After the fun evening workout was over, Kyon heard a sound transmitter calling.
He was surprised to find that it was the device that he had taken from robber Guiming. He raised his voice to the maximum and added a special tone with the help of Synergy. Then he answered the call.
«Pa.s.sword.» - He heard a hoa.r.s.e male voice.
«Chewed-up mole.»
«In two days at midday. Sewer sector number seven. Follow the guidelines.»
Kyon grunted when the connection broke. His conversation with Sauron, the leader of the bandits, was short. In just two days, he had to give the money over at the regular meeting. According to Guiming, his norm was about twenty thousand a month. The amount was impressive for the miserable thief number six.
Kyon hadn"t begun his career of the investigator yet, but he was already ready to get rid of the cancerous tumor in the kingdom, the robber syndicate. It was definitely a good idea.
If he were already an investigator, he would organize an ambush. But he couldn"t do it at the moment. Kyon came up with a more convenient option, compatible with his plans. He was going to play the role of Guiming at the meeting. It would help him scope things out. He would send out his rats to explore the gangsters" habitat. It was pretty risky but totally worth it.
He only needed twenty thousand spheres and some makeup. Nothing too complicated. In the meantime, he came up with a brilliant idea of how to make his ascend to power even easier. He had to use his formacist skills.
Kyon put on a black cloak and went to the poor district of the city.
He met a seedy drunkard in the dark alley who was slowly walking home.
He knocked out the poor man with an accurate blow to his neck. He woke up in a couple of minutes, rubbed his eyes drowsily, mumbled something under his breath and staggered home.
The drunkard met a friend on his way. They talked for a bit and then he got home, to his rickety shed. When he went to bed, he heard an impressive voice in his head:
«Don"t sleep, George!»
«Who"s here?!» - The drunk man jumped to his feet.
«Your inner self. The one you have always wanted to be. From now on, I will instruct you on the right path in life. You can"t resist me, I will make you anyway. Today you stop drinking, George. Go and tidy yourself up…»
George spent hours of shock, disbelief and denial then he began to get used to the voice in his head. He was no longer afraid of it. George followed the instructions. He got out of bed, got washed, neatly folded the scattered things and swept his dwelling... Then he fell asleep peacefully.
It was weird that he couldn"t refuse the mysterious voice in any way. It was more than his inner self, it seemed to be a deity whose will couldn"t be opposed. His mind was unwilling to do anything, but to his horror, his body moved on its own, leaving him no other choice. It was scary to watch his arms and legs move against his will. He had to comply with the orders of the inner voice. It would give him an illusion of control over them. He was afraid to get lost forever!Kyon had placed a subjugating formation on the man"s forehead, as well as two more formations that received and transmitted the sound. The set of three formations received the signal and reproduced it in George"s head, just like Kyon did with Juno when she met Bai. George had no choice but to do as Kyon said.
Everything the man said went to the "cloud" in the form of a signal. Unfortunately, Kyon couldn"t create a visual formation yet. The enslaved person was his "ears and hands," but not his "eyes." In the future, he could add a visual formation when he reached the second phase. Then George would be his ideal henchman.
Kyon had created a slave that could execute his commands at the distance of up to 200 kilometers with minimal Synergy expenses. Moreover, the man didn"t even suspect he was a slave. He thought the voice in his head was his own.
Any other formacist in Kyon"s place would have given up this crazy venture. First, it was illegal and punishable by death. Second, formations required a considerable amount of money (the energy from the spheres) so that they could work for a long time. Third, no high-ranking formacist would make slaves from plebs. It was easier to buy them! Fourth, who would give them orders and how would the orders be processed? Especially in the way of a sound signal! With a mercury mirror? With a sound crystal sound? In the brain? He would go crazy!
With Synergy, Kyon could afford such things. He could communicate with his subordinates without any mental intervention. Kyon didn"t hear their voices, didn"t send them commands. Synergy automatically dealt with all this in the cloud, following the wishes of the master.
Unlike ordinary formacists, Kyon didn"t have to spend any money or keys. The trio of the formations was of the parasitic type. They fed on human elemental energy like in the case with Juno. However, the beggar had no connection with his soul. That"s why Kyon had to clear his keys a little, and then feed the formation. He didn"t use money (it would have been too expensive!) Kyon used the energy that the poor man had been unconsciously absorbing from the atmosphere.
Kyon looked at the gray sky with contempt. This world where it was possible to enslave people against their will was too cruel and unfair. At least, no one here was interested in people with no development or resources. The poor could live in peace. However, these dark deeds could be widespread in large families or cities where the difference in development in the younger and older generation could be several phases or where there was a physical (s.e.xual) or financial interest. A mere thought that a child could be enslaved at any moment was scary. The kid wouldn"t even say anything, just leave the house in silence. All it took was an advantage in 2-3 phases to enslave anyone. If there were no clear laws and powerful authorities in this world, it would be scary to go out.
Although these thoughts spoiled his mood, Kyon had enslaved the beggar without a slightest remorse, because he knew he would give the poor thing a wonderful comfortable life devoid of hunger. It was only a small part of his future benefits.
Kyon crunched his fingers and got down to other dark affairs, namely to enslaving innocent people, submitting them to his will. He set about creating obedient puppets that would do everything that "their own" voice in the head would say. The trio of his formations could work even on people at the beginning of the first phase. However, to be on the safe side, he chose only those who hadn"t connected with their soul. It was almost one hundred percent chance of success (It all came down to development. People with more developed soul had a stronger will and a higher intellect. There was less chance to enslave them.)
While he was committing this unrighteous act, a surprisingly disturbing feeling settled in Laurel"s soul. It quickly began to spread throughout his body. The dark part of his core started to pulsate imperceptibly, releasing the dark energy, filling his soul and subsequently his body. His head cleared up noticeably, his feelings got more intense, his character underwent some changes. He felt the adrenaline, a thirst for new sensations, an urge to remove all kinds of barriers and limitations. Kyon had turned into a maniac who took away the will of entire families with a cruel smile on his lips.
At some point, he went to the district where people of the middle cla.s.s lived because the beggars no longer satisfied "his majesty." He could feel their development with his soul. His upgraded hearing made it possible to determine their number and even age, as well as their exact location. Kyon did not worry about anything when he broke into their houses. He could achieve whatever he desired.
Women and elderly men lost consciousness for a moment. Then they woke up with a voice in their head that controlled their lives completely. They sincerely believed that it was their inner self who spoke to them and willingly obeyed it.
His reserve of Synergy was running gradually out. It took more Synergy to control the birds than the slaves. He had to take over lots of processes in the birds" brain. In the case of people, he only needed to process and send information. To sum it up: one formation subjugated people, the other created the sound in their ears, the third formation was a bug. Kyon divided the task into parts and had enough energy to achieve his goal.
Kyon didn"t clearly remember the last hours. He woke up early in the morning in someone"s comfortable house, or rather, in the bedroom. A young pretty girl was giving him a thorough foot ma.s.sage with her gentle hands. She did not expect a n.o.ble handsome guy enter their humble house for a family of three. She didn"t know her parents would welcome him. Then the girl realized that she wasn"t so innocent and shy as she had thought. The voice of her mind convinced her to get into his bedroom and seduce him...
The painful sensations in different parts of his body told Kyon that it had gone too far. He could have requested memories from Synergy, but he was too selfish to burden himself with unnecessary worries. He decided that the girl who was completely in his power would know no misery if whatever happened had happened.
«Thank you for ma.s.sage, Olivia.» - Kyon whispered gratefully. He kissed the girl on the cheek and left her house. Now he had a hundred slaves under his control, one third of them were of the middle cla.s.s. Synergy was getting renewed a bit faster than spent. Meanwhile, it was a little time left until the modernization of his sense of smell.
