32 Recruiting Lieutenants

We arrived close to old steel that had shut down due to a running out of iron ore to continue production. We stayed about 100 meters away to make sure they could see us.

I asked Mary, "Can you monitor them?"

She said, "They are just barely in my range. I can monitor them from here but it won't be as accurate then if we moved closer."

I thought about it for a moment before deciding not to risk it. There was no good cover closer to the factory so I said, "That's Ok just keep an eye on them from here."

She nodded and watched for a few hours before saying, "I got more information about them. Donald other than his laser vision seems to be able to climb walls and is pretty strong and tough."

"Zack along with his super-strength seems to use a massive greatsword around 7 feet in length. As for Ian, I know that he is a swordsman but not much else."

I nodded and said, "That's all good information, let us regroup and eat, they probably aren't going to go anywhere and we need time to think."

She nodded and we went to a nearby fast-food store to god. God bless America no matter what the situation you can trust that good old capitalism keeps store's doors open.

We sat down and began to discuss the situation. I made sure to keep an eye on the staff just to make sure none of them had superhuman hearing and could listen in on us.

"So," I said, "With all of this information do you think our plan will still work?"

Mary said, "Yes, I think that me distracting them with bugs and you taking them out would be the best way for us to deal with the situation."

I nodded not really worried about the situation. They seemed pretty weak when I saw them on the news so I wasn't worried and let Mary take the lead.

I was curious and asked, "Mary, what do plan to do in the future? Do you plan to continue going on system missions in the future to get stronger?"

She replied, "With the world the way it is I think that is the only option if I truly want to stay safe in this new world."

I nodded before deciding to open with my pitch, "I was thinking the same but instead of going this alone wouldn't it be better if we were to make an organization to better protect ourselves?"

"An organization?" She asked, "I guess it would be better than going it on my own but what would it do? Who would lead it?"

I lied saying, "I have a secret Ok, don't tell anybody. But you know my parents were incredibly rich right? Well, they have some powerful contacts."

"This group of people has gathered a lot of information about the system, specifically the worlds it sends us to and the potential rewards we can get from it."

"They have gathered information from millions of people so nearly every world has been cataloged by them. For example, I know what world you went to."

Mary said, "Really? That then tell me."

I said, "You came from a world similar to us but with superpowers. That world has massive monsters called Endbringers that regularly destroy important cities and result in massive casualties of heroes during every confrontation."

"The U.S is protected by the baseline human Parahuman Response Team and the superpowered heroes teams the Protectorate."

I smiled, "Did I get it right."

Her mouth was open in amazement. "That was incredible, how do more people not know of such vital information? This would make missions so much easier!"

"Well," I lied, "This information-gathering effort is led by many rich and powerful people. Considering that they paid a lot for this info they aren't willing to give it away for free."

"Considering that you can't die in the mission many feel that there is no need to inform the public as they can't die from not knowing this information."

"They are pretty protective over their information and don't like having their name given out so please keep this on the down-low."

Mary hurriedly said, "Of course, Of course. I should have guessed that the people would want to know more about the system."

I nodded, "Yes, which is why I believe I am most fit to be the leader of this new organization. I have information that would allow us to thrive and power to back it up."

Mary said, "Really? You're pretty young Marcus don't you think that you should tell what you know to the adults and let them lead."

I said, "As I mentioned information like this shouldn't be spread around too much. I am wary that if I tell someone and they go blabbing then my head could roll."

"No, I can't tell this information freely. I can give small tidbits here and there but nothing too detailed. And the adults haven't adapted as well to this new system."

"Let me in on this secret. I didn't get a B rank skill as I told you. The skill I got is A rank and I could probably easily defeat anyone in this town."

Mary was still skeptical, so I said, "Let me show you, let's go out of town so I can show my power to you safely."

She agreed and after finishing our food we went to the nearby forest. I said, "Stand back I wouldn't want to hurt you."

She did as I instructed and I unleashed a Jin Mo-Ri Original: Blue Dragon's Kick at 50% strength. I was still strong enough to rip trees from the ground and scar the earth in its passing.

Mary looked at the devastation and said, "Yeah you probably are the strongest in Brecksville."

I nodded, "So are you willing to join my potential organization."

She said, "Ok but I don't know how I can compare to your power."

I smiled, "Don't worry that ability you have has a lot more potential than you would think. And as the first person to join my organization I want to present you with a little gift."

I brought out the Sense-Sense fruit. This would be perfect for Mary, it would improve her already insane scouting capabilities and with her webs, she should be able to keep lots of people prisoners.

I hoped that she would have the stomach for it but considering how decisive she was about dealing with her brother I think she will be able to step up to the task.

"What is this?" She asked.

"This," I said, "Is a devil fruit. It gives whoever eats it great power in exchange for never being able to swim again and being weak to sea and seastone."

"This one, in particular, allows you to take the senses from other people and give it to another person enhancing theirs. I think it is perfect for you."

She looked hesitant before eating the fruit. She immediately dropped the fruit in disgust after taking the first bite but it was enough she was now a sense-sense human.

I asked, "Do you feel it? Do you think you can use the devil fruit?"

She said, "Hold on let me feel for it. Yes, I feel the power, I think I can take the sense of one of my bugs and give them to another. I can't seem to do it to myself, however."

I was surprised, she could use the sense-sense fruit on the bugs she controlled. It was an interesting power interaction. Was the sense-sense fruit always capable of this?

Could it maybe only move senses between similar species, is that why Jack only used humans as only human senses can enhance human senses? Either way, this was great.

This drastically improved Mary's ability to scout. She could shove all her bug's senses into one bug and probably hear and see everything around her for kilometers.

I said, "That's great. Wanna try and use that power on me. Take some of my senses and enhance your own. Just make sure to give it back Ok?"

Mary said, "Of course, I would give them back."

She then laid her hands on me and took some of my vision. She opened her eyes and said, "This is incredible do you always see the world this clearly?"

I laughed, "Yeah that is the benefit of a high perception stat. You should try and raise it some time it can be pretty useful."

Mary said, "Thank you, thank you, thank you for giving me this ability. I know how powerful this ability is so I am in your debt."

She gave me back my vision and I said, "No worries. Just make good use of it to help the organization that is all I ask. So it's turning to night wanna take your brother out."

Much more confidently she said, "Definitely."