Chapter 83: I Want You For Don Jon Army
I interrogated the thugs and as thanks for their 'generous donation of information', I stitched their limbs back on. Whether they can still function or not is not my problem. I left the Soup Kitchen with the information I obtained.
I merely asked for three things and they answered.
Firstly, Yukime of the Snow Fox Corporation has close ties to Don Jon.
Secondly, Don Jon is filthy rich. I know it's obvious but I can't help but ask.
Thirdly, they are understaffed because Black Jugga or whatever betrayed Don Jon during the night of Red Moon and Don Jon slaughtered them off. I can make use of this situation to my advantage!
But before I can do that… I gotta go back to school. Because Goldy-sensei's class is over. I sneaked into the school through the back entrance.
"Stealthy as a mice… stealthy as a mice…"
"What are you doing here, Pooch?" Whispered someone who should not be here, though I sensed her presence so she doesn't surprise me.
"Isn't that obvious? I'm skipping class!" I answered with a happy face.
"Haaah… Typical Pooch. Always so carefree and selfish. Though I'm one to talk since I'm running away from my duties too."
"Hoo… I see. So the princess is slacking off too. Good to know."
"Tell anyone and there will be no more coins for you for a month." She threatened.
"My lips are sealed." Money is very important after all.
"Anyway, now that we're here, let's have a chat, shall we?"
"Chat about what?"
"About you returning to being my boyfriend."
"No way."
"Hmph. I'm kidding. I know your answer already. It's just… can I rant for a bit?"
"Sure. I'll listen for a gold coin." With that, she threw a coin and I catch it with my mouth like I usually do. And then we sat down on a bench as she started her rant with a frustrated voice.
"Don Jon… Don Jon…. Everytime I read reports, it's always his name that came up these days. It's frustrating!" Oh? I'm listening.
"You know about him, do you? The sole ruler of the Lawless City. So much crimes under his name. And I've received new reports that he's massively recruiting, as if he wants to go to war with someone. And I suspect that he's targeting Mitsugoshi." Oh? Mitsugoshi? Makes sense. Mitsugoshi is a highly profitable company after all. A Gangster like him would definitely want to take it over.
"So far, his partner Yukime from the Snow Fox Corporation hasn't behaved suspiciously, maintaining a fierce rivalry with Mitsugoshi. The Major Corporate Alliance stood no chance against these two giants." She continued.
"But I know it's only a matter of time before they act together with Don Jon. It's crazy because we already have the upcoming war with Oriana to worry about… and a possible civil war before it too. Now we're having a corporate war too? I just… Hahh… I miss the peaceful times when I only have school and potential suitors to worry about."
"Sounds rough."
"You have no idea, Pooch. You're always so free of burdens after all." She let out another sigh before standing back up.
"Thanks for listening, Pooch. I feel better already. I hope you'll lend me your ear again next time." She said with a smile as she left to return to her royal duties.
"No… Thank YOU." I murmured as I stood back up too, grateful for the info-dump.
"Ughh…. To think I'm reduced to such a state… Now I can't even feel the excitement of-"
"Be silent, boar. Only speak when spoken to."
"Yes, Lord Necro—Don Jon…"
The rabid boar I'm speaking to is Juggernaut… or to be more precise… was Juggernaut. Back in the Red Moon incident, he launched an attack on Don Jon Tower and I sent a Don Jon clone to slaughter him and his minions. Let's just say that my Don Jon clone went overboard and killed even the Tower's staff too. Stories began to spread of how a furious Don Jon single-handedly massacred both friends and foes alike in his tower, making the rest of the Lawless City residents fear Don Jon even more than before. There will be no more large scale rebellions after that.
The current Juggernaut is a zombie. Because my clone is the one who killed him, I wasn't able to capture his soul to reanimate him so I had to use his corpse the way I usually do my elite undead minions, planting AI on their brains using their original memories as template. The AI is severely limited in intelligence though and thus I want to experiment with imbuing real souls into corpses during reanimation so they will have real intelligence, not artificial ones. Though it's too risky for now considering my current condition.
In any case, Juggernaut is now my undead minion and will serve Don Jon because the Don Jon Tower is now severely understaffed thanks to his betrayal. I had to have him wear a mask though. Can't have people connect the dots that Don Jon is affiliated with the Necromancer by parading a zombie guard after all. Now he stood beside me as a bodyguard, wearing black long coat and a hockey mask reminiscent of Jason Vorhees. His new axe is strapped on his back.
The Lawless City has lost two of its three original rulers but under my leadership (reign of terror) it still functions, though slower than usual for now. Yukime, the only remaining former ruler, will never betray me, not out of fear but out of gratitude. Her help in managing the chaotic affairs after the Red Moon incident is immense. Her influence combined with mine managed to bring some semblance of order into this chaotic city during its most chaotic time. I fear that she would be overworked though because she's shouldering the burden of two other former rulers as well as the Snow Fox Corporation.
Also, the vampires are now nearly extinct. Should I repopulate them using the Blood Queen's blood? Questions for later.
Because of my Don Jon clone's rampage during the Red Moon incident, I am forced to cut my rest time and appear in the Don Jon Tower. I'm still banned from using another clone by Sherry because I already have Claude clone active in Midgar and she doesn't want another memory overload incident so I had to come here personally. My presence in the tower alone helps with the recruitment and other operations. Corruption and embezzlement among the new staff is minimal when I'm around.
I'm currently sitting on a huge sofa while smoking a cigar and sipping wine. I've managed to get the smoking thing to work without coughing. My new secretary entered the room delivering me reports. Her poise is almost perfect, if not for the fact that she's trembling, not because she's intimidated by my huge scary bodyguard but because she feared me specifically… fearing what I can do.
