"By the way, did you say that you would offer some rewards to us?" Jin shamelessly asked the question and Lisa Von Crustfingers' eyes suddenly lit up while she rummaged through her tattered leather sling bag.
"We are Birth Mothers so the most we can offer you are seeds of the Demon Rats," Lisa said as she took out a satchel containing the Demon Rat seeds. "These are the best seeds that we have grown from our body. I have kept them from the other Demon Rats so that my most precious of children would not be used as mere fodder."
"You do know that you are aiding your enemies, right?"
"But we had all heard rumours about you Humans. How you have multiple monsters that fought beside you. We thought that there is a chance life might actually be better than being enslaved by our own race." Lisa said and Jin sighed.
"You know, not every human is that benevolent. Some will use you or even manipulate you more than you could ever imagine." Jin responded.
"It's alright. We are willing to take the risk. All of us." Lisa replied with a depressed tone.
"Anyways. Keep those seeds of yours first. Get some rest along with your other colleagues. In fact, you should not even participate in this war at all. If I manage to find any other Birth Mothers, I would ask if they would like to join you."
"Thank you! Thank you! They should be more than willing to come with you when you say my name and also with this plaque. Give me a moment." Lisa's eyes suddenly lit up when she heard that Jin would try his best to save the other Birth Mothers. She quickly searched through her bag and took out a broken wooden sculpture of a demon rat.
"Show this to them and they would know that you are an ally, not a foe," Lisa said but Jin reiterated that there would be no guarantees he or his allies could find more of these Birth Mothers after the commotion that happened minutes ago. Lisa understood that notion and returned to her group where they quickly offered her a portion of the food.
"User, why did you not accept the seeds that were given to you? That is your rightful reward for saving them and we could use their numbers." The System asked and Jin smiled.
"Have you not thought of the future?" Jin threw the question back to the System. "If they are able to live comfortably here, don't you think that the rats they give birth might actually be of a higher quality?"
"That answer does not quantitate-"
The latest_epi_sodes are on_the ʟɪɢʜᴛɴᴏᴠᴇʟᴘᴜʙ.ᴄᴏᴍ website.
"It's all about timing and trust," Jin interjected. "Let them get used to the place, have them do their job as they are supposed to do naturally and once they figure out how to make the best rats out of the babies they have given birth from, then bring out those seeds. Perhaps, the quality of seeds that they grow over time might exponentially increase in quality, making those seeds which they currently have erm…obsolete?"
The System understood where he was coming from and apologised for asking such a stupid question. "Then not taking the seeds was not only to show but reinforce the image that the humans and monsters can coexist together despite their differences."
"That's a bit too far fetched but you get my point." Jin chuckled a little as he got Captain Hei and Captain Bai to appear and escort the Demon Rats out of the Dungeon Maker instance once they were done with the food. After all, it was the command centre and even if the White Demon Rats are now their allies, it would not be wise to show the destruction of their race right in front of their eyes.
So while waiting for the Birth Mothers to clear out of the instance, Jin had begun contacting Weslie, Gold and Qiu Yue about their situations.
"We are progressing well. Just that the fighting never ceases ever since we start." Gold reported. "They had been not just throwing bodies at us but also rather decent troops."
"It's the same situation at my side, but other than that, we are able to make progress. We do need better air filters though or else those artillery we were using could potentially cause a dust explosion within the cave." Weslie reported.
"Weslie, I will get the System to prepare some for both of you. Otherwise, Gold, I understand there were some casualties at our end. I should be able to send them back down after the System has cleared them for teleportation." Jin answered back. As much as they want to send the reincarnated back to the fray, the System had always emphasised the need to balance cost and profit.
While it was capable of sending the soldiers back again in almost an instant, it would take a significant amount of resources to make sure that the minion was in good condition, both stable in the mind, body and soul before sending them out again. Any desynchronisation of the three elements could possibly reduce the 'stats' of the minion and cause unnecessary mistakes in battle. (Not to mention, they would be demoralised by the loss of proficiency in battle.)
No doubt, this could be averted by pouring a large amount of resources but a minion is still a minion. Unless they all have started to grow and show hidden talents as prominently as the minion leader, the System would only devote that amount of resources for its reincarnation.
"Could I have more than just beavers? They are good but judging how things are progressing, it would be great to have more erm…underlings." Qiu Yue asked through the comms with the sound of heavy artillery in the background.
"Do you think other minions could learn everything so quickly like your beavers? Besides, aren't you increasing your Empire Building proficiency with this fight? I heard from the System that you could already create walls with automated arrow installations on it. Further improvements to your Empire Building proficiency would no doubt see wonders if you keep using them." Jin asked and Qiu Yue nearly wanted to return to Dungeon Maker Instance and knock his head.
"Yeah?! Tell me that when you are down here fighting for 48 hours consecutively!" Qiu Yue shouted back although she was doing what Jin was saying upon learning that this was the best time to increase her Empire Building powers. Not just walls, she could also summon metal pillars from nothing and throw them with immense force. And even though she was dying to test out the new skills she learned from Zeru, she felt that it was better to use her Empire Building abilities against masses of Demon Rats instead.
The latest_epi_sodes are on_the ʟɪɢʜᴛɴᴏᴠᴇʟᴘᴜʙ.ᴄᴏᴍ website.
"You can always come back to rest, the System would teleport you back to the battlefield," Jin replied and that was what the other troops were doing. They might have been fighting a gruesome battle but their morale was still high because the System and Jin allowed them to return to their warm beds and showers accompanied with a sumptuous meal cooked personally by Lynn.
No invading troop in the world has such a privileged life to rest, relax and recharge each time when they were called off from the fight to rotate.
"Fine, fine but you better take a closer look because the Demon Rats are always looking for opportunities to exploit." Qiu Yue said as she fought for a while longer before teleporting back to Jin's house.
