Capítulo 68: The Unreal Value of a Status Screen
Upon arriving at the work area, they saw that the ants were still tirelessly working. So, they continued the excavation work. Joe remembered that he still hadn't checked how much intelligence he had gained.
"Per, Joe, how much did I earn today?"
Accessing his intelligence status, the system reported:
[Detection of intelligence increase by 🧠 +0.50%! All micro-screen ants can communicate with you 75% intelligibly. Your 🧠 intelligence level is 2.15%.]
"However, your communication with the ant Flórida has reached the third stage. You can communicate with her normally."
Turning to the dwarf Finerg, Joe asked:
"Mr. Finerg, who owns this area where we're working?"
"Mr. Joe, this whole area around us, as far as your eyes can see, belonged to the dwarves. But, because of political reasons among the Nobles, it was taken from us as well."
"When you said this area was yours, does that mean each family owned a part here?"
"Exactly. This mountain had five mining caves. While the dwarves owned it all, the Nobles found ways to take it piece by piece. When we realized that, we blocked their access. Only we, being much smaller, could enter, and even then, we had to crawl to mine a little at a time.
Then they found out… and closed all the exits. After that, they banned us from returning here. That's the rest of our story."
"Do you still have the documents for the area that belongs to you?"
"Of course, Mr. Joe! They're safely kept, very well kept. Because that's what they want from us: the documents, so they can prove to the Royalty that they're the legitimate owners, not us. They want to prove to the kingdom that we're invaders, and we have no way to defend ourselves except by guarding the document."
"And the part that belongs to you here?"
"What do you mean by that, Mr. Joe? I'm not quite sure what you're getting at with that question."
"Tell me one thing... what do you intend to do with your part since you can't mine anything here?"
"I have strong hopes, Mr. Joe, that, somehow, someday, we'll manage to do something about it."
"I'm sorry for being so blunt, Mr. Finerg, but that sounds somewhat unrealistic to me."
"I understand what you mean, Mr. Joe. Even when I say it, it feels like a promise I'm making to myself, though a very hollow one."
"And what if I told you, Mr. Finerg, that I have a way to reverse all of this?"
"Really? And how would you do that, Mr. Joe?"
"I can't disclose the entire process, Mr. Finerg, to avoid complicating your life even further. But the first step would be for me to take possession of all the lands you dwarves have here."
"Are you trying to enslave us, Mr. Joe?"
"On the contrary, Mr. Finerg. I want to restore to you the freedom that was taken away."
"And how does Mr. Joe intend to do that by wanting to take what is ours?"
"Just follow my reasoning for a bit, Mr. Finerg. The nobles want to take what belongs to you one way or another. But they need the documents in hand to prove the legitimacy of the deal they made."
"Correct, Mr. Joe."
"But then I ask you: what happens if another person, with powers equal to the nobles, has these documents in their possession?"
"And who would this person be, Mr. Joe?"
"Please, don't answer a question with another question."
"Alright, I apologize for that, Mr. Joe. But if someone as powerful as the nobles, or even more, appears, they could do nothing but accept that another noble took a good opportunity and seized all the property that was ours. Would you dare to trust me to restore your freedom?"
"And does Mr. Joe promise to return our mining cave when that happens?"
"No, Mr. Finerg. I don't promise to return any property. However, I am willing to give you something even more valuable."
"???"
Mr. Finerg was puzzled.
"And what could be more important to us than our property and our minerals?"
"Dignity, respect, and freedom. I am willing to make you dwarves into someone whom the nobility must respect as equals."
"Haha! Do you really think you can turn me into a noble, Mr. Joe?"
"No, Mr. Finerg, I don't think..."
"Oh, I knew it. You must just be joking."
"No, Mr. Finerg, I'm not joking about this, and as I said before, I don't think. I am certain I will do this for all the dwarf chiefs and their families. Now, the question is: do you trust me enough to believe that I can keep this promise?"
Mr. Finerg was ready to say no, but then he realized that he was not dealing with an ordinary person. Who in that world had enough power to tame a Mortalis queen? And who received her favor when she granted a new race of ants he had never heard of, the diggers? Whose were those 2,000-plus ants working nonstop with just one command?
Not to mention that he himself already trusted Mr. Joe enough to accept whatever his proposal was, even without having seen any of these things he was now witnessing.
"I will trust you, Mr. Joe. All I ask is that you don't make me regret this decision."
"You won't regret it, Mr. Finerg. And, as a gift, I'll give you this."
[Access skill: creation of trust screens, slot number 3.]
Suddenly, Mr. Finerg's eyes widened as he saw a mini-screen before him displaying his name, strength, and skills.
"What you need to know is that your skills will increase more and more as you use them. However, any improvement, no matter how small, depends exclusively on me. This is like a power borrowed from something called technology. All you need to do to keep it is to maintain it a secret."
Status de energia semanal
-- Ranking de
Poder 
-- Pedra de
Poder