Nighttime in Shaw wasn’t exactly as Lucien had expected it to be.

Yes, compared to the relentless bustling of the daytime, the streets had significantly mellowed, and fewer people occupied the roads. But mellowed or not, bustling was still bustling.

Silver rays of moonlight shone down on the world, outlining Lucien’s lean figure.

He sat on a wooden stool just outside Lector’s tent, observing his surroundings, noting the streets, the men who cackled and conversed as they walked past, reeking of alcohol, the people who had forlorn facial expressions with their heads bowed low as they returned home from a day’s work.

Quite a sight.

Lector’s tent was just one in a row of many others, so Lucien observed as many men and women made their way to their houses, retreating for a night’s rest.

He looked to his right, squinting his eyes. In the far distance, he could make out the short but vast walls of the border.

’Any moment now.’

Feeling a cool, soothing breeze wash against his skin, Lucien breathed out, checking the time on his camo-watch.

[9:20 pm]

The time was ripe.

Lucien had woken up about two hours prior, when Lector returned home with a sack filled with ingredients.

A few moments after he handed over the sack to Lucien, the big man had hit the hay. But before he slept, he told Lucien to wake him up sometime around nine.

And it was currently 9 pm.

Mikky was inside the tent, cheerfully eating some snacks that Lector had specifically brought for him. It seemed the Prowler had a hidden soft spot for kids.

Chuckling, Lucien stood up from the wooden stool, making his way toward the tent flaps.

It was time to get moving.

Entering the room, Lucien immediately felt the contrast between the warmth of this room and the cold outside.

There was a large lamp lighting up the room in one corner.

’Huh...’

Lucien found Lector already awake, sitting on his bed and smiling warmly as he chatted with Mikky, who also had a bright smile on his lips as he sat on the floor next to the man.

Lucien cocked a brow.

When did that happen?

He sure hoped the man hadn’t pried any sensitive information from Michael.

Lucien took a quick stride toward the duo.

Noticing his presence, Lector and Mikky looked up at Lucien, who was now dressed in an all-black outfit. Black t-shirt, black pants.

Lector’s warm smile shifted, turning more... Well, Lector-ish.

"Luchien!" He exclaimed, outstretching an arm.

Lucien’s eyes twitched, but he forced a polite smile.

The Prowler tapped the spot beside him on the bed.

"Come, come! Michael here has been telling me something rather interesting about an ’Amusement Park!’ He says you told him about it." Lector folded his arms, still smiling. "Now I wonder how a zero who’s lived in Sector 5 all his life knows about something like an amusement park? Hm?"

Lucien fixed his gaze on Lector, pointedly staring at his cheeks.

Never in his life had Lucien felt an intense desire to slap the smile off someone’s face as he did now.

But shit, the guy was too slimy. Always up to something. Always poking. Always investigating.

’He must’ve realized that I realized his identity and is now trying to realize how I realized it, so to do that, he needs to know if I’m not really what he thinks I am. And then there’s that watch too.’

Lucien raised a brow, realizing something he hadn’t realized earlier.

’He’s curious about me. And he’s trying to satiate that curiosity. Hahaha.’

However, Lucien kept a straight face, staring at Mikky, who now averted his gaze, chuckling nervously.

Seeing the boy avoid eye contact with him, Lucien sighed, staring at Lector, who kept smiling and wiggling his blond brows.

"It’s time to leave, isn’t it?" Lucien asked.

In a fluid, surprising motion, Lector stood from his bed, twisting his neck and crackling his joints into place.

"I suppose it is."

Following suit, Michael stood up, walking toward Lucien.

Lucien fondly ruffled the boy’s hair, tapping his head.

And, wasting no more time, he walked toward his backpack and the sack filled with ingredients, carrying them.

After gathering themselves, the group began heading toward the opening of the tent.

But they all paused as Lector said with a grave voice:

"Now listen to me." He clapped his palms. "I’ll explain the plan. Don’t worry, it’s really simple. Just some minor instructions and backups in case anything goes wrong."

Standing at the doorstep and staring at Lector, Lucien, holding on to Mikky’s hand, nodded.

"Okay. First of all..."

...

As they continued their stroll toward the border gates, Lucien went over Lector’s plan in his mind once more.

They were far from Shaw now and close to the border gates.

So close that the sound of wind blowing through the landscape did nothing to dull the laughter and ongoing conversations of the guards standing at the gate.

Lector had predicted that there’d be at least eight guys standing at watch. But Lucien could only make out four.

Which meant no violence.

He remembered the first part of Lector’s plan:

"You and Michael find cover somewhere. I’ll talk to the guys to let us pass."

And so, heeding the model-like man’s words, Lucien, holding on to Mikky, headed toward a large boulder that lay amid an untarred road filled with rocky enclaves.

Lector nodded.

"Good," he said. "You remember."

And with that, the man walked toward the guards to converse with them. Talk with them. Bribe them. He’d bribe both the Sector 5 and 4 guards to let him through.

If bribery didn’t work, Lucien would get a signal from Lector, signifying that the matter had resulted in—

"I am Vice-Leader!!!" Lector’s voice boomed.

—Violence.

Lucien sighed. It was still a Monday, wasn’t it?

’Fuck my shitty luck.’

Lucien held onto Mikky, counting the seconds that passed after Lector bellowed the signal, waiting to hear groans of pain and the crunches of blows.

And he heard those sounds, accompanied by the sound of the gate being forcefully opened.

Lucien grabbed Mikky, standing up immediately.

"Let’s go, kid."

Mikky nodded.

Holding onto the large backpack and the heavy sack, Lucien began to run toward the open gate with Mikky.

’Well, nothing has gone exactly as planned today.’

But at least, one way or the other, they were crossing that damn border tonight.