Chapter 158: Day 350 (2) – Monster Processing, Finally!

“We have maximized our efficiency and have determined the monster count for each monster type is 12,500 for level 1 monsters. For the zone in total it is 50,000. Putting the maximum revenue from a level 1 zone at 250,000 points per day. With our tax rate that is an optimal 62,500 points per day coming in and 31,250 points per day for city upgrades.” I nodded at that. That aligned with my calculations on monster density.

“And what are we currently at?” I asked.

“We are currently at 21,790 points per day for city upgrades. Or 69.73% efficiency. In 20 days, we should be at 95% efficiency.”

“Why the discrepancy?” I asked.

“People hording crystals, businesses, saving them up, missing some monsters, and getting to the point where we have a process to fully and efficiently clear the areas around Purgatory.” Made sense, but the low amount right now was concerning. We had a population of around 1,700. Take 600, put them on grinding, 200 for guards and bureaucracy, and just say another 100 for the Union, which was excessive for just businesses.

“Where are the extra people?” I then explained my path to Clarissa. She nodded at what I told her.

“Right now I have employed 50 people. Bob has around 50 people. The RMPF has around 150 people. The Union 80 people. Another 500 people are new arrivals in rotation. With 400 guides total, 100 for each monster type. Another 200 people working in the stores. That leaves around 270 people floating around.” She took a deep breath and then continued.

“Half of those have lost hope and are basically starving themselves to death in the slums. The rest are people who go out to kill monsters but aren’t in the rotation or a guide. They will eventually be squeezed out in the next 20 days and be forced to kill level 2 monsters.” Basically, the people who had been grinding level 1 monsters before, but weren’t suitable as guides. The leading edge of the rotational arrival plan.

“That many people have given up hope?” I asked. It seemed like a lot.

“Michael. I say this as respectfully as possible. But this place is hell for most people. That brings up the question of assisted suicide for people without the nerve to kill themselves, but who just want to die.” I let out a sigh at that.

At least it wasn’t as headache inducing as the question of children and pregnancies. “Set something up. But they have to wait at least 10 days and go through at least three spaced out interviews confirming their choice. Interviews with different people. Don’t advertise it either, but let’s make it an option. Make it quick and painless. A sword into the brain. No beheadings.” I couldn’t remember where, but people could live as just a head for a little bit. That was disturbing. Better to not let any suffering occur.

As for suicide itself, people who didn’t want to do anything and just die were a drain on resources. Unfortunately life was cheap, the only thing cheap in the Systemic Lands. It would be nice if there were real mental health services, but if wishes were fishes, then we would eat them and have points to spare.

“Now about the lowered efficiency projection of 95% for taxes. All raw materials come through the store? The only other crystal sink would be crystal powder or summoning,” I said.

“That is what I am looking at. Until we reach full clear rate, I can’t squeeze out the last percentage points.”

“Fine but keep that percentage tight. No corruption or embezzling nonsense. Any issues with Union teams, paying taxes for level 2 crystals?” I asked. They had a 10% tax rate for level 2 crystals, compared to the 25% rate for level 1 crystals.

“A minor issue, but I should work it out with Laura soon. Currently the city treasury sits at 450,000 points and change.” I frowned at the first bit. But Clarissa clearly wanted to handle it herself, so I would let her for now.

“How much change?”

“Less than 50,000 points, since that is what the chests are broken up into and how I plan to keep track of the count. Extras are dumped into a chest and only counted once the chest fills up. Any extra going into the next chest. I can get the exact numbers, if you want them. The daily records are kept in the treasury itself in a locked chest.”

“No. I don’t need to know every nickel and dime as long as you are keeping track. I might do a full audit any time. I like that metric, zone efficiency. Any estimates on level 2 monsters?” I asked.

“Narrowed it down to a range of 7,000 to 9,500. A level 2 zone should be able to support 16 teams, without stepping on toes. Four teams per each monster type in a level 2 zone.”

“That seems like a lot,” I replied. I thought back to my grinding speed of level 2 zones. “What is a team doing in one day?” I asked.

