Chapter 145 (Patreon)

“What do you mean?” the anthropologist asked confused.

“Port Atwood is the only force on Earth who has access to a real multi-verse shop. That has allowed us to gain knowledge of the larger world that is still not publically available on earth. For example, most of the New World Government’s intelligence about the incursions is coming from us,” Zac explained. “It also has allowed us to create a structure that is more in line with our new reality.”

“Port Atwood will use a standardized contribution system. You can see it as a supercomputer who judge your performance. Your actions will generate contribution points. Working at a pet project of yourself with no application will probably not generate many points, but teaching at our academy will,” he continued.

This was the goal of Zac, though it wasn’t done yet. There were various ways to do this. You could set it up yourself with the help of a few administrator classes and a few specialized arrays, or just buy a contribution management store in the town shop. A few Golemoid forces similar to the creators had made a big business of providing various administrative systems and had perfected their algorithms over millions of years.

Contribution management was a very common concept in the multi-verse as forces were huge, often having millions, even billions in their fold. Making the administration of salaries and benefits automated saved a huge amount of work. It also saved lords a lot of money, as people were only paid for contribution, rather than time. 

There were a many more functions to an established contribution system, such as levels. If someone made large contributions over a long time they would get upgraded to the next tier in the system, giving them better exchange rates and more precious things to trade for. 

“What does contribution points do?” the woman asked.

“You trade them for whatever you want, like an internal currency. There are fixed rates for Nexus Coins and Nexus crystals. There is access to cultivation manuals and skills. Gear and weaponry, healing pills, materials for race evolution is also included. We are stocked with all kinds of things,” Zac answered.

Zac had wondered a bit why not just give Nexus Coins or Crystals, but Ogras explained it in a very simple manner; the lock-in effect. If they got Nexus Coins they could just leave whenever they wanted. But if they held a lot of their internal currency people were more likely to stay on.

For the same reason the exchange rates for Coins and Crystals were quite bad, whereas the rates for expensive things such as manuals or skills were pretty decent. There were permanent Skill and cultivation crystals in the multiverse where anyone could learn the skill imprinted. The lesser versions only worked once, such as the ones containing [Book of Babel]. 

That meant that Zac could keep stocking up on various skills and cultivation methods as he gained wealth from taxes and other sources. Each new addition would bring a steady stream of revenue to his force, as any time a subject used their points to learn a skill instead of cash out Nexus Crystals he would gain pure profit in a sense. 

“However, for new people we will provide a base salary in the form of crystals to help everyone reach level 25 and get their classes. From there they will have to rely on their own efforts,” he added.

Making his people stronger was part of the reason, the other part being the simple fact that the contribution system wasn’t set up yet. They had the things to offer, but not the framework in place. 

“How interesting, your way of management would make for a good dissertation,” the woman muttered. “What about our freedom? Can we leave whenever we want?”

“The teleporter is currently closed, and if you come with us you will not be able to leave for at leat a  month. You should also know that Port Atwood will not be joining the World Government at this point in time, but stay an independent force,” Zac said, hiding nothing.

The two government officials were listening intently to the whole conversation, but Zac didn’t care. In fact, he wanted the information to spread. Who knew, their way of doing things might actually snag some experts from the government to their side. Besides, Sap Trang was shouting out the same information, though while using a bit more bombastic wording.

In no time the whole bazaar and surrounding neighborhoods knew about Port Atwood’s recruitment, and that the Super Brother-Man was looking for non-combat experts. Still, many were hesitant, even with the Marshal clan’s assurance. Perhaps not about the legitimacy of the force, but whether it would be a good idea to join.

Zac wasn’t too surprised about some people’s reluctance, as New Washington was one of the most thriving cities in the world right now. While the people might not have all the tools to progress in their crafts in the current city, they were at least safe. They didn’t know what would await them if they stepped through the teleporter. 

Still, one after another surreptitiously stepped forward and asked a few clarifying questions to Zac, who patiently answered them all. There also were a few troublemakers that tried to cause a scene. However, they were quickly and ruthlessly dealt with by Mr. Trang.

Finally the fisherman was met with trouble he was unsure he could actually handle. With a sigh Zac stood up, and walked forward to the group or instigators. He released his aura causing widespread panic, and with a Heaviness-induced stomp created a small crater with his foot, throwing the troublemakers off-balance. 

After that there was no more trouble, but at the same time the onlookers asked their questions to the old fisherman instead, afraid to bother the monster sitting in the stall with closed eyes. Still, Zac was listening intently to the conversation between Mr. Trang and the various people, and wordlessly communicated with the old fisherman.

Anyone who Zac felt could be a good asset was asked to gather their belongings and come back as soon as possible. He didn’t want to risk the government trying to intercept his talents, so he would have them stay with them at the hotel. For those he could do with or without he simply said to come to the teleporter at 7am tomorrow. These were mainly unskilled workers who he essentially could gather from the neighboring islands as well.

After a few hours there were actually over thirty people from various fields who were gathered close to the stand, some who even brought their people. Judging by their appearance some were doing it as a last resort of sorts, as they looked a bit emancipated and haggard. Others were doing it in order to take a chance and improve. 

