Xander understood that he was right. He needed to know the situation before rushing in. If Lucifer was inside, things couldn't be as simple.
"I'm also the son of Zale Azarel. And let me tell you my third identity now. I think you'll love it," Lucifer's amused voice came from the speakers.
"The person you hear right now... Is the new leader of the Variant Uprising!" he declared.
"We have killed Varant and all of your strongest members that he brought with him. On the other hand, our strongest Warlocks are still alive. They're not only alive, but they're inside the APF headquarters now!" Lucifer informed everyone.
"Now, I don't actually like bloodshed, at least as long as it's unnecessary bloodshed. So I am giving you all a chance."
"Surrender and join me. If you don't surrender, you'll be killed as soon as we find you, and believe me when I say this, but we most certainly will find you."
"Cherish your life and forget the false principles you have learned. In any case, I promised someone that I'll let you all live as long as you surrender."
"But I won't hesitate to kill you all if you don't. This will be all. If you all want to surrender, come to the fourth floor and surrender."
"Moreover, don't think you can escape through the roof or through the exit. Our strongest Warlocks are everywhere."
"After twenty minutes, we'll start sweeping through the other floors and killing everyone that opposes us. I leave the last decision to you."
"You should know what's better for you because no hero is coming to save you today. Your heroes should already be in hell by now," he finished before he turned the switch off.
He brought out his phone and called Kellian. "Tell Jia to turn off all communications that are not ours. There's no need for it anymore."
He disconnected the call without waiting for a response.
Folding his arms, he remained seated on the chair as he closed his eyes.
In his mind, a countdown had already started.
"The Uprising has taken over?"
"Varant is dead? How could it be? He took our strongest Warlocks! There's no one strong who is left at the base! If they're all dead, can we even resist?"
"I think we already lost. It's better to surrender. Our Warlocks are dead, and we have no one to protect us. The only thing we had was our defense system to keep the base safe, but even that failed. Now that the Uprising is here, we can do nothing!"
"Let's surrender. I don't want to face the person who killed Varant!"
"I too. At least we'll survive like this. Anything is better than death!"
"Let's go to the fourth floor!"
Most of the Variants that were on the other floors started running towards the lift. As they found the lift busy, they all ran to the stairs.
They didn't have much time, and they needed to get to the fourth floor to surrender.
There were only a few Variants that decided against it.
"Instead of being a prisoner of Uprising, I would much rather prefer the risk of death and escape!"
"Even though they said they have men at entrance and exit, who knows. Maybe he was bluffing!"
"It could also be that he's the only one who is here. He wants everyone to come to him on the fourth floor so he can kill them all. Let's look to escape instead!"
Many small groups had also formed as people decided on escaping. They didn't know if there were any helicopters on the roof, so they decided to leave from the ground exit instead.
Even Xander was still sitting inside the medical chamber, stunned at what he heard. Varant was dead? Not only him, but all who went to War were dead? No news could be worse than that. Moreover, Lucifer was now in control.
"Xander, you can't surrender. You fought him before. He would hate you. If he sees you again, he'll kill you," the doctor told Xander. "But you can't fight either. You still need more time. If you fight, you'll die. The only option is to escape. Forget APF and save your life!"
Xander looked at his hands and legs, frowning. The Doctor was right. It was all because he wasn't perfectly healthy now. Or he could have at least fought.
Even though he didn't like the thought of escaping, he knew that there was no other choice.
"How can we even escape? I don't know if he's bluffing or not," Xander said, frowning.
"I have a way," the Doctor said.
"What way?" Xander asked, frowning. "I don't think the base has any secret escape routes, does it?"
"We don't, but there's still a way. And I need you to listen to me. Don't argue, alright?" the doctor suggested as he frowned.
"What way?" Xander asked.
"I want you to enter a coma again," the doctor answered.
"What?!"
"Don't be shocked. I don't think anyone outside this place knows that you have woken up. So there won't be a problem," the doctor answered Xander, whose mouth was still open in shock.
"When they come to check, we can just say you're in a coma. I don't think they'll do anything to you. You'll be kept in this place. Even if it's Lucifer, he probably will not kill someone who is already half-dead for the last eight years. You will survive," he added.
" After that, we can just wait for the right time. As it'll be a medically induced coma, I would be able to wake you up after everything's fine. And even if I can't for some reason, after three days, the effect will be over on its own. And you'll wake up."
"Everything should be stable by then. There won't be such strict security. And even if there is, this facility would still be relatively free. You can heal and wait for the right time to escape," the doctor said, finishing his entire plan.
"That's all depending on the assumption that Lucifer won't kill me! But if he does, without caring about my condition, I'll be like a chicken in the cutting block. Now, I can at least resist now, but what about then?" Xander inquired.
"Try to understand. With this, you have a chance of surviving and escaping. On the other hand, if you decide to fight like this, let alone escaping, you won't even survive. He'll kill you for sure!" the white-robed doctor said.
"So I believe this risk is worth it. Don't worry; I'll handle everything! Just trust me on this! There is no other way," he added, sighing.