The midnight rain over the Lagos lagoon was torrential. It beat down against the rusty iron sheets of the Ebute-Metta sawmill like a volley of loose ammunition. Inside, a single halogen bulb hung over a large wooden crate.Spread across the crate was a highly detailed, hand-drawn blueprint of the Kirikiri Maximum Security Prison layout."You are completely out of your mind, Boy," a rough, familiar voice growled from the shadows.Corporal Titus stepped into the light, wearing a heavy local rain poncho over his dark civilian clothes. He had a half-smoked cigarette dangling from his lip, his eyes narrowed as he stared at the map. "I risked my military rank to help your father train you because I thought he was building a soldier. Now you want me to help you break a disgraced General out of a federal fortress? If we get caught inside that perimeter, na straight execution by firing squad.""Titus, nobody is getting caught," Adekunle said calmly, his fingers tracing the red lines indicating the prison's underground drainage channels. "Valerie's offshore syndicate has already paid a compromised warden to poison my father at 6:00 AM during the morning tea roll-call. We have exactly four hours to extract him. If he dies, the syndicate gets the ledger codes, and they will use Damini's Island cartel to erase us from the mainland."Sledge leaned over the table, slamming a heavy tactical flashlight down. "Titus, look the geometry now. The main gates get double military checkpoints. We fit no pass there. But Kazeem don check the swamp axis behind the prison wall."Kazeem, who was now working double-time to prove his loyalty after his initial betrayal, nodded quickly. "The swamp behind the prison connects straight to the main waste disposal pipe. The pipe iron bars are old and rusted. If we use my industrial hydraulic jacks, we fit bend the bars and slip inside the underground block without touching the searchlights."Corporal Titus took a long drag of his cigarette, exhaling a thick cloud of smoke that drifted over the map. He looked at Adekunle—at the sharp buzz cut, the stone-cold eyes, and the unyielding posture. The pampered billionaire's pikin was officially dead; standing before him was a natural-born operational commander."The waste pipe leads straight to Block C, where the high-profile political prisoners are kept," Titus muttered, his tactical mind finally taking over. "The warden on night duty at Block C is a man named Sergeant Okoro. He was my junior during the peace-keeping mission in Liberia. He owes me his life. If I give him the secret military signal, he will clear the corridor for three minutes.""Three minutes is all we need," Adekunle said, his voice dropping into a chillingly focused pitch. He reached into a leather duffel bag on the floor and pulled out three pairs of standard military-issue gas masks and four smoke canisters. "Sledge, you and your boys will handle the perimeter distraction. The moment the prison alarm blows, you light up the front gates with fireworks and local bangers to make the guards think an armed mainland mob is attacking from the road. Me and Titus will go through the mud.""Standard!" Sledge grinned, a dark, bloodthirsty excitement filling his eyes as he gripped his automatic rifle. "We go give them premium carnival for that front gate!"Adekunle pulled his black rain jacket over his head, adjusting his gear. He looked at his watch: 2:15 AM. The countdown to the ultimate infiltration had officially begun.Chief Solomon had spent his entire life building walls to lock people up and using connections to secure his freedom. He had no idea that tonight, his salvation would come from the mud, led by the very son he tried to execute in the cold.
