System's POV - Chapter 853

Chapter 853: Let’s See How You Can Escape This Tribulation
“Brother!” Rhia jumped into Thirteen’s arms and hugged him tightly.

“You can say brother properly now, huh?” Thirteen said as he returned the hug of his little sister before planting a kiss on her cheek. “Good girl.”

“Ehehe.” Rhia snuggled in the arms of her brother, who carried her as he walked toward the house.

Remi also went to hug her brother and Rhia at the same time, making Gerald and Alessia exchange a smile when they saw it.

Erica and Sherry temporarily went to see their parents after they arrived in the Aldebaran Continent.

However, since they were in the same city as Thirteen, it would be very easy for them to meet up anytime they wished.

Since that was the case, he advised them to spend a week with their families. They had been away for two years after all.

“Are Mikhail and Shasha not around?” Thirteen asked his parents as soon as he entered the living room.

“They’re still in Solterra,” Gerald replied.

Thirteen nodded in understanding. He had given Mikhail and Shasha some pointers on how to become stronger before the Cygni Invasion started.

Perhaps because of that, the two of them decided to go to Solterra and sharpen their skills and mentality for what was about to come.

“Pops, did you finish it?” Thirteen inquired.

“Yes,” Gerald answered. “But seriously, what were you thinking when you asked me to craft such a thing?”

Thirteen’s father couldn’t help but sigh because the project Zion had asked him to craft took nearly half a year to complete.

He was tasked to craft individual parts, similar to how the Nautilus was made.

His no-good son didn’t tell him what he was exactly crafting. But since he knew Zion wouldn’t ask him to do something useless, he just gritted his teeth and finished his work while cursing his son internally.

“Good job, Pops,” Thirteen replied. “Don’t worry. You’ll thank me later.”

After spending some time with his family, the teenage boy then went to the underground lab, which only he and his father could enter.

The pieces of metal Gerald had crafted according to his instructions were properly organized, waiting for Zion to return to add the finishing touches.

“Three weeks will be a little tight, but I think I can manage,” Thirteen muttered as he picked up a piece of armor and examined its quality. “This will do nicely.”

The world of Pangea and Solterra had similarities but also had great differences.

For example, Solterra didn’t have any advanced technologies like cars, planes, and electricity.

Thirteen’s overall strength was vastly limited in that world because most of his trump cards could only be used in Pangea, including Athena and Nautilus.

And now, he was about to start on his 6th Trump Card, which would be useful in the Cygni Invasion.

Since he had many limitations in his body, the only thing that could help him was science.

And Thirteen was the smartest individual in the world.

As long as he had the resources and money to make it happen, he would make it happen.

‘I’ll handle this tomorrow,’ Thirteen thought.

Since he knew his family missed him, he decided to start his work the next day.

He spent time with Ria and Remi, watching movies together.

He also told Gerald and Alessia that Shana was now his fiancee, which made his father almost choke on the coffee that he was drinking.

“You even made the Saintess your lover?” Gerald asked as he wiped the coffee off his lips. “Damn son! You’re almost as popular as me when I was your age.”

Alessia ignored her husband’s bragging and held her son’s hand. “Do you love her?”

“I like her,” Thirteen replied.

Since he still didn’t understand the concept of love, he simply broke down his mother’s question as to whether he liked or disliked Shana.

Naturally, he liked her. Shana was a hardworking individual and never looked down on others.

“Are you going to tell your Grandfather about this?” Gerald asked.

“Yes,” Thirteen nodded. “The Leventis Family and the Central Government will be joined at the hips, so collaborating with them is a must. Also, Grandfather knows how to keep secrets, and he will also be able to make decisions based on this knowledge.”

“Does Erica and Sherry know about this?” Alessia inquired.

She already treated the two young ladies as her daughters-in-law, so she greatly cared about their feelings.

“Both of them know about it,” Thirteen replied. “It was even Erica who pulled the strings from behind.”

This time, a smile appeared on Alessia’s face because she realized that Erica seemed to think things differently compared to her.

The Sorceress had also taken Zion’s feelings into consideration, as well as the benefits that would follow in forming a relationship with the Saintess of the Central Government.

“How long will you stay before heading to the Cygni Continent?” Gerald asked. “According to Father, things might start to get intense in four months. That’s also when most of the forces from the Monarch Clans and Prestigious Families will arrive as reinforcements.

“Until then, the Central Government, the Griffin Family, and the Prestigious Families of the Cygni Continent will deal with the first few waves of the monster outbreaks.”

“I’ll stay here for three weeks, then travel to Sirius to pick up Shana,” Thirteen replied. “From there, we will travel alongside my soldiers to the Cygni Continent and go to our posts as planned.”

“Three weeks…” Alessia sighed. But she also understood that her son now played an important role in the upcoming invasion.

As such, she couldn’t help but feel proud and anxious, somewhat understanding how much pressure Zion would be put into as the Supreme Commander of the Alliance.

Of course, Zion was not the only strategist involved in the upcoming war.

Each of the Monarch Clans and Prestigious Families would send their own advisers to assist the teenage boy in carrying out missions to defend against the invasion.

Thirteen made it so, knowing there would be multiple battlefields all over the continent. He would need decision-makers on the ground to ensure that teams and battalions could act independently without his orders.

Due to his nature, Thirteen also understood that he may do missions alongside his Monster Army if needed.

When that happened, another person would become his second-in-command and oversee the military preparations.

This person was none other than Renz Elrod, the strategist of the Dvalinn Federation before Thirteen took control of it.

Right now, the right-hand man of the Monarch of the Elrod Clan was one of Thirteen’s people.

No one knew about this secret aside from the two of them, and Renz had benefited over the years due to Thirteen’s help, making him more loyal to the teenage boy.

Although he looked calm on the surface, Thirteen understood that many things could happen during this invasion that were beyond his control.

While the teenage boy was spending time with his family, something else was happening in Solterra… more precisely, in one of its moons.

Somewhere in the Artemian Empire…

“What do you think, Your Majesty?” an old man bowed in reverence to his King, who had visited their underground laboratory.

“Will all of them be ready in the next few months?” the Artemian King asked.

“Yes, Your Majesty,” the old man replied, making a proud gesture as he pointed at the capsules in front of them.

Alien-like monsters, similar to the one Thirteen and Rocky had defeated in the past, could be seen inside nine test tubes.

Eight of them looked exactly like Azothrall, whom Metatron had captured.

However, the Ninth Capsule, which was two times bigger than the rest, held a monster whose skin was completely gold in color.

The Artemian King smiled faintly because their first experiment failed to get the results that they wanted.

It wasn’t able to live long enough to increase its numbers and spread its influence in Solterra.

However, the researchers who had created it had gathered important data from the device they had installed inside the monster’s body, allowing them to analyze its battle against the Hellfire Bal-Boa.

With this information, they created more powerful versions of Azothrall. But it didn’t end there.

They were also able to create a mutated monster, which was a Rank 9 Monster, boasting incredible strength and adaptability.

‘Soon, Endymion,’ the Artemian King mused. ‘Let’s see how you can escape this tribulation.’

The Artemian King left the underground laboratory with a certainty that, the moment these creatures descended upon the world, they would become an unstoppable force that could break the balance that was now on the verge of tipping over to complete and utter destruction.