Going back to the jungle's entrance was easy for Zold, as he had marked his directions when he ventured deeper.
Not even half an hour later, Zold arrived outside, bringing the twins with him.
"Mr. Starks!"
The leading commander, Antonio Sheen, widened his eyes in surprise when he saw him return so quickly.
'So he survived… hmm?'
At that moment, he noticed the two children behind Zold, one boy and one girl.
He could've sworn that Zold didn't bring anyone with him, especially not kids.
But Zold's next words immediately clarified the situation:
"The two were stranded in the jungle. They were traveling with their families when the calamity struck."
"... That, we didn't know."
Antonio's heart fell. The calamity had struck four days ago… that meant the kids were stranded inside a high-risk area for multiple days, with no one rescuing them!
"It's not your fault," Zold shook his head. "They were deep in the jungle, so the radars probably couldn't sense them."
"Still…"
The fact that there were kids unsettled Antonio deeply. What if there were other children? Other people? But even if they wanted to check, they couldn't since the jungle was teeming with terrifying monsters.
Zold didn't care about the man's worries. He added: "Oh yeah, I'll be taking these two in. What's the process I need to do?"
Snapping out of his daze, Antonio shifted his gaze to the twins. Seeing their pale and haggard appearance, he didn't want to insensitively bring up their parents, whom he assumed had already died inside.
"I'll relay your intentions to the higher-ups, but you can take care of them in the meantime."
Antonio said. But then, he suddenly remembered something important.
"Oh, right, the General came to see you! He's waiting for you in the barracks as we speak!"
'General…'
Zold furrowed his brows, thinking back to the people he knew with that title. A lot of people appeared in his mind, but only one fitted the situation.
'General Volks, the Stormbringer.'
A man who was once so feared that Lunaria became a country no one dared touch.
Thinking of this man, Zold nodded slightly.
"Lead the way. Oh yeah, take care of these two for me. I'll take them back later."
"Understood."
Antonio immediately went into action. He called a soldier out and directed him to bring the twins to a safe place.
Zold glanced at the twins, seeing their worried expression as they left.
'I won't leave, jeez…'
After the twins were taken away, Antonio came forward and led Zold to the barracks.
While they were walking, Antonio couldn't help but break the silence.
"Mr. Starks, if you don't mind me asking…"
Zold raised his brows, but didn't stop him.
Hearing no rejection, Antonio nodded in relief, continuing his words:
"How dangerous are the monsters in the jungle?"
Zold thought for a moment before giving an answer: "Two months."
"Pardon?"
Antonio widened his eyes, but Zold's next words immediately silenced him:
"Wait for two months before you even think of going in there. Anyone that's not me would die immediately."
In his previous life, it took the nation as early as six months before they could start venturing into high-risk areas.
But this time, with Maria spearheading the nation's development, an estimation of two months was quite possible.
"O-oh…"
Antonio fell silent, then he quickly added:
"Understood!"
Zold nodded slightly.
Soon, the two of them arrived in the barracks.
As soon as the two of them entered, the other soldiers recognized Antonio immediately, but couldn't remember who Zold was.
Antonio stopped in front of the command room, turning around to face Zold, and bowed slightly.
"Mr. Starks, the General should be waiting for you inside. I'll leave you here since I still have to patrol the jungle's periphery."
Zold nodded slightly, entering the room.
Click!
After Zold went in, Antonio sighed in relief, looking at the rest of the soldiers who were staring at him with curiosity.
One couldn't resist asking:
"Commander, who was that young man?"
Antonio paused, looking back at the door.
Back when the Association was established, and Maria Auburn had immediately appointed a random individual to its highest seat, many had frowned upon her actions.
But her reason for doing so had shut everyone up.
As one of the 150 Brigadier Generals, Antonio was naturally present in the meeting, and he still remembered Maria's words, deeply engraved on his mind.
"... The strongest in the nation."
His words immediately silenced everyone.
But Antonio wasn't being entirely truthful.
In the meeting, Maria said something else that he himself can't believe…
'The strongest in the world.'
---
When the door opened, General Volks furrowed his brows, but upon seeing the person's appearance, he couldn't help but straighten up.
"Mr. Zold Starks, you're here."
Just an hour ago, he was informed by his adjutant that the army in the Potanea region had received Zold Starks.
Zold Starks might've been an unfamiliar name to him a few days ago, but after Maria joined the nation's council, the young man had lingered in the minds of every high-ranking personnel in the nation.
