Chapter 7: Integration
Not long after the wetting of pants incident, Jack had brought out a portable medical tent. It had plastic flooring, central support pole, and a square perimeter of twenty feet each side. It was mostly empty except for a handful of stretchers which he had placed the girl, Yoko, upon after stripping her down and putting new fatigues on. She was fully clothed this time since the cuffs had been removed.
A few hours later she woke up, she could see hear the high pitch sound, yet it was slowly fading away. It was as if she was just recovering from a massive migraine. She placed one hand on her head, but the pain was quickly going away as she found she could circulate her Qi.
She immediately thought of going to the Sect, but as soon as she started thinking about the people there. She felt something unexpected in her heart. Hatred, desire for revenge. Something had been deeply ingrained in her very soul.
Memories of the cradle formed in her mind. Things that she never thought she would have remembered were there. As if they had been extracted from somewhere extremely deep.
Arguments she was present for. The sights of people in red robes. Immortals leaving in rage and then coming back at night to snatch the little Yoko out of her cradle. Only to be caught by her parents.
She witnessed the entire fight. She was quick to find that the person who had snatched her from her bed was none other than the Master whom she had trained under all these years.
The very person who she would consult for advice. The very person she would consult for emotional support. This very person not only killed her parents and made her believe that the Sect was the one who saved her, but even betrayed her trust.
Jack was sitting in a metal stool beside the bed, watching as her eyes moved about. It was weird seeing this. It was as if she was having REM sleep with her eyes open. However he said nothing as he could see many emotions twisting her expressions.
Clearly he could see tears running down from the corners of her eyes yet again. However she wasn't sobbing. She was silent, unwavering. These emotions would prove to help her, and further his own goal.
From what he read in novels about this kind of thing, it is likely he had either died or somehow got sucked into another world. The only difference was, he could tell he was no longer wearing the VR headset. The hub wasn't physical, it was in his head as it was only navigated through his mind.
Standing up from the stool, he took a step forward and placed two fingers against the girl's neck to read her pulse. From what the hub displayed, she was in normal condition. The indoctrination didn't hurt her too badly.
She probably only had some minor brain trauma.
However as soon as she felt those two fingers upon her neck, Yoko's eyes snapped to attention and glared at him. This glare had multiple conflictions that could be easily read. This man had just tortured him, yet she has this inexplainable loyalty to this man. Something was preventing her from hurting him in anyway. Yet at the same time, she wanted to remain close to him, to follow ever order.
She was being compelled by the system. As if she had made a life bound contract with the man, it was all too strange.
"Sir," Yoko addressed him, though the words which she spoke gave herself a slight shock. Immediate respect? These feelings felt unwarranted and oddly enough they wouldn't go away.
"Miss Zhao," Jack responded and lightly pinched her cheek slightly to watch her reaction. He had that same smug look on his face as he had before on the transport. He was clearly having some fun, this was especially seen as he stretched cheek a bit.
The sound of wet flesh moving away from her gums sounded rather lewd. At least it was a natural one.
The face that he was distorting however seemed rather cross at his actions. A hand quickly flew up, the girl was gently swatting at his hand, in Jack would relent. Once he stopped she sat up on the bed and looked around.
The strange material for the tent didn't look like hemp or regular material. It was oddly glossy and flat. It was clearly water proof, but it had no strange enhancements like a spell or special skill.
She also noticed that there were some children sleeping in the other beds. And there were also some wounded who had been treated to bandages and disinfectant.
"Where…"
"You are now at the temporary headquarters of the Water Strider Sect." Jack's eyes narrowed upon the girl as she continued looking at the people around her.
Flashes of the memories of her parents came to mind. Her head slowly lowered in guilt. She had done something incredibly evil. She attacked innocence at the orders of another without thinking of the morals and consequences which would follow any normal citizen. Why was she feeling so noble now? Where were these morals coming from?
Her eyes moved over toward Jack who was now standing there looking at her with an expressionless face. She couldn't read him at all. It was as if he was a blank slate. He gave off a slightly laidback vibe, but he saw her as nothing more than a tool? No, he didn't see her as a tool. She couldn't tell what he saw her as.
That was until she noticed his eyes tracing over her. He was looking at every bit of her clothed body. It didn't seem as if he was undressing her, he had already done that from what she could tell. This was the third time, as the tube top he had placed on her earlier was now gone.
She had nothing on beneath her fatigues. Her cheeks twitched slightly as if she had uncovered a possible motive which made her feel relatively uncomfortable despite feeling 'safe' around Jack. Was he some sort of lax predator?
She looked him up and down in return. He was no longer in the armor he was wearing before. He was wearing matching fatigues. However they had different marks on the uniform. He was a Rank VIII, she was a rank I. His name was even printed upon the uniform.
"Jack Strider… Strange name." Yoko muttered to herself as she slowly slipped off the bed and found herself stumbling until she grasped the central pole of the tent. She watched as the ceiling moved due to her moving it slightly. Quickly letting go of it, she steadied herself and walked around.
She seemed to have more enhanced motor skills than before. Yoko could definitely tell she had suddenly gotten stronger, but her body hadn't adapted to the sudden increase in Qi let alone the Mercenary perks which she was still ignorant about.
Jack simply watched as she moved around the tent before walking out of the tent on his own. Looking off in the direction of the Mountains they had passed over. He was thinking about the squad screen.
Sadly it seemed that if he were to spawn them, they couldn't become cultivators. However if he continued to capture cultivators, he would be able to indoctrinate them and continue to raise his own levels.
It was a good idea, though capturing and indoctrinating seemed hard. Especially if he aimed to capture those higher in temperament than him.
[ Quest: Capture and Indoctrinate eight Zu Cultivators. Reward: Sect Recruitment Function. ]
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone