The next day, Anwir arrived in Parania City, bringing his subordinates who numbered over fifty.
Thirteen personally met them at the gate, and escorted them back to the City Lord’s Residence.
Paven stared at his former comrade, Brigham, who was bound by metallic chains and was currently lying on the floor.
Dixon and this Scouting Party glared hatefully at the man who had proposed that Assassins be sent to kidnap their General’s wife and daughter.
They were very loyal to General Stark, and anyone who dared to harm him, or his family, would become their enemies.
But, seeing the bruises on the City Lord’s face, they understood that Anwir had ordered his subordinates to beat Brigham to a pulp, venting his anger.
“You set off from Karabor City with only four subordinates in your party,” Thirteen said with satisfaction in his eyes. “But, not only did you complete your mission, you’ve also managed to capture Lord Brigham, and gained fifty new allies. I’m very impressed, Brother.”
“I was planning to surprise you, but it seems that the one who got surprised instead was me,” Anwir replied as he patted Zion’s shoulder. “What you accomplished puts my effort to shame. Well down, Brother.”
The two Sworn Brothers smiled at each other before talking about the next phase of their plan.
“Dixon, please let Lord Brigham drink this.” Thirteen gave the leader of the Scouting Party one of his modified truth serums.
“Understood.” Dixon accepted the bottle that was handed to him by Zion, and forced Brigham to drink it.
“Brother, I already made him drink a truth serum, and extracted information from him,” Anwir stated. “Do we still need to interrogate him?”
“Just watch, Brother,” Thirteen replied. “You will understand in a while.”
After Brigham drank the contents of the truth serum, he fell into a daze, making the corner of the seven-year-old’s lips curl up.
“Dixon, make him drink another one,” Thirteen sneered. “This bastard is faking it.”
Brigham’s body subconsciously shuddered the moment Dixon was about to force him to drink another bottle.
“Bastard!” Brigham roared as he did his best to prevent Dixon from feeding him another truth serum. “Paven! You traitor! Stop them!”
Anwir’s expression became solemn when he saw this unexpected turn of events. He was feeling happy because not only did he manage to capture Brigham, he was able to interrogate him and gather top secret information.
But, after seeing that the truth serum didn’t work on Paven, he started to think that the answers that the City Lord had given him were all lies as well.
In the end, after several of Anwir’s subordinates held Brigham down, they were able to force the potion down his throat by punching him in the chest.
Before any of them could even react, Thirteen personally forced another bottle of truth serum down Brigham’s throat, making the latter’s body start to twitch uncontrollably.
“Don’t worry, he’ll be fine,” Thirteen replied as he looked at the City Lord, who was given an overdose of truth serum.
Half a minute later, Brigham’s eyes rolled up in their sockets, showing only the whites of his eyes.
“Okay, now we can start asking questions,” Thirteen stated. “He’s now under the truth serum’s effects.”
“How did you know that he was faking it?” Paven asked with curiosity.
“Because my truth serum is different from the normal truth serum,” Thirteen replied. “If my truth serum works, the one who drank it will only show the whites of their eyes.”
People with strong will could resist the effects of the truth serums. Because of this, he concocted his own version, allowing him to know whether one was faking it or not.
Since Brigham didn’t show the reaction he was looking for after he drank the first serum, Thirteen was certain that the latter was just faking it.
Anwir, who had interrogated Brigham after his capture, asked him the questions he had asked before.
This time, the answers that he got were the complete opposite of the answers he gained from the City Lord a few hours ago.
Thirteen didn’t ask any questions, and delegated the interrogation to Anwir and Paven.
He just listened from the side and let things unfold naturally. When the investigation was done, Norris clasped a black bracelet on the City Lord’s wrist, which was similar to a slave collar used for Higher-Ranking Slaves.
Since it was not possible to put a Beast Slave tattoo on Brigham’s forehead because it would be visible for all to see, Norris decided to use the tried and tested method of using a slave bracelet, which was several times more powerful than the Slave Tattoo.
Brigham had no power to resist the enslavement ceremony due to his current state, so the transfer of ownership to Anwir was very smooth.
