The Rise Of A Porter

Everyone sealed their mouth shut as soon as Arnold entered the room. If Nathan had warned them about one thing, it was to not piss Arnold off under any circumstances. And if they did, not Nathan or the Blacks would be responsible for the outcome.

This was Nathan's move to keep everyone under check. As if all 12 of them were to lead an army into the swamp, they would end up crashing on each other's commands. The troops would get confused and history would repeat itself. 

That was the goal of this meeting. They not only wanted information but they were also there to crown a leader who would lead the army to the swamps. Once the leader was appointed, the rest 11 were expected to unquestionably follow the leader's orders.

But if the appointed leader can't do their job well, they could call for another meeting at any time. However, there had to be at least eight of the heads against the leader to use that power. This was to ensure that the appointed leader does not abuse their power over others. You can say this was a leash to keep the appointed leader in check. 

By having Arnold, namely the strongest warrior in American history, at his side, Nathan had more or less solidified his position as the leader of the syndicate. He doubted anyone would even dare to challenge him for a seat. He wasn't planning this because he wanted to rule over the rest, but he was doing so to save his family. 

Right now, everyone at the table was a potential enemy of him. After all, one of them helped the wolves to try and take them down. He was just being cautious and rightfully so. He couldn't afford to be stabbed in the back while fighting against monsters as vicious as lizardmen. 

"Why is everyone so gloomy?" Arnold whispered into Nina's ears. 

"You really are clueless, aren't you?" Nina sniggered, "You can single-handedly destroy anyone of their families if you wish. Of course, they'd be cautious in your presence."

Arnold who wasn't used to being feared by humans, couldn't help but smile awkwardly. These were the type of people who treated people having low social status as him like crap, and now they were afraid of him? Too scared to talk in his presence? 

He kinda liked it. He knew he shouldn't but he did. 

"Now that everyone is here, let's begin shall we?" Nathan snapped his fingers and the table in front of them lit up with hologram of a map hovering above the surface of the table. 

Arnold gave it a look and immediately realised what it was. A map of the swamps. The same map he had, had Talos make when Nathan requested Arnold to get him one. 

"In front of you is a map of the swamps that Arnold had generously made for our goal of eradication of the swamp dwellers." Nathan looked at Arnold before continuing, "Let's hear it from Arnold about the dangers of the swamps which we don't know of."

Everyone's attention immediately shifted from Nathan to Arnold who immediately went off explaining to them about the situation up to the best of his knowledge. 

"This is the part of the swamps which I consider to be the safest. Although most of the swamps are ruled over by lizardmen, the nagas too have some territory in the swamps and this," Arnold pointed at the small area, "is more or less no man's land. You'll rarely find any monsters, Lizardmen or naga here. Thus it's the safest place for us to land and camp before launching the final attack."

"The nagas so far seem to be peaceful creatures as through my multiple visits, they were nowhere to be found. Never once did they attack me but we have to be wary of them. No one can predict their behaviour. They are monsters after all. Thus I recommend we to set up camps here."

"What about the Lizardmen? How strong are they?" Madame Roosevelt asked. 

"I think the weakest among them would be approximately ranked at C or B. Not lower."

"Any weaknesses we should be aware of?" She asked again. 

"When their skin is as tough as it gets. So we have to aim for their soft spot- eyes and crotch. We'll need weapons like heavy axes to do more damage to them because the usual weapons don't work well against them. Their skin can easily deflect bullets if not shot from close range." Arnold explained it to them as if they were kindergarten students and he was the black hole of knowledge, "Moreover, they seem to have a societal hierarchy among them. The ones on the lower end can't wield weapons and don't have armour on. They lack the intelligence to use weapons and hence depend on their claws and skins to fend off against the enemies."

Every one started murmuring at this point. Monsters having a hierarchy? That's just absurd! They believed all monsters were brainless beings driven by their lust to kill but what Arnold was saying, completely shattered their beliefs. 

Andrex took it as an opportunity to swing a had at Nathan, "Oh, come on! Just because we haven't been able to research about the swamps dwellers, doesn't mean your family member can feed us whatever crap he wants."

