Chapter 33: i will go first

Suzy stepped out from the mouth of the stone pipe, her wet clothes clinging to her waist as she moved along the edge of a tall hedge line. Her breath was still a little short.

"Barry," she thought, her voice hitting a very tight, cautious note. "Keep your camouflage at maximum capacity. If even one of these guards opens an eye, we are done for."

[BARRY: Relax, manager. My active concealment is running perfectly. Just stay low behind the bushes.]

Twelve elite royal soldiers were scattered across the private lawn, snoring softly on long benches. Their chests plates caught the bright morning sun, reflecting sharp glints of light across the white stone paths. They looked completely relaxed, their long spears resting carelessly against the borders of a massive central fountain.

But our smooth entry didn’t last long.Because I had completely melted the grate at the mouth of the pipe downstairs to create our entry gap, the water pressure inside the main plumbing line started to drop rapidly. The tall, decorative water sprays in the center of the garden suddenly lost their force, sputtering loudly before dying down to a sad little trickle.

The sudden change in the garden’s background noise acted like an alarm.One of the guards sitting on the bench closest to the fountain blinked his eyes open, groaning as he rubbed his face. He squinted at the dry marble basin, then looked straight toward the hedge line where Suzy was crouching.

"Hey," the guard muttered, his voice thick with sleep as he reached out his hand to grab his spear. "Who’s there? The fountain valves just cut out—"

Before he could yell for the rest of his squad, I didn’t waste a single second. I dropped from Suzy’s neck silently, hit the grass without making a peep, and instantly turned back into my human form right behind the guard’s bench.

"NO!" I barked out loud, my deep voice cutting through the quiet garden air like a crack of thunder.

The skill [The Customer Is Always Wrong] flared up instantly, sending a massive wave of pure administrative authority straight into the guard’s brain.

"your repair request is completely denied!" I shouted, using my unhinged corporate vocabulary to scramble his thoughts. "Maintenance shutdowns are scheduled for the third fiscal quarter! You do not have the proper permit code to inspect the pipes ! Step away from the asset !"

The guard’s mouth stayed half-open, his fingers completely solid right around the wooden his spear. His eyes went totally blank under his helmet, his cognitive functions completely locking up from the sudden blast of legal nonsense.

[Skill Activated: ’The Customer Is Always Wrong’ (Tier 4)]

- Target: 1 Royal Guard.

- Effect: Total cognitive freeze active for 3 seconds.

I didn’t wait for the timer to tick down. I stepped forward, balled up my new human fist, and delivered a swift, solid punch straight to the side of his helmet.

Bang!

The guard went down instantly, collapsing onto the bench without letting out a single cry.

The other eleven soldiers on the far side of the lawn rolled over in their sleep, murmuring grunts but not waking up, completely ignoring the dull thud because they thought their friend had just dropped his spear in the grass.

Suzy stepped from the behind, her face completely pale as she ran up to my side. She looked at the unconscious soldier, then looked up at me

. "Barry! You can’t just stand out here like this—wait this—, your clothes are?!."

[System Notification: ’Corporate Dress Code’ successfully compiled.]

- Fabric Matrix Locked: Custom Black Business Suit equipped.

- Defense Rating: Basic Physical Deflection Active.

I looked down at myself. The scratchy guard uniform was gone. My system had finally finished building my custom outfit. I was now wearing a sleek, tailored, black business suit that fit me perfectly.

"Much better," I smiled, adjusting my cuffs. "Now I look like an actual executive."

Suzy stared at the black suit, her cheeks turning a tiny bit pink as she looked me up and down. She quickly shook her head to clear her thoughts, her business mask returning. "Never mind the clothes. Look at the fountain basin, Barry. Right where the water stopped running."

I walked over to the dry marble structure. Now that the water was completely gone, a hidden, circular hatch was visible right at the bottom of the stone basin. It was carved with ancient, interlocking gear patterns that looked exactly like a high-security combination lock.

[System: Target Located: The Prince’s Private Gold Vault! The magic signature underneath that hatch is bursting with raw wealth, Barry! We’re talking five hundred thousand gold pieces and a massive stash of evolution crystals!]

"The vault is right under the garden," I thought, a greedy smile spreading across my face.

I looked back at Suzy, my eyes gleaming in the sunlight. "Manager, the back room is completely open. Let’s go break his budget before the rest of the staff wakes up."

We climbed into the empty fountain. It was made of smooth marble. there was a small round door on the floor. Only one person could go through it at a time. I sat down on the stone.I stretched out my right hand to touch the old lock.

’System,’ I thought, keeping my focus. ’Don’t let this lock trip any alarms. Can I use the regular conversion trick here?’

[System: It’s a standard mechanical seal with a tiny drop of signature magic, Barry. You don’t even need to melt the whole thing. Just touch the center pin and siphon the lock code into your inventory.]

I touched the middle of the gear lock with my fingers.I felt a small tingle in my arm. My skill was checking the metal. The glowing line inside did not blast. It just became dull.Then I heard a soft click. The round lid opened a little.

I grabbed it with my thumbs and opened it fully. I looked down.There was a simple metal ladder going down into a dark room under the garden.

"I’ll go first, manager," I whispered, turning around to hold the rungs.