System's POV

390  I Have No Need For Worthless Things! [Part 1]

The atmosphere in the room was anything but calm as the High-Ranking Officers of the Dvalinn Federation and the Central Government, as well as the Leaders of the Aldebaran Continent, convened at the Dvalinn Tower.

Today was the first official strategy meeting that would discuss how the Wanderers would liberate the Northern Regions of the Rigel Continent. Even the other Factions were paying close attention to the outcome of this meeting.

Standing at the center of it all was a thirteen-year-old boy. He looked rather calm, even feeding his Domini Mortis with his own brand of Monster Food, Leventis Corn.

The Aides of the Monarchs and Thrones in the room didn't know whether they should be impressed or annoyed at Zion's easy-going attitude, especially in front of people who could kill him with a flick of their fingers.

Only after Tiona hissed and told her Master that she was already full did Thirteen stop feeding her and shift his attention to the people who were all staring in his direction.

Visibly unbothered by the intensity of their stares, the teenage boy lightly tapped his Communicator. With that, a projection of the Northern Regions of the Rigel Continent appeared behind him.

"In order to establish a solid foothold in the North, we must accomplish three things," Thirteen stated. "The first one is to kill the Centipede King and its subordinates. "They are capable of digging underground, so they could attack us from beneath our feet. Taking them out is of the utmost importance, and it should be our top priority."

Wendell raised his hand to interrupt Thirteen's explanation, making the teenage boy make a gesture for him to speak his mind.

"Should we gather Wanderers who specialize in digging tunnels in order to reach their lair?" Wendell asked.

As the Monarch of the Dvalinn Federation, he could easily mobilize an elite team of people who would be able to do the job for them.

"That's not a bad idea," Thirteen replied. "Having a specialized unit that could do that would be extremely helpful. We will save them as our Plan B if Plan A doesn't work. "As for our Plan A, we will force the Centipede King and its subordinates to emerge from the ground. Once they're out, we will hit them hard with everything we got. I know all of you are wondering how we will do that, but the answer is really simple."

A projection of what seemed to be a loudspeaker appeared in front of everyone.

"We will use sound waves to force them out," Thirteen stated. "The Centipede's Antennas have a strong sense of touch and smell, so if we blast them with strong vibrations, they would have no choice but to emerge from the ground."

"But what if they don't take the bait?" Renz asked. "What do we do then?"

"That will actually be better for us," Thirteen replied. "If they don't make a move, we will just massacre the monsters that belong to the Manticore King Army. Also, you don't have to worry about the Manticore King leading the fight."

"And, why is that?" Renz asked again.

"Because it's already dead," Thirteen answered. A moment of silence descended upon the room before the teenage boy tapped his communicator.

There, it showed the Manticore King's corpse with Lawrence standing beside it.

"You killed the Manticore King?" Wendell looked at the Grand Marshal of the Central Government in shock.

"Why do you look so surprised?" Lawrence arched an eyebrow. "Is it a problem that I killed it?"

Wendell shook his head. "Of course not. But when did this happen? Why didn't you tell us?"

Lawrence shrugged. "Zion told me to kill it, so I did. He laid out a strategy that let me kill it without getting mobbed by its subordinates, and it worked. "The reason why I didn't tell you is because the Manticore King's death wouldn't matter if the Brain Beetle is alive—we will not be able to take back the North with it around. Zion didn't want me to give you guys false hope, so I kept mum about it."

"Wait… are you saying that you killed the Manticore King before the expedition against the Brain Beetle?" Douglas Griffin, who had joined the conference through a projection, couldn't help but ask.

"You're right," Lawrence answered. "On the same night Zion and Renz started their competition, we sneaked into the Manticore King's lair and killed it."

Marion, who was also inside the room representing the Valkyries, couldn't help but look at the Grand Marshal with shock. This news was simply too big to ignore.

If what Lawrence said was true, then it meant that Thirteen had already won their bet mere hours after his confrontation with Renz Elrod.

Lawrence had a faint smile on his face, but deep inside, he was sighing in his heart.

Of course, he wasn't the one who killed the Manticore King.

It was Arthur who did it, but Zion insisted that they present its death in this manner.

That way, everyone would think that the "strongest" among the Monarchs was as strong as ever.

Renz's expression remained calm, but his heart was beating wildly inside his chest.

The Manticore King was a very powerful monster—even more so than the Bird Man whom they had fought repeatedly.

14:05

The only advantage that the Bird Man had over the Manticore King was its speed.

The Manticore King specialized in brute strength, which could easily turn a Champion into meat paste once it started to get serious.

Everyone knew that Lawrence was strong, so it wasn't that hard to accept that he was the one who killed the Manticore King.

It also made the Monarchs realize that despite their Ranks being the same, the Head of the Central Government was the most superior among them.

"So you have won the bet just a few hours after we agreed to it." Renz chuckled. "You made that bet with me because you knew that you would win, didn't you?"

"Yes," Thirteen replied. "But like I said, killing the Manticore King will not guarantee us victory. Only when the Brain Beetle is defeated can we truly move our forces to the North."

The people in the room nodded their heads in agreement. A moment later, Wendell posed another question.

"You said that we need to do three things in order to secure our foothold to the North," Wendell said. "What are the other two?" Nôv(el)B\\jnn

"Right—we strayed off the topic for a bit," Thirteen scratched his head. "The second thing we must deal with is the possibility of other Kings joining in the defense of the Northern Regions.

"With the Manticore King dead, it's highly possible that one of its fellow Kings already subjugated its subordinates and annexed its territory. It could be the Centipede King, or it could be the other Kings that border each other's territory.

"So I want everyone to fight thinking that we might be dealing with more than two or three Kings at once. Fortunately, we have three Monarchs and several Thrones who could deal with these powerhouses. "As long as they can prevent the Kings from joining the battle, we will be able to annihilate the small fries without worries.

"Last but not the least, we must ensure that none of the three Rank 9 Earth Dragons will make their way to the North. "Even if just one of them were to come, everyone would be blasted into meat paste when they make their move."

Trevor Remington cleared his throat and asked the question that everyone was thinking at that moment.

"So how can we prevent that from happening?" Trevor asked. "Leave that task to me," Thirteen answered. "As long as you do your tasks properly, I will promise you that none of the Rank 9 Sovereigns will leave the center of the continent."

Thirteen already had a plan in mind as to how they would deal with the Earth Dragons.

Although the chances of succeeding were fifty-fifty, the chance was there, so all he needed to do was give it a go and see if the Rank 9 Sovereigns would take a bite of the bait that he planned to throw at them.

High-Ranking Jinns and Majins were incredibly smart monsters. Thirteen believed that as long as he could reach a compromise with them, they would not head to the North and ruin the foundations that he was painstakingly building from scratch.

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