When Arno emerged from the shadows of the hallway, Rick immediately raised his head, and asked Arno.
"Where's Grady?" he asked without further ado. He glanced behind Arno, hoping to see his partner, but only Arno came.
With a faint smile, Arno answered calmly, "He'll be here soon. He has to finish his last task, disconnecting some power lines."
Rick nodded, then smiled faintly. "It's good that he's okay."
Arno walked over and leaned against the wall near Rick. He glanced briefly at Oslan who seemed to be busy with the car that would be used for the escape.
After a few moments of silence, Arno finally asked, "So, what about Bruno?"
Rick glanced at Arno, then chuckled. While Arno knew that Rick had a deep grudge against Bruno, this question couldn't be asked while they were on a mission. Now that they had made it this far, of course he wanted the answer.
Before Rick could answer, Arno added, "And one more thing... why did you destroy the surveillance camera?" This time his voice sounded a little annoyed.
Rick turned to Arno, shrugging casually.
"I've taken over the security system," Arno continued grumblingly. "You should just trust me! By destroying the cameras, I can't monitor your movements. If you're in danger, I can't even help you!"
Rick just listened to Arno's complaints until they finished. After making sure Arno had stopped talking, he smiled as if he felt innocent. "Well, it wasn't intentional," he replied lightly.
Arno looked at him in disbelief, then let out a long sigh. "Well... the mission was a success," he said finally.
After that, Arno returned to his original question. "So, what about Bruno?"
This time, it wasn't Rick who answered. Oslan, who had been silent all this time, suddenly chimed in casually, "Oh, Rick sent him to hell."
Hearing that answer, Arno was a little relieved. If Bruno had been incapacitated, then the threat from his gang would be reduced. However, before he could enjoy that relief, Oslan suddenly put his hands together like someone praying, then said in a joking tone.
"Hopefully Bruno will be comfortable in hell and won't come back to this world for revenge."
Arno frowned, slightly confused by Oslan's words. "What does that mean?"
Oslan turned to him and answered lightly, "Rick killed him." He shrugged, as if it was nothing big. "Well, I didn't see it myself, but I just trust Rick. Given how much of a grudge he had, it makes sense that he would kill Bruno."
At that moment, Arno's face immediately turned tense. His eyes widened, his jaw slightly open, as if he couldn't believe what he had just heard. With quick steps, he approached Rick and grabbed both of his shoulders.
"Rick, do you realize who Bruno really is?" Arno's voice sounded serious, different from before.
Rick still didn't care, just looking at him with a relaxed expression.
"Bruno is the younger brother of the Sicilian mafia leader!" Arno continued in a sharp tone. "The biggest mafia in Italy! You shouldn't have killed him! Our plan was only to paralyze him, not finish him off!"
However, instead of feeling afraid or worried, Rick chuckled and replied in a joking tone, "Then, after I get out, I'll sign up for a death insurance. At least if I die, the insurance will cover my death."
"Hahaha..."
Oslan chuckled at Rick's ridiculous answer. Meanwhile, Arno could only stare at Rick with a resigned face. He knew that arguing with Rick would be useless. Besides, everything had happened. No matter what, Bruno was dead.
Finally, Arno released his grip, then took a step back. "It's up to you," he said with a sigh. "But one thing is for sure, after we get out of this prison, I will go far away. As if I never knew you. Besides, you are not my friend. We are just both prisoners in Ironclad prison."
Rick only smiled thinly without giving any answer, he also did not feel the slightest bit offended by Arno's words.
At that moment, footsteps could be heard from the dark hallway behind them. A few seconds later, Grady appeared with a bright expression, looking satisfied with something.
"Hey, what are you guys talking about?" he asked as he approached. "I could hear your voices quite loudly from afar."
Oslan immediately greeted him with a small laugh. "Oh, just talking about how crazy Rick is," he replied casually.
Grady looked at them one by one in confusion, then turned to Rick. "What did you do this time?" he asked.
Rick just smiled slightly without answering.
It was Oslan who spoke again, "He killed Bruno."
Hearing that, Grady's eyes widened slightly, but he didn't overreact like Arno. He just sighed and shook his head. "You really don't do things by halves, huh?" he commented.
Rick grinned, then walked towards the car. "Are you done with your assignment?" he asked, trying to change the subject.
Grady nodded proudly. "I've cut all the power lines in the main area. If they want to come after us, at least they'll have to fight in the dark."
Rick smiled with satisfaction. "Good," he said.
