993 Blank State Seeds

"You mean like taking control of the mechas in Rei's World?"

"Affirmative. However, System's Contract so far has been mostly either a 'Kill and Command' or 'Sign and Accede'. There have not been any prior instances where the System was 'forced and ordered'. While such provisions can be accommodated, the System requires some time to make such a command available."

"Do you think it will have an effect on the rats?" Gold questioned, but the System could not provide an accurate answer until they tried it.

"Will there be issues of them resisting the command?" Kiyu started to ponder since she had been in the System the longest in this current group setting. She was aware of where the System Contracts had been coming from. Compared to the ancient times, Jin was the only System User who had been using this technique and relying upon it heavily because of the nature of his job. No one else in the System's History had ever used this particular System Contract Technique to this degree and frequency.

Then again, the System acted as an extension of the wishes of its User. Previous Users who had been familiar with the history of the Panda Clan usually wanted to get stronger to enact revenge, which did not really require travelling to different worlds. 

That coupled with the System's policy of not enslaving humans of their world had made it more of a rarity. By resurrecting the opponent it meant that the soul owed a debt to the System, hence the Kill and Command Contract which Jin used in the battle.

As for the Sign and Accede, the opponent had to be willing to submit their life over to the System, and the System would slowly win over the body by corrupting it with its constant privileges. Through Jin, it had successfully won over each and everyone who signed such a contract. Despite the constant hard work, the rewards were copious enough to keep the 'mind slaves' satisfied.

But for a "Forced and Ordered' edict to be issued, Kiyu was afraid that the System would be unable to get the approval of the opponent assuming he/she/it had the willpower to resist it. That may mean consequences to the Kill and Command Contract and whether the System would actually have full control of the monster in the future. In Kiyu's mind, she was worried that the System's opponents might erode the full control slowly without the System noticing it. In the worst case scenario, they might eventually plot to kill Jin.

"If we are that worried, I highly suggest we use it only on non-sentient lifeforms so that it will be just a form of highly advanced hacking?" Jin suggested, and the rest agreed right on the spot. "Anyways, back to the Lost Tech Counterfeiter, you've said it'd been improved so do you think we can at least double the production?" He asked the 'Lead Researcher' and 'THAT Golem Engineer from Another World'.

"Double? You wound me with your words, Master. I dare say it can produce things way quicker after absorbing that broken Dungeon Core. I have connected it to the Lost Tech Recycler too so that it could take things straight from it if needed. Obviously, there's a drawback that you won't receive any precious stuff from the recycler since the Counterfeiter will take almost everything. But hey, when we kill those rats, we get random resources anyway. Might as well use them to get the Counterfeiter working."

"That Counterfeiter is a seriously cheat machine." Gold said as he shook his head in dismay. "What are you going to do with that many Blank State Seeds? If I am not wrong, you already have the capability to produce Black Sludge Crystals and create things like the Blank State Seeds, and maybe even more complex than a seed could do."

"Obviously, grow out an army. One that is capable of fighting against the Demon Rats. We fight iron with iron. If this proves out to be effective, we might actually have a shot fighting in the Mecha World rather than just fighting them with sticks and stones." Jin snickered, but the rest could not catch his drift that well.

"What I meant is… forget it. How about I just go direct to the plan? Alright? Okay, so Rei and Weslie. I like you guys create a series of blueprints on semi autonomous machines that are able to fight. Be it a tank, a plane, heck even a mecha robot if the seeds can grow such a thing. Then you show them to Gold who will try to inscribe it into the Blank State Seed, and we grow them."

"Even if that's possible, we don't have the time to grow those complicated structures! Remember how long it took to grow the Living Armour Seeds? In actual fact, it had taken years for the old tree and our Zither Mistress because of the time compression magic which the System used." Gold explained.

"Doesn't that dumb dumb tree get stronger with age? We are actually powering him up further the more we let him grow through the time compression" Ayse noted.

"That may be the case, but the time compression magic has already taken a toll on our cute little girl. She seems to hail from a long living race, so she's become stronger in the same manner as that treant, but I've noticed that her powers are unstable." Kiyu noted as she took a Blank State Seed and played around with it in her fingers. The Butterfly Fox had been checking on the minions periodically to in case the effects of time magic would affect them negatively ever since she found out that the System was abusing time magic a lot. (And with reason.)

"Releasing that pent-up energy to help the plants grow has in turn helped her lessen the strain. Perhaps that is why your System Rider is so powerful. However, from what I've seen, she seems to be doing that unconsciously, and it's not like it's an effective countermeasure in the first place." Kiyu said that the side effect, while positive, might prove to be a bane in the future if left unchecked.

"…Although, the Kraft in me would say, let her grow further and allow her to expend her powers all at once in the Grand Operation. That way, it might solve her problems and provide a huge boost to our overall battle efficacy. Still, you will also run into the risk of potentially killing her… although meh. You could always resurrect her once more. All the more stronger and powerful. It just depends on how you want to use her." Kiyu couldn't help but shrug her shoulders over this possible scenario.

"Don't talk about Ke Mi as if she was a thing!" Weslie complained, but Kiyu could not be bothered to argue back. Her years of fighting experience against all odds had taught her and the other foxes that they were mere pawns on a chessboard. Sure, they may be worth a rook or even a queen, but it did not matter when certain stakes were present.

"I will take your advice into consideration. Thank you, Kiyu." Jin replied although he shared Weslie's dismay. They might be his 'minions', but Jin treated them like family after all. He eventually coughed to stir the conversation back. "It should not be a problem. This part of the preparations for our Grand Operation will only need Shu to handle them."

"The System has been taught how to get these seeds to grow on foreign lands. It's also thanks to Gold and the Jacks' effort and data in creating that agriculture patch in their home instance." Jin added and stated to them that the System had initially tried to replicate the Farming World but failed to do so until it learnt the secrets from the Spirit of the Lands.

"And you know what? That is not all. Those items which we collected from the Demon Rats will be of some use, and we can recycle their troops for ourselves." Jin said with a smirk.