Thirteen and Michael entered a classy restaurant that was patronized by the most influential people on the man-made island of Dvalinn.
They had been invited to a dinner with the Patriarchs of the three Prestigious Clans, along with a few of their most trusted subordinates.
Of course, the Elrod Clan had also sent a few of their representatives to welcome Michael and the boy whom they’d been wanting to meet personally.
When the waiter opened the door to the VIP Room, Thirteen saw twelve people sitting around a round table filled with many delicious delicacies.
The teenage boy gave them a brief nod of greeting before walking toward the two empty seats, which were reserved for them.
Those who were already inside the room watched the teenage boy as he walked with confidence.
A faint smile could even be seen on his face as he brushed off the intimidating stares that were being sent in his direction.
Compared to Arundel, the Artemians, and everything that he had faced in Solterra, the people inside the room looked very cute.
Michael also walked with confidence and sat beside his nephew.
This wasn’t his first time meeting these people, so he had already gotten used to their greeting.
“Not bad,” the Patriarch of the Rhodes Family, Ronald Rhodes, commented.
Thirteen smiled at the middle-aged man with gray hair and eyes, who was looking at him with an amused expression on his face.
The teenage boy then glanced at the two other Patriarchs, whom he recognized thanks to the information he gathered from the Internet.
Ronald Rhodes, Hugo Riggs, and Spencer Nightshade.
They were the three Patriarchs of the three Prestigious Families who had supported the Monarch, Wendell Elrod, in the construction of the man-made island, Dvalinn, and made it their base of operation to reclaim their homeland from the Jinns.
“Let’s eat before the food turns cold,” Spencer said. “It will not be too late to have our talk after all of us are feeling full and content.”
His words were met with approval, so everyone ate and made casual small talk with each other.
An hour later, when their tables were cleared of food, the real talk finally began.
Benedict, who was also with them, had already shown everyone his recorded interrogation of Zion.
Since most of their questions had already been answered, they decided to use a different approach to try and pry answers from the teenage boy who had decided to go to the Rigel Continent, contrary to everyone else who was preparing for the invasion in the Cygni Continent.
“Do you wish to ask us anything about the place where you want to go?” Hugo Riggs, the current Patriarch of the Riggs Family, asked. “I don’t want to brag, but we have compiled all the information about the Jinns and Majins that inhabit half of the continent. Are you interested?”
“Is it free?” Thirteen asked innocently. “My salary from the Central Government is not that big. So, if you want to take my entire savings, I’m sorry but I have to pass.”
“Don’t worry, I’m not going after peanuts,” Hugo stated. “In exchange for the information, I want some body parts from the Otherworlders who were taken from the Arcadia Archipelago.
“The Leventis Family refused to share even a single corpse, so I’m wondering if we can strike a deal right here right now.” Hugo smiled faintly. “We want four High-Ranking corpses of these beings called Artemians.
“It’s not a bad deal, considering it will be exchanged for the years of painstaking effort that we used to compile the Jinn Bestiary that will be helpful for whatever you plan to do in the RIgel Continent.”
The Dvalinn Federation’s Jinn Bestiary not only noted the name of the Jinn but also included other useful information. Information like the location of where they could be seen in the continent, their weakness, and their sphere of influence, as well as their habits, were also detailed.
All of this precious information was gathered through the countless sacrifices of the Wanderers who had risked their lives to obtain such information.
Michael frowned because he didn’t expect that the Patriarchs would propose such a thing.
The body parts of the Artemians were being held in an Underground Vault somewhere in the Leventis Family’s Domain.
Ever since they heard that the Leventis Family was seen in the Arcadia Archipelago, everyone developed a great interest in seeing what these Artemians looked like.
But even after the Central Government, the Monarchs, as well as the Prestigious Families, asked for a sample, Arthur only presented them with a single corpse, and that was of a Rank 5 Artemian Sovereign.
This sample was currently being studied by the Central Government in the hopes that they would be able to gain some useful information about them.
“I don’t have the authority to agree to this condition,” Thirteen replied. “As you may already know, my father was kicked out from the Leventis Family. Also, my Grandpa and I are really not close.”
“But you’re close enough with Michael, right?” Spencer commented. “So, how about it, Michael? Can you give us four samples in exchange for helping your nephew with his… field trip in the Rigel Continent?’
Michael pondered for a bit before nodding his head. “Will you be fine with samples of Rank 5 Sovereigns?”
“That’s fine,” Ronald nodded.
“Then I will arrange it,” Michael agreed to the condition because this wasn’t a big deal to them.
Their researchers had already collected enough blood and tissue samples of the Artemians, so letting the other families have a few of them would not really hinder their research.
After striking the deal, the atmosphere in the room became more lively as Thirteen answered the questions that were being asked to him.
The only one who didn’t talk much was the representative of the Eldor Clan, who seemed content in listening to the discussion in the room.
Four hours later, Thirteen and Michael returned to the port where their ship was currently docked.
In his hand was a data chip that contained information about the monsters in the Rigel Continent, which would help his subordinates greatly in their upcoming mission on the Jinn-
infested continent.