(Two months later)
With 4,000 people, Jon commanded an exodus and moving all of those people to Winterfell took a little over two months.
Why hadn't anyone tried to escape? They were held there by the nanites which inflicted terrible pain on their heads if they tried to escape, especially for criminals. Plus, they were pretty well fed.
When he arrived in Winter Town, he was told that Yoren had already collected the few volunteers gathered by the Starks so he judged that he had no reason to visit the Starks and set up camp outside from the city .
He took a little rest with his troop and the next day, an hour before breaking camp, horsemen arrived led by Ned Stark himself.
"Hello, son. I know you might not want to, but can we talk alone?" Ned asked and Jon nodded calmly before mounting Shadow on his big horse and the two of them rode off with their horses to start chatting.
Ned: I know what Robert did and my only regret is that I waited too long to do it myself.
Jon: My situation suited me as it was, I'm not a Stark.
Ned: You are now, your exploits honor this name.
Jon: So is that it? You needed exploits so that I could one day bear your name?!
Ned: You know damn well no.
Jon: Don't worry, your sons will inherit everything. When you are gone Lord Stark, I will be no problem for it is the Night's Watch now my family and my legacy.
Ned: Robb told me everything, he told me what happened when you were sick. Jon, your brother regrets what happened and I regret it too.
Jon: I know, he shed a few tears when he poured the poison into my mouth. Theon, Sansa and your wife convinced him very well. I know he didn't want to do that, I know he gave in to free me from that state for good. But... He did it anyway because your wife asked him, even Sansa...
Ned: Sansa was scared.
Jon: And Theon? And your wife ?
Ned:…
Jon: You haven't done anything to either of you about this have you?! One is your wife and the other is insurance to keep Balon Greyjoy quiet. If this...miracle of the gods who chose me hadn't happened then I would be dead. If it had been Robb you would not have had the same reaction and you know it Lord Stark.
Ned:…
Jon: There's no point in feigning any guilt, it's been going on since I was very young with your wife and you've never done anything. I will never forgive you for taking me from my mother wherever she was and making me grow up here without really taking care of it and letting me be scorned and insulted. I had a home and a good education, that too I will not forget but I will be dead today.
Ned: Jon...
"Goodbye Lord Stark, I must return to my people. Now that we are an independent territory, we will have a lot to do. We'll see each other again sometime I guess...and don't worry, I still have a lot of affection for you, hard feelings will never guide my actions" Jon said before heading back towards his camp and his men had already finished organizing to leave so they broke camp to go to Castle Black.
After several days of traveling, they finally arrived at Castle Black but without Jon who stayed a day behind, he said he had things to do in the lands of the gift and it was agricultural business.
When they were in the reach, Jon had taken several fruit tree seeds that could greatly resist the cold.
These were Melrose apple trees, clementine trees, mandarin trees, blueberry trees and plum trees that he had already impregnated with nanites to genetically mutate them in the seeds and then plant them in certain areas but at a certain concentration near Nightfort, its future headquarters.
That wasn't all because he had also found two caves that would prove to be very useful near Nightfort to build the base of the future great wealth of the Night's Watch.
He had left nanites there to transform the mineral matter inside, the first cave was now filled with dirt and rocks full of gold while the second cave had very pure mineral iron.
When Jon returned to Castle Black, the Lord Commander celebrated his arrival with a grand banquet.
Yoren had returned with almost 100 recruits but Jon had brought back just over 4000 and for the Night's Watch it was an incredible addition and a miracle that brought tears to Jeor's eyes.
He was quick to give Jon his reward.
Jeor: Quiet everyone. Today is a special day in the Night's Watch because our ranks have been filled thanks to one of us who has continued to bring pride to our order, I'm talking about Captain JON STARK.
"JON"
"JON"
"JON"
"JON"
The others chanted his name as Benjen ruffled his nephew's hair.
Jeor: (to Jon) I had a son, he was the heir of House Mormont but brought disgrace into the family and that shame ruined us. However, a little over a year ago, I had you as a second son, a son of heart who took me from pride to pride and who understood the essence of our order. As your Lord Commander but also as a father, let me say "thank you" son. From now on, I bequeath to you the full management of Nightfort, its reconstruction and everything concerning this place, that was my promise and you will have the help of two thousand of the recruits that you brought with you. I can't wait to see what you do with this place, Captain Commander of the Night's Watch.
Jon: I will not disappoint you, Lord Commander.
Jon initially stayed with them for weeks for the new recruits and he had also transferred Maester Aemon who had even rejuvenated and regained his sight.
The old Targaryen knew that it was Jon's work and although strangely he didn't want to ask questions like the others, he still asked Jon who told him that it was the work of the old gods who had not abandoned the Night's Natch.
Jon then began preparing to repair Nightfort and for an entire month, he devoted himself to it. He bought what he needed with gold or simply transformed certain materials into materials necessary for construction.
Over three months of hard, non-stop work, Jon, the 9 and their 2,000 workers rebuilt Nightfort which had become a den of weeds and rats before their arrival.
In three months of work, they had rebuilt the ice staircase that led to the top of the wall and built an elevator even more mechanically advanced than the one at Castle Black.
