One greeted him with a genuine smile for the first time in two days. He bowed and said, "Thank you for your help. Myself along with Two, Three, Seven, and Eight have taken over the base. We are willing to collaborate with you all."
Lucifer responded, "That's great to hear. What happened to One?"
"We disposed of him. He will no longer be able to control us and manipulate our thoughts," One's face was far more animated than before and he even seemed slightly lost in his own thoughts.
Lucifer politely coughed to bring him back.
"Oh, I apologize. I came to inform you of this news as soon as possible to give you all peace. All the guards have been removed from the area so you can rest easy. We will discuss the details of our collaboration tomorrow. Have a good evening."
One then bowed and walked away.
Rin, who had been spectating secretly from the shadows, popped back out and asked curiously, "Weird, why does that man have so many expressions all of a sudden? It's like a doll came to life or something."
Light chuckled, "It's because he finally removed his power. He has the power to protect himself by erecting both physical and mental walls. The walls are like a mask which makes his expressions appear extremely stoic all the time."
The next morning, they all went to the same zen garden to continue their discussions. As they entered, they immediately noticed a stark difference in comparison to the day before. Only five of the base leaders were sitting there and they all had a myriad of different expressions written on their faces.
Noticing the puzzled look on Light and the other's faces, One explained, "Unfortunately, the other leaders were too deeply hypnotized and still had the intention to follow Zero even in death so we had to place them in holding cells. They will remain there until they have gone through rehabilitation. The same goes for all the attendants and other people who had been deeply exposed to Zero."
The mood of the room was rather dark and stifling. These 11 leaders had all started off together in a cult and worked their way up to become the leaders of this cult. They grew up together and survived the outbreak together. Suffice to say, they were practically family. Yet, just the night before, they were forced to kill one of their own.
Lucifer understood the difficulty given that he had personally seen his own brothers get killed as well. They all had a moment of silence.
Lucifer asked, "How did you fight back against Zero and what is the opinion of the people on your base?"
"Our people were willing to follow us after we shared the information you provided us. They all have very strong anti-government sentiments and were very willing to overthrow someone who would sell their own base out to the government."
"Will you be ready for the upcoming battle against City M?" asked Light.
One pondered a moment before saying, "It will take some time for us to reorganize the base, Zero's actions have caused widespread damage to many parts of the base. However, we will still ally with you all for this upcoming fight against the government as promised."
"While our main forces are mostly indisposed, each of us still have our own personal forces. We are willing to offer some of them for the fight. They will meet you at the appointed location when it is time."
"We will of course still require the compensation of 100 gems for the efforts."
"No problem, we can pay you half now and half just before the fight begins," responded Light.
"We will also need a figurehead of this base to come along with us to Yellow Base to prove to them that we have your cooperation," said Lucifer.
"I can go," Seven spoke up for the first time.
Lucifer assessed Seven and then nodded in agreement. "Great, then we will set off now. See you on the battlefield."
This was a quick and efficient meeting unlike the previous two days. They all shook hands and the RV set off to the next base.
One looked out the same window that Zero had the day before and watched as the RV drove off. His grip tightened for a second before sighing and releasing, "A new era has come."
Sitting in the RV, Seven quietly looked out the window and quietly admired the surroundings, not engaging with the others at all. He was the youngest of the leaders at the age of 29 and grew up in the small town with everyone else. His parents were fearful of everything outside of the base so never allowed him to go anywhere. He had long grown tired of living in the small town and now this base with all the other crazy cultists.
Being smart and able, he had very rapidly risen through the ranks after the outbreak, motivated by the opportunity to finally leave these people and actually take action against the evil government. Unfortunately, when he finally made it to the top, he made the horrifying discovery that they were all just puppets being controlled. Lucifer's intervention was the impetus he needed to finally escape the confines of the base and see the rest of the world.
Not one to sit still, Rin quickly got bored and went to bother the stranger in the RV. "Heyy, aren't you bored just staring out the window? Why won't you come talk to me instead?"
Seven turned to Rin and responded in a wooden voice, "It's not boring at all."
"Tch another boring guy," Rin grumbled as he sat back down.
Light gently reprimanded Rin, "Why don't you go and study instead. Don't bother Seven."
Groaning, Rin reluctantly trudged back over to Yukio and sat down heavily as he took out a book and immediately fell asleep.
Everyone saw this and laughed as they continued to make their way to Yellow Base.
***