"Hey, don't make me sad. Ha ha.. Look at what we've accomplished in such a small amount of time. Its going to be a difficult time getting the City to understand my motives, but I'm certain the boost in work force will make the patriarch happy." Wu Hai was a bit proud at his luck, but he dared not press the matter.
"Qu.. have the secretaries concluded the intake? Its been a few hours now" Mike called out and suddenly Qu reappeared before them.
"Yes, we have make a number of discoveries as well during the process. This continent is almost not inhabited by humans, almost all the humans here were brought here. This continent is a wild continent, there are at least 70 beast clans roaming the area. From the Beastmen, we have learned that most of them are on the far side of this continent, this is a trading post near a coastal region in the south." Qu felt dignified, he finally had a task that wasn't mediocre. Gathering new information was something he really enjoyed, reading was his highest priority over the last two months.
"We have 15,190 males, 910 females. 8,000 Humans, 4,000 Beastkin, roughly. In the group you brought back a large number of them have applicable skills including mining and farming work. 30 of the females you brought back are currently pregnant, none of them claim to know who the fathers are." Qu spoke with a disdainful tone and then instructed the Secretaries to hand out light healing potions to everyone.
There were few wounds on the slaves, most of them were just tired and poorly dressed.
Wu Hai looked at the lobby from the 2nd floor and started talking.
"We are about to go to the Zao Clan, When we get there you'll have to go through another interview with the Patriarch and Elder of the Sect. They will assign you permanent housing and a purpose when we arrive.
"If you're not a criminal, you'll be released." Wu Hai shocked the crowd/
The slaves and prisoners who signed slave contracts with the Prince all looked at each other in disbelief, why buy them if they could be released?
One slave spoke up rather quickly, "You mean, we can choose to leave or stay and you won't bother us?" Wu Hai understood what he was trying to clarify.
Thinking as much, he teleported the man up to the 2nd floor.
Looking out over the balcony he said so that everyone could hear. "Yes!, however some requirements must be met. We won't release criminals or killers. Forget that dream."
Wu Hai and Mike were both pleasantly surprised that the slaves were not absent minded or mute.
The Man spoke up, "My Name is Rodrick Verissant, I am a Son of the Regor Clan."
Leaning forward he grabbed the hand of the prince struggling with all his might he couldn't get the nerve to lift his head.
Qu shouted out and picked the man's contract from the stack, tearing it in two.
"I like this part." Qu always liked giving people a chance at life and liberty.
It was how he had met the prince, in the process of obtaining the tower he had gone through many tests that included tests of his personality and heart. Qu was pleased at being able to continue this practice of his despite the tower having a new owner.
The other slaves gasped as they watched the Man, a red glow hissing smoke rose from around him for a moment and dissipated. "After you meet the patriarch all of you will be given the same chance, and even something more."
Wu Hai evenly split the line into two and had them line up ready to file out of the tower. "Mike take up the rear, we're going to bring the tower to Zao City"
Mike watched Wu Hai exit the building.
When Wu Hai came back in the doors he had everyone start filing out. They had started underground, they had seen the landscape torn apart and the tower was in a pit. They even had to make a staircase down into the hole to get them inside.
The slaves all thought it would still be a long death walk to their destination, but when they left the tower a bright light and unfamiliar food smells filled their nostrils.
"Is this real?" one after another the new arrivals started mumbling to themselves.
"So pretty." The Buildings were clean and the streets were free of trash and the smell of shit.
Animals were cleanly put away and everyone looked like they had somewhere to be and something important to do. The slave and prisoners kept their eyes peeled for something to dispel the euphoria they were feeling but couldn't find anything to shake a stick at.
A group of Guards noticed the Prince's arrival and a salute of arms lined the road to the castle.
Wu Hai and Mike walked the new workforce to the Castle Walls.
"Announce my arrival to the Patriarch, tell him I bring an Army." Wu Hai used some provocative language, trying to see the reactions from the slaves but they just stood there in amazement.
The Castle was something larger than anything they had seen. It looked like it was made from a single stone, which really broke the minds of several new arrivals.
"Yes, your highness." One of the Doberamons left to guard the front gates barked some orders at the next in line and a small detachment made its way speedily to the Main Chambers of the Throne Room.
