148 Rainbow Bases

Seeing that everyone understood, Light began explaining the dynamics of the bases. "The five bases named themselves by color therefore they are known as the Rainbow Bases. There is Red Base, Orange Base, Yellow Base, Green Base, and Blue Base. You can identify which base a Variant is from by looking at their armband. Of the 5 bases, Red and Blue both have alliances with the government. They both had some pre-existing relations with high ranking officials which allowed them to conduct trades. For this reason, we can rule both of them out as allies."

"For the Orange, Yellow and Green Bases, they have yet to come to an agreement with the government. Ace can explain to you what he found in their discussions."

Ace pushed up his nonexistent glasses which made Aida roll her eyes. His pretentious attitude reminded her of his personality back when they were working at the same company. He always had a certain flare to his actions that caused people to laugh.

"Orange Base has demonstrated the greatest amount of discord and distrust towards the government. It appears that most of the people from that base were all members of the same cult who had since moved into the nearby temple. They have a lot of interesting conspiracy theories as to where the virus came from, what it was supposed to do and what the government is trying to do now."

"Yellow Base is made up mostly of scholars and average workers. They are also the largest base. The people at this base is a collection of individuals who didn't fit in to any of the other bases and don't have any strong powers. However, what they can't accomplish with a single person's strength, they complete through strength in numbers."

"Green Base is the collection of all the people formerly from the slums and gangs. They have an extremely oppressive structure but that also makes them the most cautious, vicious and strongest of the three groups. Everyone actively avoids this base as they are hard to reason with and only listen to might."

"We believe that we should approach the Orange Base first. They have the most obvious outward hatred towards the government and are likely already looking for ways to break in. We can then use this as leverage to convince the Yellow Base. As for Green Base, they operate on the survival of the fittest concept. If we can prove that we are the strongest, then there's a strong chance they would be willing to submit."

Aida nodded in agreement. Regardless of where they went, might is always right.

The information and analysis that Ace and Light provided was very comprehensive. Everyone took some time to read through all the information that was provided. Even the children studied it carefully. Xiao Ai, who was practically an advanced computer, guided the children through the documents, explaining the important points for them to remember.

After some time, Aida asked Light, "What are your recommendations on what to do next? We need to complete everything with the greatest efficiency. The security and the wall will only grow."

Light already had a response prepared for her question, "I recommend we split up into two groups. One group will talk to Orange and Yellow Base while the other group goes to talk to Green Base. While the bases are all close, it's still roughly a half day trip to get from one base to the next."

Everyone felt somewhat lost when they heard this proposition. They had already somewhat expected this outcome, but hearing it still felt wrong. The group hadn't left each other's sides or split up pretty much since the outbreak occurred. The thought of separating had never even occurred to them.

Light, as the empath, was immediately able to detect everyone's concern and protest. He understood their reactions but it was truly the best option for the current situation. The faster they could corral a group to break into City M, the less likely there would be a leak of information. It would greatly increase their likelihood of breaking into City M through an ambush.

Aida was reluctant to part from everyone else as well but she also very clearly understood Light's thought process. She was the first person to agree. "I agree that this is the right decision. How are we splitting the group?"

Light smiled wryly and said, "I haven't come up with precise breakdowns for the groups, but Lucifer should definitely go to liaise with the Orange and Yellow Bases as he has the most credibility."

He then hesitated before continuing, "I think you should go to Green Base to negotiate as the strongest of us."

Aida tapped her chin in thought, "You and Ace will need to go with Lucifer as well. You can help plan and react to any unexpected events while Ace can help make sure we keep a clear line of communication."

Ace jumped up abruptly, spilling the drinks on the table. No one minded as they were in an equally agitated state. He said, "No! Master I must follow you!! You can't leave me here."

Aida smacked him on the head, "It's not like we're parting forever. Stop being melodramatic."

Ace was subdued yet again by Aida. Everyone chuckled at the scene and the mood lightened quite a bit. Light and the others helped clean up the mess that Ace made on the table.

Having seen Aida's decision, Xiao Ai, Rose and Little White immediately grabbed onto the back of Aida's shirt with an unspoken agreement. Her three little tails were clearly indicating that they refused to leave her side.

Patting their heads, she reassured them, "Don't worry. I will bring all three of you along. The rest of you should go with Light."

The twins looked about to protest as well, but kept their mouth shut after receiving a withering look from their brother. Light could only shake his head at the sight of his brothers eager to leave him to follow Aida.

In contrast to their dinner the night before, everyone was extremely quiet and solemn tonight.The twins and Ace latched onto Aida, refusing to leave her side. Aida helplessly slept downstairs on the tatami with everyone piled up beside her.