A day after he held a press conference and broadcast it live, Douglas invited the other Monarch Clans and Prestigious Families for an emergency meeting. The Patriarchs of the Lotte, Gates, and Bishop Families had all come, bringing with them a handful of their trusted aides to the meeting. Even the current strategist of the Cygni Coalition, Renz Elrod, was present. Seeing that even Tristan and Zion had been invited by Douglas, everyone present knew that they were about to be part of an important meeting. But they were more surprised to see Wendell Elrod and Trevor Remington, who had arrived a day ago. It went without saying that whatever was discussed today would impact the entire world—after all, the most influential people in Pangea had gathered for this meeting. "Thank you for coming," Douglas said. "Now, we are going to talk about the future of the Cygni Continent." Douglas glanced at the Patriarchs of the Lotte, Gates, and Bishop Families before heaving a sigh. "I know Aaron already talked to all of you one by one," Douglas said. "That said, I also know that the Gates and Bishop Families have agreed to his conditions. "Don't get me wrong. I'm not judging any of you. All of you are old enough to make your own decisions, and you have your own circumstances." Liam Gates and Dave Bishop nodded in understanding. Both of them have troubled looks on their faces, but since they had already decided to agree to Aaron's proposal, they could no longer do anything about it. "Still, I'm surprised, Owaine," Douglas glanced in the direction of the Patriarch of the Lotte Family. "Why did you reject Aaron's offer? I'm sure he gave you a very enticing proposal." "Oh, he sure did," replied with a smile by the old man who seemed to be around seventy to eighty years old. "However, I had a heart-to-heart talk with my granddaughter, Char, a few days ago." The old man then glanced at Thirteen, who was calmly listening to the discussion. "Char is considered a true prodigy of the Lotte Family," Owaine said with a smile. "Her words carry weight, and even the elders consider her opinions before making a decision. "Since she will lead the Lotte Family in this era, I decided to ask her about her opinion on the current status quo of the world. And can you all guess what she said?" The old man rubbed his beard and chuckled, clearly enjoying the limelight as he waited for someone to make a guess. "Spit it out, old man," Liam stated. "We don't have all day, you know?" "Have you gone senile and forgot what you're going to say next?" Dave said in disdain. Although they were using harsh words, this was a common banter between the Patriarchs of the Prestigious Families in the Cygni Continent, so Owaine didn't take offense and chuckled a second time. "My great-granddaughter said that if I have to choose between joining the side of the Five Monarchs or Zion Leventis' Faction, I should always join Zion Leventis even if the entire world will become my enemy." The old man gave the teenage boy a long and hard look as if trying to see what his great-granddaughter had seen in him. "She assured me that as long as I join his side, even if the sky were to collapse above my head at this very instant, the Lotte Family will not perish. "It's just a little sad that she had taken a liking to Clark Ashford. If not, I would have definitely pushed for her to make Zion her fiancé. Hah… It's quite unfortunate that her heart is already taken. Fortunately, I have more than one great-granddaughter. So, how about it, Zion? Want to form a marriage alliance with my Lotte Family?" Arthur, who was seated beside his no-good grandson, couldn't help but smirk after hearing Owaine's proposal. "You still haven't lost your touch, old man," Arthur said. "Oh, please, you're five years older than me," Owaine countered. "You're the real old man here." The two exchanged knowing smiles with each other before Owaine once again shifted his attention to Zion. "Since my little Char has vouched for you, I decided to trust her words," Owaine stated. "However, I would be lying if I said that I don't have my reservations. Tell me, Zion, did my great-granddaughter make the right choice?" Everyone in the room quieted down before and waited for the teenage boy to give his reply. "She did," Thirteen replied. "If the Lotte Family agrees, you can join the Zion Bandwagon right now. I'll even throw some freebies and make sure you guys won't become homeless after this war concludes." "Hah!" Owane laughed. "You really live up to your reputation. Seeing you like this reminds me of when I was your age. I was also very awesome back then." Everyone in the room rolled their eyes at the shameless old man who was tooting his own horn. A minute later, Wendell spoke up. "Zion, Trevor and I have come because we both know what Aaron and Norman are like," Wendell said. "They are very greedy and only pursue what will benefit them the most. "Heck, I'm sure that even though they are working together right now, they're just waiting for an opportunity to stab each other in the back. That's just the kind of people that they are." Liam and Dave, who both agreed to Aaron's proposal, frowned. A few minutes into the meeting, they were already starting to think that they had made a bad decision. While the two Patriarchs were lost in thought, Trevor chimed in and spoke his mind. "That's true," Trevor said. "Frankly, I'm also fed up with the two of them. But I'm just a healer. I don't have the ability to fight them in a one-on-one battle." "After Douglas made the broadcast, the two went back to the Sirius Continent to do some damage control," Wendell said. "Thousands of people made protests, but they didn't show any reaction to those movements. On the contrary, the spokesperson of their Clans even made an announcement that basically said, 'So? What can you do about it?' "They even added that if anyone has a problem with their way of doing things, they should come and say it to their faces if they dare. They would also use the full might of their Clans to make everyone understand that they shouldn't antagonize a Monarch Clan." "The leaders of the protests said that it was too dangerous to continue, so they had no choice but to tell everyone not to do anything reckless. They were too scared to risk receiving the Ashford and Stallard Clan's wrath." A moment of silence descended inside the conference room. It was very clear that Aaron and Norman had decided to give everyone the middle finger. They were two of the untouchables in Pangea, and they were reminding everyone that they could easily crush them like a bug if they wished to do so. "Zion, tell me honestly—what do you think will be the conclusion of this invasion?" Trevor inquired. "Before I answer that question, I would like everyone in this room to answer some questions as well," Thirteen replied without hesitation. "My first question is this—Sir Trevor and Sir Wendell, will you fight seriously in the upcoming invasion and risk your lives for humanity, or will you fight to the best of your abilities to preserve your lives?" "The latter," Wendell replied. "My people still need me, so although I will do my best to help in this war, I will not risk my life in the process." "I am the same," Trevor commented. Douglas sighed internally, but he couldn't really blame his comrades for choosing that answer. 𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆𝙬𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝒎 When the Rigel Continent was being invaded by the Jinns, he had also fought to the best of his ability but chose to retreat when he saw that there was no chance of winning. Still, he was thankful that at least Wendell and Trevor had chosen to fight alongside him.