“A team is normally 4 people, and they clear about 1,600 monsters per day. Teams are splitting into pairs according to Laura, especially after they have experience with a zone.” That amount felt low, but I could see teams going slower to be safe. Also, the type of monster mattered much more at level 2, than level 1. A Union team member was probably earning about 15,000 points per day after equipment, taxes, and fees to the Union.

Assuming their speed didn’t increase, it would take about 173 days of grinding to get 2.6 million points, which was another 900 stat points, bringing them up to 1,000. Realistically with downtime, that timeframe was looking closer to 250 days. I was in no danger of losing my advantage, which was the most important thing.

“Alright. Keep an eye on their stats. Tests are being run?” I asked.

“Laura doesn’t know the stats of her people.” Laura was proving troublesome.

“Well make that a requirement for the Union. Once people are on the Immortal Council they don’t have to share anymore. We need that data. If she pushes back, inform me. I will consider increasing the tax rate in that case, you can tell her that as a warning. Anything about people wanting to join the Immortal Council?” I asked.

“No. One or two teams are thinking about testing some level 2 dungeons to see if they can grind level 3 monsters, but everyone is playing it safe.” I nodded at that. Unlike a game, people wouldn’t just rush in willy nilly to their deaths. Well, if they did, they wouldn’t last long. So, the cautious people survived. Darwinism at its finest.

“Well, that is unfortunate, but not unexpected.”

“There is a request to escort more people to get the Radiant Beam skill. From General Gerold.” That made sense. It was a powerful skill. One blast could easily wipe out 20 low level monsters. A couple sweeps of the skill, and the area in front of the walls would be cleared.

“Well, I am leaving the day after tomorrow.” That was day 352. “So, arrange for a tag along and an escort back for whomever is coming. The last time was community service. How is this being paid for?” I asked.

“It isn’t. It would be, as you call it, community service once again,” Clarissa responded in her usual deadpan voice.

“Is there anything we need from Gerold?” I asked.

“I can push through benefits for the Immortal Council at the brothels and casinos. Perhaps a line of credit in the future?” Clarissa asked.

“Set it up, but keep things at 100,000 points, no more, for a line of credit. In all honesty, I will look over everything when the Immortal Council forms but stack up the benefits now to make it enticing.” Clarissa nodded at that. “What about the negative energy training?”

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“That was the next thing I wanted to bring up. We have set up a training center. People need the Spirit stat and Regeneration stat to make the training effective. They are dumping their energy into prepared barrels of crystal infused water. The cost is 20 crystals for one 5-point training session.”

“People are monitored closely by Doctor Katz. The cognitive effects seem to fade over time. But more testing is being done and people’s progress is being tracked.” I nodded at that. I might just do the training myself, but I was very skeptical of drugs. I liked my brain to not be affected. At most a couple of beers and that was it. Even then, I never liked drinking that much. I would let other people go through the process first and learn the risks before I would make a decision.

“How many people so far?”

“Over 50 last I checked. The funds are being put back into more research and it is now self funding, which allowed me to hire more personal guards. Also, the good doctor has cracked hybridization.” I listened as Clarissa explained things to me. “He didn’t want to share, but he didn’t make a fuss in the end.”

“Good job keeping an eye on the researchers. I am not having another Ritualist rise up. One is enough of a headache. The no cost issue is concerning as well as the feedback. But it explains the Ritualist using the hybrids as disposable weapons. Cutting the tether once they are in position and can overrun our forces.” While I hated the man, I could respect his innovation. Unfortunately for him, he was going to be a loss leader.

A loss leader was a product that broke into a market, lost money, but opened the path for similar products. Well, the Ritualist was paving the path for our research. I would raise a glass to stealing his ideas and innovations any day of the week, or deek. That stupid word was drilling its way into my brain.

I also threw away the idea of hybrids. It would turn people against me. It was easy thing to point at, for why people should hate the Ritualist. If I formed an army of hybrids, I would eventually go down the path of the Ritualist. Summoning was a loser class, compared to focusing on stats. Sure, it had its uses and advantages for scouting and large-scale battles, but against quality it struggled. That was why I wasn’t worried about the situation that much.

