Chapter 106: Development
Half an hour later, at the wrecked Bullet Farm,
several large, assembled heavy metal armored vehicles arrived, and War Boys clad in white paint, guns in hand, began clearing the battlefield.
Jake's orders were clear: no prisoners!
Though not without conscience, he wasn't naive. These prisoners, unable to contribute anything useful, should be eliminated. Why waste resources on those who couldn't work?
Besides, this had another advantage: it projected a ruthless image, preventing betrayal.
That very afternoon, on this land, two major factions were destroyed by Jake.
However, to Jake's surprise, neither the leaders of the Bullet Farm nor Gas Town had wives that could compare to Immortan Joe's five wives.
Sure enough, these five beauties were a plot convenience.
The cleanup wasn't as simple as he'd imagined. Although the supplies were expendable to Jake, if others obtained them, it would cause him trouble. Therefore, the best course of action was to collect them all himself.
Even with the fastest possible completion, it would still take more than two weeks, especially since Jake was truly reluctant to abandon Gas Town—its fuel was more precious than gold.
When Jake piloted the helicopter back to the Citadel, Furiosa and his group hadn't returned yet.
His sudden arrival, as usual, caused the slaves and War Boys to kneel in worship.
After Furiosa returned, Jake quickly launched his reforms, partly to avoid any unforeseen complications.
First and foremost, he had to make everyone understand that the leadership had changed hands.
On the surface, that was true, but deep down, these people still revered Immortan Joe, especially the War Boys.
Immortan Joe's methods of control were brutality and brainwashing.
He brutally treated all those who dared to resist, and brainwashed them by setting up Valhalla, trapping the War Boys in his lies, fostering fanatical worship, and ultimately making them willing to die for him.
Jake's change was simple: he directly declared that Immortan Joe was deceiving everyone.
Since he called himself Father, he naturally had to uphold his role; he would use faith to control these people.
At first glance, it sounds no different from Immortan Joe, but would religious believers risk their lives for a deity? Would they become as fanatical as the War Boys? The answer is no!
The Order was the faith established by Jake. They don't believe in any single god, but in purpose and redemption.
Faith and purpose—these two abstract concepts resonate deeply in this apocalyptic world.
He had the War Boys wash away the white paint from their bodies. Everyone had their own name, and naturally, their own appearance. The conformity seemed to create a society where everyone was equal, but it also stifled any room for individual growth.
After the white paint was removed, the War Boys discovered that they weren't just different in voice and name, but even in skin color—various shades and ethnicities.
Jake seemed to have transformed into a leader who elevated humanity from savagery into civilization, teaching them step by step how to live.
Of course, he also established his own position: Father, merely a warlord in another sense, but who could resist the more acceptable title?
Below him were advisors, responsible for supporting the Father.
Furiosa was even appointed Grand Commander of the Order's Knights by Jake.
He selected twenty-eight of the strongest and healthiest War Boys to serve as knights; of course, these twenty-eight knights had to have very little attachment to entering Valhalla.
The title of knight—just hearing it was enough to stir the blood.
All the War Boys eagerly signed up, wanting to demonstrate their loyalty before the Father.
This was like a psychological tool: I can promote you, but only if you are loyal. The more loyal you are, the higher you climb; the disloyal will be punished.
Then, slowly, some will discover the benefits of loyalty and be motivated to be loyal, thus creating dedicated knights.
In reality, Jake didn't need any of these people. As he experienced more and more worlds and grew stronger, numbers would gradually become less important.
But a ruler must have the methods of a ruler.
He didn't need these people to do anything extraordinary for him; he just wanted to prevent them from losing their purpose and motivation, thus preventing them from becoming unstable. After all, once people lose their motivation, other thoughts arise, and these thoughts would cause him considerable trouble.
The selection method was simple: a group of War Boys—no, now they should be called apprentice knights—fought each other, and the victors advanced. Some were directly appointed by Jake; the selection process was quite flexible.
These were individuals raised as fanatics by Immortan Joe. The younger ones could still be reformed, but those who had grown up had little chance of being reformed.
You can set rules for fanatics, but it's best not to set too many.
In any case, the establishment of the Knights Order was merely to give them purpose; after all, Jake needed them for the time being.
Strictly speaking, Immortan Joe was more like a traditional warlord than Jake. He knew how to use various methods to consolidate his rule, even if some were unscrupulous.
Jake, on the other hand, had other ambitions. He only needed a vast, isolated base for future scientific experiments.
However, he was still somewhat reluctant to resort to mass violence and far from being capable of massacring tens of thousands of people without hesitation.
However, this doesn't mean he's merciful; necessary control measures are still in place.
On the day of the victory, to declare his rule, Jake opened the water valves, allowing the slaves to receive more water than when Immortan Joe was alive.
They cheered, and Jake's next demand was that all slaves participate in construction; he wanted to build an experimental facility, and these slaves were his workforce.
Inevitably, some would succumb to the burden and die, and these were the ones nature eliminated.
Survival of the fittest; the underground water resources possessed by Immortan Joe couldn't meet the needs of tens of thousands.
This world lacked food; the green vegetables Immortan Joe grew on the mountaintop were only enough to satisfy himself, let alone feed tens of thousands.
Therefore, slaves who couldn't even get water on a daily basis inevitably resorted to cannibalism to fill their stomachs.
Besides these fundamental issues, some cultural elements were also altered by Jake.
The Doof Warrior in the movie—the guitarist who spewed flames every time he played—which seemed impressive while watching the film, but this clashed directly with the Order set up by Jake. This heavy metal aesthetic was completely out of place with his vision.
And those brutal enforcers, muscle-bound guards, and so on—these are all people who must be reformed.
These orders were issued quickly, but their full implementation may take a very, very long time.
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