The Amazing Joni's
CHAPTER 20: TWENTY

Silent moment. Leave the owl Uhu. The longlongan melodious wolf had also disappeared. The stars carved out an amazing formation in the sky.

“That all happened this afternoon. The wars. Coups. Soldiers are divided. It all happened so fast. Until finally the three of us were banished to this place.” King Lan explained. King Lan was a king who was famous for being wise, populist, cherished, and clearly authoritative. Behind all those who love him, there are certainly those who hate, envy, and even spite.

King Lan lowered his head. Spoons. His face was tired, but his heart was much more tired. Stuffy. The kingdom he had long dreamed of for decades fell into the hands of the enemy in a blanket. Someone who had long wanted that position, someone who had long wanted to take over everything, someone who had planned it for many years. Waiting for the right moment. And that afternoon, everything went well. King Lan had lost, king Lan had bowed, king Lan had been driven away.

“I am sad not only for losing that kingdom. But I'm also worried about my son. I don't know where he is now.” King Lan bowed back, staring at the ground.

“Who are they, Your Majesty?” Sem looked up, staring at that misty face.

Silent moment.

“No need to be that formal, young man. You just call me Lan. I'm no longer a king.” King Lan tried to smile.

Sem rubbed his nape. While Deni was busy watching the two people who were beside the Lan king. Eyes probing. I nudged his shoulder. Stop it, Den. They probably have the highest rank in the kingdom. Certainly not a small person who can accompany the king until he reached the forest.

“Name Has. He was actually an army commander. He heads hundreds of troops. His men are many. And I can always trust him in difficult affairs. He is always reliable. But that afternoon, I didn't expect at all. Behind his obedience lies a dark, evil ambition. He controlled nearly 90% of the royal army to coup. We are outnumbered. I was arrested, banished to this place. Exiled.” King Lan was silent for a moment, taking a deep breath.

“Last I knew it. He is the only royal henchman who runs a business with outsiders. He's a marijuana business man. All the marijuana was sold at a cheap price to the troops. The profit he got was not small. But because his business colleague died a few days ago. He stopped the business, then realized the coup plan ahead of schedule. Through the forbidden medicine, he easily controlled. The marijuana already controls more than half of the kingdom's army. They're addicted. Subject to Has. Easily, Has instigated everything.” King Lan then fell silent. His mouth is gone.

Silent.

***

That afternoon, when the portal between countries opens, when Joni's entourage enters the country without having to pass through a dizzying quiz. Something big is happening in the kingdom. Something that will go down in the history of the kingdom in the Tropical Rainforest country. Something that changes everything.

In the basement. A gathering place for the troops and royal minions. Has devised a strategy.

“You all! Promise to be loyal to only one leader! And it is the person who will make you live better, more worthy, more prosperous. Give your bai’at to mister Has!” A bodyguard shouted out.

LIVE MR HAS..!! LIVE MR HAS..!!

“What Rem has not returned?” Has asked.

The guard nodded politely. Don't know. Rem is indeed mysterious among the troops. Very few troops knew him. Brakes also rarely interact. He only often spoke to Has. Ganja business. Brakes are also addicted.

“I'm sorry to let him go to the forest now. But it doesn't matter. Our numbers are more than enough. Brakes may not be needed now. But he will be useful later.” Has chuckled in satisfaction, confident in victory before his eyes.

“Prepare all your weapons!!” For the umpteenth time, Has again exclaimed.

When the Lan king had just returned from reviewing the location of the forest that had been burned to clear the land, an attack occurred. Has and his army attacked other forces still loyal to the Lan king. Has excelled in numbers. King Lan was outnumbered in quantity. They were cornered, but still resisted. A fierce fight ensued. King Lan himself gallantly put up a fight. He managed to take down some of the treacherous royal forces. While the loyal troops defended him one by one fell, at the hands of Has and his colleagues. There's not even a brake when it's like that. Rem was also in a fight, he was scattered dozens of bullets in the middle of the forest.

Has and his followers managed to take control of the kingdom thirty minutes later. Some of the troops who claimed allegiance to the Lan king changed course, some died at the hands of Has himself for trying to resist. Has himself was a formidable sword knight. His skill at playing the sword had been in possession since the age of seven. Has conquered three royal fighters at that age.

The kingdom was destroyed, poranda. Kiani king toppled, marble floors scratched, smooth rugs torn, walls filled with blood spots, broken glass, chandeliers and ornamental fall. Worse than a tectonic earthquake.

“Clean them all! Bury bodies! If you still find those who are trying to fight, cut his neck! Confronting king Lan to me right now!” Has exclaimed, his sword was already fast asleep in the sheath.

Two men dragged the king of Lan before Has. Another one followed behind. The old body was already bruised by a blow.

“You must have kissed all my plans, right? But you're too weak, you trust me too much. Assume everything will be okay. You let me take a lot of your troops. As if I were your most loyal follower. You see now? What do you get from that flaccid nature of yours, Lan!?” Has squatted down, looking at the already drooping king Lan.

