System's POV

“Look into my eyes,” Thirteen replied. “Does this look like the eyes of a liar to you? If you say yes, I’ll go pack up and return to the Aldeberan Continent. Good luck winning this war on your own.”

Douglas and the Patriarchs of the Prestigious Clans had come to Casimir City for one thing, and one thing only.

They intended to blackmail Zion Leventis.

How did they plan to blackmail him?

They would not only use Princess Aracelle’s departure as a way to make him owe them a favor…

But they would also use the remaining unknown within the 69th Battalion against him.

How?

They plan to forcibly take Stella into their custody and use her as a bargaining chip against the teenage boy. That way, he’d be more compliant with their demands and grant them a favor.

All they needed was one favor, and they would let bygones be bygones.

Unfortunately, they didn’t know Thirteen very well.

It was impossible for them to scheme against Zion Leventis.

Scheme against the System of Cannon Fodders?

What dumb f*cks they were.

After hearing he would no longer participate in the defense of the Cygni Continent and return to the Aldebaran Continent, Douglas and the three other Patriarchs realized that they had messed with the wrong person.

Zion didn’t have the same attachment to what they were fighting for, which made it easy for him to simply leave even when the Jinn invasion was about to begin in full.

Had the young man been an ordinary person, none of them would bat an eye and might even bless him “good riddance.”

But Zion Leventis wasn’t anyone ordinary.

He was probably the only person who could find a way out of this hopeless situation.

“H-Hahaha! As expected of you, Zion.” Douglas laughed and lightly patted the teenage boy’s shoulder. “You ask me if those eyes of yours are the eyes of a liar? Of course, the answer is you’re not a liar. We’re simply here to confirm what happened with Princess Aracelle. That’s it.”

Of course, Douglas knew damn well that Zion was lying. But what could he do? The teenage boy was someone they needed desperately, and Douglas wouldn’t let him leave even if it meant he had to make a compromise.

Also, using Stella as a hostage against him?

Hah! Very funny!

Thirteen could already tell what the old foxes were scheming.

Actually, he was even looking forward to what would happen if they took the young lady into their custody.

Stella’s sisters, Maple and Cinnamon, could sneak inside the Treasury of the Apocalypse and make even Metatron treat them kindly.

If the God of the Apocalypse was being friendly to the two gluttons, this meant that they weren’t beings he dared to offend.

Thirteen was very eager to watch the drama that would unfold once Stella’s family came to pick her up.

By then, he would probably get a better understanding of the family the young lady belonged to.

“As expected of you, Sir Douglas,” Thirteen replied with a smile. “Since you seem to think I’m a liar, let me tell you one more thing that will save your neck in the future.”

The teenage boy made a gesture that he wanted to whisper something in Douglas’ ears.

“Even I’m very curious about Stella’s family,” Thirteen whispered. “But if you want to die so badly, feel free to take her hostage. I’ll be waiting patiently for what will happen next.”

Douglas stiffened because he had no idea how the boy managed to know one of the plans that they had prepared for him.

However, after a few seconds, another chuckle escaped his lips.

“You really are very competent, Zion,” Douglas said with praise. “How about it? I have a few great granddaughters who are just a little older than you. Want to become my great grandson-in-law?”

Tiona, who was coiled around Thirteen’s neck, hissed at the Monarch as if telling him to leave her Zion alone.

Clearly, she wasn’t too happy about Douglas trying to rope her Master into their family.

Arthur only found this exchange quite amusing.

If he were in Douglas’ shoes, he would probably do the same.

Even the most powerful people in Pangea didn’t dare to offend his grandson. It wasn’t because he was strong, but because he was intelligent and cunning.

Arthur couldn’t count how many times he thought how lucky he was that Zion was part of the Leventis Family.

Although Gerald still refused to return to the Main Branch and kept on insisting that their family was the Main Branch of the Leventis Family, it didn’t change the fact that they were bound by blood.

Well, technically, Zion’s blood was no longer that of an ordinary human because he had transferred his blood to his little sister, Rhia.

The blood flowing inside of his body was the cursed blood that belonged to the Moon Princess, who had been freed from her hundreds of years of suffering.

“I’ll be honest with you, guys,” Thirteen said. “The future looks very bleak. Several factions from the Royal Families of Gomorra had appeared, and soon, their reinforcements would arrive to take a slice of the Cygni Continent.

“Frankly, our chance of winning is very, very, small. In fact, it would be easier if you all were to submit to one of the factions trying to conquer this land and strike a deal with them.”

Upon hearing his words, the expressions of the people inside the room turned grim. Deep inside, they also felt that they had no chance of winning, but what could they do but cling to that hope that a miracle would happen?

“But there’s still a chance, right? Douglas asked, looking at Zion with all the seriousness that he could muster.

“If humanity stops fighting amongst themselves, then sure… there is a chance,” Thirteen smirked.

It was very obvious that he was telling the big shots of the Cygni Continent that infighting amongst themselves wouldn’t be tolerated.

He was implying, ‘If you stop messing with me and my people, then I can bring you victory. But, if you antagonize me, I’ll just go to a beach and watch my girls play volleyball in their swimsuits.’

Tristan, who had been silently listening to the discussion, couldn’t help but admire his son-in-law even more.

‘Shana, you’re really lucky to have chosen him,’ Tristan thought. ‘Zion is a truly capable individual.’

Even though he was the second-in-command of the Central Government, he still had to tread carefully when dealing with the Monarchs, as well as the Patriarchs of the Prestigious Families.

But Zion didn’t give a hoot about them, making him feel truly blessed that the young man would soon become his son-in-law.

“Tell us what you have in mind,” Douglas said. “What can we do in our current situation?”

The Monarch had already dropped all schemes and simply asked what they should do in order to maximize the limited time they had before the High-Ranking Jinns arrived.

“What everyone needs to do right now is mine for resources,” Thirteen replied before tapping on his communicator.

A moment later, a projection of the Cygni Continent appeared.

However, there were blinking blue dots in some of the locations near their city fortresses, as well as the cities at the back of the first line of defense.

Inevitably, everyone in the room was very curious about what those blinking blue dots represented.

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