He believes that someone was made to look like Zero. That person stood out in front of everyone and acted as bait. Anyone who tries to get Zero will get the bait. In case the bait is knocked unconscious, the person will revert to their true image.
It was easy to confirm his hypothesis. He had Glory-5 find a phone and search for information about the girl that was pretending to be Zero.
He discovered that she was a shapeshifter in the Justice League. She was also very powerful.
This finding made him laugh bitterly and say, "I was foiled by my own ability. What a twist of fate."
He would have considered it paranoid or that the Patriarch was full of himself for having a decoy. But he can't do that because Zero truly needs a decoy, seeing as he is in possession of a ring of immortality.
He asked himself. "The question right now is, does Raijin know his true identity, and if he does, what does he think of Zero? Will he give Zero up if I promise not to come after him anymore?"
Then he shook his head and said, "Even if I promise with all sincerity, how can I be sure that Raijin will be sincere and won't use Zero to set up another trap to get me?"
"I guess the only thing I can rely on is my own strength."
He has a lot of plans to increase his strength. With the amount of game points he has, he can open another slot with ease and get more abilities.
He can get those abilities if he goes to the black market, but he doesn't dare to step out of the core of the world in light of Icon's pursuit.
He sighed and said, "I guess I can only wait until I go to the foreign battlefield. I will be able to earn merit points and use them to exchange for new abilities then."
He doesn't like being trapped like this, but he doesn't have much of a choice in the matter. The threat of Icon hanging over his head is more than just the constant hunt for his life. There is also the matter of Icon knowing his true identity.
He doesn't know how Icon was able to do so, but he had that suspicion when Icon was always able to find him. That suspicion was reinforced when Icon set a trap for him and when Icon found his cabal members.
Icon's actions showed that he knew a lot about him. So he suspects that Icon knows his identity as Augustus.
If one day Icon decides to reveal that identity, he will be in big trouble. Icon hasn't done it yet, but he isn't happy about it because Icon hasn't exposed his identity only because he wants to keep Kelvin for himself.
He frowned and went to sleep. He hasn't slept in a long time. But he is emotionally, mentally, and physically tired today. He had to close his eyes and rest.
While he was sleeping, Zero was having a chat with Raijin. It was not a physical chat. It was a communication over the phone.
Raijin asked him, "Do you know who tried to get you?"
"I don't know. The best I found out about him is that those individuals belong to the same group who kidnapped a young super called Rewind. They took Rewind and then came for me."
Raijin asked, "Didn't you say that one of these shadowy men had Rewind's ability?"
Zoro replied, "Yes."
Raijin thought about it and said, "Shadowy form and puppets with the abilities of captured individuals. It is clear who wanted to get you. It is the paragon, and the paragon is Icon."
Zero asked in surprise, "Isn't Icon dead?"
He suspected that it was the paragon who wanted to kidnap him because it wouldn't be the first time, and it probably won't be the last. Paragons always keep coming after him.
The last paragon had just died, so it is expected that the new one would make an attempt to get him. But he didn't expect this paragon to be the first demigod and first paragon of Earth-11.
Raijin said, "Icon didn't die. I don't know how he escaped, and I also don't know how he returned. But this is without a doubt the worst possible thing that can happen. Now that he has reunited with thay ring, nothing good can come out of it."
Raijin always knew that Icon wasn't dead. He knew that without a doubt because he was still in possession of Icon's ability. If Icon was dead, then that ability should disappear from his vast repertoire of abilities too.
He also knows that one of the requirements to become a paragon is to kill him. Many paragons have told him that much anytime he extends an olive branch to them and tries to recruit him. It is why he has always been hunting paragons.
But now that Icon has returned, things will become worse. It is clear by how close those shadowy puppets got to getting Zero today.
What happened earlier is the best attempt that any paragon has ever had in capturing Zero. The best part is that Icon got away with it despite failing.
Icon is too smart and too resourceful. His first omega ability alone is enough to make him formidable. But once a second ability is added into the mix, then Icon becomes a threat that he has to pay a lot of attention to.
Raijin thought about it and said, "If we could find him, this problem would be easy to solve. But we don't know where he is, and he can get away. The best bet is to make him come to us."
Zero paused for a while and then said, "Now that he knows that we've set a trap with me as bait, I doubt that he will still come after him."
Raijin agreed. He chuckled and said, "You're right. Icon is careful and meticulous. After being fooled now, even if you were to appear directly in front of him, he would take it as a trap and escape first."