Sani sat on the chair beside the burly man and the elegant-looking man.
"Alright, what's the plan?"
Khalid and Yona took their seats. Khalid smiled confidently before saying:
"Alright, here's the plan. I, George, and Seth—"
As he spoke, he pointed at himself, then at the burly man, and finally at a young man with short, dark blue hair wearing a leather jacket, leaning back indifferently in his chair.
"With Seth's knowledge of the prison layout, we'll be able to get inside easily."
While Khalid was explaining, Sani leaned toward the elegant-looking man and asked in a low voice:
"I have a question. Where did this big table come from? It wasn't here before."
The man answered casually:
"This table? We use it for playing cards and dominoes. It's foldable. Khalid usually keeps it in storage."
But before Sani could continue the conversation, Khalid called out loudly:
"Charles! Were you even listening to me?"
Sani quickly turned his head and said:
"Yeah, I heard you. You said you and George and that guy over there will open the gate for us, right?"
Khalid paused for a moment, then sighed and said in a disappointed tone:
"And who's going inside the prison?"
Sani hesitated for a moment, then sighed in frustration:
"Ah… sorry, I wasn't paying attention. Can you repeat that?"
Khalid took a deep breath before continuing:
"Alright, listen carefully this time. The group infiltrating the prison consists of you, Yona, Rex, and Eva."
He pointed at Yona, Sani, the elegant-looking man, and finally a girl with long black hair who seemed completely indifferent… Wait! Was she asleep?!
Sani leaned slightly toward Rex and whispered:
"Are you sure she'll be useful?"
Rex replied confidently:
"Just trust Khalid's choices."
Khalid continued:
"As for Haru and Moro, they'll hack into the prison's system to assist us if anything goes wrong."
He pointed to a pair of identical-looking people, a boy and a girl—it was clear they were twins.
Then Khalid turned to Yona and asked:
"Are the untraceable communication earpieces you made still available?"
Yona nodded in agreement. Khalid smiled and said:
"Good, that makes things much easier."
But before he could continue, Mustafa interrupted with a clear objection:
"And what about me? What's my role?"
Khalid looked at him silently, tension rising for a moment before his expression changed from serious to puzzled.
"Wait… I didn't include you in the plan?"
Mustafa quickly stood up and shouted angrily:
"What?! I won't be part of the mission?!"
Khalid placed a hand on his shoulder and spoke in a calm voice:
"Listen, you're older now, and it's time to take responsibility. We'll be gone for a day or more, and I need you to take care of the café while we're away."
Mustafa's eyes sparkled with excitement, and he stood confidently, saying:
"Understood! I won't let you down!"
Khalid turned back to the group and said:
"Alright, now that we've assigned roles, let's go over the plan details."
Seth pulled out a large sheet of paper and spread it over the table. It was a detailed map of the prison, showing all its entrances and exits.
Khalid pointed at a back door on the map and said:
"The first group, which consists of me, George, and Seth, will focus on unlocking the emergency exit for you. We'll do that by infiltrating the control room."
Sani raised an eyebrow and asked:
"And who exactly will be entering the prison?"
Khalid shook his head and pointed at Sani and the second group, saying:
"The second group, meaning you all, will enter through the back door. Once inside, you'll head downstairs using the staircases. The temporary prisoners are kept on the upper floors, while those with long-term sentences are held in the underground levels. The prison is divided into four underground floors, and the longer the sentence, the deeper the prisoner is held."
Sani's eyes widened with concern as he asked:
"But how will we know which floor Nier is on?"
Khalid looked toward Haru and Moro and said:
"That's your job. We'll need to hack into the prison records to find the inmate files."
The twins raised their thumbs simultaneously and said:
"Leave it to us!"
Khalid continued:
"If Nier is on the first floor, that's great. But if he's on the lower floors, we'll have a problem. Guards patrol the staircases that separate each floor, so we'll need a way to bypass them."
Sani asked:
"Aren't there guards on the first floor as well?"
Khalid shook his head:
"No, because this prison allows criminals to roam freely within the first floor during the day. But at night, everyone must return to their cells, as guards begin their inspections. If they find any prisoner outside their cell, they will be punished. That's why we'll execute our plan in the morning."
Khalid paused for a moment before continuing:
"If Nier is on the second or third floor, we'll use a special plan to get past the guards. Since there are many of them, fighting won't be an option. That's where Eva's skills come in. She'll spike the guards' drinks with a sedative, allowing you to pass without any trouble."
Khalid continued explaining the details as everyone listened carefully.
When he finished going over the entire plan, a tense atmosphere filled the room. Khalid noticed it immediately and tried to break the tension, so he stood up with enthusiasm and announced:
"Since we're starting our mission tomorrow, drinks are on the house!"
The entire group cheered in excitement, and soon, the meeting turned into a full-blown party.
Even though Khalid only said the drinks were free, everyone treated it as an official celebration. Eva fell asleep on the table, while Rex and Seth stood face to face, competing to see who could drink the most.
Meanwhile, Sani sat alone in a quiet corner, watching Yona trying to stop Rex and Seth from fighting.
Khalid approached him calmly and sat beside him, holding a glass of drink. He extended it toward Sani and said:
"Here, take this."
Sani pushed the glass away and said:
"No, thanks. I don't drink alcohol."
Khalid was surprised for a moment before smiling:
"Really? Is it for religious reasons?"
Sani replied:
"No, I just don't like it."
Khalid swirled the glass in his hand and said:
"This isn't alcohol. It's apple juice."
Sani looked at him in confusion:
"Apple juice?"
Khalid chuckled:
"Yes. Actually, we don't serve alcohol here."
Sani took a sip from the glass, and his eyes widened in surprise:
"Wow! This is really good!"
Khalid laughed and said:
"Yeah, it's the best!"
As they continued talking, Sani got caught up in the conversation without realizing he had just said:
"Actually, my sister almost named our ship 'The Cookie Ship'… Ah, I don't even know why I agreed. But my mom has weird taste in names… My dad was so shocked when she named me Sani just because it was sunny that day…"
He suddenly stopped as he realized his mistake. He quickly turned toward Khalid, who was staring at him in shock.
"Wait… did you just say Sani? You're the real Sani?!"
Panic flashed across Sani's face. He reached out to cover Khalid's mouth and whispered:
"Let's talk outside!"