"It is because I was concerned about Lucifer's safety. No matter what, he is the son of Clarisse and Zale Azarel. Those two gave their lives to keep us and our country safe," Xander started explaining.

"It isn't Lucifer's fault that he was misguided. It was the government and the Facility that made him go through the terrifying experience, thus forming his dark personality," Xander said as he remembered the content of the clip that he had seen. In the clip, it was clear how Lucifer was tortured in the lab.

Unfortunately, his mission and his work kept him from doing the things he actually wanted to do with the clip.

"And what would have happened if you had told Varant?" Ayn asked. "How would that affect anything? It isn't like he would have gone personally to catch a kid even if you had told him the truth."

"It's not that. You know his powers, right? He can erase the powers of people. If he knew Lucifer was so dangerous, he might have asked me to stop all the spending on the cell and the anti-decaying liquid."

"Instead, he would have told me to bring Lucifer to him after capture so he could erase the powers of Lucifer," Xander explained.

After a short silence, he continued, "That's why I under-reported the dangers of Lucifer to him, so he didn't bother spending his powers on the kid."

"Well, wouldn't that be good? Without his powers, Lucifer can live a normal life. We would have also saved plenty of resources," Ayn asked, finding no negatives in what he said might have happened.

Xander shook his head before he explained in detail. "I don't want that. The kid is only misguided. We can bring him on the right path with proper guidance. He can even use his powers for the good of humankind."

" If we take away his powers, we would not only be taking something that he can use to redeem himself, but we would also be taking away his inheritance. His parents are already dead. The only thing he got from them was the powers. It's not fair to take that from him based on some bad actions," he added.

"Sigh, sometimes I can't understand your thought process at all. Why do you even care for this kid so much? Whatever, it's your mission. I can't interfere at all. I can only wish you luck and hope that you are successful in getting the results that you desire," Ayn said as a complicated look covered her face.

"Thanks," Xander thanked Ayn for her concern.

He was really glad to have someone like Ayn in whom he could confide. Even though she was kind of his senior in position, she was much more like his friend than someone from APF.

She even broke the rules a few times to help him, like last time when she helped him meet a convict in an APF cell so he could hack the government facility and get the video of Lucifer being tortured.

"Oh, right. Thanks for listening to me and going to Ikrego to help the Hunter Union. We officially received a letter of gratitude from them," Ayn informed Xander. "Good work."

"It was nothing. I am glad I was able to save citizens. I don't need any gratitude from them. However, the team they sent was pretty arrogant." Xander remembered the way Hunter Union members acted.

He didn't bother with them previously, but now he was finding it ironic that they sent a letter of gratitude to them.

Ayn felt like something was wrong. Did they behave badly with him? The Hunter Union members were known to be arrogant, after all.

She grew ever so serious. If they actually behaved like that with the Delta Squad leader of APF, then it was a serious issue that she needed to raise with them and demand an apology from Hunter Union.

They couldn't misbehave with APF and go freely when they called APF for help. Let alone Xander, even if something like this had happened to a lower member of APF, she would be just as furious.

She asked sternly, "Did something happen between you and them?"

"It's nothing. Please don't bother with them. Just some inexperienced kids that didn't know how big the world actually is," Xander answered, shaking his head.

"If you say so," Ayn said as she dropped the topic unwillingly since Xander didn't want to blow it up.

...

While Ayn was talking to Xander, another conversation was taking place.

This time, however, the conversation was between two leaders of the Variant Uprising.

The Level 4 leader of Variant Uprising, Vega, was talking to Level 3 leader of Variant Uprising, Dion.

Since they weren't sure where Lucifer would turn up, they sent Level 1 leader Caen and his team to Erygas. Level 3 Leader Dion and Level 2 Leader Isona were sent to the Dillion Research Facility, which was Lucifer's target, according to Vega.

Now that it was certain that Caen found Lucifer, Dion and Isona were being told to come back.

"Sigh, I was already prepared to help the kid blow up this place. Unfortunately, he ended up in the wrong location. I guess you were right. APF fooled the kid and made them think that the Facility was in Erygas," Dion told Erygas. The disappointment was evident in his dazzling eyes.

"Yeah. You aren't needed there anymore. Come back now. Also, bring Isona with you," Vega commanded.

Dion nodded his head, agreeing to the orders before he disconnected the call.

He walked over to Isona.

They had set up a temporary base near the Facility, which was conveniently hidden to keep them safe.

Dion walked inside Isona's cabin after knocking once.

"Hey, don't you think you should wait outside and not enter a young lady's chamber without her permission?" Isona asked as she gazed at Dion. Her cherry red lips curved to form a beautiful smile on her face.

Her smile was so pretty that it was sufficient to make any guy fall in love with her at first sight, but Dion was clearly unaffected.

"Get ready. We are going back," Dion informed Isona, stunning her.