Though the gestures could be minute, it still demonstrated weakness to Long Feng. Nothing more than cracks in a boulder. All it would take would be weathering and eating away at that boulder before it was reduced to mere pebbles. Those pebbles could be used however he wanted to with a lot greater ease. Then he would just have to apply the right molding to capture those pebbles.
The incident at Lake Laogai was only akin to the molding being broken like the boulder had been broken, but with a natural molding. All that he had to do was make sure that the molding was impenetrable. Though with the manner of molding being mental, it was hard to say that it was ever going to be that set. In a controlled environment, it was easy to make it seem like such a thing could be accomplished.
It was significant difference to the real world where there could be a lot of separate interference that could gradually wear away at the molding.
Long Feng didn't have anything to be afraid of Jet for, though his attitude was just another reminder of how he had broken through his control once. It was a situation that he would greatly prefer to avoid having recur.
"As much as I would prefer to have just let you die for proving to be worse than useless. You are just barely worth more to me alive than you are dead. Plus, there is plenty of insurance to make sure that my orders have your complete attention." With him most likely being assumed dead, it didn't mean that anyone was going to be looking for him and with Longshot and Smellerbee captured, he had leverage.
"Or would you prefer to be dead? I already have a good alternative, just needs some time to get them in line." He would prefer not to have a damaged tool, but until he could get a replacement Laogai up and operational, it was out of his hands, much to his ire.
Long Feng's voice carried the same measured cadence it always had, calm enough to be mistaken for civility by anyone who had never seen what lay beneath it. There was no anger in it, no triumph, not even satisfaction. There was only cold calculation. Every word reduced a human life to a matter of utility, as though they were all pieces to be arranged on a pai sho board until they produced the desired result, and it unsettled Jet more than he cared to admit. But his expression betrayed none of it. Years of surviving had taught him how to wear indifference as armor, and he forced himself to meet Long Feng's eyes without so much as a flicker of uncertainty. Inside, however, his thoughts churned.
Insurance. The word lingered between them for several minutes after Long Feng had spoken it. Jet did not know what he meant, but he knew better than to dismiss it. Long Feng wasnât a man who made idle threats, and he didnât waste words on bluffs. Whatever leverage he believed he possessed was real enough that he expected it to matter.
Jet's thoughts drifted unwillingly to Smellerbee and Longshot, to the chaos in the crystal catacombs before everything had dissolved into pain and darkness. He remembered seeing them. He remembered hearing their voices. After that, there was only the crushing weight in his chest and the certainty that he would never wake again.
He had no idea whether they had escaped. He had no idea whether anyone had.
The uncertainty settled heavily in his stomach, but he refused to let it surface. If Long Feng knew something he didnât, then the last thing he was going to do was reveal where his fears lay. The Dai Li had always excelled at finding cracks in people. Jet had learned that lesson beneath Lake Laogai, where every hesitation had been examined, every weakness exploited until it became another chain wrapped around his mind, and he wouldnât hand over another one.
A slow breath expanded against the bandages wrapped tightly around his ribs, drawing a sharp ache through his chest he ignored. âYou still think owning people makes you powerful,â he said at last, his voice still hoarse as a faint, humorless smile touched the corner of his mouth. âBut we both know nobody stood beside you when someone more powerful gave them a choice.â The moment of defiance cost him more than he wanted to let show as speaking pulled at the injuries beneath the bandages, and he could feel exhaustion pressing at the edges of his awareness.
âIf those are my choices...â A bitter smile crossed his face, thin as a knife's edge. âThen I'd rather finish what you started than spend another day as something you think belongs to you.â Jet knew he couldnât overpower Long Feng. He could barely sit upright without pain threatening to drive him back into the mattress, and he had no illusions about who held the advantage in that room. But there was one truth that had survived Lake Laogai intact, however scarred it had become. Long Feng could command his obedience, but he could never command his loyalty.
Long Feng was far from pleased to hear that Jet had heard about that incident. Someone was going to answer for letting that slip. He doubted that either Longshot or Smellerbee were aware. That cut it down to either a member of the Dai Li or someone in the Gaang somehow managing to tell him. He wasn't going to let that anger show. He was the one in control and he wasn't going to let anyone take that from him again. Let alone someone who couldn't even speak without experiencing pain.
A calm grin on his face. "Not like you have a say in the matter. Whether or not you like it, you belong to me. I will make use of every second of your life. After all, I have already made use of your death." If he actually had the intention of killing Jet, he would've made sure to have done it in a method was a lot harder to undo. With him presumed dead, no one would search for him, therefore, there wouldn't be anyone coming to help him.
He could care less about loyalty. Through obedience, he could get the desired use he wanted out of people and he could get loyalty by making people too afraid to be disloyal to him. "Better rest up, I have plenty for you to do." He would refrain from speaking about the invitation just to let the fear and anxiety fester.
