Chapter 374: Contingency Measures
(Twin Fang Planet, Outer Housing Ring, One Day Before the Heist)
The wind outside howled softly through the cracks in the glass windows, but Leo sat unmoved on the edge of his bed, shirtless and cross-legged, his eyes fixed not on the world around him but on the shifting canvas of thought that unfurled within his mind.
It had been a long day of planning, and tomorrow promised to be longer still.
He had absolutely no idea about the exact internal security procedures that the Black Serpents Guild had in place to access the vault, and it was a situation that left him feeling uneasy.
There seemed to be no concrete information on what security measures one had to go through to access the vault, as apart from the guildmaster and vice guildmaster, the vault was almost never accessed by anyone else.
So instead, he had to fill the gaps in his knowledge with the next best substitute he could find, which was researching the security measures of other top-tier bank vaults across the universe, and understanding what protocol was typically followed when one tried to access them.
A brief trip to the Black Serpents’ internal library had yielded a collection of obscure tomes and first-hand records about past heists on secure vaults scattered across the galaxy.
And while the names and locations differed, the procedure before one could access the vault was always more or less the same.
A full body pat-down and advanced scan was standard protocol.
Almost no serious organization skipped this step, as they had to ensure that nothing foreign made its way in or out.
‘This is the most obvious part, yet the idiots at the Cult who assigned me this mission forgot about it,’ Leo silently cursed, as he recalled how the Cult had expected him to slide into the vault holding a giant 4 foot frame without a proper plan, as if doing so was as easy as killing a mosquito by hand.
However, thankfully, a competent blacksmith had given him a way out.
The second protocol was that storage items, including rings, pouches, or dimensional scrolls, were never permitted inside.
The risk was too great. Items could be smuggled out. Or worse, detonated from within. Which meant that there was a very high likelihood his storage ring would be confiscated before he entered, only to be returned once he exited the vault with a single item in hand.
‘This much was common sense, but I guess I can’t make any plans that make use of my storage ring,’ Leo concluded, as he waved this second protocol off as a minor inconvenience.
The third protocol, however, made things slightly trickier.
Some institutions employed arcane detection spells that could sense hidden runes or sigils inscribed directly onto one’s skin or beneath one’s robes, to ensure that no individual carried hidden enchantments or tools.
In such cases, the entrant was often ordered to strip, to prove they bore no such enhancements.
However, having no such suspicious markings or tattoos on his body, Leo was not particularly worried about this step either.
As it was rather the fourth and fifth protocols that truly concerned him.
As according to the books he read, entrants to secure vaults were often asked to take a vomit potion before entering, as they were required to spill their guts out before being granted entry.
This step was implemented to ensure that no one carried a hidden object within their throat, chest cavity, or stomach.
Which meant that his initial plan to swallow the keychain ball shortly before heading to the vault and then vomiting it back out was no longer viable.
Which also meant that his only backup plan now was to swallow the keychain twelve hours prior to the heist and then push it out from the other end.
‘I hate it,’ Leo thought, as it was simply a demeaning and undignified thing to do, however, it remained the safest option available.
Still, while the fourth protocol was a solvable inconvenience, the fifth was a problem that could only be left up to fate.
For if the Serpents stationed an observer inside the vault, whether it be a guard, a high-ranking officer, or even a surveillance camera, it would be enough to nullify the entire mission.
Because even if he successfully extracted the key, and even if he managed to stay calm under observation, there would be no opportunity for him to set up the dimensional portal as instructed by Master Argo if there were eyes watching him the entire time.
Hence, if such a watcher was indeed present, Leo knew better than to risk his life by attempting to execute the plan anyway, as he decided that retreat would be the only logical course of action in that case.
For now, life still mattered more than pride, as he understood that a dead self could not protect his family.
However, while security protocol five was very difficult to work around, it was also very rarely implemented.
Most organizations did not allow their guards to witness what lay beyond the vault gates—not because they trusted the visitor, but because they trusted no one.
Guards were expendable. Secrets were not. And so the chance of being watched inside was minimal, though not entirely impossible.
And that information gave him some comfort.
————-
After thinking about what could go wrong with the heist, Leo’s mind shifted next to planning his escape route.
Contrary to popular dramatics, he didn’t intend to disappear the moment he claimed his reward.
That would only raise alarms.
Instead, he planned to linger, to mingle, to act like a proud student who had simply collected his rightful prize.
Then, a few hours later, he planned to pretend to make an excited return trip to Planet Rodova—an act he’d rehearsed in his mind a dozen times already.
Once aboard the private transport ship, likely carrying him alone, he would strike by taking out the pilot quickly, before reprogramming the ship’s flight path to divert toward a predetermined dead zone in deep orbit.
As once he arrived there, a Cult transport vessel would already be waiting to collect him, as per their already arranged agreement.
From there, the course was simple.
To Vorthas, directly, to meet his family once more.
However, if anything went wrong—if suspicion fell on him prematurely, or if he failed to take the reward without drawing attention—he would abandon the flight and stay grounded on Twin Fang, playing the role of an innocent guild member.
He did not mind staying on Twin Fang for an extra week or two, but he wanted his exit to be quick and clean.
For he did not wish to be caught in an inter-galactic speed chase.
“I guess tomorrow is going to be another stressful day,” Leo mused to himself, as until now, he had not even thought about what prize he would claim from within the Black Serpents Vault.
He had been so busy planning the heist, that his mind had not even paused to think about the legal reward he could walk out with.
As right now, the completion of the mission seemed to be the only reward he cared about.
Note- Fredrick did follow Leo to the library, however, he did not follow Leo to the exact section within the library that he went to read, as moving into such close proximity would have revealed his presence to Leo and alerted him about a tail.