Thirteen didn’t know where they were going because he had his eyes closed most of the time.
But, that wasn’t his real concern.
Even the pain on his shoulder, which was quite uncomfortable, especially during the times when the pain killer’s effect wore off didn’t bother him either.
He was more worried that his slaves, who would now have to listen to Cristopher, might have thoughts of rebelling.
If Thirteen was there, none of them would even dare to raise their heads. But, with the chubby boy, they might have other ideas.
Even if Vassago, Brutus, and Bruno were with him, Cristopher wasn’t really the leader type.
He was more suited to following orders, which was why he didn’t hesitate to listen to the younger boy’s command, and do them accordingly.
‘Still, this is a good opportunity for him to grow as a person,’ Thirteen thought. ‘Even cannon fodders need to face challenges like this early on.’
As the System of Cannon Fodders, he had seen his hosts face challenges in life that wouldn’t lose to a Hero’s or a Villain’s character progression.
The world didn’t only have Heroes, Villains, and Cannon Fodders.
It also had Extras like Villager A, Merchant B, and Shopkeeper C.
The bulk of the population in the world were just Extras.
But, there was one good thing about these people and that was that they could become whatever they wanted to be in life.
Extras could become Heroes, they could become Villains, and they could become Cannon Fodders.
And, they could also continue living their lives as Extras, like NPC’s in a game world.
Their character development would really depend on the person that was closest to them.
If they were around a Hero, they would become part of the Hero’s Party.
If they were around Villains, they would become his pawns.
If they were with Cannon Fodders… well, they would become Cannon Fodders themselves.
Such were the lives of Extras, but this was also a blessing given to them by Fate.
Truth be told, the five Tigerkin slaves that Thirteen had bought from the slave market were just Extras.
He planned to make them mingle with Percival, so that they could absorb his “Hero Presence”, and allow them to shift their alignment to that of a Hero.
The alignments of Extras would always be True Neutral.
But, since they were like sponges, the person whom they would look up to could change their alignment to Chaotic Evil or Lawful Good.
The extreme alignments of Extras were Chaotic Neutral, where they just didn’t care even if the world were to burn around them.
Aside from the Hero Party, the Trolls, Ogres, Giga Chad, and Blacky where all Extras.
Thirteen wanted them to be with Percival at all times, so that he could build a Hero Team?centered around the Tigerkin.
This was part of his Hero Project.
The Fallen System knew that fighting against Fate would be hard. Because of this, he needed to beat her at her own game.
The only ones that could defeat Heroes were First Rate Villains.
Thirteen wasn’t a First Rate Villain.
At most, he was a Third Rate Villain, and a Cannon Fodder combined.
So, since he didn’t have a Villain in hand, what could he do?
Simple, he would just train a Hero and have his Hero fight other Heroes!
Since Fate’s blessing worked on all Heroes, having a Hero fight another Hero was Thirteen’s way of creating a loophole against the will of the world.
While he was deep in his thoughts, he heard the Captain of the Scouting Party, Dixon, give his orders.
“Alina, make sure the kid doesn’t fall off,” Dixon ordered. “The rest, prepare to swim.”
A moment later, Thirteen felt water rising up to his knees.
‘I see,’ Thirteen thought. ‘They’re using the Saber Tooth Tigers as a mount for land and sea.’
Tigers were good swimmers, and since the distance between the Sumatran Island, and the biggest island in the Valbarra Archipelago were only a mile away from each other, it wouldn’t take that long for them to reach the opposite shore.
High above the clouds, Vassago followed the Scouting Party at a safe distance.
He needed to know where Thirteen was being taken, so that he could help devise a plan to let his Master escape.
Adira had already reunited with Cristopher and the others, so the Pocopoco wasn’t worried about them reaching Gronar City safely.
His priority was his Master’s safety, so until he knew where he would be taken, he would stay with him before he returned to Gronar City and report the seven-year-old’s current situation to the others.
Less than twenty minutes later, the Saber Tooth Tigers finally reached the Sumatran Island, making Alina, who was holding the seven-year-old tightly, sigh in relief.
Being in close proximity with a Domini Mortis made her very anxious, which made Thirteen almost feel sorry for her.
A moment later the boy heard a monkey’s cry, which made him smile faintly.
Vassago had also arrived at the Sumatran Island, and had informed Thirteen that Adira had reunited with Cristopher and the others.
Knowing that his people were safe, he was finally able to breathe a little easier despite the pain in his left shoulder.
But, before he could give a reply to Vassago, he heard other voices greeting the Scouting Party.
“Dixon, why did you return so early?” a gruff voice asked. “You’re supposed to stay in the Warsor Plains for four more days. Did something happen?”
Dixon sighed before giving his reply. “I made a miscalculation. I tried to capture a Drow, who was traveling with this boy over here in order to ask her for information. Unfortunately, she was hiding her True Rank, which was a Champion.
“The two of us fought, and after a few minutes she decided to escape before the others could regroup with me. Knowing that she will report our presence, I decided to prematurely cancel our scouting operation for our safety.”
The owner of the gruff voice grunted, but still said that Dixon made the right call.
“So, are you going to report to the General?” the owner of the gruff voice asked.
“Yes,” Dixon replied. “I have important news to report to him. Also, tell the watchers over our shorelines that the Barbarians are already preparing for war. It is highly possible that they might raid the villages with a small raiding party in order to divert our attention.”
“Understood. I’ll make sure to double our patrols and guards along the shoreline.”
“Good. I’m off to see the General.”
After that exchange, the Scouting Party began moving deeper into the Sumatran Jungle, where the rest of the Tigerkins lived.
———————–
(A/N: I have good news, and bad news. The bad news is that you guys didn’t manage to reach the milestone needed to get bonus chapters.
However, since some of you participated, I decided to post one bonus chapter today for the sake of those who joined the mini event.
The good news is that, I woke up today feeling happy because someone had given me a gift. Because of this, I decided to reciprocate and post another bonus chapter tomorrow as well.
Thanks for everyone who joined the event, and those who had given me gifts. I’ll see you all in the next chapters!)