Even though the facility was inside the Ice Tomb, which blocked it from everything, the guards of the facility were still here, fully armed.
The only ones who had left the Ice Tomb were the variants of APF, leaving the humans behind.
"You think we will survive today?" One of the guards asked. "A large-scale Variant War is taking place outside. Our lives are at risk."
"I don't know if we will survive or not. Our survival depends on the victory of APF. If the other side wins, I don't even want to imagine what will happen to us," Another guard responded as he looked towards the north, where only a huge ice block could be seen.
Since the whole place was covered in an Ice Tomb, the light of the sun wasn't reaching here either, making this place darker than usual.
"I heard Variant Uprising is very cruel. They certainly won't let us live if they win. We can only pray that APF wins and stay ready to take action if needed." The other guard shared his thoughts, hoping that APF would keep them safe by defeating their enemies.
…
Back to the underground tunnel, the tunnel-making finally stopped.
"I guess this is long enough. We can get out of here. Or you can choose a spot," Henrik said as he stopped making the tunnel any longer.
Hearing the words of Henrik, Caen looked back at one of the two women that he had brought with him.
Glancing at the brown-haired woman, he said, "Fiona, your turn. Tell us what the situation is, outside."
The lady who was dressed in a corporate coat and pants stepped forward as Caen called out to her.
She tilted her head upwards as she looked at the ground surface in that tunnel. Her dark eyes turned bright red as she started using her abilities which allowed her to see through the objects.
With her powers, she was able to see through the ground, monitoring what the condition was outside. Her eyes were like scanners and as good as spying devices.
"All the human guards are here. They have spread out all around. I can't see any place where we can step out without getting caught," Fiona said as her eyes returned to their normal color.
"We can take the long route and try coming out of the back; what do you think?" She suggested.
"That would unnecessarily delay us," Caen muttered as he released a mouthful of breath.
He rubbed his chin as he fell into deep thought.
He thought for a few minutes, trying to see what was the best plan of approach here that could be done for this concern.
After contemplating for a while, there seemed to be two options before him. One was to take the long route and delay things. He didn't like that option since the faster they were, the better.
The second option he could see was going out of the tunnel without caring about anything. But the number of guards was too much. There might be unnecessary noise. And it would also take them time to kill them all.
He glanced back at Lucifer, wondering if going out and fighting was the best option. This place was inside a big Ice Tomb. The chances of sound getting out of here and reaching the APF was almost impossible but still... He had some doubts.
"Alright, I've decided. I have a plan," Caen said as he smiled.
"Lucifer, let me tell you something before I do it so you will not be confused. I don't want you to attack me thinking that I'm your enemy because of a misunderstanding," he said to Lucifer.
His words confused Lucifer. What was he about to do? Why would he attack Caen here? Was he going to betray him?
Just as Lucifer was thinking, Caen took the lead and further explained, "My power, it allows me to shapeshift and impersonate another human being, making it impossible to recognize me. I'm about to use that ability again. So bear in mind and don't attack me. Because I'm going to impersonate someone special."
'Impersonation?' Lucifer thought, surprised. This ability, if he understood it right, was very scary. If it actually existed, he knew he couldn't believe anything anymore. Such abilities like these existed too?!
This was the first time Lucifer had heard about it. Caen had kept the same face since the moment he first met Lucifer.
Anyone could pretend to be anyone with this ability. If Caen had wanted, he could have pretended to be his father as well. The implications of this in the future, Lucifer didn't even want to believe it.
Caen's power was very advantageous for him. It was a form of deception, knowing that he could be a great impostor by impersonating someone.
He could fool and deceive the enemies easily, who would be unaware that the person in front of them was not a friend but a foe who could stab and kill them anytime.
Lucifer remembered the moment he had seen a woman who looked like his mother. Even though he had realized that the woman wasn't his mother, he was taken aback by that.
"Don't worry; I am not going to use this ability against you if that's what you're worried about. You have my word on that," Caen replied, noticing the concern on Lucifer's face.
He knew his powers were scary, especially for someone that barely trusted anyone. Now Lucifer was going to think even more before disclosing any secrets to others.
Even if he trusted someone, he wasn't going to tell everything since there was a risk that the person before him could be someone else who was impersonating the person close to him.
The existence of such powers broke whatever perception and logic of reality that Lucifer had left.
He believed it was still fine, though. He already had no family or friends. What could someone even achieve by impersonating anyone? It would be one stranger impersonating as one distantly familiar stranger.
With that thought, he tried to convince himself that he didn't have anything to worry about.
"Who are you going to impersonate?" Lucifer asked. "If you impersonated my father, you'll regret it."
Seeing Lucifer's worry, Caen couldn't help but burst into laughter. "Hahaha, don't worry. I know the importance of family. And I respect your parents too much to even dare to impersonate them. Rest assured."
"I'm going to impersonate Xander Blake, the leader of APF Delta Squad. I'm sure the guards here will listen to me then. I just don't want you to attack me thinking that I'm the real Xander Blake; that's why I am telling you," he further said.
"That's fine. I won't attack you. I'm not stupid," Lucifer said as he nodded his head.
"What will you do about clothes?" Henrik asked Caen, realizing that even though he could impersonate others, he couldn't impersonate their clothes. That's why he always prepared in advance whenever he needed to impersonate someone.
Impromptu, he couldn't arrange clothes.
"Don't worry about clothes. We don't have time, so I'll just have to adjust and make a story as I go," Caen said before he touched his right cheek with his right-hand fingers.
As for the left-hand fingers, he placed them on his left cheeks before he started using his Transformation.