Chapter 50: Seeds of Control
In the land of rain.
A few hawks and vultures were flying above in slow circling patterns, their wide wings barely moving as they rode the damp currents of the morning air. The morning sun had just begun to rise, its pale golden light struggling to pierce through the heavy rain clouds, casting a dim and sickly glow across the land. Their sharp eyes flickered with a cold glint as they hungrily eyed the corpses down below, waiting, patient and unmoving, like silent witnesses of death.
While down below it was nothing short of purgatory. Countless corpses ranging from children to women to the guards were stacked on top of each other in uneven piles, some half buried beneath others, limbs twisted at unnatural angles. Some of them, their heads were separated from their necks, lying a short distance away with expressions forever frozen, while others had their hearts and ribs torn open, the bones bent and shattered outward like broken cages forced open from within. Red and pale white liquids stained their already tattered and soaked clothes, blood mixing with fat and marrow into a thick, sticky layer that clung to the skin and ground alike. All of their faces were as pale as chalk, as if all the blood from their veins had been drained, leaving behind hollow shells of what they once were, their eyes dull or missing entirely.
The air buzzed endlessly. Flies gathered in dense swarms, their constant buzzing forming a low, vibrating hum that never ceased, crawling over skin, slipping into open wounds, feeding without restraint. A few crows were already digging in, their sharp beaks stabbing into soft flesh as they tore out eyeballs with brutal precision, the optic nerve stretching thin, trembling for a brief second before snapping with a wet sound. The hollow sockets filled briefly with dark blood before being pecked apart again. Blood covered their black beaks and feathers, dripping in slow trails as they continued hammering into the empty sockets, occasionally tilting their heads as if savoring the taste before diving back in again.
The smell was suffocating, thick enough to almost taste. Rotting flesh mixed with fresh blood, the sharp metallic scent of iron blending with the sour stench of decay and the faint, sickening sweetness of decomposing fat. It clung to the air like an invisible fog, seeping into the lungs, settling at the back of the throat, refusing to leave.
It was not just a scene of death, but a quiet reminder. Life, in its end, held no dignity. Only consumption. Only the slow return to nothing.
Sitting on top of all these corpses was Kenzo's previous shadow clone, which had already killed everyone in the building. It was still covered in fresh blood, his recent killings completely drenching his clothes, the fabric heavy and sticking to his body, which were previously already stained with dried patches that had long turned dark and stiff.
The shadow clone's eyes drifted towards the somewhat larger wooden hut still sitting above the mound of bodies, his gaze somewhat lazy yet faintly observant, as if nothing here could truly interest him anymore. As a thought drifted in his mind, unhurried and indifferent.
"Everything is already cleaned up by now, I wonder what the main body is doing and why it is taking so long."
At the meantime.
Inside the wooden hut, a conversation was already approaching its climax.
After some back and forth probing between Kenzo and Rei, Kenzo finally got to the point and asked the fated question in a calm tone as before.
"So will you join me, Rei?"
Rei adjusted his glasses slightly, the faint reflection of light flashing across the lenses, and spoke immediately after Kenzo spoke.
"I will be honored to do so, ninja-sama, but may I ask you something?"
Rei spoke in a deferential manner, his tone still polite, yet his posture remained composed, betraying a cautious mind at work beneath the surface.
"If he had hesitated even for a moment while asking that question, his head would already be lying on the ground. Of course, this is only a preliminary assessment based on his behavior and current actions."
Rei thought internally, his mind sharp as ever, carefully weighing every word and movement.
Kenzo simply nodded, already anticipating these questions, his expression unchanged.
"What would I actually be doing? What would be our goal? And what exactly am I joining?"
"Is it some kind of organization or just some loosely formed group built around your personal ambitions, something that exists only as long as you will it?"
A bead of silence passed as Kenzo didn't answer for several moments. The air in the cramped wooden hut seemed to grow heavier, the faint creaking of wood and distant buzzing of flies becoming more noticeable, as if even the space itself was waiting for the answer.
Kenzo finally opened his mouth as he spoke in his usual placid tone.
"As of right now we currently do not have any members, but our goal will be two things, information and living humans for my personal use."
"What you will be doing depends on your capabilities. You will gather intelligence, manage operations when needed, and ensure efficiency. As for what you are joining, you can consider it an organization in its infancy. Structure will come later. Loyalty will determine position. And the goal, as I said, is information first, control second. The rest will follow naturally. Names, ranks, and systems are meaningless without results."
