Lily's figure melted into the city's shadows unseen thanks to the aid of her camouflage— the fire caused by the Lesser Pyromancy serving its purpose and drawing the brunt of attention, thus making it much easier for her to slip away.
The fire wasn't just for causing a distraction, however— it was also meant to burn away any evidence that could be left behind and link back to her or even the group.
If the local authorities— or worse— got involved in her matters, it could prove to be even more troublesome than just some small group. It would require her to be extremely careful or even outright abandon the idea of pursuing this group.
At the very least, the fire would burn away any evidence she left behind, and it would make it very difficult for the group to use the things left by the group to track them.
Weapons and information would be damaged or destroyed by the fire, and if there had been gunpowder in the building— which they likely did— that would aid in destroying even more.
All in all, while the authorities would find a case to look into— they wouldn't have anywhere to look.
Plus, if someone higher up tried to cover the matter up, this could give Lily a hint as to any connections the group might have, which could prove to be even better for her.
Lily made her way to a safe location away from the building; this way, she wouldn't get caught up in any trouble that it brought, and from there, she used her many Hive Scouts to carry out the search for more bases.
Mainly, her attention was focused on the group of manipulated humans she had ordered to leave the building. In their groggy and confused state, they still did what they were influenced to do and slowly but surely made their way around.
Most of them awoke shortly after leaving the building as that was what she had ordered them to do— none of them really questioned how they got outside since the manipulation simply influenced their will, not rewrite it.
This made them think that their actions were their own.
Now out, most of them were panicking because of what happened— this resulted in many breaking down or simply running away in fear. Others, however, were not this fragile.
These key figures were the ones she had her scouts follow the most— hidden from sight but always watching them.
They made their way through the city; they weren't running but rather going somewhere. A few of them made their way to different locations, but they all clearly had a goal in mind.
That goal was to either reach someone or somewhere in order to share what had happened— and thanks to this goal, she would be able to find the locations of other bases without having to scout the entire city.
To her success, her scouts that had been following the humans soon came across interesting information, as two different bases were soon found.
This was pleasing news as it meant that she had more mutants to devour— the only issue was that one of these two bases seemed much more secure than the previous one.
This base was clearly more important than the previous base— as not only was the location well secured to avoid being found, but it was also highly defended.
People were on patrol in and around the place at all times, along with cameras, locked gates and doors, large fences, and more. The place was basically a small fortress for those within it.
They didn't even let the man who had come to report the incident in without carefully verifying his identity, searching him, and using what seemed like a scanning device on him.
Getting in like she previously did would not be easy— but she would still do it.
For now, though, she decided that starting with the other base would be for the best; it was less protected, and they were now informed about the attack.
As such, she needed to make a move before they decided to do something.
So, making her way over to the location of that base— she kept her eyes on the happenings of her scouts, following the people that she had released, listening in on conversations, and even keeping an eye on the authorities to see how they would react.
For a normal person, doing all this at once would be difficult— if not impossible— but for Lily, it was just a normal activity; it didn't even strain her mentally.
More mutants coming right up.