System's POV
chapter-439

"I have a special assignment for the two of you," Thirteen stated. "Cristopher, you will be training the 69th Battalion while I am away. Colbert, you will be taking Alcapone's and Alexis' Squad to the Cygni Continent.

"Your task there is to form connections with the High-Ranking Officers of the army. I want you to tell me all their information, as well as the hierarchy among the different squads.

"I'll talk to Douglas later and tell him that I will be sending you as the Vanguard of the 69th Battalion. Since he wants to curry favors from me, I'm sure you guys will be given the best accommodation.

"Just make sure that you don't do anything out of bounds. You will be staying there for a few years, so make sure to build connections. Do I make myself clear?"

"Leave it to me, Young Master," Colbert replied with a smile. "I promise that when you return, you will know everything in the Cygni Continent from the inside out."

"Good." Thirteen nodded. "I am counting on you."

After relaying Colbert's mission, Thirteen then shifted his attention to Cristopher.

His right-hand man was not very good at deceit because he was too honest. But, Thirteen preferred that Cristopher stayed that way.

The System of Cannon Fodders and Colbert were more than enough to do the dirty work, so there was no need for the kind young man to change his ways.

If Colbert was the person who would do the things that should remain in the darkness, Cristopher was the light whom everyone would look up to.

Both played an important role, and Thirteen would give them the abilities they would need for their purposes.

Just like Cristopher, Thirteen had also bestowed Colbert Divine Grade Martial Techniques, and the ones he received were meant for undercover missions.

This was also the reason why Colbert had long decided to hug Thirteen's leg and never let go.

His own family wouldn't even give him some Decent Martial Skills, which was why he didn't develop properly during his childhood.

But now, armed with Divine Grade Martial Techniques, his growth would become limitless once he became a Grandmaster.

"Cristopher, what I want you to do is to ensure that our Battalion will become the best in the Central Government," Thirteen stated. "The First Battalion was said to have the most elite soldiers of the Central Government. But after what we have accomplished, that title is on shaky ground.

"There will be a joint military exercise in a few months, and I want you guys to show them what we are made of. Can you do it?"

"Yes, Young Master," Cristopher replied with confidence. "Leave it to me."

Thirteen nodded because he liked the look in the young man's eyes.

"Good." Thirteen smirked. "I'm sure those old foxes in the army will not dare to skimp on our military budget again. But if they still haven't learned their lesson and still made things difficult for us, we can just leave the Central Government."

"Young Master, do you plan to create a Mercenary Group?" Colbert, who was quick on the uptake, asked with great interest.

"That is one of our options," Thirteen replied. "Since the majority of the funds being used by our Battalion comes from my own pocket, we can just go all the way with this plan. At least, we would no longer need to listen to anyone's orders, do we?"

Cristopher and Colbert nodded their heads at the same time because it did sound like a very tempting idea.

However, Thirteen believed that even if he wanted to ditch the Central Government, Lawrence and Tristan would not let him go easily.

Also, he still needed the umbrella of the Central Government for extra protection.

While having his own Mercenary Group sounds good on paper, it would also mean that they wouldn't have any strong backing.

An organization with a Monarch backing it was different from an organization backed by a Rookie.

Right now, Thirteen needed to stand on the shoulders of Giants so that he could do more things without worrying about others trying to get in his way.

The three continued to talk more about their plans until lunchtime.

Meanwhile, somewhere in the Dvalinn Federation…

Shana was talking to the members of the Hero Party through their group chat.

"Are you really going back to the Sirius Continent?" the Sage of the Hero Party, Joshua, asked with a smile. "Why don't you just head straight here in the Cygni Continent? The lower Tier-Gates are starting to open one by one. We've been quite busy dealing with a few of them for the past few days."

"I can't go there right now because my Mother and Sister asked me to come home first," Shana replied. "But I intend to go there and fight alongside you guys until the Night of the Solstice."

Joshua nodded in understanding. "Yes. It's almost that time of the year again. I'm sure all of us will be forced to return to Solterra as well."

"I hope that we will be on the same mission on that day," Roland commented. "It will be easier to work with people that we are familiar with after all."

