Free Web NovelChapter 91: Recruits [Part 13]
Richard was confused at the fact he just learned but decided to stop questioning and have the witch tell her story.
Of course, protections for mental interference were set up before the gag was taken off.
Still, in order to prevent the witch from having any bad thoughts, Richard added on the pressure of pain.
All he had to do was threaten the removal of her pain nullification curse and the witch immediately gave in and started to beg for mercy as she spilled the beans on the current situation of the mystical world of the Philippines.
Aside from Richard, the man who was the opposition leader and the father of Jon who was still beijing punished by Cindy’s pets, also got an earful of the explanation.
It was then that the truth of the Philippines situation was laid bare.
A multilayer deception, the first layer was the populace that was being deceived by both the rich elite and the mystics, the second, deeper layer being the deception of the rich elite.
The man who was paralyzed in pain suddenly got the strength to react as he raged about how he was betrayed.
But Richard only put up a barrier to silence him as he could care less about an individual who saw joy in making others suffer for his sake.
On the other hand, Richard was more curious about the mystics of the Philippines.
Based on the witches explanation, the deception did not involve powerful mystical spells or abilities. It was simply a carefully created system that had embedded itself deep into the power structure of the nation.
Moreover, with a focus on evading detection, the hypnosis and illusions that the local mystics used did not greatly affect the world. Since their methods did not rely solely on domination of the mind, their spells, once it took effect, would last longer and stick strongly into the psyche of their victims.
It was akin to educational brainwashing, teaching a kid that the Earth is flat, making them memorize that fact over and over again without exposing them to opposing ideas would make them hold onto that belief until they are made to confront opposition.
If an idea is made as "truth" in the mind and not opposed until an individual reaches adulthood, the idea of "Earth is Flat" becomes less a "theory" or an "Idea" and more of a truth.
Add on knowledge that would support such ideas and the "Flat Earth Theory" would become the basis of their belief system and the core by which they view reality.
When such a case happens, even evidence that would make any normal person understand that the earth is not flat, would be seen with skepticism by those that do.
That is exactly what happened to the Philippines. freewebnøvel.coɱ
A combination of education, mystical control and suggestion created a subtle and invisible hypnosis that affects the population.
While non-mystical systems impose ideas and solidify them over the years, mystics create mental barriers that would fight back against "enlightenment".
The president was supported by the protesters, why are they burning his picture now?
The majority in the Senate are supported by these protoesters... why are they protesting against the people they voted for?
That kid who is protesting against vote buying... I remember seeing him lining up in that politicians campaign where he handed out money...
When such thoughts pop up in their mind, the Filipino people don’t get aggressive, they don’t try to fight against the blatant evil and hypocrisy. Instead, they shut those things off and believe it as a norm-
They fight against such things but still enjoy the benefits such corruption bring.
It was madness, anyone would think so-
But the mental barriers, the imposed normalcy that was mystical stamped into their minds worked to prevent too much escalation.
Everything that occurs in the country was premeditated.
The mystics ensure that there was a constant influx of trouble, order, chaos, peace and destruction-
In that way, they could further enhance the illusion of normalcy and even the elites are none the wiser.
Samantha’s explanation could have been a lie but Richard could tell if a person was lying or not.
All he had to do was let her get a taste of losing the nullification curse and all the woman could do was cry and beg for mercy while screaming out that she had spoken the truth- at least, the truth that she herself was aware of.
Despite being a leader, she still defended herself by claiming that even if she had told a lie, what she spoke was true to her and that she was not the source of the deception.
Since she went that far, Richard could tell that she was telling the truth.
After all, the only reason she would defend her words is if Richard saw a lie in it.
Maybe he had access to information that contradicted her words, maybe that information sources was more reliable and trusted.
Samantha responded well, despite being subjected to horrific pain, she was still able to clear her mind tot a certain degree which allowed her to give a good response.
Initially, Richard thought that the witch was completely weak and frail- worthless as an ally or companion but now?
Despite her lack of raw power, she showed great promise in the realm of negotiations, deception and control off soft power.
The world did not simply run on hard power, Richard knew that he needed people who wouldn’t just pressure someone into doing what they wanted or make their enemies disappear because they can.
Most mystics he encountered acted in such a manner, just because they had a way to make a person disappear and the world would not even remember them doesn’t mean that it was a method that would be used like a catch all.
To Richard, meeting a witch who was willing to talk, make deals on equal footing and to take only minor wins was rare.
"I want her- no, all of them"
"Huh?"
Cindy quickly caught onto Richard’s words and desires but she still felt a bit conflicted.
"You already have a sizable army or mystics here. Why do you need these worthless idiots who only know a few party tricks?"
While Richard saw the system developed by the local mystics as some great achievement and their abilities to be highly desirable.
Cindy, the greatest example of the type of mystic Richard, was used to seeing them as nothing more than dead weight.
