"No matter how strong the Jinns are, we can still use brute force to deal with their armies." Thirteen then pointed at the blue blinking dots on the map of the continent. "These are the locations of the precious ores and other minerals that can be used to create high-grade weapons. "As you may already know, we have many weapons that are truly powerful. But the scarcity of the materials needed to build them, especially the materials of high-end ammunition, is truly a problem. They are far too difficult to acquire. "With this, we can finally put those high-grade weapons to good use. Lastly, I'm sure the other Monarchs and Prestigious Families are going to use this battle to test their own trump cards they have developed over the years. "All of you seem more desperate to create your own trump cards for this invasion. Use these mines to complete them or to add more trump cards to your liking. "For now, leave the front line battles to me and the Hero Party. The Cygni Coalition and the Central Government should allocate manpower to gather as many resources as possible, so we could just shoot the Jinn armies to oblivion." Douglas, Tristan, and the Patriarchs paid close attention to the location of the mines blinking in the map. To make things easier for everyone, Thirteen even labeled each blue dot with the resources that could be mined in that location. This would allow the leaders of each faction to prioritize which location they should start mining first, so they could soon start the mass production of high-grade weapons and armors. After sending the file to everyone inside the room, they immediately made an excuse to leave as if they couldn't wait to start mining these resources. Tristan patted Thirteen's shoulder and smiled faintly. "Good job. You made those sly foxes think twice before messing with you." Thirteen was actually quite amused. Under the looming threat of humanity's annihilation, the big shots of the Cygni Coalition still had the energy to try and blackmail him. "But is it really okay to let Princess Aracelle go?" Tristan asked. Thirteen didn't answer right away. Instead, he looked at the pinky finger of his left hand and saw a faint pink thread fluttering in the breeze. "Yes," Thirteen replied. "It's fine to let her go." Truth be told, he didn't expect that Princess Aracelle would bind herself to him. She said it was a tradition of House Pavereth whenever one of their people recognized someone superior to them. As such, she had requested Zion to let her bind her life to him. This meant that if the teenage boy was to ever face danger, the Princess of House Pavareth would take half of any damage directed at him. Thirteen didn't know why Princess Aracelle would go that far after she had fallen from grace. But one thing was clear. The tool he planned to nurture at first had suddenly volunteered to become one herself. Tiona nudged Thirteen's cheek with her head, which was her way of telling her Master to not think too much about things that were outside his control. Thirteen might know a lot of things. But when it came to understanding women, he was still a beginner. "I see." Tritan nodded. "Very well, I will mobilize the engineers, as well as other specialists, to check the locations of the mines near Casimir City. If you need something, don't hesitate to let me know, okay?" "Yes, Sir," Thirteen replied. "When it's just us, feel free to call me Father." Tristan smiled. "I'd love to do that, but I can't," Thirteen replied. "One mistake, and Shana's reputation will be questioned. I apologize in advance that I'm unable to call you Father for the time being." "You really care about Shana, don't you?" "She's my fiancee, after all." After a bit more of small talk, Thirteen and Arthur left Tristan's office. "I'll be staying at a hotel reserved for our family in this city," Arthur said. "Make sure that Hans is with you at all times, okay?" "Yes, Grandpa," Thirteen replied. He had left Hans at the barracks of the 69th Battalion to allow the Head Butler of the Leventis Family to interact more with his people. Since he would be fighting alongside them in the future, it was very important that they form bonds with and get to know each other. Someone as experienced as Hans could easily befriend others if he really tried, and as a Champion who had a lot of experience in fighting, he also had many stories to tell. This was the only entertainment the soldiers had at the moment aside from watching the news. Fortunately, the butler of the Leventis Family had plenty of stories to share. Best ones of which were anecdotes of Zion when he was younger, which Sherry, and to a certain extent, Stella liked to hear. When Thirteen arrived at the camp, he saw a red-faced Cristopher standing outside of the lobby of their temporary quarters. "What's wrong?" Thirteen asked. "What are you doing here all alone?" "Hans is telling the others how the two of us met, Young Master," Cristopher replied. "Oh?" Thirteen smirked. The first time he met Cristopher, the latter was still a very chubby boy. But now, the young man was no longer chubby but lean and toned. Because of this, his face had also become sharper, making him look more handsome in the eyes of others. "I'm going in," Thirteen said. "Are you still going to stay here?" "Yes, Young Master," Cristopher replied. The teenage boy glanced at his left and right before making a gesture for Cristopher to come closer because he wanted to whisper something to him. "How is everything going with THAT?" Thirteen whispered. "Everyone is very excited about the upcoming invasion, Master," Cristopher replied. "Those in high positions have already made contact with the targets and are currently collaborating to reach the desired path we wish to have." "Good." Thirteen nodded. "You've worked hard, Cristopher. I'm sure this must have been a big burden to you, but I'm glad I was able to trust you with this issue." "It's not a burden, Young Master," Cristopher shook his head. "I will do anything and everything for you." Cristopher had already sworn loyalty to Thirteen since his First Wandering, and his new Master was several times better than Terrence Leventis, whom he used to serve. Zion had also made true his promise and cured his mother of his sickness. Now, Cristopher had nothing to worry about. His mother was treated as a VIP by the Leventis Family, and all of her needs were met accordingly. He truly felt lucky that he had chosen to serve Zion in the end. If not for the teenage boy, he would probably still be treated as some kind of cannon fodder, whose only use was a meat shield to let Terrence escape when his life was in danger. "Young Master, please be very careful," Cristopher said softly. "The fanatics have put a high bounty on your head." "Let them do what they want," Thirteen replied. "Sometimes, we need some crazy people to make things easier for us." Cristopher smiled and nodded his head in agreement. Thirteen was right. The world needed crazy people because only crazy people were crazy enough to make the impossible become possible.