They repaired the various towers of the fort even more solidly than before, the large hall with the flagged floor, the baths, the stables, the very large, well-equipped kitchens, the dormitories.
The brewery was also repaired as were the dungeons which could accommodate 500 prisoners before but with a capacity of 700 prisoners now, a very large well was made, the black door was also repaired and even a garden had been placed there with winter-resistant (mutant) fruit plants and trees.
Fort Nox had been beautifully rebuilt and reinforced in just three months but this would have been impossible without the mutated and reinforced bodies of the workers but also the various construction, carpentry, masonry and plumbing programs installed in the subconscious of the mutants.
They worked well and in excellent conditions, as there was no shortage of food and equipment.
The mutant animals had multiplied greatly and the mutant fruit trees were...very special.
These trees Jon planted were incredible, from seed to maturity it only took a week and the roots went very deep into the ground.
They were big just like their fruits. The mutant apple, called winter apple by Jon, was not only very good and rich in water, but it was the size of a watermelon.
The other fruits were not as large as the winter apple but they were much larger than their normal shapes.
Mutant animals loved these fruits and the seeds in their excrement helped these trees multiply.
Many people tried to pick these fruits jealously guarded from mutant beasts but they could do nothing, some were killed by very aggressive mutant deer and moose .
Where others wanted to hunt these beasts to try their meat or their furs, they found a horrible end, only certain men of the Night's Watch could hunt them and this fueled certain rumors spread by Jon himself saying that these animals and these trees were gifts from the old gods for Night's Watch only on its territory and indeed, the mutated animals and trees were only apparent on the gift and the New gift.
Word spread that Nightfort had been rebuilt, several lords came to see if it was true and were amazed by what they saw.
They were also shocked to learn that the rebuild was done in just three months and led by the young captain that was talked about months ago, Jon Stark.
In personnel management, Jon had done something very significant. Only volunteers seeking to serve as sworn brothers themselves were entitled to permanent mutation and level 5 combat protocols for the weakest.
As for former serious criminals who had accepted the wall to escape death, they were left in a normal state albeit with the nanites in them to some extent.
Jon wanted honor volunteers to feel honored compared to criminals for whom custody was just an escape.
Some recruits had worked with the pyromaniac alchemists of King's Landing and confided to Jon that they had the secret to making Wildfire as well as other substances.
Delighted, Jon told them that he would have plans for them and they assisted Maester Aemon for the moment in his work, he was usually alone in his tasks but now he will have several assistants.
The criminals lacked certain privileges compared to others in terms of food or even housing as well as the most thankless tasks that were for them but they could only grit their teeth because it was always much better than prison or the dead.
Jeor had made certain flexibilities for the volunteers in relation to their oaths under the influence of Jon.
They could go to Mole's Town to have a good time, eat better food and have better equipment compared to the criminals.
This shocked the veterans who knew Jeor's severity and discipleship but it was what was necessary, the Night's Watch wasn't a prison for its volunteers and the order had to give its members the sincere desire to serve.
However, even with this flexibility there were still a lot of disciplines that the members decided to follow scrupulously if they wanted everything to go well because the punishments were horrible.
Months later, news shook the north but also the rest of the kingdom. Indeed, a large and very rich deposit of gold had been found near Nightfort on the lands of the Night's Watch.
A deposit of excellent iron had also been found not too far away and the Night's Watch had partnered with House Stark for the extraction.
It wasn't necessary since they were now an independent territory but it was to thank the northern governors who always thought of the night's watch for millennia.
Under the terms of the division, the Starks would have 50% of the shares in gold and iron. According to estimates of the quantity and quality of gold, the Starks were going to be even richer than the Lannisters in a very short time, this was an initiative of Jon himself to the great delight of the Starks.
His position as Captain Commander gave him only slightly less authority than the Lord Commander and Jeor relied on him to handle the vast majority of things.
This news made everyone's mouth salty in the king's court because they had given complete independence to the Night's Watch and its lands, they were no longer kingdom lands and only House Stark was going to benefit from it.
With this premium quality iron, the Nordics would be able to work better quality steel, this is what happened to the Night's Watch where the new blacksmiths were able to work better tools and weapons.
For everything Jon had done for the Guard, Jeor had given him his Valyrian steel sword just like in the show and Jon had accepted it with great pleasure because it allowed him to do another crazy thing.
The nanites had analyzed the components of this very famous steel and they had memorized its atomic, molecular, chemical composition and the different elements of its composition.
One evening, Jon had given himself an experiment which he had succeeded on the first try. He had fused his old sword with dragonglass (dragon glass / Obsidian) and pure mineral charcoal thanks to nanites which had followed the same molecular pattern as that of Valyrian steel and had obtained an entirely black sword but of the same quality than Valyrian steel to Jon's great joy.
That evening, his satisfied laughter was heard throughout Nightfort.
A week later, Jon's 9 assistants, Benjen his uncle, Marlin, Jared, Willan, Svein and the Lord Commander had received similar swords and were amazed by the work that was done on them.
They were terrifyingly strong and sharp but also shockingly light. They could actually cut through armor like paper.
Jon himself had kept Jeor's Valyrian steel sword for himself because it came from someone who was a true father figure to him, it was symbolic and he would take care of it with affection and pride.