Wu Hai waited at the steps outside the Castle Doors for the Guards to come back. Wu Hai wasn't big on ceremony when he started his adventures, but this was a big deal for the Sect. No matter how they looked at it, Wu Hai had just brought many times the population back with him, it would be a dramatic change if these slaves were just left idle and settled into the City. Without direciton, even the food supply wouldn't last very long. Wu Hai had to do things properly and that included overseeing their intake alongside the Patriarch.
"Two Lines, the more honest you are the easier this will be for us and the more you'll be rewarded. Criminals and people who think they deserve punishment for their past on the left, innocents on the right. If you're guilty and claim to be innocent, you will not be shown mercy. Everyone will be given a chance to explain. If you fail, you keep your slave contract." Mike called out to the masses lined up behind him and many of them swapped lines or stood confused.
"You don't have to worry about it too much, but moving into the correct lines helps us greatly... We will appreciate your help making this smoother and take less time. Remain in line until after the Patriarch meets with you."
Wu Hai and Mike each led a line into the throne room, Wu Hai and Mike simultaneously knelt to the ground.
"Patriarch" Saluting a fist across their chests they stood back up and directly explained the situation to Patriarch Ooran.
"I see, this is quite the fortune for our Zao Clan. Well, it looks like I won't get Dinner early tonight." Ooran looked at his son and then over to the right and saw the four princes standing at attention and felt like his life was getting on the right track.
"My sons are so damned amazing... Our ancestors should be proud." The Patriarch stood up and went directly to work.
"Okay, let us get started!" Wu Hai made several chairs surrounding a long table and sat down.
"You two, come up, introduce yourselves and tell the Patriarch why you've been imprisoned. We have telepaths present, Bold-face lies will lead to forfeiture of your freedom, you will remain a slave." Wu Hai passed the intake sheets Qu and the secretaries had put together for reference materials and internal documents.
"Qu has a list of the Secretaries the he wants at his disposal, here are their names." Mike handed the Patriarch a small list with 20 names on it.
"So many, Qu has taste.." Ooran kept laughing and then started meeting with the first pair of interviews.
Even with the Council of Elders, they could even be there for the remainder of the day.
A winged man with a human Face and a Wolf Girl stood before the patriarch.
"My name is F'rar. The beast girl spoke her name, I was captured during a night hunt as an animal to sell." F'rar introduced herself.
She seemed rather wild, but her appearance seemed very dignified.
"… My name is Aliaer I was captured when defending my Clan, we might be the last of our clan." Aliaer pointed to the fifteen others like himself that had come.
Patriarch Ooran looked over at his attendant, she shook her head at Aliaer's response. Aliaer swore he was telling the truth but...
Patriarch Ooran Looked over at the Wolf Girl. "Take her away."
"Very well" Patriarch Ooran tore the contract binding the man in two and passed him off to the attendant in charge of housing the new arrivals.
"Next...." Wu Hai and mike brought the next Two up.
"Name and reason for being enslaved." Patriarch Ooran settled in for the long run and had ten of the secretaries from the short list go make food for the new arrivals, he couldn't just listen to the bellyaching of all of them while he ate.
"My name is Greins..."
"My name is Koresstian...."
One by one they spend the remainder of the night distinguishing who was a problem and who was a new confidant. From the 17k slaves 6k were immediately released and from the six thousand that were immediately released, 5000 of them were able to lift the handle while only 10 were able to pick it up entirely. Increasing their numbers was a lot faster when they just bought slaves, many of the people they had purchased were quite grateful for their chance at freedom. Those that didn't make the requirements kept their contracts.
"Father, it seems my job isn't going to be done after this. If you could please tell mother that I will be spending a few days here. I intend to see her before we leave but we do have to return. I want to have dinner with the family tomorrow. Could you arrange Zhan as well?" Wu Hai really felt like he was accomplishing something with his reinforcement to the Zao Clan.
Wu Hai took the 5000 who had their contracts ripped up and led them to a district on the east side of the city near the castle. "There are 24,000 rooms in these houses, make yourselves at home but don't take from someone else. Tomorrow, if you haven't left the city.. You're going to be rewarded and compensated for your time as a slave. I hope that tomorrow I can welcome you all to the Zao Clan properly."
