him, it meant others had likely been alerted. Yet none of them had taken action yet, obviously waiting for Hudson’s instructions. As for how he had entered Hudson’s room undetected, the other side was probably still trying to figure that out. Given Hudson’s current pitiful state, even if he woke up, he wouldn’t be able to issue any commands.
“If you don’t act, I won’t either.” With his spiritual awareness following the other’s thoughts, Mu Lin directly invaded the man’s mind before he could make any move. The man didn’t even have the chance to resist or call for help. Mu Lin completely severed all communication between him and the outside world, isolating him entirely.
Now, the man still stood as he had before, but people were gradually surrounding him. They were armed with firearms, some even carrying heavy weapons Mu Lin had only seen in magazines. These men remained silent until the man gave a signal, but they all stared at him with questioning eyes, their gun barrels aimed at Hudson’s door, clearly waiting for him to relay whatever he had discovered.
They clearly hadn’t expected the intruder in the room to be able to subdue one of their own. Over the years, relying on this man, they had captured countless intruders, and Hudson had been able to avoid many disasters thanks to his guidance.
Although these people were armed with heavy weapons, Mu Lin wasn’t worried about them. Right now, he was more interested in studying this man.
First, he needed to figure out how the other had detected him. Reflecting back, he realized that when he was opening the small safe, he had missed a step, which must have alerted the Hudson family.
Due to the considerable distance and the thick, water-laden walls blocking the way, the man’s mental power was also fiercely resisting Mu Lin’s spiritual awareness. Although Mu Lin had already taken control of the man’s body, extracting the information he needed would still take some effort.
Mu Lin prepared to move closer to save some energy, but suddenly, his body felt as if it had been locked in place, with the surrounding space pressing tightly against him, making it impossible to move.
“Hehe, still mental power,” Mu Lin mused. “Since this world has people who can use mental power like this, then tonight—and the days ahead—won’t be boring at all.”
“This is fun! Time to play a little game!” New York truly lived up to its reputation as a metropolis. Such an opponent would never be found in a small city like Boston. Mu Lin excitedly imagined what was to come.
After adjusting his breathing, he took a vitality-preserving pill and placed it in his mouth. Then, he directed another thread of spiritual awareness, wrapping it around the mental force that had bound him, carefully analyzing it to understand how it controlled the surrounding space. In this world, this was far more effective than formations, and learning it would be greatly beneficial to him.
Following this mental energy, the spiritual awareness transmitted the sensation back to Mu Lin’s mind. It was the same white man, around forty years old, and physically weaker than average. Mu Lin couldn’t understand how such a frail-looking individual could possess such powerful mental energy. It seemed their mental cultivation system was independent. Otherwise, without a strong body to support such immense mental power, this man’s body would have long since collapsed.
Mu Lin’s spiritual awareness was also a form of mental power, but his had been cultivated through later training. Mental power only increased exponentially after reaching the Golden Core stage. At the Nascent Pellet stage, Mu Lin’s spiritual awareness could only extend outward like a thin thread. Now, it could spread out like a net, covering an entire area. The growth of physical strength and true energy was the premise for the enhancement of spiritual awareness.
Yet these two individuals not only remained physically intact but also managed to apply their mental power in other ways. This might prove beneficial to Mu Lin’s cultivation. So far, he had only encountered two such people, so no matter what methods he had to use—even deception or trickery—he was determined to uncover their techniques.
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