System's POV

414  There Is No Free Lunch In This World [Part 1]

Two weeks after the liberation of the Northern Regions of the Rigel Continent…

"Are you sure about this, Wendell?" the Monarch of the Ashford Clan, Aaron Ashford, asked. "We can still go back to being good friends if you agree to my proposal."

"I'm tired of your bullshit, Aaron," Wendell replied. "You and Norman could go to hell for all I care."

"Watch your words, my friend." The Monarch of the Stallard Clan, Norman Stallard, sighed. "Can't we just all get along like we used to? It will be beneficial for us all if we all work together." "No, I just woke up to reality." Wendell sneered. "Having two Hyenas as friends will make me look like one."

"Hah! Look at you now." Aaron sneered back. "Just where is that confidence of yours coming from?"

"Lawrence Seaton," Wendell replied with a smile. "He also told me to tell you that if he finds out that you used your dirty hands to hurt our interest, he will come to pay you a visit and break your other arm."

"You really think that Lawrence can…" Aaron wasn't able to finish whatever he was going to say because Wendell cut him off immediately. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

"Don't think I've forgotten how you begged him for forgiveness and pledged that you will work with him to save humanity after he beat the crap out of you." Wendell smirked. "You should have seen your face back then. What makes you think that you're hot stuff when all you can do is stab someone in the back, huh?

"And you too, Norman. I suggest that you find other friends. I've tolerated both of you these past few years. I can't count how many times I asked for your assistance, but every time, you ignored my requests. "Yet now that you've heard of the resources being mined in my territory, you also want to have a share? Can you stop being delusional? I'll say this once—get your filthy hands off my Continent, or I'll convince Lawrence that we don't need a backstabbing Monarch in this world."

Wendell gave the two people the middle finger before cutting off the connection.

A moment later, the table in front of Aaron shattered as he smashed it with his fists.

"Bastard! Now he dares to act tough after getting chummy with the Central Government," Aaron seethed in anger. "Back then, he wouldn't even dare to raise his voice against us!"

Norman sighed a second time. "Well, it can't be helped. Since we didn't send our forces to help them, it's understandable that he doesn't want us to gain any benefits from their hard work. The only regret I have is that they didn't suffer any major casualties in that battle.

"It seems that brat from the Leventis Family lives up to his reputation as the Legendary Rookie. Maybe we should tone down a bit and try to mend ties with them. What do you say?"

Aaron snorted before he, too, cut off his connection, ending the online meeting.

"What a mess," Norman muttered before picking up the files of Zion Leventis in front of him. It contained the known information about the most popular Rookie in the world right now. "Accidentally entered a Dimensional Gate when he was seven and stayed in Solterra for three years." Noman leaned back on his chair as he read the information that his people had gathered. "Rumored to have fought against a Majin Prince in the front lines and won. "After that, he appeared in the places where his brother and sister were taking their First Wandering and helped them complete their missions. After returning to Pangea, he decided to join the Central Government and used a Public Appraisal Equipment, revealing his status page to the world. "Permanent debuffs are Rank Ban, Skill Ban, Avatar Ban, and Item Ban. Unique Ability is Universal Language Proficiency. He also has a Beast Companion, a Domini Mortis which he named Tiona."

Norman looked at the known information about Zion Leventis. Based on the spy that he had planted on his 69th Battalion, all of these were true.

It had been three years since Zion had returned to Pangea, and his rank was still a Rookie.

He was never seen using any items or abilities, which most Wanderers could use.

Also, he didn't have a single Avatar in his possession.

Even so, Norman had to admit that the person whom many called "the Weakest Wanderer in the World" behind his back, had surpassed the achievements of Monarchs like him.

But Norman felt that something was wrong.

There was no way someone like Zion could achieve what he had achieved if he didn't have some kind of secret.

"I'll uncover your secret when we meet in the Cygni Continent." Norman smiled faintly. "Until then, I'll look forward to seeing what else you can do, Zion Leventis."

***

Dvalinn Tower in the Rigel Continent…

"It is as you have expected, Zion," Wendell said. "The hands of those two bastards are getting itchy."

As soon as their meeting ended, Wendell immediately called their Supreme Commander to inform him about what Aaron and Norman tried to propose to him.

The teenage boy only listened and waited until Wendell was done talking. When the Monarch finally stopped, someone spoke inside the room, making Wendell and Thirteen look in his direction. "Seriously—are the two of you treating me like air?" Douglas Griffin, the Monarch of the Cygni Continent, complained. "You casually talk about these things in front of me. Are you not afraid that I will tell this to Aaron and Norman?"

"No," Wendell replied in a heartbeat.

"Even if you tell them, what can they do about it?" Thirteen answered calmly. "Also, the main reason why Lord Wendell didn't hold back in telling us this information is because he wants you to become an accomplice."

"Damn right, you are, Zion." Wendell smirked before shifting his gaze to the Monarch who had flown for nearly a day from the Cygni Continent to talk to them in person. "Now Douglas, why are you here again?"

"I'm here to talk business and cooperation," Douglas, who didn't like to drag things out, answered. "Right now, I need resources. However, since I know that the Dvalinn Federation will not give us anything because you need the raw materials to create machinery and ammunition, I can only negotiate with the Leventis Family.

"With Arthur?" Wendell arched an eyebrow. "You don't plan to talk to Trevor and Lawrence?"

Douglas shook his head. "The Central Government will use all the resources they gain to boost their own armies. As for the Aldebaran Continent… four people need to share that twenty-five percent split that you have agreed upon. I doubt that they will agree to sell their resources to me.

"Which means, this only leaves the Leventis Family. Since they don't need much, I plan to ask Arthur to sell us fifteen percent of his shares."

"Okay," Thirteen, who was sipping his tea on the side, replied casually. "I'll convince my Grandfather to sell you the fifteen percent shares of our resources. I'll also convince him to let you buy it at a discounted price."

Wendell and Douglas exchanged a glance at each other before the Monarch of the Cygni Continent chuckled.

"I was expecting that I will need to negotiate at a disadvantageous position when I get here," Douglas commented. "I didn't expect that it would be this easy. I even got a discount… but I know that there is no free lunch in this world."

The Monarch narrowed his eyes at the teenage boy, who was sitting in front of him and still wearing his pajamas.

If other people were to do this to him, he would have already slapped them into meat paste and gotten over it.

But he didn't dare to do that to the boy whom he planned to ask for help when it was time for his Continent to face the Jinn Invasion, which had been his greatest fear as of late.