On the other hand, Rei just nodded his head slightly, not commenting anything, though his eyes lingered for a brief moment longer as if memorizing every detail.
A calm silence settled in the room as neither of them spoke for some time. The faint sound of crackling fire from outside slowly crept into the stillness.
Then suddenly a burning scent came in through the window. The stench was thick and nauseating, like flesh left too long over an open flame, the fat melting and dripping into fire, releasing a greasy, suffocating smoke mixed with the bitter scent of charred skin. It assaulted both of their senses, heavy and invasive, making the air feel warmer and harder to breathe.
Kenzo looked at the stench and then at the sun which had already started to show more clearly through the clouds.
"We should continue this conversation somewhere else. This place has already served its purpose, and there is nothing left worth staying for."
Kenzo got up from the wooden chair, the faint scrape of wood against the floor breaking the silence, and exited the wooden hut in casual strides, pushing aside the worn door without effort. Rei, on the other hand, followed closely behind without objection, his steps measured and quiet, his expression returning to calm neutrality.
His pace was calm and steady as they casually passed by the burning corpses, the flames flickering weakly against damp air, producing thin trails of smoke that curled upward and vanished into the gray sky.
"Machiavelli once said the fastest way to lose power over people isn't to be hated. It is to be liked. You see, a person who hates you is predictable. You can prepare for them. But a person who likes you is a liability. They don't stay because of loyalty. They stay because of a mood, and the moment that mood shifts or a more charming face appears, they are gone like drifting smoke carried away by the wind, leaving nothing behind."
Machiavelli understood the coldest truth of human nature. Gratitude is a fragile thread, easily cut by the first sign of self interest. You think you are building a following, that's the mistake. You aren't a leader, you are a convenience. If they could survive without you, they will eventually survive against you. True power isn't found in the warmth of their hearts. It's found in the cold realization that if you fall, they fall with you. Don't aim for their affection. Aim for their survival. Tie their future so tightly to yours that betrayal becomes a form of suicide. Become the air they breathe, because no one ever tries to kill the person keeping them alive.
Although the thinking and the values of this world were somewhat different, or they could even be very different, regarding such philosophy it could be applied everywhere.
Whichever world it was, the logic of understanding human nature and manipulating their hearts could easily be applied everywhere.
Human nature was like a flowing river, changing as fast as a storm driven current, yet the core of human nature is based on desire, the desire of power, survival, pleasure, and control. Everything runs on desire. Without it, what difference was there between humans and tools.
Humans were not creatures of reason, but creatures of justification. They act first, then create reasons to defend those actions. Greed, fear, envy, and ambition are not flaws but the foundation upon which civilization itself is built. Given enough pressure, morality bends, and under the right conditions, it breaks entirely.
Kenzo thought darkly. He was never the type of person to fully commit to these philosophers. Some of their words were definitely true and held real wisdom, but not all of them could be used in real life situations.
As Kenzo kept on moving step by step out of this facility, his feet stepping over broken wood, scattered tools, and dark stains soaked into the ground, his figure slowly leaving behind the remains of what once held life.
By now all of the shadow clones had dispersed, and their memories and experiences came rushing back to him, overlapping and merging into a single stream of understanding.
His eyes widened slightly as he didn't expect to gain so much enlightenment. After all, this was still just a small facility when compared to the larger traders who sold thousands of slaves and trafficked humans on a regular basis.
His movements did pause though. These philosophies are great, but unless you actually apply them and see them in real life, you could never truly understand their real weight, because humans are unpredictable contradictions. Without actually experiencing it, you can't gain enlightenment. Like this encounter, didn't Kenzo already know about learned helplessness, didn't he already think of them alongside other philosophies, of course he did, but without actually feeling the cold atmosphere, the crushing helplessness behind those eyes, how could you possibly understand. Words were in the end just words. Nothing more, nothing less.
In actuality, the real reason behind making this kind of following was simple. He was sowing seeds for the future.
No organization can rise up in just a day or two. It requires time and perseverance. A towering tree takes years to fully mature, and besides that, this world's population was a fraction compared to his previous world. What will happen when he kills too many sheep. Of course, they will eventually run out, so it's better to make a farm himself.
Kenzo was never a short sighted person. He always thought several steps ahead like a spider waiting at the center of its web, calmly observing before tightening the threads.
(A.N)skippable
sigh 😮💨 I'm starting to feel like gore isn't really my strong point.
Be honest with me, did you actually like the level of detail here, or would you rather I focus more on the story and progression instead.
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