Several hours before Thirteen and Anwir met at the Training Grounds of the Evander Residence…
"Boy, I have tolerated your existence here in my residence," General Stark said coldly. "But if you are trying to sow discord in my family, I don't mind feeding you to the wolves. You come here all of a sudden, disturbing me while I am busy with work, just to say that Anwir was the cause of Percival's disappearance. Do you seriously expect me to believe you?"
"Not really," Thirteen replied. "But I have a way to make you believe me."
"And that is?"
"Rafiki's truth serum."
The General narrowed his eyes after hearing the boy's words. The truth serum was something they used to interrogate the Barbarians they had captured to make them answer all the questions they had.
This had been a tried and proven method, so when the human boy proposed that he drink the potion to prove his credibility, the General couldn't help but become suspicious of him.
Seeing his reaction, a faint smile appeared on the younger boy's face.
"Looking at your reaction, I don't know if you love Anwir more than you love your real son." Thirteen narrowed his eyes. "Maybe this is the reason why Anwir thought he could get away with his crime.
"You may be decisive when it comes to fighting on the battlefield, so how come when it comes to the issues with your family, you would rather turn a blind eye than accept the truth? Are you perhaps still feeling guilty because Anwir's father died because of your orders?"
After hearing all the information he needed from Vassago and confirming it with Dixon, Armand, and Rafiki, the seven-year-old understood that, even now, General Stark was still feeling guilty toward his adoptive son.
Because of this, he had showered Anwir with all the love he could and allowed the child to do anything he wanted.
"Boy, you are going too far."
"But I am not wrong, am I? Even when the facts are dancing in front of you, you choose to look the other way and pretend that you're not seeing anything. Do you know? Even now, Percival is suffering. His new Master is truly wicked and tortures him every day. I know about it because I was always there whenever his Master did unspeakable things to him."
Thirteen was doing his best not to laugh because what he was saying was the truth. Percival's Master was truly wicked and tortured the Tigerkin every day.
He was also there whenever it happened because that so-called wicked Master, who loved to make the General's son suffer, was him.
Just as he expected, the General's expression became twisted after hearing that Percival was being tortured every day.
How could he not feel anything, knowing that his biological son was somewhere out there suffering?
Dixon, who was also inside the room, couldn't help but clench his fists tightly. He had watched Percival grow up, and the boy even treated him like an Uncle.
This was why he had chosen to lead the Scouting Party to the Barbarian Lands, hoping to find any signs of him. But, due to the incident with Zion, they were forced to return empty-handed to the Sumatran Kingdom before they were captured by their enemies.
"Dixon, call Rafiki and tell him to bring his truth serum," General Stark ordered.
"Yes, General," Dixon bowed respectfully before leaving the room.
Once his right-hand man had left the room, General Stark glared at the boy, who was casually sitting on the chair in front of him.
"I promise that if you are making things up, I will make sure that you regret being born," General Stark threatened.
"And what if I'm not making things up?" Thirteen arched an eyebrow. "What do I get in return for sharing this information with you?"
General Stark pondered a bit before giving his reply.
"I will give you your freedom back. If you want to return to the Barbarian Lands, I will let you do it. If you want to stay here, you can do that as well, and you will no longer be restricted to remaining inside my home."
Thirteen shook his head because this wasn't the reward that he wanted.
There were still a few things that seemed fishy about this war, and he wanted to get to the bottom of it.
As a System, he was aware that wars could break out for the silliest of reasons. But the war between the Tigerkins and the Barbarians was different.
He could feel that there was a mastermind pulling the strings from the shadows, manipulating both sides for a confrontation.
Simply put, Thirteen couldn't shake the feeling that a third party was involved.
This was due to his experience after accompanying his Hosts for thousands of years.
However, since he still didn't have any leads, he decided to take one step at a time and focus on the things that were in front of him.
"What I want is Anwir," Thirteen replied. "Give him to me."
"What are you going to do with him?" General Stark asked.
"I will reform him," Thirteen answered. "Since he had committed a severe crime, I don't think your family still wants him around. But you must still feel guilty about what happened to his father and can't bring yourself to get him killed either.
"Still, your guilt doesn't lower the severity of his crime. You can't just brush it off and expect Percival to forgive him. Your wife and daughter will also not forgive him. This leaves you with only three choices.
"The first one is execution. The second one is imprisonment. Last but not the least is exile. Among these three choices, you will choose to get him exiled, won't you? Because that is the only way that you will feel less guilty about his punishment."
General Stark eyed the Human boy because he just realized that Zion was leading him by the nose.
During their entire discussion, it was the boy who was in full control of their conversation, making him, a General, feel as if he wasn't dealing with a child but a great strategist whose experience was greater than his.
His instincts were screaming at him that this boy was dangerous and should not be allowed to live.
But before he could nurture this thought, the door of the room opened.
"You called for me, General?" Rafiki asked as he walked inside the room, accompanied by Dixon.
When the Shaman's gaze landed on the boy, who was sitting in front of the General, a thought came to his mind.
'Don't tell me that the truth serum is meant for Zion?' Rafiki thought. 'Does the General think of him as a spy?'
The Shaman had grown fond of the boy because he was a very intelligent child, who had limitless potential.
Just a few hours ago, the seven-year-old was inside the infirmary, borrowing his tools to grind down some poisonous flowers that he had picked from Briella's Garden.
He had originally planned to raise Zion as his apprentice because he believed that such a talent should not go to waste.
But after sensing the tense atmosphere inside the room, he had a feeling that something very important was about to happen, and he wanted to be there to witness it firsthand.
"Rafiki, make Zion drink the truth serum," General Stark ordered. "I have a few questions that I want him to answer."
"As you wish, General," Rafiki replied.
The Shaman then took out a vial with a green liquid inside of it.
This was the truth serum he had developed, and it contained powerful hallucinogens that could alter a person's character and thoughts, making their mental states more vulnerable and allowing Rafiki and the General to exploit them.
Thirteen didn't offer any resistance and drank the truth serum while laughing inside his heart.
He wanted to know just how potent Rafiki's truth serum was.
If it passed his standards, he would ask the Shaman for the recipe so that he could brew it himself and use it for his future plans.
