Stealing from Andrew wasn't something Xiao Hua was the first to attempt. After all, Andrew's level was there for everyone to see. Even a lowly Level 25 thief could try their hand at stealing from him a few times. There were those who went in with a couple of junk ores and subpar gear, thinking that was all it took. Many thieves had tried this approach. Some even considered scattering ores on the ground as a reserve, so when Andrew appeared and plundered their ores, they could pick up another one and continue stealing. But as the Miner Plunderer, Andrew wouldn’t pass up any opportunity to take ores. No matter the type or quality, all ores within three meters of him would be swiftly scooped up, leaving none behind!
Without an effective means to counter Andrew, how many times could a thief face him head-on? Ores could buy them two minutes, and gear could stretch that to three. This meant that a thief might get lucky and manage to steal from Andrew twice, but if luck wasn’t on their side, they'd be sent back to the city’s resurrection point after just one attempt!
Given Andrew’s full health and the relatively low success rate of the Thief’s Steal skill, many thieves had tried to steal from Andrew, but few succeeded. After all, trying to steal from a full-health boss-level NPC meant a success rate that was already low would plummet even further. Xiao Hua, with his Grandmaster-level Steal skill, the Grandmaster bonus, and the Thief’s inheritance, had a success rate of 37% when stealing from NPCs, which still meant he had to try seven or eight times for one successful steal. For ordinary thieves with only a Master-level Steal skill, the normal success rate was 22%, and they would need to attempt at least thirteen or fourteen consecutive steals before they could hope to succeed!
Despite the low odds, some thieves got lucky and managed to steal from Andrew on their first try. However, the likelihood of succeeding again was even lower than winning the lottery. Many thieves gave up after dying several or even a dozen times without stealing anything. Of course, there were those who stole a Crystal Ore from Andrew after dying more than ten times, but whether they came out ahead or behind was clear to anyone with eyes! Moreover, Andrew only emerged twice a week, and simply waiting for him to appear took a considerable amount of time. This uncertainty often discouraged many from even considering stealing from Andrew after failing multiple times.
Today, however, Andrew was facing the first Grandmaster Thief in the Chinese server: Xiao Hua!
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Damn it, I don’t believe you don’t have a single piece of gear on you!
After stealing three Crystal Ores, Xiao Hua wasn’t displeased; he was just curious. After all, Andrew was a boss-level NPC, and surely he had some gear on him, right?
But it seemed that Andrew really didn’t have any gear to steal. Nearly thirty minutes later:
System Notification: You obtained a Crystal Ore!
System Notification: Where did my Crystal Ores go? The agitated Andrew looks at you with suspicion!
Crystal Ores will do, Xiao Hua conceded. Reading the second notification, he knew that if he continued stealing, he would become Andrew’s target of hatred. However, since the thief was the phantom, if Andrew resorted to violence and the phantom self-destructed, Xiao Hua wouldn’t suffer any loss. At worst, he wouldn’t mine in the mine anymore and would instead practice mining on ore veins in the wild, where the quantity and quality of ores would be much lower.
On the other hand, Xiao Hua was curious about what would happen if he continued stealing from Andrew!
The phantom remained in the cabin, facing Andrew, engaging in a mutual game of stealing and plundering. Andrew, who had previously been unresponsive, now glared angrily at the phantom, as if ready to devour it whole. He couldn’t understand how this person could have an endless supply of poor-quality iron ores!
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System Notification: You obtained a Crystal Ore!
System Notification: It’s him! He stole my Crystal Ores! Andrew looks at you with fury, certain of his thoughts.
More than half an hour later, Xiao Hua stole the fifth Crystal Ore from Andrew. Looking at the notifications, Xiao Hua could tell through the phantom that Andrew was truly furious, his eyes bloodshot. Even a glance at Andrew conveyed his intense anger!
Brother, if you just give me a Rare item, I’ll leave you alone and let you be!
Xiao Hua silently thought, continuing to have the phantom steal from Andrew.
