He couldn"t help but think in a split second that he was turning crazy; it couldn"t be surprising as he had dealt with shady individuals and did questionable things through the course of his life. The human mind was particularly good when it came to deceiving itself through rationalization, but the ongoing events were too far fetched to be a simple creation from the mind. Blank-Faced Joe looked at his reflection in the liquid and felt the call in his heart intensify even more. Whatever had led him through the strange journey was getting even stronger, and its intensity made his heart feel like it was going to explode inside of his chest.Then, the information about how he could gather the mask appeared in his mind. His body began moving on its own as the calling intensified, he hadn"t even put the mask on his face, but he was already feeling a sense of depersonalization. It was intense to the point where he couldn"t even control his limbs and found himself only capable of looking at his own actions; a mere spectator in the tragedy he was facing. He was crouching on top of the chest, and his face began approaching the surface of the liquid. His mind screamed, but his body didn"t stop, and before long, his nose was already deep into the freezing liquid.
The next moment, his face entered completely through the liquid as he felt wisps of cold currents enter through the several apertures of his face. The coldness invaded his being as he felt his thoughts slow down; he lost track of time as he plunged deeply into the liquid. What followed his face was his neck, and slowly his whole body was shoved inside the chest. He felt himself float quietly in the darkness, and the chilling currents inside the liquid kept being fed to his body. He felt them travel through his meridian as they began invading deeper parts of his body.
He knew that his body and soul were receiving a tempering of some sort, but the state of his mind made it impossible for him to do anything more than watch. The sense of depersonalization intensified to the point where it attained the state that gained him his nickname, Blank. No thoughts were produced as he just waited without feeling any sense of fear or panic. The cold current mixed with his energy, soul, and body before turning into an intrinsic property that could never be taken away. The liquid continued fusing with him, turning him into a stronger cultivator in any possible means. His muscles strengthened as their whole composition changed into being denser and heavier, his meridians were entirely carved, and before long, the liquid in the chest was traveling through his energy pathway.
His body was changed into something else, and he found himself unable to do anything to change the process. He simply came into acceptance of the depersonalization and gladly took in the boost of strength he was receiving. He didn"t know if he was capable of paying the price of the transformation, nor did he try to think about it. From the moment he had entered the liquid, he had accepted their offer and was one of them. Long before meeting them, he had heard about the dozens of clans and organizations that had taken part in the invasion of Earth. Some came for war and a.s.sisted the leading race that a.s.saulted his planet, while others only came with a business intent as they knew that war would benefit them much more in that position.
The masked man was part of an organization that did so, business was their main goal, and he had come to meet them during the creation of Filthy Jade Palace. Due to the fact that he couldn"t do anything, his mind lost itself in his memory as he began thinking about his several interactions with the masked organization. They had wanted to implement themselves in the Core, as there was no clear leader in the underground business. He knew that it was common to take control of a weak turf; that was the same for them. The Core was only a weak turf that they could milk before going to another place.
He had opposed them and asked for freedom to the people of the Core. He proposed the creation of Filthy Jade Palace, where generals would be appointed to balance the power inside of the organization. Every year they would pay a tribute as a respect to them and would help each other when in need of a particular product. Aided by the mysterious masked organization, Filthy Jade Palace grew to a point where Joe could never have hoped for. The connections they had gained and the resources they had at disposition made them the strongest force of the Core. But they didn"t reign over anything else, and only focused on building their business in the underground Core of New Casablanca.
Now that he had thought about it, they must have found him quite cute when he had faced them and proposed a deal based on a lie. Pandora"s Box had been his own creation, a lie that had kept everyone in check for years and had made the general"s system work beyond what they had hoped for. But now he knew that they were aware of his lies and even with that information, they had followed his pleas. From that thought came a strange acceptance to what was happening to him, as the final piece of the puzzle was put on his mind. He knew that all along, all of this was simply a test. Back then, he had thought that he had managed to scheme and bluffed through their trials. Now he knew that they had chosen him all along, and had decided to play with him and test him with Filthy Jade Palace and New Casablanca as a playground.
"This coldness… This chill… I"ll accept it", he thought as even more liquid began rushing toward his body. And soon enough, his mind was overwhelmed by the coldness, making him unable to even think.