Serpico's story in the game Probably Stolen forces you to decide what to do with a Security cadet who has discovered corruption within his own faction. Helping him can unlock valuable equipment and influence your reputation, but a missed delivery or the wrong early decision can end his storyline before you reach those rewards.
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How to Save Serpico
Should You Report Serpico?
How Much Food Does Serpico Need?
What Can Prevent You From Saving Him?
Who Should Receive Serpico's Documents?
Which Serpico Reward Is Best?
How to Save Serpico in Probably Stolen
To save Serpico, you must avoid reporting him to Security, then leave at least 2,000 kcal of food at the Dumping Ground between Days 48 and 50. The food must be removed from your inventory and left on the ground before you return home.
- Continue the storyline after Serpico first visits your shop on Day 40.
- When Security begins searching for him, refuse the opportunity to report him for a bounty.
- On Day 48, Georgio delivers a letter explaining that Serpico needs food.
- Gather food totaling at least 2,000 kcal and visit the Dumping Ground on Day 48, 49, or 50.
- Place the food directly on the Dumping Ground grid, leaving it behind when you depart.
- After Serpico survives, continue until Day 54 to decide who receives his evidence.
Day 51 is the critical checkpoint. If Serpico hasn't received enough food before then, he is found dead and you lose access to the surviving version of his storyline.
I recommend making the delivery immediately on Day 48. That leaves two additional nights available if something prevents you from reaching the Dumping Ground on your first attempt.
Should You Report Serpico to Security?
Reporting Serpico gives you an immediate financial incentive, but it prevents you from pursuing his rescue and later evidence-related choices.
Security initially offers a 300-Credit bounty. A later opportunity involves a larger 600-Credit payment.
The decision is less straightforward than comparing those amounts with the eventual equipment rewards, because there are two very different ways Security becomes involved in Serpico's storyline.
Reporting Him and Helping Him Are Different Decisions
During the earlier encounters, Security wants Serpico turned in after he accuses officers of corruption. Accepting that bounty means giving up on helping him escape.
However, if you protect him and complete his food delivery, Serpico eventually asks whether his evidence should go to a trusted Security contact.
That later choice doesn't mean betraying him. It opens an outcome where Serpico returns to Security and becomes involved in its anti-corruption efforts.
In other words, you can support Serpico and still choose Security as the destination for his documents. What matters is which decision you're making and when.
Is the Bounty Worth Taking?
The bounty provides Credits without requiring you to gather food or manage the rescue deadline. That can be useful when your shop urgently needs money.
But completing the rescue gives you access to equipment rewards, faction reputation, and additional story events.
If your playthrough allows you to visit the Dumping Ground, I'd favor helping Serpico. The bounty is more appealing when you've already made the rescue impossible through your starting conditions.
How Much Food Does Serpico Need in Probably Stolen?
Serpico's request measures food by calories rather than quantity or selling price. You need at least 2,000 kcal in total, regardless of how many individual items that requires.
These foods provide different amounts:
| Food | Calories Per Item |
|---|---|
| Instant Ramen | 500 kcal |
| Peat | 800 kcal |
| Standard Raw Meat | 1,200 kcal |
| Bei's Premium Vanilla Icecream | 1,500 kcal |
Plan the Delivery Using Food You Already Own
You don't need to obtain any particular food from this table. The requirement is simply to reach the calorie threshold.
For example, two Peat and one Instant Ramen provide 2,100 kcal. One Standard Raw Meat and two Instant Ramen provide 2,200 kcal. Either combination satisfies the request.
There's no established benefit to giving Serpico substantially more than he needs, so aim to reach the requirement without unnecessarily sacrificing valuable merchandise.
The most useful approach is to check the calories listed on your available food, add them together, and choose whatever combination causes the least disruption to your shop.
Don't Bring the Food Back Home
One easily overlooked detail is that the food needs to remain at the Dumping Ground.
If you arrive carrying enough calories but leave with those items still in your backpack, you haven't delivered anything.
Remove the food from your inventory, verify that it is on the ground, and only then finish the visit.
Since a complete delivery can be made in one trip, there's no need to rely on multiple visits or assume that incomplete deliveries are tracked separately.
What Can Prevent You From Saving Serpico?
Serpico's storyline has an unusual risk: you can make the correct dialogue choices and still be unable to rescue him.
The problem is that his survival depends on access to a specific location during a limited number of nights.
The Maimed Starting Perk
The Maimed perk prevents visits to the Dumping Ground, which is exactly where Serpico's food must be delivered.
There is no confirmed alternative delivery location or method that bypasses this restriction.
That makes the normal rescue route unavailable in a Maimed playthrough. If you already selected the perk, accepting the earlier Security bounty may be more practical than attempting a delivery you cannot make.
This restriction also matters when planning a new run. Our Probably Stolen Best Perks Guide covers starting choices and their tradeoffs.
Injuries During the Rescue Window
Even if you haven't selected Maimed, an injury can prevent nighttime travel.
If you're unable to leave the shop throughout Days 48, 49, and 50, the deadline can pass before you get another opportunity.
This is why preparing food before Day 48 and completing the delivery at the first opportunity is safer than waiting.
Missing the Deadline or Playing Endless Mode
Once the Day 51 survival check has failed, the normal rescue opportunity is over. Delivering food afterward doesn't undo that outcome.
Serpico also doesn't appear as part of the Endless Mode experience. His storyline is tied to the game's story progression, so you need a relevant story-mode playthrough to encounter these events.
Who Should Receive Serpico's Documents?
On Day 54, after successfully keeping Serpico alive, you must decide what happens to his evidence of Security corruption.
Unlike the earlier report decision, this choice primarily determines the direction of his surviving storyline and which faction benefits from your support.
| Recipient | What Happens | Best Reason to Choose It |
|---|---|---|
| Trusted Security Contact | Serpico returns to Security in an anti-corruption role. | You want to support Security reform and build Security reputation. |
| Revolution | The evidence becomes public, some officers face consequences, and Serpico joins the Revolution. | You prefer public exposure and Revolution reputation. |
| Black Market | The evidence is handed to the Black Market. Detailed longer-term consequences remain less certain. | You're prioritizing Black Market reputation. |
Is Trusted Security Better Than the Revolution?
The trusted Security outcome is attractive if you want Serpico to return to his career without abandoning the effort to expose corruption. This option requires at least 50 Security reputation.
The Revolution takes the opposite approach by making the allegations public. However, the resulting consequences are limited, with only some lower-ranking officers facing punishment.
Neither path appears to provide an exclusive equipment reward unavailable through the other. The more meaningful distinction is where Serpico ends up and which faction gains your support.
I'd choose trusted Security for a Security-aligned run and Revolution for a Revolution-aligned run. Both have clearer documented outcomes for Serpico than the Black Market route.
Does Choosing the Black Market Change Your Reward?
Players who chose the Black Market have reported receiving the same general reward selection available through other surviving routes.
However, the precise consequences of giving the Black Market sensitive evidence aren't established as clearly. It's not safe to assume Serpico receives a particular future role or that the documents are used to expose corruption publicly.
If you're choosing based mainly on practical rewards, there isn't enough evidence to conclude that the Black Market route is more profitable.
Which Serpico Reward Should You Choose?
Completing Serpico's rescue and evidence storyline provides a faction reputation benefit, reported as +12 with the chosen faction, along with an equipment gift.
The reported gift choices are an Extended Storage Bay, four Module Bay Expansion Kits, or two Current Converters.
Instead of choosing solely by item price, compare each reward with what's currently holding back your shop.
| Reward | When It's Useful |
|---|---|
| Storage Bay (Extended) | Your shop needs additional storage space and you want to avoid buying a bay separately. |
| 4 Module Bay Expansion Kits | Your production machines need more room for upgrades. |
| 2 Current Converters | You want an alternative to conventional Energy Cells and can support ongoing energy costs. |
Is the Extended Storage Bay the Most Valuable?
The Storage Bay (Extended) has a listed base purchase price of 800 Credits, making it an attractive reward when you compare it against the 600-Credit reporting bounty.
However, an 800-Credit item isn't equivalent to receiving 800 Credits in cash. Its practical value depends on whether you need more storage or would otherwise purchase one.
Similarly, four Module Bay Expansion Kits may offer more immediate benefit if you're already using several machines that need expansion.
The Current Converters are more specialized because they involve an ongoing energy expense. They're worth considering if they fit your current equipment setup, but they aren't automatically the cheapest option to operate.
For a general-purpose shop, I'd lean toward the Extended Storage Bay unless machine expansion or energy management is already the bigger priority.
The Three Decisions That Matter Most
Serpico's story comes down to three separate checkpoints:
- Early Security bounty: Determines whether you continue helping him or give him up for Credits.
- Days 48–50 food delivery: Determines whether Serpico survives long enough for the final decision.
- Day 54 evidence handoff: Determines which faction benefits and how his surviving story develops.
The most important thing is not to confuse the first and third decisions. You can refuse to report Serpico, keep him alive, and still send his evidence to a trusted Security contact later.
That route preserves the rescue rewards while giving Serpico a chance to confront the corruption that started his troubles in the first place.
