Josh had been hit with a Slaver's Collar exactly twice before. The first time, it had been a joke from a friend of his who liked experimenting with different [Tamer] classes. They weren't really friends after that incident.

  The second time had been when he and his sister had been arrested for trespassing on a government training facility. That had actually worked out okay in the end, but it had still given Josh a strong dislike for certain types of government officials.

  He wondered idly, as his feet moved of their own accord following his captors out of the village, if a former mayor counted as a government official. Should he consider Hawkins a whole new category all his own, or just lump him in with the rest?

  Meaningless thoughts like that helped to distract him from his towering rage and genuine fear. Slaver's Collars were rare and expensive. Officially, they were completely illegal for any and all uses. Even if many shady characters found a use for them in the background, both governmental and criminal, most people still flinched whenever they were mentioned. There were too many stories of what it was like under a Slaver's Collar.

  Solomon, the Tamer, had been collared once, about fifty years ago. Seeing one of the Eight Heroes being used as a weapon had left a very strong impression on the young culture of the new world, even if he had ultimately escaped before he did too much damage. Now, most right-minded people destroyed Slaver's Collars on sight. Still, Josh had never been so naive as to believe that they were all gone.

  It was like being a puppet. That was what got Josh about it, every time. The collar didn't do anything to his mind, he could still think and reason perfectly normally. But every single muscle, all the way down to his smallest toes and his eyes, were under the complete control of the one who collared him. Even walking normally like this, hands manacled behind him, guards around him in case of monsters, it didn't feel like walking. It felt like someone was playing with him like a doll, like they were reaching down and forcing his limbs to move with each and every step. He couldn't even ignore it. It was too strange a sensation, too much an intrusion and an imposition. He could feel the collar around his neck constantly, in every sense of the word.

  Josh's missing fingers throbbed. He ignored it as best he could. He couldn't even scratch.

  There were a number of guards around him, mostly Thugs and one that he suspected was a Tough Thug. The leader of that group from the pit. Michael, right? Well, they were all big guys who could match Josh in size. They were mostly there so that the monsters didn't kill him before they got him to his destination.

  Mostly, but not entirely. They were also there to keep an eye on him. People could break out of a Slaver's Collar, especially when there was such a level disparity with the one who collared them. Why hadn't Hawkins had someone else do it?

  Josh hadn't made a serious attempt to break free yet. After all, they could just collar him again, this time by someone of a higher level. Maybe if Hawkins trusted people more, they would have done that to start.

  They got out of the village quickly. Despite all the improvements that Josh and Baara had made to the wall, it was still far from a fortress. It wasn't really designed to impede people much. It didn't take long to find a gap in the patrols and slip out without anyone noticing.

  Honestly, that was probably for the best. If anyone tried to interfere, Jael would probably kill them before they could blink. If not her, the four Thugs would likely make a pretty good go of it. For now, Josh was alive, and being taken somewhere. That meant that they needed him for something.

  Of course, there were many terrible things you could force a [Crafter] to do while wearing a Slaver's Collar. Josh had barely recovered from his own little voluntary overwork binge, he didn't need to do it again for someone else.

  One of the Thugs cursed under his breath. At first, Josh thought nothing of it. The man was probably just dealing with normal bugs or something. But a few moments later, the lead Thug stopped and turned back.

  “We lost someone,” he said.

  Next to Josh, Jael tensed.

  Hawkins scoffed. “If he can't survive a short walk through the Jungle, then I don't know what he's even doing on this side of the Burn Line!” He waved a hand at himself. “I'm lower-level and I'm fine!”

  No one saw fit to mention that he was in the middle of the formation consisting of people almost twice his level. In fact, wasn't he a Hunter? If he'd been cultivating his abilities at all, he should be able to find his missing man easily.

  He didn't even bother trying, though, and the lead Thug—Michael—stopped for a minute to look for him. They eventually found the man's body tangled up in the limbs of a tree. No one was sure if the tree was the monster or if a different monster had left him up there after killing him. The body hadn't been eaten, but that didn't mean much. Plenty of monsters murked humans and then didn't bother eating them. Regardless, they gave it a wide berth, and weren't attacked further. They were certainly more on their guard from then on out, though.

  The Jungle was always hungry.

  Eventually, they came to their destination: A dungeon, mostly concealed in a small cave in a hill. The cave was small enough that Josh could see all the way through when standing at the entrance. Still, it hid the dungeon entrance well enough, especially with the Jungle overgrowing outside. He could understand how Anna and her patrols had missed this one. Or maybe it was new?

  There were a couple guards around the hatch. After a quick discussion about their missing friend, a full party entered the dungeon. Josh was forced by the collar to put his hand on the hatch, in addition to Jael, Hawkins, and Michael.

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  ...okay. That felt a tad ominous.

  Once they were inside, no one else followed. He wondered if there were already four people in the dungeon. They didn't let more than eight people inside. Well, they normally didn't. There were a lot of weird things going on with dungeons these days.