Necessity was the mother of innovation as well. While the next fight I had with the Ritualist would be the last one, it would be interesting to see what more he came up with. His breakthroughs would solidify myself and the city in a position of power. If I could see it and know it could be done, we could work to reverse engineer his achievements. Unlike a video game, the Ritualist wasn’t a class locked profession or something unique, just his ability to chart a path forward.

“Summoner candidates?” I asked.

“Four people have been approved. Two from the RMPF and two from the Union. They are supplied blood powder, and then are allowed to summon. I am carefully tracking and following up on reports of their behavior. They have mandatory interviews and check-ins both for them and their teammates.”

“Any mental issues?”

“There is a possible increase an aggression and recklessness. But it is hard to say for sure, since the monsters are disposable and there is a learning curve to control them.”

“How do they compare to the Ritualist?” Clarissa winced a bit at that.

“Poorly. At most they are able to control 20 monsters effectively. After that they are struggling.” That was more than I thought, but less than what the Ritualist had shown. I needed more information.

“Explain the testing in detail.” I listened as Clarissa explained how the testing involved having monsters perform different tasks, movement, and sensing. I smiled slowly as I realized what the Ritualist was doing.

“Grouping,” I interrupted Clarissa and she stopped speaking. “He is grouping up his units like a strategy game. Why control 20 individual units, when you can control 10 groups of 20 units each. Clever.”

“There may be a relation to the Mind stat as well, but we need more data. Summoners with a range of Mind stats,” she suggested.

“Perhaps, but the grouping technique is the most logical. It would be how I would do things. Pass that along and test it. The main weakness would be pressuring him from multiple directions at once. The attacks at the gates were staggered during the Second Battle of Purgatory?” I asked.

“Yes. They occurred at slightly different times,” Clarissa said. That was all the confirmation I needed. One by one, we were catching up to the Ritualist. It was faster and less headache to steal other people’s innovations, than innovating yourself. I could think of countries back on Earth who did the exact same strategy. If it worked and you could get away with it, why not? Not like I would agree to limit research for anything.

That was the power of a group of people compared to one lone innovator. Eventually the Ritualist would pluck all the low hanging fruit and we would overtake him and kill him. Preferably skinning and salting. There would be suffering. I would make such an example of him, that the story would become legend and a tale for all other people thinking to come at me.

“Keep up the good work. The monitoring is important. Do not slack off in keeping track of any personality issues or side effects.”

“Thank you, Michael, I will.” Good. I was glad Clarissa was staying on top of things and could answer the questions I had. It showed she took her position seriously.

“I also noticed this place is finally getting furnished.” Finally, I had a real home and not a box.

“We have guards, cooks, and a maid. They all live in house.” I frowned at that. “Your room has a reinforced door. Only myself, Naran, and you have rooms on the second floor.”

“That is fine. Well time to get to it. Let’s get Monster Processing. That is the entire reason I came back.” I got up. I wasn’t even going to bother getting a shower first.

“Very well. This will take time. Perhaps you can get a shower, while I send a runner for President Bob and General Gerold.” I frowned a bit.

“Fine.” I got cleaned up and changed into a city outfit instead of my armor. My room was nice. The outfit designs had been framed and hung up on the walls. There was a dark blue rug on the floor with a golden dragon next to my bed. I also noted a lot more lights in my home. There were no windows in my room and the door to my room was reinforced. All good choices.

I left my room and made my way out to the plaza. It was night, but a small crowd had formed. I noted there were a lot of soldiers in the plaza. Ah, there was Clarissa walking with several soldiers carrying 5 chests.

I nodded at Bob and Gerold who were present also. The chests were lifted onto a pillar, and I quickly began cashing in the crystals. I had worked out the location with Clarissa already. I picked a spot to the North next to the Meeting Chamber. There were only limited options for customization, like what direction the door was facing.

“Done,” I said. “Let’s go.” We made our way to the North end of the plaza. I was the first one to enter the building. There were no windows, and the double doors were the reinforced kind. Inside was one big room. There was a single pillar in the center of the room and 8 eight tables with indentations along the walls.

There was no second floor, it was just open. I walked over to the pillar that looked the same as the ones out in the plaza. Finally, after so long, I would finally learn about another aspect of the Almighty System. Perhaps a dusting sword was in my future.

I walked over and put both of my hands on the pillar.

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