Book 3 - The Merchant from the Depths: Chapter 21; Group Infiltration

The screen turns on as the chapter title plays "Chapter 21; Group Infiltration".

It opens to a black screen until Time until Azul's contract expires: Two days appears before morphing into a hallway where Yuu, Grim, Ace, Deuce, and Jack are standing and talking during lunch break.

Yuu, Grim, and Jack had just finished explaining what they had learned and planned during their conversation with Leona and Ruggie.

Ace asks "Finding a way to tear up an unbreakable contract? Sweet! It's def underhand, but hey." with a shrug. Deuce thinks for a second before agreeing with Ace and saying "That approach does seem like it would have a far better prospect of working. I have to agree with Ace here, though."

Grim shouts at them "Aw, shaddup! If we stick to our morals, we'll be stuck with the morays!"

Jack's eyes narrow and he crosses his arms and as he brings forth another point "That, and Azul's group cast the first stone. They told us to get a photo from under the sea, fully intending to thwart us at every turn. Leona may play dirty, but he's a brilliant playmaker. I think his idea's worth a shot."

Deuce seems slightly embarrassed talking about this in the middle of a decently busy hallway as he asks "Can we maybe not say the same thing over and over?"

But everyone essentially ignores Deuce as Grim cries out "Brrr. Just remembering those twins chasin' us around in the water gives me the shivers!"

Deuce now also thinks back to what happened as he stated passionately "Rgh. If only magicwheels worked underwater. Then they would've been eating my dust!" Ace waves Deuce off telling him "Uh-huh. Suuure, Loosey-Deucey."

Before bringing the conversation closer to the main point, asking "So… Mermen, huh. The Leech brothers are morays; I get that part. But is Azul like them when he's under the sea?" Jack tells Ace "I remember Leona referring to him as a "cephalo-punk," for what that's worth."

Deuce seems rather knowledgeable about sea life classification as he clearly rhetorically asks "As in, cephalopod? So is he, like, an octo-merman?"

At that Grim shouts "Myah! If he got a bunch of legs in the water, he'd be even more dangerous than the morays!" Jack also thinks about the possibility and gets slightly worried as he states "No kiddin'. Which is why we're trying to brainstorm an approach that doesn't involve fighting them on their own turf."

Which brings them back to the main point as Yuu states "Our first job is locating the contract scrolls." as she brings a hand up to her chin and thinks 'Where does Azul keep the contract scrolls?'

But before she or the others are given time to think, Jack points out "That vault in the VIP room did stand out like a sore thumb…"

Grim fist pumps the air as he shouts "Great! There's our angle! Let's sneak into Octavinelle right now!" Deuce nods as he tells them "Nobody should be there on lunch break before the lounge opens. Let's go."

The others nod as they start to walk off to the Mostro Lounge.

…

Grim pokes his head in the V.I.P room first and looks around before fully going in and taking a proper look around before whisper-shouting to the others "The coast is clear. Okay, boys, follow me!"

The others slowly and cautiously walk in before Jack says "Looks like you were right. There's not a soul in sight."

Deuce is already looking at the vault as he tells them "The vault's double-locked. It needs a passcode and a key."

Just then Jack seems to hear something as he calls out "Shoot! Someone's coming!"

They all look around in a panic as Ace shouts "Ah, crud. Quick, hide!" as quietly as possible.

They all scramble to hide under Azul's desk as Ace complains "So…cramped… Jack, why you gotta be so big?!" Jack lightly threatens "Wanna say that again?" But it seems he had moved to try and look at Ace as he said that because Ace shouts at him "Hey, don't move!"

Just then footsteps and a click is heard which makes all of them go entirely silent.

It then zooms out of the desk as Azul is seen walking in and saying "Now, then…" as he walks up to his vault.

The screen fades to black and "To be continued" plays before it fully turns off.