Kyon called Byron to find out his location.
«I have been in Boston for almost a week! Where have you been?! I would have called you myself, but... I forgot your frequency... Sorry, bro.» - The thick-headed fellow said.
«I see. Never mind, I just got off work. Go to the dwarves" factory and get inside. They will let you in. I"ll be there waiting for you.» - Kyon said and ended the conversation.
He called Juno next. He didn"t have to call her to the dwarves, but Kyon really wanted to see her reaction when she saw what was happening because of him. He might get a few turns of the dark core. The little devil would get jealous and fall apart... Especially after what happened last night.
Juno sounded aggressive when she answered the call. – «What do you want?!»
Soon she had no choice but hide her face under the veil, saddle a plain horse, and leave the Stone territory in secret, accompanied by her guards.
About halfway to the factory, someone jumped on the horse on the go and took the reins. A kidnapper? Worse. If it was a dirty orc, she"d breathed a sigh of relief. The jerk was worse than any monster or kidnapper!
Juno considered buying a deadly dagger while she was contemplating Kyon"s broad back... She wouldn"t need fists if she had cold steel. One stab in the back and that"s it! Nice and easy.
Juno noticed something strange while they were riding. Birds were sitting on the poles, trying to look into her soul with their empty eyes. The birds were watching them ride.
A chill went down her spine. The jerk pulled the reins and she had to hug him.
{Why are they looking at me? Birds… Wait! The birds?!} – A scary thought flashed across her mind, but Juno shook her head at once. It was pure nonsense! Those were different birds.
Suddenly Juno shuddered. She looked carefully at the owl... What was this night creation doing in the city at the daylight? By the way, wasn"t it exactly like the bird the servants had brought in?
The owl turned its head by 270 degrees, and Juno instinctively held Kyon tighter. She was frightened. In fact, she was afraid of the guy who was sitting in front of her! Maybe he was the reason why the birds were being so weird!
~caw~
A black raven nosedived near Juno"s head, scaring her even more. She recognized the raven who was croaking by the window all night. It was all clear now. Kyon did something crazy again, something contrary to common sense. His ability to clean the keys, his nine elements, his incredible speed and movement skills, his gun. All of that was more terrifying than the birds observers... But when Juno put the pieces of the puzzle together, she was almost certain that the birds were somehow connected with this monster.
Soon Juno and Kyon left the horse in the menagerie and walked to the entrance of the factory.
«Tell me… What happened to the birds that the servants had brought to you?» - Her voice trembled.
«The birds like sweet eye juice. Be careful.» - Kyon gave her a creepy smile.
Juno gasped. She had confirmed her suspicion. What did he do to the birds? Did he turn them into zombies? Did he train them? Did he take their souls? Did he use something unimaginable?! Juno pursed her lips. Hundreds of questions kept haunting her mind. Only training could distract her from thinking about the a.s.sistant"s secrets. Maybe she should kiss him and find everything out. - {No… I don"t want to.}
The dwarves gave Kyon a warm welcome this time. The two guards who used to look at him with contempt treated him now like he was a G.o.d of dwarves. Their eyes were full of reverence, their voice trembled. All their gestures showed respect for Kyon.
Juno was baffled by this radical change.
«Take me to the main office.» - Kyon asked the guards.
«The boss is doing bang bang!» - The dwarf answered with a broad smile. – «You will find him at the testing ground. Follow me, Mr. Kyon.»
The four of them pa.s.sed several rooms. They could hear total chaos behind the last metal door. There was deafening noise, claps, shouts, screeches, crazy laugh. They seemed to happen in the middle of abnormal military activities.
The whole sector of the factory had been converted into a polygon with elements of a shooting gallery to practice shooting skills and test weapons. There were hundreds of different targets, among them empty cans on the chairs and coins in the cracks. It was a real kingdom of shooters.
Juno covered her ears with her hands. «What"s all this noise? Is it war here?!»