The other members of the Hero Party agreed with the Hero's statement.

Their party was composed of teenagers who had the Rank of Apostles and Elite.

They were considered as the Prodigies of their generation.

Only the Main Scions of the Monarch Clans could match their prestige.

However, there was one existence that had now surpassed the popularity and influence that they currently possessed.

Of course, it was none other than Zion Leventis.

Although he was younger than them, they knew that aside from their Ranks, they didn't have anything else that could beat the Legendary Rookie of the Leventis Family.

As much as Roland, Joshua, the Scions of the Monarch Clans, and the Prestigious Families didn't want to admit it, they had no choice but to accept that Zion was above them.

While they were truly the cream of the crop, their achievements paled in comparison to what he had achieved.

These Prodigies could only feel relief knowing that the teenage boy would remain as a Rookie for life.

Because if not for that, they believed that they would be left behind in the dust once he started breaking through the Rookie Rank.

"Make sure to bring souvenirs from the Sirius Continent," the Sorceress, Erica, who had long, dark blue hair, commented. "Also, shouldn't we be doing that now? If Shana were to approach him, then I think that he would agree to it easily."

"Doing what?" Shana blinked in confusion. "Approach who?"

"It's about Zion," the second Swordsman of the Hero Party, Derek, answered. "We all agreed that if he wins the war against the Jinns and Majins, we will invite him to our party to become our official member."

Shana blinked once then twice after hearing Derek's statement.

She pondered for a bit, but she just couldn't see Thirteen joining their party even if she asked him personally.

For a brief moment, she imagined that all of them were lying on the ground and being whipped by the teenage boy as part of their training.

This made Shana subconsciously shudder, making her shake her head to oppose that decision.

"We can't let Zion join our party," Shana said firmly.

"And why not?" Erica asked with genuine curiosity. "He's a cutie. I'd like to have a little brother in our group."

"No means no." Shana crossed her hands in front of her, forming an X, which made Erica giggle.

"What's this? Are you perhaps gatekeeping him?" Erica asked in a teasing tone. "Are you waiting for him to grow up so that you can date him officially?"

Roland and Joshua had a frown on their face as they told Erica to stop teasing Shana.

The Sorceress giggled before giving the two guys who had a crush on their Saintess the "stop getting jealous" look.

"If Shana thinks that inviting him is not a good idea, then we should listen to her," Roland said.

"Yeah, I agree with Roland," Joshua stated. "Adding more people might not be a good idea because it might disrupt the harmony of the group."

Shana, who had been given the support of the two guys, sighed in relief as if she had just escaped the death penalty.

As much as she wanted Zion to be part of their group, she also knew that having him around would definitely not be all sunshine and rainbows.

After being around the teenage boy for quite a while, she understood that Zion was always moving forward to reach a certain goal.

Just like what her sister, Rianna said, everything he did had a reason.

'After half a year of being with him, I wouldn't be surprised if he turned all of us into his subordinates,' Shana thought. 'The Zion Virus is really strong. Even Erica, who has very strong willpower, will definitely become a harmless kitten if she spends time with him. I must not let that happen.'

While she didn't know if she was just being overprotective of her party or being overprotective of Zion, Shana didn't want him to interact with their group, especially with the girls.

She had seen how her sisters, Viola, Sharon, and Louise had become Thirteen's fans, and she didn't want the same thing to happen to the girls in the Hero Party.

"Okay, let's stop talking about Zion Leventis," Joshua stated. "Let's talk about what we're going to do after Shana rejoins our group."

Since the lower Tier Gates in the Cygni Continent had been appearing more frequently as of late, the soldiers and mercenaries, as well as the volunteer army that was keeping the population safe, were always busy.

The majority of the people had already evacuated from the continent.

However, there were still many who were being stubborn and refused to leave.

At that moment, a siren sounded from the Hero Party's room, making Roland and Joshua click their tongues at the same time.

"Talk to you later, Shana," Roland stated. "It seems that we need to mobilize again."

After saying those words, the Hero Party left the room in order to fulfill the duty that was the reason for their existence.