A few hours later, a few more familiar faces arrived at the camp, making Thirteen arch an eyebrow.

"What are all of you doing here?" Thirteen asked as he looked at the members of the Hero Party, as well as Rianna, who had come pulling some carts filled with camping tools.

Clearly, they also planned to set up tents and join Thirteen in whatever he planned on doing.

"Why not, Master?" Derek answered. "I miss you, you know?"

"Well, I don't miss you," Thirteen replied.

The Swordsman was already accustomed to this kind of treatment.

"It's been a while since we last camped, so I think this is a good idea," Roland commented.

Truth be told, Roland didn't really plan on going here.

However, after Derek realized that Erica and Sherry had sneaked out of the Summer's Residence, Thirteen's disciple knew that the two girls had decided to stay with Zion.

The Swordsman was worried that the three of them would undergo some private training, which would make Erica leave him in the dust.

After undergoing the hellish training in the Rigel Continent, Derek was now more confident in his abilities.

Knowing how much improvement anyone can make under Thirteen's guidance, he was worried that the young man would feed Erica and Sherry some kind of juice that would make them stronger overnight.

He had heard in the past that, three members of the Valkyries, who went by the names Viola, Sharon, and Louise, had suddenly become stronger than their peers after drinking some of Zion's juice.

Although he felt that his Master preferred to give special treatment to ladies, he still believed that this was unfair.

He couldn't bear the thought that after training hard for months, all it would take was just a simple Zion Juice, and another expert warrior would pop out of nowhere like a mushroom.

Of course, Derek didn't dare to speak up in front of his Master about this matter. However, now that he had come, Erica could forget about drinking his Master's juice!

"I can tell that you're thinking something bad right now." Erica frowned at Derek.

"Bad? Of course not," Derek replied with a smile. "By the way, did Master make you drink something yesterday?"

"Drink something?" the frown on Erica's face deepened. "Drink what?"

"You know, like some kind of juice?"

"Oh. We had Cola Cola yesterday. Does that count?"

"Of course not. How about last night? Did you drink some milk?"

"I did not."

Erica wanted to say that she didn't drink any milk, but Zion tried to drink some. Unfortunately, that was not possible at this point in time.

Derek patted his chest in relief. "Good."

"Hey, can you stop being weird?" Erica glared at the Swordsman. "You're weirding me out."

While the members of the Hero Party were bickering, Claude received a report that Roland and the others had also arrived at the venue and that they were currently setting up tents in the VIP area.

This news made him frown because he didn't expect that something like this would happen.

Since the members of the Hero Party were Seeded Candidates, that meant that they didn't have to join the preliminary matches and simply had to wait until the elimination rounds were over.

"Just what are those kids thinking?" Claude muttered.

The Agent, who had just finished the report, remained standing and waited for his Master's orders.

"Double… no, triple the number of Watchers," Claude ordered. "I want them to be monitored twenty-four-seven. I don't believe Zion Leventis will do something like this without a reason.

"He might just be using the Hero Party as a smokescreen for something big. Remember, this brat has been in the limelight for the past few years, so tell the Watchers to not underestimate him. Do you understand?"

"Yes, Master," the Agent replied. "Is there something that they should pay extra attention to?"

Claude pondered a bit before giving out another order.

"Observe that kid from the Osborn Family," Claude said. "There are rumors that he has some kind of Charm Ability. The ladies in Freedom City seem to have taken a liking for him. While being handsome will allow you to attract women, his strike range is… very wide."

The Osborn Family had always been a thorn in the side of the Ashford Clan for decades.

If Vincent indeed had that kind of ability, then there was a great need to raise his threat level.

If he managed to charm the ladies of their Clan or their subordinates, he might be able to gain access to information that he wasn't supposed to have access to.

That would make him a very dangerous person. It didn't matter that he was young—the Ashford Clan wouldn't hesitate to nip this bud before it could grow into a tree that would tower over them.

Inside the Summer's Residence…

"What? Zion and the others decided to camp out in the territory of the Ashford Clan?" Tristan looked at his wife in disbelief. "Why would they do that? Is our house not comfortable for them to live in?"

"Also, Rianna and Shana had just returned home after many months of training. They have just been here for a few days, and they're off to leave again?"

Cynthia sighed. "Originally, Erica and Sherry snuck out and only left a letter behind telling us that they planned to join Zion in camping at the Ashford Clan's territory.

"After that, Derek decided to go as well because he was afraid that Erica and Sherry were going to undergo special training. Rianna thought that it was fun, so she decided to go as well.

"Shana suddenly decided to join Rianna, and soon, Roland and Joshua also decided to go. Since Mildred is the last one left, she decided to join them as well. I didn't find any problems with their decisions, so I let them go.

"Although they're not in our house, they're only a city away, so I don't think it is such a big deal. It's not like we're separated by an entire continent, right?"

Tristan sighed as well before sitting beside his wife.

"While I'm not a hundred percent certain, I wish to believe that Zion is doing some kind of undercover reconnaissance mission. But with the other kids joining him, he might find it hard to do whatever he planned on doing."

Cynthia frowned. "Let's say that you're right. Do you really think that the Ashfords would just let him do as he pleased? I'm sure that they're keeping an eye on his every movement right now.

"I heard what happened in the Auction, and knowing how petty Claude is, he will definitely find a way to get back to Zion one way or another."

Tristan nodded. "He can do that, but he knows not to go overboard. After all, Zion holds a special role in the Central Government. The last thing he'll want is to make the Clans and Families in the Rigel and Cygni Continent burn bridges with them."

Cynthia nodded in agreement. "You're right. He will not dare to go that far."

After pondering for a few minutes, Tristan asked his wife to contact Rianna and Shana from time to time to ask if anything unusual was happening at their camp.

Although he believed that the Ashford Clan wouldn't go as far as hurting his daughters, it would be best to be safe than sorry.

"I'll go talk to father," Tristan said after discussing the matters with the teenagers with his wife. "While it's not confirmed yet, there was a fluctuation of dimensional energy detected at the North of the Cygni Continent.

"The readings are off the charts, and if our guess is correct, it might be a hidden Tier 9 Gate that had remained hidden for nearly two decades."

"T-Tier 9?!" Cynthia's eyes widened in shock. "The same Tier that destroyed the Antares Continent?"

Tristan nodded gravely. "There is only a Tier-8 Gate in the Rigel Continent, yet it allowed three Rank 9 Earth Dragons to cross over. If this is really a Tier-9 Gate, then…"

Tristan didn't dare to say it because he was afraid that it might come true. However, Cynthia had known her husband for many years, and although he didn't dare to say it, she knew what he was thinking.

"If the Cygni Continent were to fall, there would only be two continents in the world," Cynthia commented. "Are we really about to face extinction within a hundred years?"

"We might or we might not," Tristan replied. "Right now, there's at least a variable that might stand in the way of this world's destruction."

The image of the teenage boy, who had led the troops to fight in the Rigel Continent, flashed inside Tristan's and Cynthia's head.

If the world of Pangea had a chance of surviving a calamity, they had a feeling that they would need Zion's help to give them a chance of survival.