The Systemic Lands
Chapter 208: Day 500 (3) – Food Vs Bombs

“You are using government funds to subsidize development for spin off businesses. Which you will then own and make a profit from,” I said calmly.

“Yes, I am. Passive income is the best income. Military expenses are piling up-“ I slammed my hand down on the table with bang, cutting her off from saying anything more. Clarissa jumped in her seat a bit.

“I thought you understood. Perhaps it is your background, or some other misunderstanding that hasn’t been cleared up. I will take responsibility for that. Military development should be the priority,” I said as calmly as I could.

“We are losing out on crystals,” Clarissa said.

“Crystals, points, what are they for? And I don’t mean that hypothetically?” I asked her. She took a half a minute to think on the question, which I was glad for. She understood I was upset and thinking about the situation.

“Power. They represent power,” Clarissa finally answered. I nodded at that. That was the truth.

“Exactly. They aren’t currency. Crystals are drops of power. Spending points on other investments is a loss,” I said.

“Even when those crystals bring in more crystals,” Clarissa said.

“And what is my cut? I don’t take from the tax revenue, nor am on your case about your salary, but I expect the city to focus on itself if it isn’t enriching me. Purgatory is not about to enrich someone else. If you use your position and start up businesses, then no one else can compete. So researching food, isn’t about helping the economy, it is about empowering you and you alone,” I laid out my reasoning.

“Half,” Clarissa said calmly.

“How do you plan to pay me, when I am not around for long periods of time? Unless you are planning on storing up a lot of crystals,” I asked.

“Yes. Once the next level of the store is purchased, we will have to save up quite a bit for higher level purchases. The city treasury is secured better than ever as well as your home here. We can stockpile enough crystals to pay back your share, no problem,” Clarissa said.

“Naran gets ten percent, we each get forty five percent,” I demanded. I had promised him a share a long time ago. Now that Clarissa was going to take over the business side of Purgatory, then he was going to get a cut for saving my life.

“Accepted. Do you want me draw up a contract?” Clarissa asked.

“No, that would be pointless. Well, now that I am thinking on the matter, why not. Just to be on the safe side. That way there is no finger pointing going on later,” I said and finished off my juice. “What else?” I asked. sᴇaʀᴄh thᴇ NʘvᴇlFɪre.ɴet website on Gøøglᴇ to access chapters of nøvels early and in the highest quality.

“Well, there is a list of research topics that yielded interesting results, but aren’t practical. That is why weapon and energy research has slowed down. All the easy ideas have already been checked,” Clarissa said and got up to get a piece of paper. She then handed it over to me.

Combining summons, or summoning inside another summons, both turned to dust. Summoning using a primed crystal inside a human being, yielded two results, either they turned into a hybrid if they had consumed powder, or the monster tried to form inside of them, and they were ripped apart. The monster often dusted from the pressure of the human body and bones, disrupting their formation.

Combining crystal types had yielded no new results either. Even trying to replicate the enchanting and alchemical process outside of the buildings failed. The System was clearly doing something extra during the process for the tables to work like they did in the buildings. Unless it was completely arbitrary, which didn’t seem to be the case with how summoning, negative energy, and consumption worked. What was the difference?

There were also skill crystals that needed to be tested as the third type of crystal. But they couldn’t be moved and were too valuable to be used for testing. Something to investigate when I went dungeon diving.

“The good doctor did all of this?” I asked.

“He did. He also wanted to pass on, that he is checking every possibility and combination methodically,” I nodded at that. “In terms of bombs, we have a design we can put primed crafting crystals into and throw. Like a grenade. But attempting to make firearms or more complicated weapons has met with failure,” Clarissa explained.

“So, food then,” I muttered.

“Besides long term monitoring, there aren’t any more combinations that can be found with the knowledge we have,” Clarissa said.

“What about a person with a skill being turned into a hybrid?” I asked.

“They lose access to the skill. But that was only one test case,” Clarissa answered.

“Anything else on the research front?” I asked.

“No. Nothing for now. As we get more knowledge, then we have a research staff ready to go. But for now, food is the focus. If you didn’t know, a lot of the food looks similar to Earth food, but subtlety different,” Clarissa explained.

“I am not surprised. Anything interesting?” I asked.

“No decay. Things slowly dehydrate over time. We have also confirmed evaporation is a process that works, even with system generated water,” Clarissa said.

“And basic bio-chemistry, but anything from the store is odd. Unless there is a major breakthrough, none of that is new. That much can be worked out with observation,” I said and we sat there in silence for a bit taking time to sort through our thoughts. Clarissa finally spoke up after a minute.

“Well, today we can do a tour of the new city layout. Then a meeting with Elliot can be set up to discuss crafting crystal types and the results. I will arrange for the accounting books to be set up in your room,” Clarissa said.