Wu Hai wasn't afraid of the newly released slaves leaving during the night, the gates were closed to start with but they had been promised reward. None of them had ever expected an outcome where they were no longer enslaved and it was unlikely they would see something like this happen again in their lifetime.
With any luck, none of them would ever see slavery forced upon them again.
The 12 thousand slaves who had failed the intake requirements for freedom were led to a large complex with 50,000 rooms. None of them were left without a bed and place to clean up. Each of the slaves were completely baffled. How could they ever have expected to be treated like people, even when they were free they didn't have such accommodation. In their hearts, many of them wished they had just spoken the truth; If this was how they treated slaves... those who were not would probably be treated like Royalty.
In that thought, they were correct. All the Members of the Zao Clan were treated equally and paid for their contributions. The Sect and its Elders simply didn't have the time to screw around with people who were dishonest. Those that were open with their situation were all treated with great respect.
Wu Hai saw off the freed while Mike led the enslaved. When Wu Hai was done he went to find his Father. Bringing Qu along to help explain details, Wu Hai and Ooran sat down at a table in Zao Castle.
"Father, We couldn't help ourselves.. I know it is a lot of people and mouths to feed, we can set those prisoners to farming and fishing. On that note, I have an enormous amount of wealth we plundered from the bottom of the ocean. It seems that a lot of treasure is sitting down there undisturbed. As for those that passed the evaluations, tomorrow I'm going to give all of them magic. Its going to be chaotic and the library will be very busy." Wu Hai took another deep breath and had his father come outside with him.
They stood next to an empty lot in the city. Wu Hai unloaded a portion treasure that he, Mike and Erinle had picked up on the way to the other continent.
"We picked up a lot of treasure." Wu Hai started in a corner and started lining out statues, then assorted silver and gold trinkets.
The pile of gold 'accessories' was higher than some of the houses in the eastern district. Very soon Wu Hai had a small mountain of Cups, Bowls, Gold Coins and statuettes.
There were bars of other metals that Wu Hai didn't dare leave out to be distributed, they were the building materials he needed down the way in his blacksmithing. Wu Hai pulled out another row of statues and then some ancient bottles of wine that he directly passed to his father.
"Keep these, they are exceptional and will be excellent to take out when important guests come" Wu Hai gave his father two of the three bottles that they had picked up at the ogre village.
The loot kept coming and soon came the weapons. Wu Hai and Mike had picked up anything they found underwater, sometimes it was a coral weapon, sometimes it was something that covered in corrosion. The weapons he kept pulling from his storage make more than just a pile, Wu Hai made tables across the area and laid out weapons in piles to separate them by category. When he was done the zone looked like an outdoor warehouse. Spending time with Qu, Zao Wu Hai had gotten very use to sorting goods quickly. They had brought back so much treasure it would be hard to use it all... or so Ooran thought.
"I've kept some materials and books for myself, Hey.. hows Jiao Jiao? I haven't heard from Khan Ni yet and I've been here for hours." Wu Hai felt like he had the answer already but he needed verification.
"Khan Ni's been spending more time with Rachael and Zhan. She's getting big, you should go congratulate your brother. I'm sure he'll be happy to see you as well." Ooran had a huge smile on his face, his family had come a long way.
"Khan Ni... big? really?" Wu Hai didn't quite understand.
"Yes, She's Pregnant." Patriarch's face was thrilled at all of his sons, they kept things interesting for him.
'What the hell bro... I leave and you finally make a move?' Wu Hai thought to himself a bit and made his way to Zhan's Home.
Xue and Xi were playing tag in the front with Lei while Rachael and Khan Ni sat near a window to watch. "Sister Ni.. so... you've become my sister now for real huh? Did Doctor Dibali see you yet?" Wu Hai was happy for his brother and for Khan Ni too.
"Yes, and yes... you're such an ass Wu Hai, but I am glad to see you. Jiao Jiao is out with Fei, she's not going to be back for a few weeks. Jiao Jiao needed to mate, so Fei took him to a sacred place.
"Really now..? Where is my Brother, is he hiding from his Children?" Wu Hai wanted to laugh since he couldn't see hide or hair of his brother.
"No, he's out hunting with the Stealth Corp and Darkwing. After Marcus died he took it pretty hard, he's been sinking his efforts into training a lot lately. Would you go talk to him, he's probably in the plains to the south about a day from here. I'm worried about him, he's probably working too hard." Khan Ni wouldn't make Wu Hai do something like that without reason, so he didn't hesitate to leave.
