The explanation was reasonable. It reduced his frustration for why they were asking for energy stones. But being reasonable doesn't change the fact that he doesn't have energy stones. Without energy stones, he wouldn't be able to purchase the non-human races.
He wasn't content that he wouldn't be able to use dollars to purchase the non-human slaves, so he asked, "Human slaves can be bought with dollars. Why can't they use dollars for the others?"
His question made Wrath laugh. She said, "Our currency is useless. The dollar is useless. There are a lot of things that are used as currency in the universe, but the dollar is not considered a currency at all. It is because it has no value."
"Before you argue, consider that the dollar is produced by someone. In its physical form, someone is literally printing it somewhere. How can such a currency be taken seriously when someone can literally print it and offer it to you to get something you worked hard for?"
"That's just the perspective of other races. Let's consider humans. When the tower of destiny came and the incursion started, society collapsed, and so did the value of the dollar."
"The dollar lost all its value because it was useless. No one could use it for anything. They wanted useful things like food, clothing, and medicine. They would even take useful services like sex and labor over dollars. Even gold and diamonds were worthless too."
She laughed again. "That last part always gets me. Diamond is literally a shiny rock. Sure, gold and diamonds are useful, but most of their value was tied to luxury and ostentation. Those things became useless when you were dying of hunger. It is then you suddenly realize that your gold watch is no different from an ordinary watch that tells time."
By the time she was done, she was cackling widely. Kelvin felt fortunate that no one else could hear her or they would be looking at them as crazy far more than what they are currently doing.
She shook her head. "But the dollar has only lost more value ever since it became virtual. Now, no one needs to spend any effort to print it. They can just make it up with ones and zeros. You humans crack me up sometimes."
He whispered as he asked, "But they are still taking dollars for human slaves. If the dollar is so useless, why are they accepting it?"
She replied disdainfully, "Dollar is still useless. Anyone that has enjoyed the value of a true currency will feel cheated to exchange valuable products for something someone is making in a heavily fortified basement. Or in this case, something no one is spending any effort to make. But these people are also tempted to take our valuable things with dollars instead of real money."
"The option to use dollars to buy from us feels like they are stealing from us. If we still used physical dollars, then they would counterfeit it. But we don't. So they use faulty goods to exchange for dollars and then use the dollars to get valuable things from us."
She explained smugly, "Before you ask, humans are faulty products because of the tower of destiny. It is not that we are not good products. We are clearly superior products, seeing as we are one of the few races with vast potential. We can awaken different types of classes while other races are limited to one or two."
"Be that as it may, we are bad slaves. Every human in the Yggdrassil civilization makes for bad slaves because they are connected to the tower of destiny and enter the tower of destiny. With the tower of destiny, we can communicate with others or even enter it for games where we can tell people our situation."
"You should know this. It is why the human farm is so dangerous. Human plants can broadcast to the world about their slavery and ask for help. They can also actually become stronger through temporary and permanent destiny or gain new abilities."
"These uncertainties make humans bad slaves. One moment you have them under control, and the next you lose control of them because they have become immune to your control method. Or the next, an army of angry humans will come banging on your door because of the human slaves you have in your possession."
"So human slaves are risky. It is best to sell them for dollars and then use those dollars to pay for weapons that humans worked long hours and risked their lives to produce. If you think about it, humans are enslaved with the dollars. They work real hours but are given intangible things that only have a perceived value."
She giggled as she said, "I bet whoever owns this black market laughs every time they think about how they are ripping us off. It is like that time humans were buying bottled water. They could have free water, but they would rather pay for water."
"Do you know that what they are actually paying for is the plastic container for the water? The container is about 90% the value of what they paid for. But what do they do after they drink the water? They discard the most important part of what they paid for. Humans are hilarious sometimes."
She had a lot more to say about how foolish and hilarious humans are, but Kelvin wasn't listening anymore. He was not in the mood to listen after finding out why he can only look at the goodies in front of him but can't get them.
He decided to contact someone who might be able to help him acquire energy stones. After all, it was the person that recommended this place to him.
He texted Pauli, "I'm at the black market. How do I get energy stones?"
He didn't expect an answer any time soon, but Pauli texted back immediately. "There is only one reliable way that I know of. You need to fight on the foreign battlefield."
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A/N: If you haven't written a review please go and do so now. It has been over one hundred chapters already. You have no excuse.