Chapter Two: The One-Euro Squad

By eleven, Vaughan passed a restricted-load test. Su arrived with worse news: the bank had frozen their account early, and every agent now refused credit. “Someone made calls.” She threw an email onto the table. “A lender controlled by Silvervault bought our short-term debt. Hector wants us dead before the deadline.” Gu erased seventeen thousand from the board and wrote zero. “Then we sign people who cost nothing.” “Club-trained players don't grow in rubbish bins.” Glass shattered outside. A thin teenager vaulted the wall with a ball, using rebounds off the brickwork to escape two guards. He was not especially fast. He simply changed direction half a beat before each defender shifted his weight.