"L-Lord Don Jon… We've now reached our monthly q-quota of recruitment." Said the brown haired girl named Marie, a former prostitute, as she handed me papers listing new thugs we've managed to recruit this month. So far nobody is interesting. I need to recruit more than just cannon fodders. Where can I recruit strong individuals? Most people I know who fall into this category are either Shadow Garden member, Cult of Diablos member or already employed in other kingdoms.
Yukime sent Marie to me as a secretary to help me manage the recruitment and other things. Despite being a popular prostitute, she does not enjoy working as one and has been saving up money to leave the Lawless City. The chaos of the Red Moon led her to lose her savings and Yukime sent her to me because she showed aptitude for this job.
"That quota is outdated. Double… no… triple the amount of people we need to recruit."
"B-But, Lord Don Jon! The Lawless City is still recovering from the Red Moon incident! I don't think we can recruit that many people this month!"
"Who says we can only recruit only from the Lawless City? Recruit people from outside as well. Even in other kingdoms. Use the Soup Kitchens I've established in major cities. Especially in Midgar Royal Capital, where there are still many warriors who came for the Bushin Festival and stayed for the upcoming war with Oriana. And I also need more than just common thugs. I want to recruit someone who is more than just a cannon fodder. Someone whose worth is equal to multiple men."
"A-About the Soup Kitchen… I've received news from a Soup Kitchen in Midgar Royal Capital, my lord." She said with slight hesitation in her voice.
"What happened?" I asked her sternly.
"A-A man named John Smith mutilated and interrogated several thugs working for you in the Midgar capital's Soup Kitchen. H-He then stitched back their mutilated limbs after he's done with them." Oh? How brutal. Interesting.
"What did he look like?"
"H-He's a black haired young man… about in his 20s… and he wore a white and black mask … and a black suit." Hmm… sounds stylish.
"What weapon did he use?"
"Th-They said he used steel threads that he controlled with his fingers." Hm… Steel threads, eh? Classic. How interesting! He sounds very promising!
"What did he ask them? And what did they tell him?"
"H-He asked about how closely you worked with Lady Yukime… And they've answered … that Yukime worked directly under you. He then asked how much money that you have… and they answered that you have so many. Lastly, he asked how many people you have under your command, to which they answered currently not much due to the Red Moon incident… and that you're currently recruiting." She finished her reports and closed her eyes, fearing the worst already. Instead of being mad, I laughed.
"MWA HA HA HA! John Smith, eh? Interesting! Gather all the information you can about this man! And notify Yukime of this man! I want to know his intentions!"
"A-At once!" She exclaimed as she bowed and left the room hastily.
"Heh heh heh. John Smith… Of course. Such a common American name." I muttered to myself whilst grinning excitedly.
"John Smith, eh? You know this guy?" The boar dared to speak.
"I believe I told you to be silent unless spoken to, boar."
"S-Sorry…"
"But to answer your question, no. I don't know him. But his name isn't foreign to me. It's somewhat familiar." I answered vaguely and he didn't have the courage to ask me to elaborate, not that I'm in the mood to do that even if he asked.
"So what's your plan for him?" The boar asked again.
"It depends on his intentions. If he dared to oppose me, he shall be eliminated like you did. In the end you shall all serve me. Heh heh heh."
Author's Note:
Zombie Jugga Jugga and Marie now worked for Don Jon. I've been contemplating for a long time on how to use the character Marie but as I write this chapter, I figured Marie could be Don Jon's secretary because she wasn't saved by Shadow and thus couldn't escape the Lawless City. She's now one of the rare non-combatant characters in this fic.
HundredMasks: good chapter, and I really like how this seems to be playing out, and I'm interested in how you'll cook, and who John smith will get as an ally since don jon(necromancer) has yukime
Answer: You shall see.
A-Yellow-Liz: This is my favorite fic I've read in a while! I really love the interactions and honestly everything you've set up is just perfect lol. I don't usually leave comments on fics but this is honestly so amazing!
Answer: Thanks for enjoying my fic! Hope you'll keep enjoying it!
Wholesome07: The moment I've been waiting for, he's here! He's back! And most of all, he is 𝓢𝓾𝓹𝓮𝓻 𝓔𝓵𝓲𝓽𝓮 𝓐𝓰𝓮𝓷𝓽.
Answer: Ima wa boku wa… 𝓢𝓾𝓹𝓮𝓻 𝓔𝓵𝓲𝓽𝓮 𝓐𝓰𝓮𝓷𝓽.
DerTrap: Fantastic Chapter as always. I think another good inspiration for Necromancer would be Emperor Palpatine. I would also love if Claude at one point in the Story screams "POWER! UNLIMITED POWER!". Maybe he could also use his Claude persona to "help" Mitsugoshi financially(if they get into financial troubles after this arc) to make them believe that maybe Claude is actually a good guy. Especially with Cid being interested in helping Claude to become King of Midgar. He would then be able to slightly manipulate both sides of the war(namely Shadow Garden and the Cult). I would also really like it if Claude would use his hypnosis more often and maybe even use it in combination with Sherrys mind control research to maybe Brainwash allies of Shadow Garden or even members of Shadow Garden to turn them into sleeper agents that are unaware of the fact that they have been brainwashed. To pull an Order 66 on Shadow Garden later on in the Story.
Answer: Thanks for the suggestion. I think I know where to start with the sleeper agent thing.
hhperson: This whole thing where Claude is more empathetic than Cid makes me interested in seeing more of their minions uncovering Shadow's and Necromancer's "deep lore." I keep imagining them coming up with a Gojo and Geto kind of backstory to explain their feud and Shadow's supposed past incarnation's killing of Necromancer's.
Answer: The lore may get deeper soon.