“Sounds good, leave now?” I asked.

“Give me a minute to make the arrangements. I will meet you out front in five minutes,” Clarissa said. I nodded at that. I made my way outside.

I looked at the half wall around the store. Several soldiers of the RMPF were patrolling on top of the half wall or around the plaza. There were a lot of other people moving about. Something was off. It took me a moment to place the issue.

The plaza was bigger. The buildings had been moved back. That was when Clarissa came outside escorted by four guards in dark blue. “A bigger plaza?” I asked.

“To make the streets line up. We use four by four spaces for a block. The main streets are called by their orientation, North, South, East, and West street. Then we use the New York City street labeling system for the rest. From West to East, there are Avenues A to H. From South to North streets 1st through 8th,” Clarissa explained.

“We will go clockwise and stop at the city buildings last,” Clarissa set off North and I followed her. “This block to the North has Bob’s House, Gerold’s House, then the Office of Immortal Affairs, and finally the Immortal Council Chamber,” Clarissa continued the tour.

We entered the building. There was a balcony around the outside of the large building, and a big table in the center of the building. The interior was designed as a circle. “I went with a circular and a pit design. People can watch from the balconies or act as guards. While council members sit in the middle,” Clarissa explained.

I noted the city banner behind the main chair that was facing the door. Also, two of my personal golden dragon symbol was hanging from banners off the balcony on either side of the large city banner. “Each member would have their banner present here, behind their chair. The Champion gets two banners of course,” Clarissa explained.

“Of course. Good design. Can hold some large meetings here,” I said.

“That was the idea. Like I said, I am ready for the Immortal Council to form, whenever it happens,” Clarissa said, and we left the council building.

“Across the street to the East, is the guest house, and three other large buildings set aside for future members on the Immortal Council. The rest of the nearby buildings are unclaimed,” Clarissa said. I nodded as we moved South.

That was where the research labs were, and the negative energy training building were located. I was not about to go in and break everything again. “I had the research lab moved to this area of the city, since it falls under my purview,” Clarissa explained. I nodded at that.

Across East Street to the South were several businesses. I recognized some old names. There was Ken’s Bakery. A man holding a piece of bread fighting back a wolf was painted onto the side of the building. I looked at Clarissa.

“Heroes of Purgatory are allowed to be immortalized through artwork, statues, or having things named after them,” Clarissa said.

“He was never that fit. Or brave. Someone took some creative liberties,” I said.

“Want to get it edited?” Clarissa asked me and I shook my head.

“He died in combat. Let him be remembered as a better man than he was in life,” I said. I looked at the businesses next to it. Both at three stories, Bob’s Resale and Enchantment Store and the Gray Duck for high class meals.

In the Southeast corner of the city were private houses of non-government officials. Going further West there were Union homes. They also had their own drinking hall. We didn’t go in and kept moving across South Street.

There were more businesses and cheap housing, mess halls, for people who had just arrived. I spotted a familiar name, Shi’s Salon. There was a mural of her on the outside of a building fighting back a horde of werewolves with a pair of scissors. Whoever the artist was, they caught her disapproving expression perfectly.

We moved more North to the casinos and brothels. Not something I was going to bother with currently. Then we came to a single building all on its own surrounded with soldiers. “The city treasury,” Clarissa explained. No adjacent buildings, smart.

The entire Northeast was barracks and a huge training courtyard for the RMPF. Then came the city buildings. “That is our mental health clinic and meditation center,” Clarissa pointed out.

“I get a mental health clinic to give people counseling, but a meditation center?” I asked.

“The compromise for not having a church or people trying to set up underground places of worship. They can go there and sit quietly and pray to themselves. Or if they want someplace quiet to reflect. Most people lived in cramped apartment blocks. Wealth stratification is becoming a thing,” Clarissa explained.

“Hmm, not a big deal. That is fine

Walking around and looking down, it was impressive how well the city was laid out. I noted there were soldiers of the RMPF up here as well, keeping watch on the skies. “Just in case there is an airship or an aerial attack. Also, to monitor the place, since people aren’t charged to come up if they want to,” Clarissa explained.

“You aren’t charging people?” I asked.

“It isn’t worth the hassle. Better to let it be a tourist attraction for now. Gives people something to do. The elevator isn’t cheap for the common person,” Clarissa explained. My sense of points was completely skewed and I didn’t deny that. When I could earn just under 200,000 points per day, it was hard to understand the struggle to get 100 points.

I knew it was a struggle, but that was different than really knowing. I went back to looking at the amazing view and the grid layout of the city. It made me quite happy, to have ordered streets compared to the chaos it was before.

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