Wu Hai channeled his Spacial ability and warped around the plains until he felt his brother's hunting party. When he arrived at the Camp the Stealth Corp was surprised, they didn't even feel an undulation from his arrival.
"Master, you've gotten better at teleporting.. we didn't even feel you zone in." Darkwing was happy to see his old friend and colleague.
"Darkwing!" Wu Hai gave his old buddy a hug and noticed his power levels had risen again.
"You leveled up.. nice, where is my brother?" The Prince had questions and congratulations in order, he had to see his bumbling brother before he settled down for the night.
"Getting right to business, okay. Yes, a few times since you've left, I spend most of the time hunting with your brother so its expected, but the light comes less now. Why have you returned to the Clan? did you find anything interesting while you were away?" Darkwing was curious but not intrusive.
Wu Hai looked at his old partner and laughed a bit.
"I brought reinforcements and slaves back to the clan. You'll be in charge of your own division soon, be prepared." Looking at a tent in the distance, Wu Hai could feel an Icy presence coming toward the tents entrance.
"Brother!" Wu Hai spread his wings and landed next to his brother.
The two clasped hands and shared pleasantries.
"What brings you here Brother?" Zhan was curious about his reasons for coming to find him in the middle of the Plains.
They were on a Hunt.
"Khan Ni was worried, she says you spend most of your time working or hunting. Are you really okay? I know Marcus mattered a lot to you and Khan Ni.. and the Clan. I won't pester you about things, but I hope you'll take some time to spend it with your pregnant and obviously worried wives." Wu Hai was just about to continue when Zhan Stopped him.
"Pf-ft! I've asked, she won't marry." Zhan was a bit upset by the situation and the rejection.
"So what, Ask again.." Wu Hai made a good point.
"Also, When you get back to the Clan, you'll have seventeen thousand new recruits to train." Wu Hai saw the expression on Zhan's face go pale.
"17k?".... Zhan's face twisted as he repeated his brothers numbers.
"Yup." …. Wu Hai gave his brother a hug and teleported back to Zao City.
"DAMNIT!" ….Darkwing yelled out furiously.
The Stealth Corp hunting trip would be cut short.
Zhan was not wrong with his exclamation, "Seventeen Thousand new recruits!"
"Yes, its pretty easy for us to obtain a slave labor force. I'm going to give the outstanding ones a choice of form. You have three days to pick and choose those worthy of the gift, we'll do a ceremony like before but with the entire Clan watching." Wu Hai had a few plans, but he had to start quickly.
5,000 people getting magic would be a headache and require a lot of patience.
Visiting Kim Li was a priority he couldn't ignore. When Zao Wu Hai arrived at the research station he noticed a bunch of changes that had been made.
Kim Li had taken liberty with materials and the crafting departments to get the things he wanted for his research. "Your Majesty, how can I be of service today? We have some updates, would you like to hear them?"
"Yes, I'd like to know what progress you've made on the Crystals since I've been gone." Wu Hai was hopeful but wasn't going to hold his breath.
"Breakthroughs cost but luckily there are a lot of particulates in the soil. We were able to isolate over 500 different types of material, the Periodic Tables have been updated to reflect it. The best news was that we found a way to fuse the dust of similar materials although the power is not nearly as effective as a genuine crystallized gemstone." Passing a ring with several thousand minor crystals over Wu Hai caught the ring and examined it.
The ring was packed with different colored crystals. "This will do greatly, I'll use them on the new recruits. I'd like to get the specifics, do you have your research notes? Can I get a copy please. You have three days to make copies of these as well. Wu Hai passed the Forging manual, book on crystals and the scroll detailing the Hammer technique.
"I want to see these put into practice when I return. Although I do not authorize wide scale use of rare materials without consent from me directly." Wu Hai pointed at a crystal that was as big as a head being used as a paperweight.
"Ah, I understand." Kim Li put the crystal back into storage.
"After your experience last time with loose magic crystals combining they had made use of storage rings to minimize problems from occurring again." Prince Wu Hai had a few more things on his mind and continued.