“Anwir, I want you to work with Lord Paven to oversee the War Preparations,” Thirteen said. “Stay here in Parania City because this is a much better place to gather information and manpower from the Sumatran Kingdom.
“The leaders of the Mercenary Groups, as well as the Assassin Guild will arrive in a few days. Form a connection with them, and get their cooperation. Having you take the reins of our operation here in the Sumatran Kingdom puts me at ease.”
Anwir nodded. “I understand. What do you plan to do next, Zion?”
“I will return to the Barbarian Lands, with Lord Paven’s bodyguards,” Thirteen replied. “Since you have many elite warriors in your team, you can ensure Lord Paven’s safety in their place.”
Lord Paven could only smile bitterly after hearing the younger boy’s words.
He understood why Zion was doing this, but he still felt bitter after being separated from the people that he had personally handpicked to protect him.
Right now, Thirteen didn’t have a surplus of Champions and Grandmasters to fight for his side, so he needed all the help he could get.
This was where the Scouting Party led by Dixon, and the team led by Paven’s right-hand-man, Payton, would come in handy.
Two Champions, and sixteen Grandmasters.
That was the fighting force that Thirteen would bring back to Gronar City to help raise the quality of his personal army.
“I have a suggestion, Brother,” Anwir commented. “How about you take ten of my father’s veteran soldiers to help you? I’m sure that they will come in handy.”
“No.” Thirteen shook his head firmly. “More isn’t always better. It would be too suspicious if Norris returned to the Barbarian Lands with so many strong Tigerkin Warriors in hand. Don’t worry. What I have now is sufficient for what I am about to do.”
Truth be told, Thirteen didn’t want to bring any of Anwir’s subordinates to the Barbarian Lands because their loyalty belonged to General Stark.
Also, it would be awkward to turn them into slaves, who would listen to his commands. In order to prevent this problem, he decided to just settle for what he had, and just recruit more manpower in the Barbarian Lands later on.
After finalizing a few things, and securing some means of communication, Thirteen and his people left Parania City the next day.
They arrived at a secluded location near the coast where Norris’ Merchant Ship was currently docked.
“Don’t be afraid, Rocky,” Thirteen coaxed the Rocky Bal-Boa who didn’t know how to swim. “You’ll be fine.”
Tiona also gave her subordinate a few reassuring hisses, making the Rocky Snake climb onto the Merchant Ship, and coil itself on the deck.
Dixon and his team had imprinted black tattoos on their foreheads, making them Thirteen’s temporary slaves.
Since Tigerkins without a slave mark were not allowed to wander freely in the Barbarian Lands, Norris proposed that they should also have slave tattoos to make them inconspicuous.
Dixon and the others were hesitant at first, but Thirteen assured them that they would not be mistreated.
After all, he was Percival’s best friend, and he treated Percival like his own family.
The Tigerkins relented in the end, not knowing that Thirteen was just spouting a bunch of bullsh*t to make them become his temporary slaves.
He understood that the moment Percival met them, the truth would come to light, so he needed to make sure that they wouldn’t turn against him when they realized that they had been lied to.
Of course, they would not know of this until it was too late.
Gronar City had its own Port, and that was where the Merchant Ship was currently headed.
They didn’t want to raise a commotion along the borders of the Tigerkin and Barbarian Territories, so they took a detour to reach their destination.
After two days of travel, they finally arrived at their destination.
Thirteen couldn’t help but smile when he saw Cristopher, Rianna, Giga Chad, Taiga, Harry, and a few other Wanderers on the docks waiting for their arrival.
Vassago had flown ahead to inform his people of his arrival, and they all gathered to meet their Master and friend, whom they hadn’t seen for a few weeks.
Tiona also looked happy after seeing a few familiar faces.
Although she was loyal to her Master, it didn’t mean that she disliked the people who treated Thirteen as their friend and leader.
Even Taiga, who didn’t like Zion at first, looked relieved when he heard the news of his arrival.
He hoped that the seven-year-old would tell him news about his family, whom he hadn’t seen since he was taken into the Barbarian Lands, and forced to become Thirteen’s slave.