167 Waiting for Results

Standing up, they all casually shook hands before walking out. One's illusion was the first to dash out without any sort of explanation, as though in a huge hurry. Zero frowned reflexively at the odd behavior but quickly dismissed it and returned his attention to Lucifer as they exchanged their final goodbyes.

The twins were standing besides Light, helping him walk, as they made their way back to the RV. He was extremely exhausted from the entire ordeal. Knowing that they were still on enemy territory, he forced himself to walk as normally as possible despite his exhaustion. Every one of his muscles screamed in protest.

For the second day in a row, Zero quietly watched from a window as the group walked out of the zen garden and back to their RV. The other leaders had already left as well so he was the only one in the room. He muttered, "There's something suspicious here, I'll need to investigate."

As Light and the others reached the RV, they carefully placed Light on the tatami mat while handing him more gems to absorb. Lucifer asked, "What happened?"

Light absorbed the gem while Yukio thoughtfully handed him a cup of water. Taking a drink, he answered, "Everything seems to have gone as planned. During the break, I successfully isolated One. He's onboard with our plan and went out to gather people, perhaps he met with assistance."

Lucifer turned to Ace and requested his help, "Check on the cameras and tell us what happened."

"On it." Ace took out his laptop and began tapping on it furiously.

Yukio and Rin went to prepare dinner for everyone. They wanted to get food to their pale brother as soon as possible.

While Aida was away, everyone here had their own roles. Lucifer was the substitute leader, Light was the strategist, Ace was the reconnaissance, and the twins were the support.

"Found it!" Ace called out as he projected some information on the screen. "It seems the first place he went was into the kitchen. I guess he plans on incapacitating the guards before acting."

"Smart," commented Lucifer.

"After that, the cameras show that One has been snooping around the base knocking from door to door. He has been doing what he promised Light."

"It seems he is biding his time for the poison in the food to kick in before attacking Zero, that's why we haven't heard anything yet." Light hypothesized.

Everyone studied the screen and agreed with his assessment. He was clearly rallying the people and honoring their agreement.

Lucifer commented, "It looks like tonight will be an interesting night. Nobody should plan to sleep tonight. We need to be prepared to act in case of an emergency situation. Ace, keep the surveillance on for any additional information."

Ace compiled while commenting wistfully, "It's really too bad these monks don't believe in technology. The surveillance here is so spotty."

Everyone in the RV ate dinner and then began meditating. Light could feel himself on the verge of a breakthrough after having exhausted his powers so thoroughly. He continued to suppress this feeling as it wouldn't necessarily be safe to level up at this time. The exposure of his illusions and empathic abilities to the outside could be incredibly potent. He couldn't risk potentially losing control while leveling up and hurting the people around him.

They all calmly waited for the base to reach out to them. Even if there was a fight, they were relatively confident that the people on base wouldn't drag them into it. The people idolized Lucifer as a figurehead of the rebellion which was a large part of why Zero had been using softer tactics to approach them rather than coercion or just straight up killing them.

Around 2am, Rin, who had been on shift to monitor the cameras, called out, "There's movement! I think they're going in."

Everyone else opened their eyes and watched the camera feeds as well. They could see One, leading a few of the other leaders and a group of people, marching towards what Ace identified as Zero's humble abode.

Light, who had recovered from his exhaustion, smiled calmly, "Good, looks like my judgement wasn't wrong. What are the odds of their success?"

Lucifer watched thoughtfully, "It should be relatively high given the number of people. The important thing is that they don't underestimate Zero and his abilities. I could sense that he was hiding a lot more than just his own hypnotic abilities. The trick will be to attack using the element of surprise and finish the fight as fast as possible."

Rin was standing, "It's too bad we can't go in and see the fight for ourselves, I bet it would be pretty cool. People would be fighting, then they would turn around and try to kill themselves or their allies."

Light knocked his head, "Absolutely not. We still don't know if he can reach you while you're in the shadows."

"Aww big broo," complained Rin as Yukio quietly dragged him back to sit down.

There was no surveillance so all they could do was wait. Roughly two hours later, there was finally a polite knock at the door of their RV. Xiao Ai had previously added cameras to the outside of their RV so they could remain inside even while keeping track of everything. They saw that it was One.

Lucifer signalled to everyone, reminding them not to let their guard down even if it was One. They nodded and prepared themselves for battle as Lucifer opened the door.