"That's not a bad idea, when we find a Crystal Mine things will be easier but right now I'm having a hard time with Erinle locating any during our travels otherwise I would have deposited them with you for research." It was time for Wu Hai to go.
"Can I get those notes by tonight. I've got to deliver on my promise to our new recruits." He was in a hurry, he had a long day ahead of him and didn't have too much time to explain.
Wu Hai found himself with less and less time to do the things that seemed to prioritize his day. It was expected, but still quite annoying for the adventuring prince
"New Recruits? Yes and Please send me at least 50 trustworthy ones.. you do have at least 50 right?" Kim Li had been working on projects and there were not enough hands to do some of the work fast enough for results.
Wu Hai started laughing and before he teleported out he said "Yes, I brought back 17 thousand... get those notes to me asap."
֍ꟷꟷꟷꟷ֍
Wu Hai was back downstairs next to the throne.
It was just like the Prince to be relaxed and pin the work on others. He had been gone for nearly an hour and about a thousand of the trustees had been taken care of. They all wanted the promised reward. Many of them were wondering what they were going to recieve.
"Lord, We have you to thank for our freedom. You promised a gift. What gift?" Rodrick had been patient and watched the others with clearer eyes than most.
He wanted to know what the great clan had saved him from his miserable existence had to offer as a gift, as if freedom wasn't already a gift in of itself.
"I intend to give you all Magic. You will be given the choice of becoming Espers with whatever form they want that I can provide." Wu Hai shocked the lot of them.
"Esper?" The word floated around the group and Wu Hai decided to give a demonstration.
Wu Hai saw his little brothers in the distance being a pain in the ass to Qu. "Han, Tiancho!"
"Yes, Brother?" The two of them quickly stopped their mischievous behavior and rushed up.
"Roll the form dice.. but, get into some robes.. mother will be very angry if you rip them. If you're good I'll teach you a movement technique so Mom can't catch you again." The boys were ecstatic they had been captured enough over the last year to make their ears turn red.
"Deal." Wu Hai set the cup down on the table and the boys yelled out.
They took off their jackets and pants leaving just a small wrapping for their minors. Rolling the Die was always interesting. The boys could feel the changes in their bloodlines and bodies with each passing roll.
They went from Human boys to Dragon, then Dragon-eaters to Ghostly and eventually Qilinkin. after showing several of the forms they both worked their way back to human.
Wu Hai passed a scroll over to the boys. "You have till dinner to memorize it, don't waste your time. I'll check your progress after I'm done, don't be a bunch of punks."
"That was an Esper. A form of life with immense power. Some have special abilities most of them can fly directly. Elementals, for instance.. do not age." Wu Hai had obviously hooked a few.
The line had a bunch of confusion but it didn't take long for Wu Hai to start passing out random crystals to everyone.
"Take one crystal from the pile and eat it." Wu Hai could feel the power from the crystals was a little lighter than usual, but many of them had abilities Wu Hai couldn't pin down.
"Don't be alarmed at accidentally destroying something with your power, its a cost we cannot fail to pay. Only with practice and determination will you be able to control your power significantly." Wu Hai sounded winded.
He had a long way to go.
Out of the group of 5k, Wu Hai could see about 600 that manifested their power quickly. He was pretty happy with the results of the fused gems. He could also see some strange effects from the new gemstones, one guy made copies of himself while another turned to mist and then floated up inside the building. People were experiencing lots of differing effects.
"Everyone who ate bright blue crystals, please raise your hands." Wu Hai had to get some researchers for Kim Li.
It was nice that about 300 people raised their hands.
"Who wants to know how to do everything and how everything works out of you." Not too many hands fell.
"Okay, All three hundred of you.. .you're to report to Science Director Xuan after all of this. Out of all of you with your hand raised just now, who wants an Elemental Body? Director Xuan needs a few Espers, so you'll be given an ageless body."
The group was dumbstruck.
"This is a limited offer, I don't have time to do all 300 of you, so only the first 50." Hands quickly went up and Wu Hai had his 50.
"Go stand over there for forms, you'll be in front once I start." When they were all lined up, he started discussing details.
Using the dry erase board, Wu Hai added the New Form Die to the list and explained the transformation process. Wu Hai was smarter than last time, he pulled out stacks of blankets and robes and placed them down outside of the divider.