Mystics who can’t even fight, whose greatest ability was to subtly manipulate normal people with spells that have zero effect on actual mystics-
Cindy saw Samantha and everyone else like her as just wastes. fгeewebnovёl.com
But Richard had a quick and easy counter to her-
"So? What happened to the mystics that knew actual magic and not mere party tricks?"
Richard was referring to the mystics in the Americas and Europe, even Japan was recently under fire and some of the other developed nations had started to secretly make their own moves.
Cindy was well aware of what Richard was referring to and while the fatalities were mostly the aggressors from the non-mystic factions. There were still unfortunate mystics who ended up caught and suffering.
What was really problematic though was that those mystics who got caught were not stronger mystics or those that were deep into the world of mysticism.
The victims were relatives who had little knowledge and experience, those that could not really survive in the mystic world but kept a connection because of family.
Unlike the true mystics who could fend off armies, those small mystics were the ones caught.
Tortured, r*ped, hanged- some even had their heads detached from their bodies and hung up on stakes.
Of course, such information was spread secretly and major news outlets and governments made sure that such things did not go public.
But if there was anyone who could access such information that was placed under heavy restrictions it was Richard.
He may be a mystic now but he was a former tech CEO, he didn’t get his rich from "knowing a tech guy", he was "the" tech guy who turned an idea into a billion dollar industry.
Such a genius wouldn’t allow himself to go blind in the world of information.
Moreover, the data breach that caused this whole fiasco-
If his system functioned properly, the spread would have been contained but the fact that the information spread and Cindy’s face was still being spread all over the internet made Richard VERY annoyed.
His stint into magic was not simply a result of his "need to get stronger" but also a way for him to release pent up stress and frustration from his "loss".
Still, he had to fight back, he can’t just give up and he knew that in the world of information, defense was far harder than offense.
Much like in the real world-
Preparing for a regular defense scenario was easy but when your enemies start asymmetric warfare and develop techniques and technologies that allow them to take endless pot shots that cause devastating damage for cheap... things get a bit more complicated.
Richard going on the defense would do little to an enemy who was attacking everything, causing chaos without caring about consequences.
To defeat such an enemy, Richard would need to give up getting an "Absolute win" and just focus on simply- "winning".
Whether he ends up with a victory without a scratch or winning at the brink of defeat- the important thing was "winning".
Instead of going on the defense, Richard went offensive in his tactics and used the information he got to create his own media campaign.
His enemies painted mystics as evil, but Richard? He didn’t defend mystics as being good, he simply showed the suffering of mystics-
Children who were made to watch as their mother who was a genuine witch getting assaulted, beheaded and put on display while they were tied up and prepped to be next on the cutting block.
The result of "civilian justice", the actual things that happen in "witch hunts" and the countless "non-mystic casualties" that the media desperately hide by the order of the various governments.
The enemy is going on a wild disinformation campaign and Richard was doing the same.
The result was not pretty, it was kinda similar to Mutually Assured Destruction but without the nukes.
Still, it was enough to create a conversation.
It proposed the question of whether all mystics were "evil" or not.
The plan was still at its beginning stages but it already started to explode.
While he did this campaign, Cindy was thinking of warplans, methods to hunt and take out the ringleader-
Of course, everyone else was on the same table as Cindy while Richard had to deal with the soft approach all by himself!
But with the local mystics...
"I don’t care what crazy plan you cook up, but I need people to work with my plans"
"Sitting around in front of your PC and watching people crash out online is not a plan"
"It’s a tactic and it WILL show results"
"Mine will too!"
"When? How many sacrifices will it take?"
"YOU!"
Richard and Cindy started to argue, meanwhile Hana approached Samantha and asked a simple question.
"Are you willing to give up everything to Richard?"
Samantha looked at Hana, she turned to Richard and Cindy who were still arguing. Countless thoughts raced through her mind.
The prospects she had were not that good but...
"What if I do?"
"You’ll be healed, your limbs restored and all the pain will vanish before the curse is lifted. Of course it comes at a cost"
The mere prospect of not becoming a cripple was good enough. Samantha was able to understand that the people who caught her were not the type who would let her go with a slap on the wrist.
Even living the rest of her life as a cripple was likely a mercy for her.
But if she were to accept...
"What cost?"
"Slavery"
"..."
"Well, not like ancient slavery, though it kinda is- Richard is very paranoid you see and he wants to make sure that his people retain their own freedom of thought but are compelled to never betray him"
Hana’s words could be understood easily, even Samantha had methods to enforce such a situation where subservience was the "only choice" but she wanted to know-
"How?"
How did Richard do it? What was going to be done to her?
Fortunately, Hana did not try to act mysterious and directly tell her the method-
"Chastity, if you haven’t lost it yet then you will with Richard. It’s an ancient spell that infuses your body with his magic through intercourse. It makes you stronger, gives you power that you could only dream of but even the slightest idea of going against Richard would be detected and you’d be taken out without drama"
"..."
Samantha fell silent, the explanation was easy to understand but-
She looked at her limbs, thought of her current state and the future.
She took a look at Richard, her mind swirling with various thoughts and-
"I’ll take it"
