It all began when Skye Walker received a strange letter from Chief of State Kharto Manlovo of the State of Spleraina, inviting her to enter their annual zither contest.
Somehow, for a reason she couldn't pinpoint. The way he wrote kept her reminding of that fateful encounter she experienced in Spleraina long ago along with her rabbit partner. She decided to discuss the matter along with Judy Hopps, Nick Wilde, and Jack Savage.
They were as intrigued as Skye was. Since the contest was such a good opportunity for her as a new Zootopian competing, they decided that they should go and they would also accompany her to Spleraina to investigate and possibly find out more about the despotic plans of the Spleraina Dynasty - A military junta-controlled constitutional monarchy led by Splerai Splero.
As soon as they disembarked in Yad' Dili' Lidi, a mysterious male chimpanzee lunged at Jack, handed him a message vanished shortly after.
Incredibly, Both Nick and Judy realized that the message was signed by Chimpan Kerano, the very same regent who had been serving with the dynasty's sole Emperor, Splero Kerano. He was asking us to meet him in a secret hideout near the harbor.
The next dawn, on the front page of a local newspaper, all of them were shocked when they saw the picture of their known regent, who had been found dead in the Yad' Dili' Lidi Harbor.
While Skye prepared for her concert elsewhere, Nick went out to investigate for the mysterious hideout.
The skies above were filled with cumulonimbus clouds that started to thunder from a distance. From a dark alleyway, red fox appeared.
"Damn this bad weather!"
Nick fixed his loose beret.
"I should have brought a rainproof umbrella or raincoat. Despite of that, I have finally reached the harbor."
The fox tried to enter one of the nearby buildings by opening its main doors but it's locked. He then checked his wristwatch. The time reads at 11:55 PM.
"It's late. Since the buildings were locked, how could I get there?"
He could then hear someone muttering elsewhere. Nick followed the noise and when he took the stairs that leads to a canal junction, he saw a male human dressed in rugged clothes by a red and white asbestos tent. The man saw him and he sneered.
"Ah! Go home, fox!"
Nick raised a paw on him.
"Just though I join you for a cup of tea if you don't mind."
The man sneered even further and he pulled out a rusted knife violently.
"Don't you dare intrude my space, fox!"
Nick then saw a bottle filled with high-grade spirits. With a sly plan, he took it away and steps back.
"Well, what do we have here? High-grade spirits. The red fox would like to take a slurp."
The male human then recoiled with a burst of frustration.
"Fine! I'll hand you my space!"
The fox handed the bottle back to the man and the disgruntled one simply snatched it from his paw before he went further out. As he investigated, all what he could see was just a partially closed water canal that leads to a warehouse. Nick looked for something that would take him through the partially obstructed water canal and he saw a wooden board that was just resting near to the tent. He took it and went under the canal but as he does, the rusted portcullis collapsed and seals the water canal. Once inside, he jumped towards the dry floor of the dark warehouse.
"Ugh. Too dark for me in here."
The red fox grabbed a small flashlight and as he switched it on, large crates and overhanging cranes catches his attention. Nick could also saw a few doors but the path was blocked. He then went to a control panel that controls the warehouse cranes and he stretches his paws out.
"Time for me to do some body work."
The sly fox then switched the cranes on and started in clearing the crates away from the path that leads to the locked doors. Despite the complexity of the machines and the unbearable humidity of the warehouse, Nick managed to pave the way to the exit. As he approached the doors, he saw a square box that was emitting a strange glow.
"What the? This box is glowing."
With a curious mind, Nick opened it and he saw a blue frame clock, a crowbar, a monkey wrench and a piece of paper. The latter took the contents and he reads the note.
Dear Visitor,
Please meet me at the secret hideout under the nearby harbor. My life was in dire straits so please hurry.
Signed Regent Chimpan
Just as he finished reading, a radio crackles to life.
"Nick, come in. Over."
The red fox took the call.
"This is Nick Wilde. Go ahead."
A few seconds passed before a reply was received.
"Nick, this is Jack Savage calling. How's the skinny?"
"It's quite interesting, Jack. I been in the harbor for a long moment now and I'm starting to gather a lot of clues here."
"Ok, slick. I'll remind Judy about it as we speak. Jack, out."
When the radio call ends, Nick approached the locked doors and as he removed the wooden plank that blocks the doorway, the sly investigator finally went outside of the old warehouse.
"Now where is that secret hideout that regent was talking about, eh?"
When he turned his head to the left, he saw a metal manhole that has engraving on it. Nick tried to open it with his bare paws but it was stuck so he resorted to use the crowbar instead. Once he opened it, he went down the ladder and arrived at a underground canal. With a flashlight on his paw, he could literally saw a ladder on the opposite side but the path to it was flooded with water. Nick let out a frustrated sigh.
"Not this again."
He tried to look for something to drain the flooded water away and with lucky, Nick found a drainage valve on the other side of the pathway. Since the canal was too wide to be jumped over, the sly fox grabbed the ladder and he detached it so that he could use it as a makeshift bridge. When he crossed it, the latter tried to turn the valve but it was rusted shut.
"Ugh. No wonder these human citizen didn't any maintenance here every now and then."
After using the monkey wrench to loosen the valve, Nick turned the wheel again and soon, the flooded water finally drained. The red fox let out a cheer.
"Yes! I done it."
With that, he dashed towards the opposite ladder.
...
After climbing the ladder, Nick saw a small chamber filled with a few lit candles, a small wooden table, a metal safe, a hanging chain and a vintage VCR machine. The red fox approached towards the old cipher machine.
"A radio. I wonder if this thing could still work?"
Investigating the room even further, he could also saw codes and numbers that were painted on the walls. Taking a rusted hook from the table, he hooked both the rusted hook and the blue frame clock on the hanging chain. As he places a medium-sized candle behind it, the strange glow lighted the designated codes and numbers on the walls.
"Delta, Zulu, 19 and 60, eh? What a combination."
With the code memorized, he applied it on the metal safe. Surprisingly, it did opened to it and as he searched, Nick found a piece of paper and a VCR tape. On the piece of paper, it reads...
Spleraina leaving port. - Stop -
Dock #26 At morning. - Stop -
Extremely ancient relic. - Stop -
Need bodyguard. - Stop -
Signed Splerai Splero.
The small message makes Nick curious than ever.
"Man, this is heavy."
With the VCR tape on his paw, he places it on the VCR. As the machine plays, Chimpan's voices started.
"Dear devoted one. Since you're listening to this, I'm most likely dead and I have failed to prevent the nationalists from gathering the ancient relics that they needed for their vile and damaging purpose. The future of Spleraina is now on your hands and to those of your companions. You must find the relics before they do at any costs. Good luck and be careful. The nationalists' anti-monarchical allies will stop at nothing to acquire these artifacts."
As the message ended, Nick grabbed the radio and contacted straight away.
"Jack, this is Nick. We have stumbled into something colossal here as we speak."