General Volks was especially shocked.
The same young man who killed the massive Gorilla and saved the people in the Zoo was the same person Maria had appointed to the highest seat in the Association.
"General Volks, you were looking for me?"
Zold asked calmly.
"Yes, please sit down."
General Volks nodded slightly, inwardly surprised. The young man surely knew that he was one, if not the highest authority in the nation at present, yet the young man didn't seem to care in the slightest.
Zold took a seat and calmly stared at Volks.
While the latter was analyzing him, he was also observing Volks carefully.
Once an Awakener reached a particular realm, they would receive an Honored Title, deeply connected to their power.
In his previous life, awakeners of that level typically judged one another based on their titles.
Volk's future Honored Title was Stormbringer.
Whenever he appeared, he brought down a storm with him that killed and burned every monster in his sight.
The two of them actually knew each other in his past life, but they weren't close, with Volk often recruiting Zold to the nation's military.
At that moment, General Volks broke the silence:
"Mr. Stark, I want to sincerely thank you for your efforts first. You saved the people in the Zoo and eliminated a huge threat to the nation. If it weren't for you, countless more people would've died. You will be heavily rewarded for your acts, rest assured."
Zold nodded slightly, not rejecting his gesture.
"Alright."
Seeing that the young man was unmoved, General Volk's eyes flickered with disappointment, changing the topic.
"I'll have my adjutant send them to you soon. By the way, I apologize if I'm intruding on your business, but I was informed that you went to investigate the high-risk area, Lunaria Dark Jungle, by yourself."
Zold affirmed, "That's right. Is there a problem?"
"No, on the contrary, we have to thank you again for your efforts," General Volks shook his head. He continued: "However, we would like to know if you found anything unusual or special in your investigation?"
Zold thought for a moment before giving an answer: "I'm sure that you already know that monsters differ in strength."
"Yes." General Volks nodded. "Ms. Maria had proposed to differentiate them by tiers, Tier I Beast, Tier II Beast, and Tier III Beast. She proposed to use 'Beast' instead of monster for the classification since the monsters greatly resemble animals."
"Anything else?" Zold asked.
General Volks frowned, shaking his head, "No. Is there more than that?"
'So she didn't give all of the threats at once…'
Zold thought as he denied, "No, that's it. I was just thinking if she told you guys more than what I knew. But you should know that the gorilla monster I killed in the Zoo is a Tier III Beast, right?"
General Volks nodded.
"Each of the high-risk areas has thousands of such monsters," Zold continued quietly. "Some are as strong as the gorilla, while some are stronger than it. Their abilities differ from one another, and in the Lunaria Dark Jungle alone, a tree that could control awakeners without them noticing exists near the entrance."
Hearing that, General Volks' heart shook.
They were considering exploring high-risk areas, but…
"I only survived because of my talent," Zold said, "Anyone else, they would've died in there a hundred times over. As much as possible, focus on reshaping society and training awakeners before you consider exploring high-risk areas."
General Volks immediately asked, "Do you know a way on how an awakener could increase one's power quickly?"
Zold fell silent, but after a moment, he answered:
"Quickly, yes. Inside the monsters, special orbs could be harvested after their deaths. One could absorb them and gain the monster's powers when they were alive, but one has to be compatible with the monster's powers to obtain them, otherwise, it'll harm them instead."
"Since I'm the Association's highest seat, I'll need to contribute something. I'll draft what I know about Spirit Orbs and send them to you."
General Volks' eyes brightened.
Actually, they already knew the Spirit Orb's existence. But they didn't know what to do with it or what its use was. They were still experimenting with it, but if Zold helped, their efforts could be greatly reduced!
But…
Since Zold had said this, then he obviously had already absorbed a monster's powers before.
Considering that everyone was still clueless about the changes in the world, information about increasing strength quickly was undoubtedly a massive advantage!
Yet, Zold willingly gave it up just like that?
For the first time, General Volks was slightly convinced of Maria's words in the meeting. No one would do such a thing unless they were an extremely good person, or alternatively, they didn't care about it at all.
Looking at Zold's calm expression, he knew which one it was.
'This person, he has that kind of indifference…'
General Volks had met a lot of people in his life, and among them, there was a type that even he feared or admired.
Those who excelled so much in their field that no one else could compare to them.
Those people possess a sense of indifference, an emotion only those the very best could have.