Evalyn scanned the crowd of terrified soldiers with a complex expression. She could see her supporters trembling, making the moment critical in their relationship. She had to turn it around.
"While Immortal Skye isn't a democracy, this isn't a dystopia, either." She claimed boldly, "If you follow us, we promise you relative prosperity in the apocalypse. We promise you power, opportunity, and a future; that's what it means to be an Immortal!"
The soldiers were stunned by the reversal. She had broken them down and brought them back up, rising them from the ashes.
"While you are weak now, those who gain our trust will not remain that way." The Ice General declared, "They will become strong enough to look the Immortals in the eye, face the world's dangers, and survive!"
Their icy fear thawed, allowing them to breathe and feel hope. Many cheered due to her vigorous enthusiasm, copying Kaze's rhetoric.
"With these techniques, you will live for centuries." Evalyn yelled, "You're on the forefront of the Mortal Plane's resistance and the birth of civilization!
Over a long enough timeline, you can become anything. You will see a world as prosperous as you once knew, so survive until then!
Follow Immortal Skye, build our trust, earn your keep, follow our rules, and we'll lead you into the future--and to victory!"
Lainwright soldiers erupted in cheering and thunderous applause, making the blonde feel sick and her heart pulse with fear. Seeing how easy it was to manipulate scared people made her wonder how powerful Kaze truly was. Not just physically but politically as well.
"Now follow the rules and accept your fate, dissidents!" Evalyn ordered coldly, "Because you're no longer one of [us]. Those around you are aspiring Immortals; do not infect them with your foolish rhetoric and lead them astray."
Her nationalistic words instantly took root in the vulnerable soldiers' hearts, giving them pride and hope and further distancing them from the dissidents.
Friendships died.
New bonds formed.
Nationalism took root.
The dissidents were done. Their arguments, support, and future disappeared in an instant.
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"I don't like placing this much trust into the hands of others." Evalyn said aloud, walking into her tent after the speech.
"Hoh?" A hypnotic voice said amusedly, "Is the infamous Ice General attached to her unruly pack of miscreants?"
"More than I wish to be." The Ice General replied, sitting in her chair and turning to the man with a serious expression, "Are you certain this plan will not result in disaster, Kaze?"
"I can guarantee their safety for the duration of your trip." Kaze replied, one leg crossed over the other, "However, what value would that bring?
The real question is, how confident are you in your trainees?"
Evalyn took a deep breath in frustration, not at the emperor but at her situation. "Not confident enough to think this would end up a [win] without significant help."
"Such is the value of cinching a fight." He smiled, "Doing so is in the organization of your resources and prior preparations for the [unforeseen] circumstances."
"How would you organize my people?" The Ice General asked straightly, "The disaster potential for this operation is too high for me to let people die for situations I manufactured. So I'd rather not rely upon my thoughts alone."
"That's respectable." Kaze smiled mysteriously, "To answer your query, if they were my people...."
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After leaving her tent, Evalyn got back up on the shipping container. When the soldiers saw her, the atmosphere froze, and silence swept through the area like a chilling breeze.
"I have received reports on the scavenging teams, including leadership highlights and the number of resources retrieved." She announced, creating a mixture of positive surprise and anxiety, "Those who did well will gain access to the Combustion technique.
Combustion is an honor for those who distinguish themselves. Learning it means earning a greater chance at survival and a step closer to becoming an Immortal.
I will list the distinguished names now. If you get called, do not let it get to your head, as one incident can change your placement.
Let's begin. Eric Groves, Denzel White, Moe Bloom, Lalya Reece, Chen Huang, Leo Markwood...."
Excitement spread through the crowd as she announced over two hundred names. That was in addition to the [civilian protectors], including Riley, Randy, and the rest of her team.
The number increased morale, showing how much opportunity there was at Immortal Skye and that earning power and protection was not a coveted position.
Moreover, [at least one person in each group] got the technique. It filled each group's members with the hope that they would get to learn it soon.
"While you'll learn the technique in new groups, it's only temporary." Evalyn announced, "You're stuck with the groups I assigned you previously. You will learn and grow with them.
Now meet on the beach, partner up, and start learning. The rest will be deboning fish--you are dismissed."
***
BOOM! Boom! Boom, boom, BOOM!
Evalyn walked down the beach, watching the desalination teams teaching the new arrivals how to use the technique. After a little rhetoric, she convinced the soldiers to practice over the ocean to create a firework show.
With five hundred people using Combustion on the beach, it became a massive spectacle that everyone began watching.
The morale of the traumatized desalinators skyrocketed when they used Combustion offensively for the first time.
Due to the intensive training on Qi control and regulation of oxygen and sparking, their explosions were massive relative to the noobies that had just started learning. As a result, all the soldiers looked to them with envy, building feelings of pride. All the grueling torture they went through suddenly felt worth it.
Evalyn watched the firework show with a strange expression. She was glad everyone could see the fruits of their training and get a moment of respite. "I hope this is enough."
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--August 2nd, 2023 | Shipping Yard--
"Load up and hold on tight." The Ice General told the dissidents, "This is the first and only time anyone will get to ride a divine beast. Crux isn't very happy about it, so I suggest that your excitement or fear doesn't trigger her wrath."
The ex-soldiers winced, fearing the massive panther's judgment. However, Crux stayed strangely calm, lying on the ground patiently as sixty dissidents got onto her back.
Now that she had decreased her superiority complex toward mortals, she didn't find the task humiliating--only embarrassing.
While she usually wouldn't get caught dead with anyone on her back, she felt oddly at ease following Evalyn's orders. The blonde's personality seemed increasingly comfortable every day, as if something were clicking.
Naturally, she understood their past relationships and their hazy, regressing memories. However, she was still confused about why Kaze was so clear in her mind, but the person she fought next to for the better half of a century was clouded. Still, their bond was unnatural, and she accepted that.
Therefore, she followed the Ice General's embarrassing orders like a good soldier and allowed the foolish mortals to climb on.
With sixty-one people riding her, the soldiers finally understood how massive the Panthera was. It made them shudder, remembering that they fought her during the pitch-black takeover of Lainwright.
"Continue training for another two hours." Evalyn ordered the non-dissident soldiers, "Then follow through with your duties. I'll only be gone until nightfall, so I expect that there will be no incidents!"
"YES, ICE GENERAL SKYE!"
The soldiers saluted in unison at her cold order and watched her disappear at 100 miles per hour, the fastest she could run without the mortals falling off.
However, the speed was surreal, considering she was running over buildings and streets, not a highway.
"Be safe." Evalyn gritted under her teeth, her hands gripping the panther's neck fur tightly.
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"It seems it wasn't natural, after all." Kaze smiled, flying over a massive lake a hundred miles west of Immortal Skye, "To think they'd invest a Spirit Vein into Lake Wanashina."
Lake Wanashina was an expansive water body surrounded by large mountains. It served as the core of the Twin Rocks Wildlife Reserved, referred to by the Sky Plane cultivators as the [Sanctuary].
In his past life, the emperor remembered the location as a hellish means of survival. In this life, he observed it as a farm for carnivorous animals that survived the rapture.
However, he wasn't there to hunt for food. There was a specific animal he was looking for.
SQUAAAAWK! HUOH!-HUOH!-HUOH!
Kaze developed a dastardly grin, seeing thousands of eagle-sized seagulls and other large birds hunting over the lake. "You'll do nicely."
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