System's POV

396  Who Do You Love The Most? n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

Arthur paced back and forth in front of the restricted section as he waited for his no-good grandson to come out.

Five days had passed since the teenage boy had locked himself up, and until now, no one had seen even his shadow.

Hans, who had been asked by Thirteen to keep watch on the door and prevent anyone from entering, was just as worried as Arthur.

However, since he was told to wait until the teenager came out of his own accord and not enter the room no matter what happened, he simply remained outside. Both men wanted to forcefully open the door because they were worried about Zion, but they also didn't dare do it because it might cause whatever the teenage boy was doing inside the room to fail.

Finally, just as Arthur was reaching the limit of his patience, the door finally opened, and white smoke filled the entryway very quickly.

The Patriarch of the Leventis Family waved his hand, and a gust of air dispersed the white smoke, allowing him to see what was inside the room.

"Brat, are you still alive?" Arthur appeared right beside the teenage boy, who was sitting cross-legged at the center of the room.

"Barely alive," Thirteen replied. "I'm hungry, Gramps. Bring me some food."

Arthur snorted before giving Hans a sidelong glance.

The butler nodded his head in understanding and went to the kitchen to bring the teenage boy something easy to eat and digest.

When he was certain that Hans was already out of earshot, he asked his grandson the question that had been nagging inside his head since they returned from Evuvug's Lair.

"What kind of cursed artifact is inside the chest?" Arthur asked. "Are you still my grandson?"

A hoarse chuckle escaped Thirteen's lips because he found Arthur's question very funny. However, this question was also valid in this circumstance, given that several Cursed Gears had the ability to completely take over a person's consciousness and take full control of their body.

"Gramps, out of curiosity, what would you have done if I was taken over by the Cursed Item?" Thirteen asked.

"Punch you to oblivion until you're only a step away from death," Arthur replied. "Then I will have someone heal you and repeat the process over and over again until the Cursed Item is forced to let you take control of your body again."

Such methods had been deemed effective in the past, allowing those who were taken over by Cursed Artifacts to regain their consciousness.

"That sounds painful," Thirteen asked. "But how will you know that I am under the influence of a Cursed Item?"

"Simple, I will just ask you a question," Arthur answered.

"What kind of question?" Thirteen asked with great curiosity. "Who do you love the most?"

"Hah? What kind of stupid question is that?"

Thirteen didn't know why Arthur had asked such a thing. In fact, after being asked this question, he found out that he was unable to give a concrete answer.

Love was an alien concept to him.

The feelings he had for his family were more of protectiveness than love. Since he had lost many hosts in the past, he didn't want the same thing to happen to his family, so he wanted them to be safe at all times.

Arthur carefully observed his grandson and saw the confusion in his body language. For a brief moment, he thought that his grandson had been taken over by the Cursed Artifact, but his gut instinct was telling him that Zion was still Zion.

"What's wrong?" Arthur frowned. "Can't you answer a simple question?"

"Gramps, ask me anything except for love," Thirteen answered. "I'm still too young to understand such a thing."

"You don't love your family?" Arthur inquired.

"I care for them very much," Thirteen answered. "But I don't know if that's love. If someone were to harm my parents or my siblings, I would definitely come to their rescue and make whoever was trying to harm them pay with my own hands.

"I just don't know if that is called love. I don't understand it, and I have no plans of understanding it. Love makes people weak."

Thirteen had seen this happen many times.

His Host had loved, and some of their lovers had betrayed them, causing them immense grief and pain.

This was why he associated the feelings of love with weakness. He had seen it for himself—those who were in love often made very questionable decisions.

"Forget it." Arthur sighed. "You're very smart, but you're dumb when it comes to this thing."

"Then why did you ask me that question, Gramps?" Thirteen asked with a frown.

"That's because Cursed Artifacts also don't know what's the meaning of Love," Arthur answered. "They are true to their desires, may it be greed, destruction, jealousy, or envy. But they're incapable of understanding what love is."

08:54

Thirteen blinked once and twice before rubbing his chin.

Since he was a System, he could also be technically considered an artifact that didn't understand what love meant.

After careful consideration, he came to the conclusion that his Grandfather was right. Artifacts and systems like him didn't fully understand what love was.

"Anyway, are you done with whatever you are doing?" Arthur asked. "The Dvalinn Federation had been pestering us nonstop, repeatedly asking why we still hadn't returned to their headquarters. "Your Battalion and the Valkyries are also on standby and wondering where you have gone. Make sure to see them after you eat."

Thirteen nodded. "Yes, I'm done. The Cursed Artifact is under my full control now."

"Can I see it?" Arthur inquired.

Thirteen nodded and stood shakily with his grandfather's help. A moment later, he clenched his fists, and his entire body was covered from head to foot with a black armor.

Located on the chest area was a shining green gem, which was of the same color as the glow on the eye sockets of the armor.

Faint glowing lines appeared on the armor's body, making it look like a cyborg powered by Empyrium.

The helmet had a demonic design with two curved horns on its head.

Suddenly, a black cape fluttered from the armor's back, reaching down up to the back of Thirteen's knees.

Arthur eyed his grandson from head to foot, but he couldn't sense any aura coming from his body.

It was as if he was looking at a being filled with mystery, for he couldn't sense how strong it was.

"Interesting," Arthur commented. "It completely hides your level of power."

Thirteen nodded before deactivating his armor.

"Gramps, I don't intend to let anyone know about this armor for the time being," Thirteen stated. "So keep it a secret."

"I understand," Arthur replied. "But does that armor make you powerful? Will it help you surpass the Rank of a Rookie?"

"The short answer is yes," Thirteen replied. "With this armor, I don't have to worry about my safety even if I am fighting a Rank 4 Sovereign in a one-on-one battle."

"I see, that gives you the power on par with Masters and Grandmasters," Arthur commented.

"Something like that," Thirteen nodded.

Truth be told, Thirteen was still busy tweaking his "Living Armor" and adding some upgrades to it.

Although the Creation Sphere had already merged with Soul Keeper, Thirteen had added a feature where he could modify the armor anytime and anywhere.

This allowed him to create variations that would be useful in any kind of terrain or situation.

The only reason why he stopped with his upgrades was because he was dead hungry. Even if he had strong willpower, he was still a living, breathing human who needed to eat in order to function properly.

When Hans returned with the food, he wasn't alone.

Cristopher, Colbert, Shana, Viola, and Marion were with him.

After seeing their Commander, all five of them sighed in relief because they finally saw the young man whom they had recognized as the leader of their expedition.