A couple of leaders nod their heads in agreement but most of them remained indifferent and were a bit annoyed at the interruption. 

Andrex thought Arnold would get pissed, but to his surprise, he was smiling as nothing happened. 

"I can't think of any reason why would you think that I'm lying." Arnold said, "You are going to be at the swamps with me. So it's my job to tell you whatever I know for the sake of your safety. After all, if something was to happen to you or anyone else during the assault, it would only increase my burden. And no matter how strong I am, even I won't be able to take care of it all by myself."

"Still, if you think you can't trust me, please feel free to get out. This is not a playground. The moment you set foot into that hell-hole, you'll realise what I'm trying to say." Arnold continued, "Trust is the most important thing. If anyone of you thinks you can't trust me, please walk out now or you might be endangering yourself and your family in the swamps."

Everyone stared at each other while Nina and Nathan couldn't help but smile. Arnold was asserting dominance there and by the look on everyone's faces, it was obvious that the message had been delivered loud and clear. 

"I agree with the young lad." A man dressed in a green suit smiled. 

It took Arnold a second to recognize who the person was. It was Marrino Tempest. One of Nathan's closest friends. 

"I do too." Madame Roosevelt replied, "Andrex, I think we should let the man complete what he is saying before jumping to conclusions, shall we?"

Andrex and his couple of supporters were soon hushed by the others and Arnold continued. 

"As I was saying, there seem to be some kind of hierarchy within the Lizardmen. As we move up the hierarchy, the deadlier they become. I don't think anyone below A or S rank can deal with the ones on the upper level. So we would have to be careful around them... But that's not all. Nature itself would be against us. You do know that the trees inside the swamp are alive and don't hesitate to kill anything that comes close to them?"

The leaders nodded their heads in unison. How could they forget? After all, during the first attempt to take back the swamps they fell hard on their ass because of the trees.

The trees they thought would help them by covering their tracks and shelter them were the ones who took the most lives. 

"Good. I don't need to explain about them. Also, as far as I can recall, you were having a hard time fighting against the Mermen too, right?" Arnold smiled as he asked them. 

It was true. The mermen were merciless to whoever had the audacity to enter their territory. Sadly their territory pretty much included every drop of water in the swamps. The syndicate lost quite a few men at their hands too. 

"Well, you don't have to be afraid of them anymore." Arnold smiled looking at their tensed faces, "I've got them covered."

With his abilities, he could simply freeze a fair bit of the swamps to exclude the mermen's involvement in the battle while his Nature affinity would give him the power to control any tree within the range of a kilometre to him. Thus as long as the soldiers were around him, the mutated trees nor the mermen would be able to harm them. 

The heads didn't know about this so they were worried but didn't question Arnold about it. But it didn't stop them from whispering among themselves. 

"Now the most important thing," Arnold said as he raised his hand to get everyone's attention. Everyone looked at what Arnold wanted to say next, "Vegans and vegetarians will not be allowed to participate in the assault."

"What!?" Everyone simultaneously blurted out, "What kind of twisted logic is that?"

Even Nathan and Nina had a similar reaction. 

"Calm down and listen to me first." Arnold yelled over everyone's voice, "The reason I said that was because the only edible thing the swamps can provide us are the monsters that we'll kill. Anything else is poisonous. The berries, grass, hell even the consuming the water is dangerous."

"We can bring our own food. Can't we?" Someone asked. 

"You can, but I doubt it'll last for more than a couple of days. The food you take would end up getting soiled sooner than you think." Arnold replied, "Monsters would be our only replenishable source of fresh food, that's why I'm asking for only non-vegetarians to participate in the attack."

"If the environment is as humid as you say, then how will we cook monster meat?" Andrex regretted asking that question as soon as he blurted the words out. 

Everyone looked at him with a disappointed look on their face. He was supposed to be a leader of one of the twelve elite families and yet he couldn't even deduce such a simple thing on his own? 

But Arnold summarised everyone's view while with a snap of his fingers created fire and said, "Really?"

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