Oslan took the car keys out of his pocket and threw them to Grady, who caught them easily.
"That's your key."
"Thanks." Grady replied shortly.
"Then let's get out of this damn place," Rick said excitedly, he couldn't wait to get out of this prison.
Rick and Grady were about to get into the car when Arno suddenly interrupted them.
"There's something I need to tell you before we get out of here," Arno said in a serious tone.
Grady stopped in his tracks and turned to him with an impatient expression. "What do you want to say, Arno? We can't stay here any longer. The longer we stay, the more risky it is."
Without wasting any time, Arno reached into his pocket and pulled out four flash drives. He immediately handed them to Grady, Oslan, and Rick, while he kept one flash drive for himself.
Grady frowned, staring at the small object in confusion. "What is this?" he asked suspiciously.
Oslan, who was always skeptical, immediately narrowed his eyes at Arno. "Don't tell me this is actually a tracking chip," he said coldly. "Could it be that you're a traitor? Maybe you're actually a spy who infiltrated our plans?"
Arno sighed, looking a little frustrated by the accusation. "Oslan, stop your nonsense. I wouldn't betray you guys."
Rick who was standing beside them just smiled faintly, seeming to enjoy the little argument that was happening.
Arno then continued in a more serious tone, "When I was in the control room, I didn't just give instructions to open our way out. I also had time to access the prison's main server and found something big. There was data on the corruption and bribery scandal carried out by the Ironclad prison, and more than that…"
He paused for a moment before adding, "I also found money in the form of crypto coins worth millions of Euros. It was the result of money laundering that they had been doing for years. I managed to take it and divide all the data and money into those four flash drives."
The atmosphere immediately became silent after Arno's words.
Grady fell silent, then asked in a low voice, "You said... there are millions of Euros in this flash drive?"
Arno nodded slowly.
Oslan stared at the flash drive in his hand with a complicated expression, before finally looking at Arno questioningly.
"If you've already gotten this much money, why split it into four? Wouldn't it be more profitable for you to keep it for yourself? Besides, we didn't know you had gotten all that money. Even though bringing that dangerous information has its risks, you could still have kept it for yourself considering how much money it is."
Before Arno could answer, Rick chuckled, drawing everyone's attention.
"It's simple," Rick said casually. "He didn't want to take the risk alone. By dividing it into four parts, he made sure we all share in it. And this money? You could say it's his way of bribing us to keep quiet."
Arno sighed, not completely denying, but not completely agreeing with the statement either. "True, I don't want to take this big risk alone. But about the money, I do want to share it. I don't want to take it all for myself. I just want to share what I've got with you guys."
Grady took a deep breath, staring at the flash drive in his hand with mixed feelings. "This is crazy… I don't know whether to consider this a blessing or a curse," he muttered.
Oslan, who heard Arno's words, actually looked calmer. He had even imagined using the money.
"At least I can use this money for something useful. Maybe I can use this money for investment, start a company, or maybe I can also disappear to Sentinel Island and live peacefully there."
Rick, on the other hand, remained as relaxed and nonchalant as ever. "I don't mind the money. I'll probably use it to pay off my death insurance."
Arno just stared at Rick with a blank expression. "You always joke around in situations like this."
Rick just replied casually. "Of course. Otherwise, we'd all be too tense to deal with all this."
Then, they walked towards the armored car that had been prepared in the prison garage.
Before they got in, Oslan took out some weapons that he had taken from the armory earlier.
"Take these," he said as he handed over some weapons. "A long-barreled stun gun, some pistols, and other light firearms. We don't know if we'll run into any trouble when we get out of here, so we better be prepared."
"Alright, this will also be our final strategy." Arno said in a firm tone.
"Our strategy is simple. Oslan and I will lead in the front car. Oslan will be in charge of shooting the gate guards from inside the car while I drive. Grady will be in the middle, and Rick will be in the back car to make sure no one chases us."
They all nodded, agreeing to the plan without much comment.
After that, they got into the predetermined car according to the key that Oslan had shared.
Rick and Grady each drove their own car, while Arno was in one car with Oslan.
When they were all ready, they started their armored cars and started moving out of the Ironclad prison garage.
The order had been predetermined, Arno and Oslan's car was at the front, followed by Grady's car in the middle, and Rick's car at the back.
They finally pulled out of the garage with a well-laid plan.
Every second that passed felt like the last breath before freedom. And in no time, they left the prison. Their plan had ended successfully.