  The inside of the dungeon was clean. If Josh had to guess, it hadn't existed long enough for any of the monsters to start making nests or the like. Not that he saw any monsters as they led him through the chambers. Seemed they had been cleared out.

  When they got to the final chamber, they found Hou Zheng holding court. As Josh had expected, there were four people total, hovering around Hou Zheng and the rift. The orc was back in his full armor, but he didn't have the concealing helmet, so Josh assumed that the others knew what he was.

  The other three were wiry men with practical armor designed for speed. They wore masks similar to Josh's own, covering just enough of their faces to foul a casual use of Identify. Josh recognized the look of professional mercenaries. They were like reclaimers, but more willing to take missions to fight people. He didn't recognize this actual company, which wasn't a surprise. They usually operated pretty far from the Burn Line, unless there was a major mission that the government wanted to hire them for.

  Josh was amused at how Hou Zheng towered over them. They weren't exactly small men, but next to the orc they looked like children clustering around a parent.

  When he saw Josh, he waved off his men and their paperwork. They stepped back without a word.

  “Mister Hundredborn,” Hou Zheng said with a genuine smile. “It is a pleasure to see you again.”

  Josh said nothing. Hawkins had ordered him to be quiet, and he had no interest in fighting the collar over this.

  There was a pause. “Ah. Yes.” The orc sighed. “Jael, if you wouldn't mind...”

  “I'm not the one who collared him,” she said stiffly.

  Hou Zheng muttered something under his breath in Chinese. It sounded sarcastic. He raised his voice again. “Will someone please give him permission to speak?”

  Hawkins snorted. “Very well.” He waved a hand. “Answer his questions.”

  Josh still didn't say anything. After all, Hou Zheng hadn't asked him anything yet.

  Hou Zheng nodded. “Right. Let's get down to brass tacks, as they say.” He pulled his sleeve back, revealing the bracer on his arm. “Do you know what this is?”

  “An enchanted item.” Josh's mouth moved without his express consent. That was all that the collar forced him to say, but he decided to continue on his own. “I found something similar on Mizuno. It was burned out.”

  Hou Zheng nodded. “Yes, that is about what I expected. These bracers have a number of lifelink functions. It is very common for them to burn out on the death of their owner. But do you know what it does?”

  “No.”

  “It controls dungeons.”

  Josh blinked. Then blinked again.

  “The dungeons control the rifts,” he said slowly. “Control the dungeon, and you can alter how the rift functions. Maybe even use it for travel.”

  “Exactly. That is the primary purpose of these bracers. Though, I should note, that is not the primary purpose of a dungeon. Or a rift. They do not enjoy being used in such a manner, and it causes... complications.”

  Josh raised an eyebrow. “Complications like a gaggle of rifts appearing?”

  “Oh no, that is quite an expected result.” The big man shrugged. “It is simply the way the worlds work. If you rip a hole through the fabric of reality, it will not repair itself. Not quickly, spirits know. That is what the dungeons are for. Sealing up those rifts.”

  Josh got the basic idea. He wasn't sure how that fit in with adventurers wandering in and killing everything to seal up the rift, though. He was tempted to ask about it, before pushing that aside. That was not why he was here today.

  Well, the reason he was here was because he had been kidnapped. But he figured he could at least do some good while he was in front of the man who had answers. Hou Zheng seemed willing to talk, if nothing else.

  “I can think of a few ways to use a trick like that strategically,” Josh said. “Bring people through one at a time, or open up a dungeon and let all the monsters out. That sort of thing.”

  “Neither is an option, unfortunately.” He held up his bracer. “This only works on the wearer, and I only have one. I can't even pass it to my allies, because it is life-bonded. And there is simply no way to open a dungeon early and let the monsters out. Period. If it even seems like that might happen, the dungeon will instead collapse and throw everything into the void. It is instant death.”

  Well, that explained why the dragon wasn't trying to escape that way, at least. Briefly, Josh wondered if it was possible to finish the dragon's dungeon and dump him into the void. If one of them had tried to touch the rift at the beginning, would this mess already be over? Maybe that was why the dragon had been curled up around the rift so tightly.

  “So why are you making so many rifts, then?” Josh asked. “You said it was an expected result. Well, you had to expect that we'd notice a bunch of new dungeons popping up.”

  Hou Zheng grunted. “If you haven't figured it out already, then I do not have the time to educate you further.” He sounded genuinely regretful, as though he'd like nothing more than to continue lecturing on dungeon and rift mechanics. Josh, for his part, suspected it was the theory about trying to find a dungeon that was broken the right way. “I did not bring you here to discuss my plans.”

  It clicked for Josh then, and he sighed. “You want to try to recruit me again.”

  “Indeed.”

  “I guess I should admire your persistence and all that,” Josh said dryly. “But why do you think it will go any different this time?”

  “Because this time, I come with payment.” He held out his hand, holding four bloodstones.