“Apologies for the long wait. I hope your discussion has been going on well.” Jin said as he returned to the Instant Lottery Instance. Instead of maintaining the indoor stadium, the System had already reduced the place to several rows of chairs and a half-broken stage to save on resources. The only thing left was the lottery draw machine and the Fortune Panda waving its paw slowly.
“We may have strayed off topic a bit, but we did bring up some points of discussion.” Qiu Yue told Jin and decided to jump down the stage when she noticed the stage disappearing.
“Let’s go to the conference briefing room since the System seems to be closing this instance down. That way you guys can also have a glimpse of the new Shop Instance I created too.” Jin suggested with a hint of pride as he beckoned his minions, bellators and Sub System Users to come to the teleport portal.
When teleported, they found themselves in a meeting room that was vastly different from the one they had gotten used to. The room and furniture looked so old fashioned that there was a little bit of retro-modern feel to the whole conference room.
There were windows attached which could allow the minions to peek through outside without interrupting the air conditioning and the quality of the sound-proofing the System had created the room with.
“Wow, is this why you asked me for permission to edit the Restaurant Train Instance?” Lynn asked, and Jin nodded his head with a wide smile. He opened up a hologram on the conference table and vaguely explained to everyone the new design of his Shop Instance.
“Not bad. This way, you don’t have to take care of your shop so closely leaving you with more time to clear all the nonsense you have stuck your nose into.” Kraft stated bluntly as if wanting to keep things on track.
“Don’t let Yun hear that. She insists that taking care of the dungeon supplier business as my main priority.” Jin chuckled as he asked everyone to sit down. The System immediately conjured a few more chairs for the minions to sit at the side of the conference room as it did not expand the conference room any bigger. Jin sat at the end and started to pull a few files out of nowhere, and the people near him noticed the big fat rat head on the file’s cover.
“We shall now be discussing a little on the Demon Rats’ incursion and how we are going to stop them once and for all. The number of reports that have been constantly sent to the System for evaluation has piled up, from enemy numbers to geological surveys of the place… It is high time we strike back. We have a chance to make it right for the Northerners as well as creating a source of major farming for us if we succeed properly.” Jin started as he pulled out a few glass bottles from nowhere once more, but upon closer inspection, Gold noticed that they were seeds from his world. Only he was more concerned about the unique glass bottles they were in.
“When you guys raided the castle, the cleaning team found quite a number of interesting things. Among them were these seeds hidden at the very bottom of the castle. If not for a crack behind a fake wall, the cleaning crew might have overlooked it. There is apparently an entire archive of seeds in those hidden rooms, and it is well preserved. Gold, I assume you should be able to tell us something about this?”
“With pleasure. Each and every royal castle has a safe room that protects the seeds used to produce their items. It’s a procedure in case of a catastrophe like a great famine or drought, and these seeds are the salvation of the kingdom in those times. They also act as a library of sorts, and the Northern Regions happens to have the most complete collection. The ones you are currently holding ar-“
“Stop pretending it’s the first time you see it when you were the one who helped the Northern Region fill it up.” Weslie who came in late with a few other stacks of files via the side door chided her companion.
“Oho, so Gold was merely boasting about his collection to Jin?” Kraft remarked and Gold inadvertently got tongue-tied. He turned a little embarrassed and nodded his head.
“Weslie, why did you tell them about it?!” Gold asked via the System Channel trying to recover his pride.
“Because I know how crazy you can get when talking about it. Or do you want me to believe you were not about to ask for permission to see the library collection since you had ‘some knowledge’ about it? And then proceed quickly and check if your entire collection is intact.” Weslie answered out loud as she placed the files in front Jin.
“That sounds exactly like what Gold would do. He is always too shy to admit his own stuff.” Ayse agreed with Weslie as she knew Gold’s working style.
“People won’t fault you for being in love with seeds and dirt, my friend.” Moloch came to his defence, and the minions who knew how difficult farming was who had an in-depth knowledge of the lay of land also believed that such people should be recognised.
“According to the System, we recovered everything they had on there. Gold, if you want to check up on it, you are welcome to do so afterwards. We are lucky that we have an expert of your calibre with us. In fact, after we have defeated the rats, I shall grant you the opportunity to regrow them all and even compile a larger library.” Jin found this as a lucky break for the team.
From the System’s reports, there were thousands of glass bottles filled to the brink with seeds that needed identifying. With Gold being the one previously in charge of that, it should not pose a problem.
“But if it’s so precious, why did you not sound it out and tell us to find them?” Lynn queried Gold who felt relieved to hear such good news.
“I had assumed the rats would have used them to increase their numbers. I did not have much hope when I heard the castle had been mechanised and destroyed rather brutally by our attempts to stop their assault. After all, saving the human slaves and the humans at the town were more important than those seeds. I couldn’t exactly ask anyone to hold back for the chance of them still being in there.” Gold answered as he took the glass bottles and took a closer look at their condition.
Despite their frail appearance, the glass bottles had actually been enhanced to make sure that they could withstand shocks and earthquakes while also ensuring that the seeds would be kept in a cool condition. However, all those enhancements required magical sources that needed to be replaced after a certain period of time.
Only later did he find out that the System had purposely stored them in optimal conditions upon discovering them. It knew how precious seeds could be when its body of entities also consisted of former farmers.
“With the seeds in such a good condition, Master Jin, I guarantee you that upon retaking our lands, our farms will be one of the best, if not the very best in the multiverse especially with the help of the System!” Gold claimed with such confidence that everyone could feel the money-making vibe coming from him.
The objective to take back the Northern Region from the Demon Rats had just become juicier in the System’s eyes (or sensors).
