Chapter 1013: Deep Mistrust

"Do not bother listening to this human! Their kind are all perpetual liars." The Zurling Queen cried in defiance, advising the Nine Oceans Phoenix to not waste a moment of time listening to Jin.

"I do understand the mistrust you have towards us humans, and I do not deny that I have indirectly hurt you by commanding my monsters to kill your children, but let me show you that not all of us are the same," Jin said as he opened a portal. "I hope that they also believe in actions speaking louder than words. This might possibly be the only way to get their attention."

When he finished his sentence, swarms of Zurglings started to sprout out of the large portal on the ground, surprising the Zurgling Queen. While they did not have names per se, she recognised each and every Zurgling as they all had her unique scent on them. Like little puppies, all of them began to wag their deformed tails in delight towards seeing their mother.

And even though they still recognised her as their mother, her attempts at controlling them to come back failed. Her commands were not effective unlike her other children, it was as if they were all independent Zurglings.

'How...? I saw them getting killed? I FELT it! Like a string spun from my own thread, I've felt it snap! And yet they are standing here, all much happier than when they served me?!' The Zurgling Queen thought to herself as she saw a few of them take the initiative to climb on her and play on her back. By normal Zurgling standards, only the favoured few were able to gain that honour and yet all these Zurglings were doing it as if it was something natural, completely against their supposedly subservient nature.

"What did you do to them?" Zurgling Queen asked with a heightened alert since that human they were talking to was certainly not someone ordinary if he could change her children that much.

"Not much. I possess a sort of 'ability', allowing me to bring back those slain by me or my comrades." Jin said as he looked at the Nine Oceans Phoenix. "However, I also have another ability allowing me to capture those who agree to come with me willingly. That includes your little chick too." He immediately raised his phone up and a holographic projector presented them images of the Nine Oceans Phoenix's little baby barely alive after the torture it went through. Seeing her child in such a miserable state had naturally enraged the Nine Oceans Phoenix until she saw another portal appearing, wide enough to allow her through.

"My reaction was the same as yours, Lady Phoenix, which is exactly why I've broken all ties with those scheming bastards. One of my comrades managed to rescue him... or is it a her? Sorry, I've yet to ask the gender of your baby, either way, it's in intensive care right now. My team of healers are doing their best to heal your baby as much as they can. Be my guest and come have a look for yourselves." Jin used his hand as if to direct the Nine Oceans Phoenix into the portal.

Although her instincts cried for her to rush through the portal, she herself was still a bit hesitant whether it could be a trap. The human in front of her might have knowledge of the baby and utilised to coax her. For all she know, there were hundreds of hunters waiting to bring her down the moment she stepped into the portal. Or perhaps worse, the humans could be using the baby as a hostage to blackmail and threaten her. Therefore if she were to be wary, the Phoenix needed to have sufficient strength before going into such a portal.

Since it all sounded too good to be true, the Nine Oceans Phoenix coated herself with magical energies that made any monsters around her feel completely intimidated by her powers. Aside from the Zurgling Queen they all distanced themselves from her and not wanting to get burnt by the water waves that produced an intense bout of heat.

She looked down at the Zurgling Queen who had always been a strong proponent of her actions and started to break down as she noticed her confidante begin to embrace the independent Zurglings in her multiple pair of arms. She sensed no devious magical energies from the Zurglings that Jin had summoned and the Queen appeared genuinely relieved finding out that her children were still alive.

"I do not blame you if you do not trust me. Fire up as much as you want before going in, I assure you that this is not a trap." Jin said as he told Forneus to move away from the portal to give the Phoenix some space to move forth.

"Aye, I do not blame you for being suspicious about my master. But your kid is in good hands compared to those bastards that were the ones responsible for its current condition." Forneus saw the images on the holographic projector and already asked Jin via the System Channel whether the culprits had been served with justice.

"I burnt their corpses and the System did not even need my input. It had taken the initiative to throw their souls away like a dirtied sock into the trash bin." Jin replied via the System Channel and Forneus nodded his head with approval.

"It looks like both you and the System have some morals. I thought you would be catching every single soul regardless of good or bad." Forneus spoke via the System Channel as the both of them watched the Phoenix mother pluck her courage and venture into the unknown.

"System finds it a waste that the soul would be cast off instead of being reused. If recycled, it could be of some value to our 'secret organisation'." The System remarked casually as it made sure that the current Luxury Recovery Instance had been expanded wide enough for the Nine Oceans Phoenix to enter without any problems. (It was already making a big exception allowing it inside the instance, instead of isolating the big creature first.)

When the mother saw her baby chick in bandages, she was heartbroken, yet at the same time, she was relieved to see the Panda NPC Nurses extend their healing magical capabilities to keep the baby chick's vitals stable. She was especially thankful for Milk since the Priestess exuded the most potent healing magic.

"Forneus, hold the fort here while I speak with the mother." Jin ordered, then jumped into the portal before the System closed it. When he came in, the dungeon supplier came just in time to see the mother's beak lightly caressing the wounded chick. This was the first time that mother and child met since she had missed it hatching.

Unfortunately, instead of a happy first meeting, the mother was forced to heal it to the best of her abilities too. Jin then requested the Panda Nurses and Milk to back off for the moment, to allow the Mother Phoenix to enjoy some alone time.

As the healers moved out of the room, the Nine Oceans Phoenix stared at Jin with eyes of vengeance.

"I've already gotten rid of the ones to torture your first chick. Right now one of my comrades is looking for the main perpetrator responsible for stealing your eggs in the first place. So far, he has not been found yet, but he seems to be holding your other egg. Once we catch him, I can allow you to get your revenge."

"Why are you going to such lengths? Helping my baby chick and even offering to sell out the one responsible? Aren't you a human too?" The Nine Oceans Phoenix asked and Jin found it difficult to answer that particular question.

"Indeed I'm a human. I could have used a spell to make myself look like a monster, but I wanted to be honest with you. You're not the only one to mistrust other humans. I wanted to believe them that you were the bad ones, but I've learned a valuable lesson that it's good to trust, but better to check. Besides, monster lives matter too, don't they? Well hmm, now that I said it out loud, it does sound a little hypocritical of me…" Jin mumbled the last sentence and the Nine Oceans Phoenix did not really understand until Jin requested the System to 'advertise' his friendliness to the monsters he had captured.

However, that actually made the Nine Oceans Phoenix even more confused as she thought those images were about to pop out and harm her kid. She even used her wings to cover her chick which made Jin stop the flood of images.

"Look, I don't expect you to trust me blindly from one moment to the next, but I hope that I've proven to you, that I at least don't mean you nor your chick any harm. In fact, I can help you right now. If you allow me to." Jin asked in a straightforward manner.

"You do seem nice, but you humans are always scheming! Surely, your 'help' is not for free and you will want something in return. Or do you claim you've helped us from the goodness of your heart?" The Nine Oceans Phoenix asked and Jin nodded his head in silence.

"Indeed, I want to offer you the chance to lead a better life. Not just you, but all those monsters that you've gathered shall gain that opportunity if they wish."

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