Following the direction the co-pilot pointed, Victor spotted the vault hanging from a parachute and was instantly overjoyed.
"Wait for my signal to open the cargo door!"
Victor rushed out, strapped on a parachute from the cabin, and shouted,
"The vault has a parachute. Harrison, stay with the plane and bring people to find me later!"
"I'll jump now and stay with the vault!"
As long as the artifacts were intact, even if the escort mission had failed, Victor still had a chance to argue his case.
Before Harrison could say anything, Victor had already ordered the pilot to open the rear hatch.
The next second, he jumped out without hesitation, diving straight toward the falling vault.
Meanwhile, Zhang Yang landed in the nearest city using his Silver-Winged Cape.
He looked back and could still see the vault slowly descending in the distant sky.
Smirking, he slipped into a parked sedan on the roadside and drove off.
Everything that had happened on the plane—from the chaos inside to the vault being ejected and the parachute deploying—had been recorded by Zhang Yang.
"Now it's your move, Victor."
Zhang Yang uploaded the video to his feed, tagging it with a sharp jab:
"Turns out, Victor really can't catch me."
Only half an hour had passed since Zhang Yang released his heist notice.
The speed of execution and outcome left everyone who had been following the story completely stunned.
[WTF? Kaitō Kid actually showed up on the plane?!]
[Kaitō Kid is insane. He seriously stole the entire vault!]
[Fuck! Victor just sat there doing nothing and watched the vault get taken!]
[Come on, the rear door was open. What was he supposed to do, fly out after it?]
[With that kind of pressure differential, staying alive was already a win!]
Facts speak louder than words.
This stunt made people look at Kaitō Kid in a whole new light.
Or maybe it just confirmed that he was on a level no one else could reach.
Still, Zhang Yang's method of extracting the vault sparked endless speculation.
People even began to imagine what might happen next.
[So the vault's just dropping like that? How's Kaitō Kid gonna haul it away? Got someone waiting below?]
[Too bad the video ends there. Bet he's got a team waiting down there!]
[Oh my god! You're definitely one of those who voted he'd get caught thirty minutes ago!]
[Kaitō Kid got on that plane by himself and took the vault solo—what team?]
[If anyone acted with Kaitō Kid, they wouldn't be teammates. They'd just slow him down!]
The video kept getting replayed, and no one questioned its authenticity, even if it was hard to believe.
Within minutes, it racked up billions of views.
Every major media outlet reported it instantly.
It blew up to become the world's biggest headline.
"MT39 Escort Mission Fails: Kaitō Kid Escapes With Entire Vault!"
"Hundreds of British Museum Treasures Stolen—Kaitō Kid Pulls Off Another Miracle!"
"Poll Results In: Kaitō Kid Walks Away With the Artifacts!"
"Kaitō Kid's Plane Heist Sparks Rumors of Accomplices!"
Headline after headline flooded every news platform, and the hype just kept building.
Victor had barely landed when his phone rang—it was his superior, and the call opened with a brutal verbal beatdown.
"Victor, you idiot! You actually let Kaitō Kid take the vault!"
"I must've been out of my damn mind to believe your crap last night! Fuck!"
"Tell me how the hell Kaitō Kid got on that plane!"
Victor, crouched beside the vault, swore confidently into the phone.
"He didn't take the vault, sir! I swear!"
"The vault is right here in front of me. I promise you I'll bring all the artifacts back safe and sound!"
There was a pause on the other end. The superior sounded stunned.
"He didn't?"
"Victor, if you're lying to me, you're dead!"
Zhang Yang's video ended right after the parachute deployed, so everyone who watched it assumed Kaitō Kid's goal was to steal the vault.
But in truth, Zhang Yang had no interest in the vault or the artifacts inside. This was all just a punishment for Victor.
The hundreds of artifacts in that vault were worth a fortune—probably even more than anyone could estimate.
Even a top thief would feel tempted. Let alone a regular person.
But what actually happened was the exact opposite of what everyone thought.
Zhang Yang didn't just leave the vault behind—he made sure everything inside stayed safe.
"I've already told Harrison to bring a team to retrieve it. We'll have it back at the museum in no time!" Victor added firmly.
The superior stayed silent for a long moment, then replied, clearly furious.
"It better be. Or don't bother coming back!"
When the line cut out with a flat tone, Victor lowered his phone with a complicated expression.
The vault was descending slowly. The custom foam molds inside the case should offer good protection.
Victor took a deep breath and stared at the vault, silently praying.
"God, please let everything be undamaged."
Back at the Enforcement Bureau's headquarters, a crowd had already gathered outside.
Media outlets lined the front row, cameras rolling.
[Is the Enforcement Bureau really not going to say anything? Why the hell would they let an idiot like Victor run the escort mission?!]
[Fuck! What about those two people they took from the museum last night? Why haven't they released their identities yet?!]
[Victor shouldn't even show his face after this. He got robbed mid-air by Kaitō Kid. How embarrassing is that?!]
[Oh my god! Is no one at the Bureau thinking about replacing the guy in charge of catching Kaitō Kid?!]
[Seriously? Not a single person from the Bureau has come out to respond. This is way out of control!]
More and more people crowded in front of the headquarters. Among them was Fūlmoka.
From the street, there wasn't much he could see.
He never expected Zhang Yang to show up on the plane—let alone take the vault.
"Kaitō Kid is seriously next level. How the hell did he even get on the plane?"
Even if Fūlmoka couldn't figure it out, he didn't believe Zhang Yang had flown up there after takeoff. That was just nonsense.
The media frenzy around the world was putting massive pressure on the top brass in France.
Of course, no country had ever caught Kaitō Kid before. Most had zero leads.
France's record was no worse than any other.
So normally, failing to capture him wouldn't cause this much drama.
But this time was different.
The chaos was on par with the last time the Island Nation mobilized nationwide forces to catch Kaitō Kid—and still ended up empty-handed.
What both countries had in common: total incompetence.
Kaitō Kid getting on that plane was like walking into a trap.
But somehow, he still got away.
And even took the whole vault with him.