181 Lackey 1's Face

After 10 minutes of cleaning, Lackey 1 finally dried his face and turned around. Everyone gawked at his new appearance and the kids began to whisper among themselves, even Rose participated by writing furiously on her notepad.

Lackey 1 had magically transformed from a rough and tough looking man into a pretty boy! His true face had been hidden under the mustache, tattoos and a thick layer of grime, concealing his true looks. His skin was pale, soft and smooth complemented with bright and energetic eyes.

Aida nodded in approval, he looked like he could be a kpop star. She's always had a weakness for cute and pretty people and things.

Lackey 1 looked helplessly towards the others and explained, "The tattoos were fake. Having grown up in the slums, if you didn't look tough, you would get beaten, or worse, raped. I was taught to conceal my looks for self protection."

Ace glared even more fiercely at Lackey 1 after seeing his real face and Aida's reaction. Both Light and Lucifer were also slightly on guard as well after seeing Lackey 1's face. Xiao Ai giggled at the reactions of all the people here. She and Artie were the only ones who had seen a previous cleaned up photo of Lackey 1 and already knew what he actually looked like.

After recovering from the shock, Aida dismissed Lackey 1 to go and manage the troops, telling him that she would address them tomorrow morning. For the remaining part of the day, she intended to focus on spending time with her pseudo-family.

Feeling out of place, Seven also followed Lackey 1 out to meet the troops.

Light got up to prepare dinner for everyone while the kids cleaned up the RV while sharing their experiences with each other. Rose was very actively typing on her tablet to converse with the twins and Xiao Ai. The boisterous chatter among the children and alluring aroma of food filled the room with warmth and happiness.

With the help of Light and the flexible mindset of a child, Rin had mostly recovered from his psychological trauma. He was still slightly haunted by Yellow Base but was now able to compartmentalize those feelings.

They all took time to enjoy the wonderful food that Light made and got a great night's rest. Aida, Rose and Xiao Ai were extremely happy to get to sleep in their own beds again. It was more cramped than usual because the twins insisted on joining them, but none of them minded.

The next morning after breakfast, Aida brought everyone out and introduced them to the troops from Green Base. The moment she went out, everyone immediately lined up and stood at attention. They all shouted in unison, "Boss!"

Aida glared at them for making such a big scene which made everyone shudder slightly and immediately lower their heads. Lackey 1 stood at the front with panda eyes. He had spent the entire night to convince the troops of his identity. Afterall, no one recognized him without the numerous tattoos on his face. No one could blame them, he looked like an entirely different person!

Aida's group and Seven all stared in awe at the troop's coherency. Lackey 1 had told them the situation last night, but seeing was believing. They had gone through so much struggle in order to pull a few hundred troops and didn't even manage to gather anyone from Yellow Base. In contrast, Aida pulled an actual army of people to support them.

Aida introduced each of the people within her group before allowing Lucifer to take the reins. As former special forces, Lucifer was most suited for organizing the troops. He stepped up and began assessing the level of abilities in the group. While they weren't aiming to have a full on battle with City M, the stronger and more cohesive the troops were, the fewer fatalities they would have.

Aida decided to head back into the RV, followed by Light and Ace. Lucifer would call them if they were needed. The kids all decided to stay with Lucifer and listen to whatever training he was going to provide to the troops.

Light pulled Aida aside, "I am going to take this time to level up. I've been suppressing it since Orange Base since the timing hasn't been good."

Aida was happy for Light. He was the last one among them who hadn't broken into level 2 yet. With his new strength, he should be able to increase the probability of survival. "You can level up now. I will keep watch."

Light walked back into the RV with a backpack full of gems and began meditating. He was finally going to level up!

The Orange Base troops arrived later in the day. Seven was ecstatic to see them and immediately ran over to greet them. Prior to following Light and the others, he was a sheltered child who never left his small town. His position was inherited from his parents who were previously leaders.

Since leaving Orange Base, he had been through so many life and death experiences since leaving the base and was beginning to miss home. Three, who was in charge of leading the troops over, and the troops from Orange Base all looked disheveled. It was easy to see that they didn't have an easy time arriving here from Orange Base. Three greeted Seven with a warm hug before organizing the troops behind him, all of them seemed exhausted.