“I have absolutely no intention of replying to you, Has. You'll get the reply yourself.” King Lan replied flatly.

“Cih! Today, all of this is mine, Lan. You're nothing, just a useless old man. You even lost your only son.” Has ternyum, insulting. His face grinned, triumphant.

“He is the one who will repay your treatment to me, Has.” King Lan still responded flatly. His body was hard to move, the two guards clutching firmly at the edges of his clothes.

“Returned? Reply, Lan? As long as I am in this kingdom. I've only seen your son once. That was when he was born. His mother died of bleeding. I don't know what happened after that. He prefers life in the wild, befriending the jungle animals. I also do not know, maybe he has long been a savage tiger breakfast.” Has laughs.

“Dispose him to the forest. Maybe there he'll meet that kid he's proud of.” Has ordered the two bodyguards to drag the Lan king back, throwing him into the forest.

It happened so fast. It was then, that king Lan was banished to the forest. Luckily, two of his loyal bodyguards managed to escape the kingdom. Look for it in the middle of the trees. They both managed to find him. Back then, the Lan king only fell silent stiff, sitting on his back against an old wooden tree, just like his age. The two bodyguards, with the approval of the Lan king. One of them invited the Lan king to find a safe place, the other one returned to the kingdom, sneaked, watched. In the middle of the night, the Lan king and one of his guards walked nonstop. Carrying wounds, carrying a heart of sorrow. The bodyguard was completely loyal. Even they both hit the rain in the middle of the night.

It was then that King Lan and one of his loyal bodyguards found three people camping in the forest.

***

“Then, we will help.” Deni is no longer sleepy, no fuss.

“They're all great fighters. We will definitely outnumbered.” One of the loyal guards spoke up.

“We will still try to take that kingdom. The kingdom belongs to the Lan king. It is not appropriate for someone who runs a prohibited business to be a leader. Unethical. It really doesn't make any sense. What is this country.” Deni had started to get excited, forgetting that he had said he wanted to sleep until the sunlight itself would wake up.

“I appreciate that, young man. But this isn't all easy. We must gather strength.” King Lan settled Deni, full of honors. Deni blushed.

“Coup will be retaliated by coup. When it comes to strength, the three of us are enough for that, Mr. Lan.” Shem raised a hand.

For the sake of stinging that enthusiasm, king Lan chuckled. He nodded in trust. The spirit of young people is always burning. But the Lan king was still unsure that he would be able to take the kingdom back from Has's hands. Because behind Has, there was someone with even greater strength. A person who was able to resist and make a sniper bullet return to his master.

Time runs fast, like a sniper bullet. A red tinge has appeared on the eastern horizon. Shining horizon. The stars were defeated by that light, they dimmed. Morning will soon be coming. The planning of the coup will be carried out today. After breakfast. The two bodyguards were willing to find breakfast, edible forest fruits. And clear river water. They do not require quick identification through sophisticated watches like ours to know the fruit is poisonous or not. They're already trained.

Half an hour, the breakfast was familiar. Intercut with a joking jest. Sometimes laugh together. That nice. King Lan could forget for a moment about his kingdom that fell into the hands of people who did not deserve to contain the kingdom, while Deni and I could forget for a moment the world we came from. While Sem? I don't know. He seems to have no problem here.

The sun is rising, maybe a little. The light penetrates through the leaves. The circle is invisible, with thick walls of trees. The chirping of morning birds echoed across the forest ceiling. The morning activities of the animals have already begun. The morning was bright.

The six of us sat back on the river bank. The water was clear, the fish swam closer. Relaxing talk.

“Now what's the plan?” She asked, very enthusiastic. The breakfast ended a few days ago.

“We may still have some troops set up in the kingdom at this time. They just had to follow Has's will. When we get back there, we might be able to persuade him.” One of the king Lan's guards replied.

“Number of Has plotters currently may be hundreds. Plus, there was someone equivalent to hundreds of it behind him.” The other guard added.

“Equivalent? Hundreds?” I looked up, looking at the guard.

“True. There was someone who was actually stronger than Has. I've known for a long time that he has a unique ability. It can appear somewhere suddenly. I don't know what the name of the ability is.” The king answered, turned, and took a heavy breath.

“That would be comparable to you, Jon.” She looked at me, smiling.

I shrugged my shoulders. I don't know. We don't know what the power of the brake is yet. He might be listening to this conversation right now. Can't she move quickly. If the Lan king himself said that, then the current main enemy was not just Has. But also Rem.

Silent moment.

“But I think we still have one extra power.” King Lan was silent for a moment, feeling less sure of what he said.

We three looked.

“He's a great guy. Weapons experts.” King Lan decided not to talk about it too much. “Maybe he can help. But I don't know.” King Lan shrugged his shoulders. Not very hopeful.

“Maybe_?” Sem choked.

“What's up, Sem?” I asked.

“No. No.”

I fell silent, staring at the calm stream. Silent.