The silence that followed was heavy with implication. Moving almost a hundred refugees across a militarized border wasn't a minor operation, it was a full-scale evacuation requiring coordination, timing, and resources they weren't sure they had.
"That changes things," Yang murmured, his mind already working through more complications. "You and I will need more than a simple distraction. We'll need a real commotion."
"Maybe those unexpectedly large numbers aren't so bad..." Wei smiled for the first time in hours, a plan beginning to form. "Chen, how quickly can your neighbors be ready?"
"They're already packing. Most only have what they can carry anyway." The old man's voice carried both sadness for what they were leaving behind and hope for what lay ahead. "If they'll be given a temporary place to sleep on the other side… while this disgrace that won't let them work to eat ends… That's all they need."