The group consisted of a wide array of people. Apart from the anthropologist there were all kinds of experts, such as a few engineers, two doctors, a botanist, and even a brewer. Zac almost felt a bit bad for the corpulent man with the handlebar mustache, knowing that he would be hounded by a few hundred thirsty demons as soon as he arrived on the island. Complaints about lack of liquor was one of the most common grievances among the demonkin over the past month, as their own stores had largely run out.

He also managed to snag a few artists and a watchmaker, who were quite surprised their talents were wanted. He didn’t actually need painters or a watchmaker, but Zac had a feeling that someone who was adept at working with a craft that demanded steady hands and precision would make a great future inscriber. In fact, anyone he felt might turn into good, or at least passable, inscribers were quickly recruited.

Zac’s goal was simple. He wanted to unleash a mountain of inscribed armors created from the wolf pelts and ant carapaces on the surviving humans. His materials were enough to create thousands and thousands of pieces of gear, and with his current demon inscribers, it would over a decade to complete all the gear. His desire to get more inscribers only increased after he saw how sought after even mediocre gear was at the auction. 

If Calrin also managed to open up a few branches, all the better. 

As it was getting late Sap Trang simply shouted out the meeting spot and rules for any interested parties before they led the group of non-combat classes back to the hotel. By now the group had grown to over fifty experts plus their families, and the group who had been told to go to the teleporter was five times that number. If all of them actually showed up it would be quite an improvement for Port Atwood, though Zac expected a decent amount of them to get cold feet.

The group took over a few floors of the hotel, racking up a bill that would be insurmountable for most people. Later that night Calrin and Ogras returned, the gnome having almost a rosy glow. Zac noticed that the gnome had spent a bit more of his money earlier while he was recruiting, but he stopped not long after.

“We made a haul this time. It actually seems that the System created a patch of Aetherbloom close to this town, as quite a few sold it. No one has figured out its use yet, so we bought out most of the city’s supply. The city’s leadership will puke blood when they realize what they’ve missed out on,” the gnome said with glee.

“Aetherbloom? What’s that used for?” Zac asked curiously, as he’d never heard of it.

“It’s one of the main components for a popular medicinal paste that’s used for race improvement. It’s more effective than the standard baths, and it even has some effect when trying to improve to D-Grade race. A single stalk cost over ten thousand nexus coins normally, we paid less than a hundred coins per stalk,”  Calrin explained, almost looking aroused when explaining the gains

“More importantly, it is quite rare and takes decades for it to regrow, and it probably only existed here due to the System creating some opportunities on this baby planet,” Ogras added with some schadenfreude. 

“These bureaucrats lost out on enough materials to bring almost 300 warriors to E-Grade Race. For Port Atwood that could be huge. You saw that many soldiers among the demons still haven’t upgraded their race. These stalks can help us create an elite squad that will shake fear in the world for hundreds of years,” the demon said with a gleam in his eyes.

“The government caught on to our actions after a while though, and hurried to buy stalks as well, but not before we snatched a good 80% of what was on the market.”

Zac was quite impressed with their haul, as that sort of paste would be a great thing to add to the future contribution system. It would make the warriors work far harder if they could get that sort of panacea to help them with their evolution. 

“We also got quite a few promising people to sign up to join Port Atwood,” Zac said, not wanting to be outdone as he listed the various occupations of their new hires.

As Zac expected Ogras eyes lit up when he heard that there was a brewer on the list, but his next question confused him a bit.

“Are there any filmmakers like Directors and editors in the group?” the demon asked.

“No, why?” Zac asked confused.

“It would be fun to try to making my own movie,” he said with a wide smile.

“Eh… I think those kinds of people should be in Hollywood, and I don’t know where that town’s located anymore,” Zac answered hesitantly.

Since there was not much left to do everyone returned to their quarters, where Zac spent most of the night better acquainting himself with his improved Dao of Heaviness. He also tried to use the experience of improving his first Dao seed to also make some inroads on his other seeds, though progress was slow there.

After sleeping for two hours he sat down in the lobby to wait for everyone to gather up. Soon most had gathered up, though it appeared that a few of the experts had left during the night. Two also backed out before they set out, looking quite embarrassed. Zac assured them it was no trouble, and they quickly left as well, leaving only 38 experts. All in all, it was still a good number who stayed on in Zac’s opinion.

More troubling was the fact that Ogras was not around, and that he’d only left a note at the reception that he’d meet up with the rest at the teleporter. Zac got a headache thinking about what the demon was up to, and could only gather the rest of the people. 

The teleporter was decently close to the commercial district, and they opted to walk the twenty-minute promenade rather than trying to get hold of enough cars for the whole party. A few of the more cerebral of the experts were panting when they arrived, and Zac could only shake his head. The general level of some of the more niche experts were quite low, some even still below level five.

As they arrived Zac immediately tried to find the demon who had promised to be here, but Ogras was nowhere in sight. Zac was starting to get worried that he had gotten into some real trouble, but a voice from the shadows allayed that worry, though a new worry soon replaced it.

“I can’t show myself at the moment. Hurry and start the teleporter, we need to leave.”

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Author note: Some info about the future monetary system of Port Atwood. As i wrote it I was wondering if the system was clear enough, so some feedback is welcome.