Ryad's cancer has returned his decision to forego more chemotherapy leaves him just six months to live. Malik takes refuge at Ryad's house with his wife and young son. But Malik and Ryad have their own plan for Marcaggi: they kill his bodyguards, kidnap him, and inform him that it was Luciani who ordered the hit before abandoning him in the city. Luciani believes there is a "mole" in his organization and decides to use Malik to assassinate Jacky Marcaggi, the don of the Corsican mafia, for secretly dealing with the Lingherris. Lattrache is impressed by Malik, calling him a prophet and agreeing to conduct criminal business with him instead of Luciani, even though Malik admitted that he killed Reyeb. He tells his kidnappers that they are in danger of hitting wild animals, and they suddenly strike a deer. When Malik spots a deer warning sign, he remembers a recent dream of deer running in the road. Lattrache is bitter toward the Corsicans for the murder of Reyeb and holds Malik at gunpoint. Malik is sent to meet Brahim Lattrache in Marseille, another Muslim, who is involved in a deal between Luciani and the Lingherris, an Italian mafia group. When Luciani discovers that Malik is using his day-releases for his own personal enterprise, he punishes him. He kidnaps the relative's family and forces Latif's gang to release Ryad. But when Ryad is kidnapped by the drug dealer Latif, Malik tracks down Latif's relative inside the prison. When Ryad gains an early release due to testicular cancer, the three partners organize a drug-running enterprise to sell hashish. Malik also becomes involved with a prison drug dealer, Jordi. Ryad teaches Malik about his own heritage, introducing him to two other Muslims, Tarik and Hassan, and increases his power within the prison. Ryad, a Muslim friend, teaches Malik to read and write, and the two become close.
When Malik earns the privilege of day-long furloughs outside the prison, Luciani relies on him to conduct Luciani's criminal business outside. Having secretly learned Corsican, Malik acts as Luciani's eyes and ears in the prison. When most of the Corsicans are transferred or released, Luciani is forced to give Malik more responsibility. All the while, he is haunted by visions of the murdered Reyeb.
Malik serves as a low-level servant to the Corsicans, who treat him with disdain. When Luciani forces him to be the unwilling assassin of Reyeb, a Muslim witness in a trial, Malik gains the protection of the Corsicans despite his North African origin. The prison is divided between two main factions: the Corsicans and the Muslims. Alone and illiterate upon his arrival, he falls under the sway of Corsican mobsters, led by César Luciani, who enforces a brutal rule. Malik El Djebena, a 19-year-old French youth of Algerian descent, is sentenced to six years in prison for attacking police officers.