Tom and Jerry circled the enormous, circular vault, both little guys looking rather serious. This thing was even more complicated than they'd imagined.
"How is it?" Voss squatted down. "Are you confident?"
Tom shook his head, pointing at the multiple locking mechanisms on the vault door. Jerry, meanwhile, ran to the back, tapping the thick metal wall with his tiny paws, producing a dull thud.
"It seems the security level of this thing is indeed very high," Artoria observed the complex control panel. "It requires two people to authenticate simultaneously, and there are physical mechanical locks as well."
"So what do we do?" Aqua sounded a bit dejected. "We can't just wait here until dawn, can we?"
Jerry's eyes suddenly lit up. He ran to Voss's feet, tugged on his pant leg, and then pointed to a ventilation duct in the corner of the room.
"You mean go in through the ventilation shaft?" Voss followed Jerry's gesture. "But the vault is sealed…"
Tom then pulled out a magnifying glass and carefully examined the welding seams on the vault's exterior. A few minutes later, he excitedly pointed to a specific spot.
"Found a weak point?" Artoria leaned in to look.
Tom nodded, pulling out an ordinary-looking but clearly specially modified electric drill from his toolkit. Jerry, meanwhile, produced several tubes of an unknown liquid.
"What are they doing?" Aqua asked curiously.
"It looks like they're going to drill straight through the wall to get in," Voss guessed. "But won't that make too much noise?"
Tom made a "don't worry" gesture, then fitted a peculiar silencer onto the drill. Jerry applied the liquid to the vault wall, and the metal surface began to emit a faint sizzling sound.
"Corrosive… I wonder if this could corrode my armor?" Artoria couldn't help but think. (+_+)?
Ten minutes later, Tom's drill had bored a circular hole, just big enough for one person to pass through, in the softened metal. The entire process was almost completely silent.
"Amazing!" Aqua clapped her hands excitedly, but was immediately stopped by Voss.
"Shh, keep it down."
The group entered the vault one by one. The space inside was much larger than expected, with various filing cabinets and safes lining the walls, and a huge data terminal in the center.
"Where should Arthur Hand's authorization code be?" Voss looked around.
Tom connected to the data terminal and began searching for relevant files. Soon, Hand's personal profile appeared on the screen.
"Found it!" Voss looked at the screen. "The authorization code is…"
Just then, footsteps sounded from outside. Everyone immediately held their breath, and Tom quickly shut off the screen.
"What's going on? There shouldn't be anyone on the seventh basement level," Artoria gripped her sword hilt nervously.
The footsteps grew closer, accompanied by voices.
"Minister Pierce has ordered a thorough inspection of all important areas."
"Understood, we'll split up."
Voss and the others exchanged glances. It seemed Hydra was already on alert.