"Before you come up, you better have an idea of what want. The ones with X's on them are not allowed to be kept, the risk is too great." Wu Hai generalized the abilities of each race and power.
The ultimate die was not important, they could throw it once and everyone that took form had to fit through the doors. If they landed on tiny instead of small, that was just their luck, Wu Hai didn't have time to adjust everyone.
"Let us begin." Wu Hai slid the cup with all the dice to the first one in line.
Rodrick had the First choice.
"Phoenix, Qilinkin. Fire, Stars, Downpour. That's what I want." Wu Hai noticed the tall order, but he was good to his word.
Rodrick rolled until he got what he wanted. When the flames subsided, he was passed an appropriate pair of pants.
"Good, Rodrick... report to Prince Zhan for assignment. Welcome to the Zao Clan." Wu Hai continued with the next 50 who had the qualifications to choose their form and power sets.
'Welcome to the Zao Clan' became the most spoken phrase for Wu Hai that evening.
So many people were in astonishment with the amount of power they now had at their fingertips. Those who had completed the intake were quickly off to explore their new power and citizenship to Zao City. Wu Hai had told them they were free to leave, but it would be smarter if they stayed. They were encouraged to pledge loyalty to the Clan.
Once they obtained their power they immediately walked up and thanked Prince Wu Hai.
Wu Hai was getting a lot more recognition than his Father, which made the Patriarch proud and a little bored. He was expecting to have to converse with all these ex-slaves who had now joined his ever growing family.
"Wu Hai. When you've completed these matters, attend to your mothers woefulness and desire to cook for you." Patriarch Ooran walked off to the elevator and took it to the top floor to have dinner with his family on the roof.
"Who hasn't gotten a crystal to eat?" Wu Hai asked and only a few hadn't come up.
"If you're not interested in power, what does interest you?" The Lizard man was cold with his response, but it was to be expected.
Many of the slaves who had been captured lived terrible lives with little chance at survival.
"I was a merchant. I've lost everything, magic is a wonder but It doesn't pay for food." The Lizard man seemed rather disinterested in what he perceived as a gimmick.
Wu Hai rummaged through the remaining crystals in the pile and picked out a soul gem. "Eat this, consider it an order. If you are displeased with the results, I'll give you a thousand bars of gold and send you on your way. How does that sound?" Wu Hai hadn't befriended a Lizard Man yet, so now was his chance.
"Bullshit." the lizard man kept up his disbelief.
He kept up his disbelief until Wu Hai produced the thousand bricks and said "Go then.. have a quiet life."
Just as Wu Hai was about to go onto the next person who hadn't taken a crystal he stopped the prince in his tracks.
"Wait. Can I take half and open a shop here?" Wu Hai was shocked in turn and nodded to the lizard-man.
"What did you sell? And you can have the thousand bars, call it our contract to have you keep your store here." Wu Hai was curious, so was everyone else around.
"I sold Leather, Hides, Meat and Herbs. I am called Grop" Grop introduced himself and swallowed the crystal before Wu Hai could change his mind.
Grop was cunning, and Wu Hai liked it. Merchants couldn't be slow witted, especially in this world.
Grop could feel the very essence of anything he was in contact with. He suddenly realized he was underestimating the value of the crystal and everything around him. His feet were telling him that the quality of stone was unparalleled under his feet, the crystal digesting in his body was a Bright Soul Crystal that was fused together by Xuan Kim Li last week, it had 52,332 grains of crystallized particulates suspended in an amber glue like a candy.
"Unbelievable." Grop dropped to the floor and spoke in tongues.
Wu Hai went on to another group and looked over their situation. It was a group of ditch diggers that their hands mutilated.
Wu Hai passed each one of them a healing potion and ended things there.
"That should take care of things here. Its almost time for dinner again." Wu Hai teleported to his fathers chambers and then walked out to the rooftop.
There his mother and four little brothers sat around a table. Wu Hai took the scroll from the boys with the aide of his stealth abilities.
All his mother heard was a 'Hey' as Wu Hai hugged them all individually. He did not bring attention to what he had just taken from them.
"You boys are always so annoyed at each other, eat your dinner and thank your ancestors that we're safe and sound." Calistown scolded all five of her children present.
They constantly made things difficult.
"Sorry Mother" The all replied in unison.