All For One watched the TV screen, propping his chin against the palm of his hand.
His breathing was heavy, but calm, and the muscles around his mouth were twitching as if he dearly wanted to smile.
On the TV screen, Shigaraki was playing video games with Spinner, Twice cheering them on from behind. The other underlings Hero Killer Stain had brought with him were also there in perfect health, thanks to Dr. Kyudai's treatment.
And this very cheery atmosphere puzzled All For One.
"They are taking Stain's humiliating capture quite well, aren't they, Dr. Ujiko?" he asked with amusement.
"Huh?" The bald, old man, who was too indulged in the Quirk Amplification Device, lifted his head. "Ah, yes, yes, Master. Quite odd."
All For One didn't mind the Doctor's lack of enthusiasm.
With their mission of bringing in Dr. Sam failing, it fell solely on Dr. Kyudai to find a way around the Quirk Amplification Device's shortcomings.
But this wasn't the only loss they had suffered, All For One knew.
Not only had they failed to extract the prisoner, but they had also lost Stain and a Near High End Nomu. Even Shigaraki and Kurogiri had barely survived, running away at the very last moment.
And it was all because of that strange Spatial Barrier–like Quirk that they had failed to get any info on.
All For One licked his lips as he thought of that Quirk, which Kurogiri had described to him.
One punch had disintegrated a Near High End Nomu. Not wounded. Disintegrated.
Just hearing of that sight made All For One remember All Might in his prime, a strange, sadistic chill running down his spine.
However, it hadn't all come out to be a joke.
Far from it, it had become the greatest turning point in Shigaraki's life… as All For One had hoped and planned for.
Contrary to Dr. Kyudai's strange attachment to the Quirk Amplification Device, All For One had little interest in it. His ability to steal Quirks was infinitely better than the Device's effects. It would have been a different matter if the Device could amplify his innate Quirk without any repercussions.
Who knew how long it would take to make it better?
Years—if not decades—perhaps?
All For One… didn't have that much time.
His sole reason for letting Stain take Shigaraki with him was to hope for a surprising development.
And the development that did happen had surpassed even his expectations.
Yes. A Near High End Nomu had lost its life.
That wasn't a loss even All For One could discard.
Still, experiments were experiments in the end, and, by nature, disposable.
However, All For One would have never thought that they would benefit from Nomu's death even more than when it had been alive.
Stain could devour a Nomu and obtain its Quirks!
All For One had always carried a doubt regarding Stain carrying a dead Nomu's head by his waist, while simultaneously holding the Nomu's Quirks.
It was only now that he confirmed that doubt.
Which begged the question: why did Stain not just ask for Nomus before he went to the USA?
It couldn't be just because Stain wanted to hide his strange ability, All For One knew. Then, it only meant one thing.
Stain didn't want to assimilate more Quirks.
Dr. Kyudai had theorized later that Stain's body must have been rejecting the Quirks while fighting the USA's Heroes. That's how the man holding several Quirks fell into their hands.
Still, the entire situation around Stain was unique and… interesting.
Is it all because of this… Conformity? All For One asked himself, tapping his fingers on the chair's arm. Stain did not have these powers before… Hmm…
Then there was Dr. Blessed. He hadn't acted against Shigaraki and Stain, but the news kept mentioning that he had goons under him that carried nuclear firepower.
Nuclear…
Somehow, despite being more active than Stain, Dr. Blessed kept becoming more mysterious in All For One's eyes.
But enough about Stain and Dr. Blessed.
Sooner or later, he would unravel the mysteries surrounding those men.
It was Shigaraki who was the real winner in all this fiasco, though, All For One believed.
With a strange turn of fate, the boy had managed to awaken his Quirk in the heat of the battle, decaying things with a mere touch of his fingers. Now, he didn't even need to hold something with all his fingers to activate his Quirk.
All For One still remembered the time when Kurogiri had brought Shigaraki back days ago.
As he saw Shigaraki and Spinner shouting at each other, he recalled what the boy had kept muttering… over and over.
… Rematch… Shigaraki had hissed, his eyes glowing bloodier than blood. I want a rematch…
That made All For One remember one more thing. "Did you get the results of the test you did on Shigaraki, Doctor Ujiko?"
The doctor swiveled on his chair, went to a different drawer, and pulled out a report.
"Yes, Master," he said, going through them again. "There's some strange activity going on in Shigaraki's brain. It's like he's a dolphin."
"Dolphin?!" All For One frowned.
Dr. Kyudai nodded. "Dolphins pull off a marvelous neurological party trick," he explained. "They use unihemispheric slow-wave sleep, meaning one hemisphere of the brain goes to sleep while the other stays alert. Something like that was happening to Shigaraki when he arrived. It comes and goes now…"
How interesting… All For One looked at the TV Screen. I wonder…
Stain's absence seemed to have worked in their favor, letting Shigaraki take the lead of the Claws of Conformity.
All For One wondered how to keep pushing Shigaraki forward.
And soon, he found the answer — which had been playing right in front of him all this time.
"Find out what's happening at UA these days, Dr. Ujiko," All For One commanded.
"UA?!" Dr. Kyudai frowned, remembering that the school was on a term break. "What are you planning, Master?"
All For One smiled as he saw Shigaraki and Spinner going at it again, the other Claws joining in on the fun.
"Well, the boy wants a rematch, no?" he said, almost laughing. "Let's… give him one."
********************
Note: Up to 60 more chapters are available in advance across three Tiers. [Use the link in my webnovel profile to access all options]
You can even subscribe Trial Tier for just 1 dollar to have an experience of exclusive chapters for an entire month. I hope a few of you will consider supporting the work.
100 Power Stones/day: +1 Bonus Chapter next day