System's POV
chapter-177

Contrary to what Amery thought, it was very easy to find out that they were the Assassins that were sent by the Radical Faction to kidnap Lady Briella and her daughter, Cleo.

Karabor City was currently on heightened alert, so the coming and going of people was being strictly monitored.

This news had also spread in the other cities, and the only ones who could enter and leave the city without any problems were the local people who lived in it.

Outsiders would need the General's permission to enter, so it was difficult for those who weren't residents of Karabor City to come and go as they pleased.

Thirteen knew that if the Assassins failed to enter the city using normal means, they would resort to other methods like climbing up the city walls in order to enter illegally.

If that were to happen, it would be much harder to catch them.

Having taken this into consideration, he devised a plan and had some people loyal to the General act as the City Guards manning the gate.

If someone were to try getting into the city using recommendations from High-Ranking Officials or something similar, they would immediately be introduced to the Blue Ball Inn, where Thirteen was waiting for them.

The people who were originally working there, and even some of the guests, were replaced by General Stark's people, who would immediately step in to help if things got out of hand.

Thirteen had personally concocted a poison that was undetectable using the methods available in the Valbarra Archipelago.

The poison wasn't lethal.

All it could do was make whoever ingested it drowsy and weaken their resistance for half a day.

Once the poison was out of their system, the pitiful souls would regain their bodily functions and would not suffer from any side effects.

"Still, I didn't expect them to send two different groups of Assassins," Thirteen said as he watched the three unconscious people being carried out of the room. "It seems that Lord Brigham is not taking any chances."

"Do you think there will be more, Zion?" Dixon asked solemnly.

"I don't know," Thirteen replied. "But if someone uses the same method, you already know what to do."

Dixon nodded. "Understood. Will you be returning to the residence now?"

"Mmm." Thirteen hummed. "How can I possibly miss having more subordinates?"

Dixon watched the seven-year-old walk away with a conflicted look on his face.

He almost felt sorry for the Assassins because, by the time the day was over, they would be serving a new Master, who would make them work hard like slaves.

———————————-

Half an hour later…

Amery had a blank look on his face as he stared at the space in front of him.

He had just drank Rafiki's truth serum, so his thoughts were in a haze.

The leader of the Assassins was unable to muster any kind of resistance and told the General everything he knew.

This included the names of the people whom he had assassinated in the past.

After the interrogation was over, the General glanced in Zion's direction, making the latter nod his head in understanding.

"Well then, Sir Norris. It's your time to shine again," Thirteen turned around to look at the Slave Master behind him, whom he had tempted with a business opportunity that he couldn't reject.

"Leave it to me, Zion," Norris said as he started to inscribe the slave tattoo on Amery's forehead, turning him into a slave.

The General looked at the Slave Master in distaste because he never thought that he would be working with someone who had enslaved his people and sold them as slaves to the Barbarians.

Slavery was not allowed within the Sumatran Kingdom, but that didn't mean that there were no nobles who had done something similar to it.

Their version was called Debt Slaves, and unless the slaves had paid their dues, they would continue to serve their Masters.

The only difference was that they didn't bear any slave tattoos on their bodies and did what they were asked because they had no choice but to do it.

Being exiled from the Sumatran Kingdom was equivalent to dying in the Barbarian Lands, or worse, becoming their slaves.

For this reason, they willingly chose servitude in order to repay the debts they owed to their debtors.

Beads of sweat formed in Norris' head because enslaving a Champion wasn't an easy task at all.

Norris was only a Grandmaster, and truth be told, it would originally be extremely hard for him to subjugate a Beastkin that was a Rank higher than him with his slave magic.

Fortunately, Amery couldn't muster any kind of resistance due to Rafiki's truth serum, rendering him vulnerable to mental attacks.

When the Beast Slave Tattoo was finally carved on Amery's forehead, Norris breathed a sigh of relief.

"The only thing left to do is to bind him to a Master," Norris said, his voice filled with exhaustion.

"Brother, make him your subordinate," Thirteen glanced at Anwir, who was standing across from him.

"Understood." Anwir nodded and placed a drop of his blood on the tattoo on Amery's forehead, forcing him to become the Villain's subordinate.

It took a lot of effort to convince the General to smuggle Norris to Karabor City to enslave the Assassins who were targeting his family.

The mere thought of having his people enslaved appalled him.

But after Thirteen emphasized that it was the same people who wished to harm his family and sold their Kingdom to a Third Party, the General hardened himself and agreed to hire the Slave Master to enslave the Assassins that were targeting their family.

Norris, who wanted nothing more than to form strong connections with the General, as well as see how Zion was doing, readily agreed to the proposal that Vassago had personally delivered to Gronar City.

However, General Stark had a condition.

doing, readily agreed to the proposal that Vassago had personally delivered to Gronar City.

Zion could not become the Master of the Assassins. The General brought this condition up because he felt that the boy might abuse the Tigerkins and order them to do evil things.

In order to solve this problem, Thirteen proposed that all the Assassins become Anwir's subordinates.

Villains needed pawns, and what better pawns to have than the Assassins whom their enemies had served to them on a silver platter?

Since they were giving them free manpower, Thirteen decided to make them his Sworn Brother's subordinates, allowing Anwir to grow his influence.

General Stark still had his reservations, but the seven-year-old convinced him that Anwir wouldn't harm their family a second time.

Anwir also made a blood oath to never harm the Evander Family again, which made the General reluctantly agree to make the Assassins his adoptive son's subordinates.

"Although there is a chance that more Assassins would come, we cannot delay our mission any further," Thirteen stated. "We need to strike now while our enemy is still in the dark. Brother, I'll let you handle Lord Brigham. Can you do it?"

Anwir didn't hesitate and nodded his head. "I'll handle him."

"Good." Thirteen smirked. "We leave tonight, and head to our designated targets."

When General Stark asked Zion the method he would use in order to delay the War Preparations of the Tigerkins, the boy only said one word, and that was…

"Logistics."

There was a saying that warriors win battles, but Logistics win wars.

As long as they were able to disrupt the supply of food, weapons, as well as other miscellaneous items needed for the war, they would be able to delay the full-scale battle for a few months.

Having thought of this, Thirteen had planned to target several places simultaneously, hitting the supply lines that belonged to the Radical Faction.

Of course, he also asked Anwir to loot their treasuries. Their gains from this would be used to fund their future operations.

The seven-year-old was making sure that his Third-Rate Villain would grow at a rapid pace, which was why he chose to have Anwir face-off against Lord Brigham.

Two villains facing off against each other was a very normal thing to happen, and the boy was excited to see the result of their clash.

Thirteen didn't know if Anwir would manage to win against his opponent.

But regardless of the result, this experience would allow Anwir to realize his shortcomings, weaknesses, as well as his strengths.

Of course, Thirteen would also help his Sworn Brother if he really needed it.

However, until Anwir asked for his help, he would just observe from the side and let his Little Villain farm experience points, as well as resources.

Just like the others, Thirteen had also chosen someone to fight against, and it was none other than the old Tigerkin, who was wearing glasses during the secret meeting with Lord Brigham.

Brigham might be the Puppet Master behind everything, but the Old Tigerkin with glasses was the one who had all the connections, including the contact to the Mercenaries, as well as the Assassin groups, within the Sumatran Kingdom.

As long as Thirteen got his hands on the old man, he would be able to become the hidden ruler of the Underworld of the Sumatran Kingdom.

This would allow him to move more freely within the Territories of the Tigerkins, allowing him to visit the members of the Radical Faction, one by one.