The corners of Thirteen’s lips twitched as he gazed at the people inside the control room within the Arcanis Mountain Range.
Several tables were laid out in the spacious cavern. The Artemians and the Jinns sat at them, playing poker and eating snacks while listening to another drama from a channel that they hijacked using the Receiver.
Cranky looked mildly amused after seeing Thirteen’s expression, but he remained silent and waited for the teenage boy to handle everything.
When the Artemians and the Jinns saw that their Supreme Commander had returned, they greeted him with smiles and even invited him to join them.
Thirteen understood that these creatures were just bored because they had nothing to do aside from waiting for his order to mobilize.
Because of this, he only sighed in his heart and headed straight to Victor, who was already carrying a stack of papers in his hands.
"Boss, here is the compilation of the information that we gathered while you were away," Victor said with a smile.
Thirteen thanked the Head Researcher before telling Cranky to relax for a while. The teenage boy then headed to his room before asking Rocky to teleport him inside the Mobile Fortress.
As soon as he appeared inside Rocky’s miniature world, he immediately saw Sherry sparring with the Trolls.
The young lady’s clothes were drenched with sweat, as if to prove the intensity of her training.
Her movements were intense yet had no wasted movements, learned from Thirteen’s repeated lecture on being efficient in budgeting her stamina and energy.
The Troll was a lot stronger than her, but it didn’t hold back as it tried to hit the nimble girl, who was dodging its attacks while mixing in some counterattacks.
In the end, Sherry was tricked by the Troll’s feint and was hit by its counterattack.
Fortunately, she channeled her aura into her left arm, allowing her to tank the blow. However, it still sent her flying.
Sherry was about to try to right herself up to land safely when she noticed that Zion was already waiting in the location where she was about to fall.
In the end, she didn’t do anything to correct her posture into something that ensured proper landing. Instead, she waited for the teenage boy to catch her! Nᴇw novel chapters are publɪshed on novel fire.net
Fortunately, Thirteen didn’t disappoint and caught the young lady perfectly in his arms, even kissing her cheek afterward.
Sherry hugged and kissed him back, only to realize a little late that she was covered in sweat.
"Um, Zion, please put me down," Sherry said. "I’ll clean myself up first."
"Okay," Thirteen replied and helped her down.
As soon as her feet were firmly planted on the ground, Sherry gave Zion a quick peck on the cheek before running full speed at the wooden cottage in the distance.
Princess Aracelle and Princess Xynalia then approached him together, sandwiching him in a hug.
"Why didn’t you visit us?" Princess Aracelle asked. "It’s been four days since you last came here."
"Sorry. I was in a place where Rocky cannot go easily," Thirteen replied. "I met with one of the Celestials of Artem."
At his news, Princess Aracelle and Princess Xynalia’s expression turned solemn.
A Celestial wasn’t someone anyone could meet as pleased, so hearing that their lover had met one made them feel a little anxious.
To assure them that everything was fine, he told them that he would share everything he had experienced during the last few days he hadn’t been around.
However, he would wait for Sherry and the others to arrive so he could tell it in one sitting.
Erica and Shana appeared as soon as they heard from Sherry that Zion had returned.
After a few hugs and kisses, they all went to the biggest wooden cottage, which Thirteen had built for his lovers.
Half an hour later, Sherry finally joined them, looking refreshed after taking a bath.
Thirteen told his lovers everything since he also wanted to get their opinion from a girl’s perspective.
"Just so we’re clear, you’re not thinking of making Carina your lover, right?" Erica asked.
"No." Thirteen shook his head. "At most, I can treat her as a chatty little sister," Thirteen answered. "I don’t have any intention of having more lovers—at least not now. I already have enough."
His straightforward answer made all the girls sigh in relief. Even Shana patted her chest and muttered that someone could finally escape the Zion Virus, albeit by chance.
"Based on your story, I can say that you don’t have to worry about Lady Rana for now," Princess Aracelle commented. "Your next step is to read through the documents you have now, right?"
Thirteen nodded. "I need to be up to date with the latest trends in the Military. After that, I will visit the Capital City and meet up with Erasmus. I will need a bit of his authority to travel around Artem."
"A solid plan." Princess Xynalia agreed. "But be very careful, Zion. Not all Celestials are like Rana. There’s a chance that the next Celestial you encounter will forgo talking and just start attacking you."
"Yes, I’ll be very careful in facing the other Celestials," Thirteen promised. "In fact, I’ll probably just use the Demons to gather information."
"That’s better." Erica patted her chest. "Just thinking that you faced a Celestial without Cranky by your side is enough to give me anxiety attacks."
Thirteen felt a little guilty because he had indeed acted recklessly when meeting with Rana.
Simply put, he took a gamble based on the interactions he had with her and deemed that she wasn’t someone unreasonable to talk to.
Perhaps he was also influenced by Carina’s carefree style of living, which reflected the way she was raised by her parents.
Since Carina was kind, respectful, and polite to everyone, he believed that her parents had raised her with love and care.
With this in mind, Thirteen believed that Rana was someone worth talking to.
Fortunately, he was right, and she proved to be a civilized person willing to compromise.
Thirteen then started to read the documents given to him by Victor.
The Head Researcher was kind enough to remove all the drama from the documents and only listed the important military conversations that they successfully hijacked through the Receiver.
"Interesting..." Thirteen muttered after he read half of the documents.
His lovers were also reading the documents he had finished, and all of them were thinking the same thing as their lover.
One of the Celestials was planning to stage a rebellion to forcibly take the throne from King Astrion.
Thirteen then started to formulate a plan, which he would share with Erasmus as soon as they reunited in the Capital City of Velgrande.