The final words of the fallen mutant echoed in Lily's mind. Instantly, her thoughts rushed, pieces that were previously disorented fell into place, and a clear picture formed in her mind.
This mutant revolutionary gang was an offset branch of the Brotherhood of Mutants— one that was clearly supported by the Brotherhood in their goals.
She had noticed the similarities a long time ago— how could she not— but that's all they were, similarities. A lot of mutant groups existed, and not all of them were connected— she had searched the memories of the lower members and found no connection to the Brotherhood.
But now she understood— not even the group's lower members knew their group's connections.
The most likely conclusion was that the higher-ranking members of the group were in contact with the Brotherhood while the lower-ranking members simply did what they were told.
Now their connections within the political scene of this nation made this—how they were able to avoid the authorities for so long made a lot of sense now.
The Brotherhood was a powerful force— they had connections throughout the entire world with wealth and might to back them.
'Dammit.'
Lily cursed in her mind as she clicked her tongue— she had no intentions of getting involved with such a big fish just yet but it seemed that the world had a different plan in mind.
With the last of her adversaries vanquished, Lily had to change her plans and make a quick decision about what she would do next.
Ignoring the slight mental strain that caused her mind to slightly ache because of the conflict that had come to an end— she focused on the aftermath of the battle.
Surveying the scene through her Hive Units, Lily observed the devastation brought upon the Fortress, a large portion of it done by the mutants themselves.
The once imposing stronghold now laid in ruins, its walls shattered and its ground stains with blood and debris.
The members of the Fortress were either dead or badly wounded from the attacks— a lot of them were killed by the mutants rather than by Lily's Units.
She didn't linger for long, though— she knew that while the immediate threat had been neutralized and she had accomplished her goal, others were on the way here.
'Reinforcements.'
The words that the leader of the mutant squad said to his teammates did not escape her mind— she knew that reinforcements would be coming soon.
While she would normally not care about such thing, with another piece added to the puzzle she no longer saw this as a minor matter— the Brotherhood was a large organization and she did not want to fight them just yet.
The likelihood that the reinforcements coming being Brotherhood members couldn't be ignored— and she had no intention to fight them directly.
Especially not after having just concluded her first Swarm battle— she needed to rest and adapt.
'Retreating for now would be best.'
Lily made a quick conclusion— she would retreat from this location for the time being and decide on how to deal with this going forward after she had time to allocate her thoughts.
With a silent command, Lily directed her Hive Units to begin salvaging the bodies of the mutants that had littered the ground— storing them in the bodies of the Direworms; she would transport them somewhere safe and then devour them personally.
As the Direworms and the Swarmlings did that, she had the Scouts fly into the building to find the girl that was mentioned by the mutant— the one that was calling for the reinforcements.
Flying into the ruins of the building the Scout made its way around quickly— searching for anything that it could find.
Eventually, it came across a large metal door in what seemed like a basement— it was sealed shut without any signs of an opening for it to enter.
Approuching the metal door, Lily planned to use the Scout's senses to peer into what was going on inside. However, as she approached the door, something unexpected happened.
A blueish glow overtook the vision of the Scout for a split second— before cutting the body of the Scout in half.
It happened so fast that Lily was only able to notice a few seconds of the glow before her connection to the Scout had vanished— the Scout having perished instantly from the attack.
'So that's the mutant that spotted the scouts before. Powerful— I want it.'
Greed unexpectedly— or expectedly— arose in her mind after she came to the conclusion that the remaining mutant was the one responsibile for killing her Scouts when she tried to scout the location previously.
Suppressing it, however, she simply urged the Hive Units to move quicker—her instincts telling her that danger was coming if she stayed here any longer.
While the Hive Units worked— her main body also began to move.
Standing up, she left the building she was using as a temporary base— erasing any traces of her presence before she vanished into the night.