165 Negotiating with Orange Base

Zero and his leaders continued the conversation with Light, Lucifer and Ace with the twins tagging along. This time, with Light's protection, they were able to conduct the conversation without the risk of getting hypnotized.

The conversation was focused around the terms of collaboration. The leaders from Orange Base just sat there quietly, allowing Zero to lead all the negotiations. They clearly had faith in his ability to do so.

"We can offer 200 men armed and ready for a fight, but they are an unruly group. I'm afraid they will refuse to listen to anyone else's commd but our own. We are willing to send two of our leaders to be decision makes and help organize the troops"

"We appreciate your thoughtfulness. Sending two leaders to watch over your troops is a great idea. We will need a list of each person's abilities so we can help your leaders best utilize the troops on the battlefield," responded Lucifer.

"Absolutely not! I can't just give you the information about my own workers, I mean people. Those powers are the key element of surprise and hidden strength of each base," said Zero. "That is non-negotiable."

Everyone looked up when they heard Zero's slip up. Light noticed that the leaders at the table had a varied response, some were irate while others didn't seem to mind at all. This helped him confirm which people he should target.

Lucifer also shrugged. He knew that Zero would never agree to those terms, but it never hurt to ask. Zero might be a wily old fox, but Lucifer also had his own fair share of people trying to cheat him or assumed he was just a muscle head because he was from the special forces.

After a couple hours of back and forth discussion and going around in circles, Zero finally called for a break. Everyone at the table outwardly appeared alert and engaged, but Light could sense that most of them were dying for the break. Surprisingly, the twins were still in good mental condition and didn't seem to require a break. They had suffered through countless experiences of adults droning on and on for hours on end while requiring them to meaninglessly sit on the side, so this meeting was a cakewalk for them.

Everyone dispersed at the speed of light. All the leaders went in different directions, clearly not fond of each other. Light exchanged a glance with Lucifer and Ace before stepping out, following closely behind the leaders. Meanwhile, Lucifer and the twins continued to converse with Zero about hobbies and the weather to prevent him from leaving the room.

Once outside, Light casually followed One, who was the next in command at the base after Zero, into the bathroom. Standing besides him at the urinal, he commented, "Long day of discussion huh? It must be exhausting."

After sorting through the emotions of each leader in the room for the past few hours, Light could tell that One had strong ambitions and a keen distaste towards Zero, but he was also an extremely cautious man which is what had allowed him to stay alive all this time. He was adept at masking his own emotions.

One simply glanced over at him before turning away while saying, "You shouldn't be talking to me."

Raising an eyebrow, Light followed up and asked, "Why shouldn't we be talking?"

One gave a knowing glance towards the attendants that were standing in the periphery, clearly listening in on all their conversations. They wouldn't even give reprieve to a person in the bathroom. Zero practically ran this base like a prison.

Light took a casual glance before he waved his hand and ordered him quietly, "Walk into the bathroom stall and then come back out."

As a smart person, One immediately understood what Light's intentions were. He squinted his eyes at Light briefly before following Light's instructions. Walking out of the stall, Light greeted him again, "Follow me. They will now think you just had a terrible stomach ache and were in the bathroom for a while."

Following quietly behind, Light stepped into an empty room and sat down at the head of the table, appearing fully in control of the situation. He then gestured for One to sit down as well. They sat in silence as an unspoken battle raged on between the two of them. The longer they were away, the greater the likelihood they would get caught. This was a game of chicken.

Beads of sweat dripped off One's forehead as the time went by. Finally, One caved in and spoke, "So what do you want?"

Light continued to appear in control and nonchalant as he flashed a business smile. He had been far less anxious about the potential of getting caught as he trusted his teammates to keep Zero occupied. Responding to One, he gave just one word, "Mutiny."

A flash of fear crossed One's eyes as he stood up to leave. "Not possible."

'Tsk, so impatient. This is why it's hard to work with non-business minded people,' thought Light. Despite thinking this, he continued to sit there calmly without reacting to One's actions.

Moments later, One returned to the room and sat back down. With a resigned sigh, "Okay, tell me what you were thinking."

"Good. But first, tell me why you weren't affected by Zero's abilities."

This was a critical question so Light was carefully monitoring One's emotions. They couldn't afford One to be a latent threat if he were naturally resistant to psychic powers and hoodwinked them after they laid out the plan.

"I will tell you. Not because I trust you, but because I believe there's no other way. If I allow Zero to continue down this path, our entire base will just turn into his puppets," explained One. "I have the Matryoshka doll ability. You can just consider it that I can hide within layers of myself which has protected me from the hypnotism that Zero is using."

Being cautious, Light didn't respond by instead silently reached out with his empathic powers and attempted to induce fear in One. One continued to stare at Light with indifferent eyes.

After 10 seconds of probing, One raised an eyebrow and said, "Believe me now? I can feel that you're trying to do something but don't have an idea of what."

Light finally stopped and shrugged helplessly, "You can never be too careful in this climate."

[1] Matryoshka dolls are a set of wooden dolls of decreasing size placed one inside another.