After that, it took nearly an hour before Xiao Hua succeeded again.
System Notification: You obtained a Rainbow Crystal Ore!
System Notification: You despicable fellow, I’ll make you regret this! The infuriated Andrew shouts at you!
Rainbow Crystal Ore? Jackpot! These things are worth over a million gold each!
Suddenly obtaining a Rainbow Crystal Ore, Xiao Hua was elated. It seemed that Andrew was about to yield some good loot. If he kept stealing, there would definitely be even better items! Or maybe a few more Rainbow Crystal Ores wouldn’t be bad either!
As usual, he tossed the Rainbow Crystal Ore onto the ground and was about to pick up the other ores and put them back in his backpack when he received an unexpected notification!
System Notification: You have been plundered of all your ores by Andrew!
Xiao Hua was in the middle of tossing ores, reaching into his backpack, but before he could grab an ore, more than a hundred ores suddenly vanished from his backpack!
What’s going on? It’s been less than ten seconds since I was last plundered by Andrew. Has something changed with him?
Quickly picking up an ore and putting it back in his backpack, approximately ten seconds later, Andrew struck again!
System Notification: You have been plundered of all your ores by Andrew!
Just as he suspected! Now Andrew was plundering every ten seconds!
Xiao Hua quickly checked the remaining ores on the ground. Fortunately, he had always discarded the most valuable Crystal Ores first, and all five were still there. The Rainbow Crystal Ore was also safe. The rest were poor-quality iron ores, and there were still about one hundred and fifty left.
In this situation, simply dumping and picking up ores required his full attention, and mining was out of the question. This meant he could only steal from Andrew five more times!
Five times wasn’t much, but there was still a good chance of stealing from Andrew again! Xiao Hua was grateful for his earlier decision to continuously mine, or he would have had only twenty to thirty ores left by now, and any plans to steal from Andrew would have been futile.
Inside the cabin, the enraged Andrew plundered the phantom at a rate of once every ten seconds. This was a power he could only use when angry, a force that no ordinary person could withstand! But the silent figure across from him, who hadn’t uttered a word since entering the cabin, stubbornly endured the plundering, completely unaffected. The small body somehow concealed an inexhaustible supply of ores, preventing his ultimate move from taking effect!
Five minutes quickly passed. Xiao Hua had consumed thirty ores and finally got another chance to steal!
Steal Failed!
Bad luck, keep going!
Anxiously watching his backpack, Xiao Hua continuously tossed ores into it, lest a third of his gear be plundered by Andrew.
Five minutes flew by, and the phantom tried again!
Steal Failed!
Damn it, another failure!
Xiao Hua was getting frustrated. This was a rare opportunity, and now that he had incurred Andrew’s wrath, he didn’t know if he would ever get another chance after leaving the mine today!
Still, the failures were understandable; he had successfully stolen a Rainbow Crystal Ore just ten minutes ago!
Xiao Hua could only console himself with this thought, trying to remain calm and continue controlling the phantom to steal.
The ores were dwindling fast, and in a blink of an eye, another thirty were gone.
Steal Failed!
Third time, two more chances left!
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Fourth time! Steal Failed!
Damn!
Xiao Hua was ready to curse!
...
Five minutes later, only a few lonely ores remained on the ground.
Last chance!
Success or failure, this was it!
Go for it!
Steal Failed!
Looking at the glaring red failure notice, Xiao Hua felt a mix of despair and curiosity. He really wanted to know what he could steal from Andrew at this moment, whether it was gear or not didn’t matter.
Wait, he could still steal once more!
Xiao Hua suddenly remembered something: the Forced Skill Card!
He had taken it from Old Fei and left it in his card compendium, not using it on the Frost Dragon. Now was the perfect time to use it!
Quickly opening his card compendium, he retrieved the Forced Skill Card and had the phantom use it!
Steal!
Steal Successful!
System Notification: You obtained Andes' Pickaxe!