The moment the Kobold delegation left, the quiet efficiency of Karl's office returned. A soft thump announced the arrival of Leo, his Ghoul assistant, holding a heavy folder.

"Leo, you're here at last. Have the accounting department finished their filing?" Karl asked, pushing his chair back from the desk where he had been reviewing engineering schematics.

"Yes, my lord. It's all categorized and filed here." Leo placed the folder neatly on the desk.

"Alright, let's begin," Karl said, opening the document with practiced ease. "First, I want to know our total monthly net income."

Leo smoothly began the recitation, his voice crisp and professional. "Our sales on our first month of operation yielded a total of 1,231 gold gross income and 480 gold net income. Last month, we earned a total of 2,344 gold gross income and a net income of 914 gold and 16 silver."

Karl smiled thinly. "Nice. What would be the reason our second month has risen so significantly?"

"It's the reopening of the Necro-Mall, my lord, and our company's rising reputation in the Spinebride region. We are viewed as a source of stability and quality, driving sales across all major product lines. Specifically, the introduction of the 2 clothing lines and the magical appliances saw an immediate spike in revenue and trust."

"Excellent. That stability is our core product. Now, since the war had officially started, I would expect a significant drop in net income and a sharp rise in capital expenditure."

"Yes, my lord. Our initial projections confirm this: with the war in the region, it is expected that prices of iron ores will rise significantly, potentially by thirty percent in the next cycle, as will the raw mana stones due to the Foxkins suddenly raising their purchasing prices across the board. They are clearly stockpiling for mass production."

Karl tapped his chin thoughtfully. "This is predictable, but manageable. We must decouple our industrial process from the volatile market. We have a large amount of coal in storage, right?"

"Yes, my lord. From the merchants, we have bought a total of 431 tonnes of coal, as well as 2,779 tonnes of iron ore and 312 tonnes of raw mana stones. Our resource reserves are strong, but the coal quality is inconsistent."

Leo paused, then asked, "Are you going to use the low-grade coal as an alternative, my lord, to mitigate the rising prices of refined resources?"

"Yes, but not just coal, coke," Karl corrected, his eyes bright with engineering focus. "Basically, heating coal in an oxygen-free environment—a process known as pyrolysis. Coke burns better than coal because it is a purer carbon source that burns hotter, more cleanly, and more efficiently. Coke produces significantly more heat per unit weight, burns with little to no smoke, and leaves much less ash compared to raw coal. We'll use our existing low-grade coal stock to refine a superior, high-BTU fuel source internally, completely sidestepping the price hike on the raw mana stones that we currently use to power our manufacturing industry."

"Understood. That mitigates the cost inflation on our entire metallurgy division. I will task one of Dolrik's apprentices with setting up the initial coking process and scaling up the by-product capture systems for the coal gas," Leo affirmed.

"Good. Now, what about Libera's men? Did they have anything to report from their reconnaissance?" Karl asked, leaning back, the financial report momentarily forgotten for the military intel.

Leo flipped a page in the folder. "Yes, my lord. It would seem the Foxkins have developed a new weapon. A magical rifle."

Karl snapped forward in his seat, the movement too quick for a living man. "Wait, what? Isn't that the same as our mag rifles? We hadn't lost a single mag rifle in storage, right?"

"No, my lord, we have not lost a unit. All remaining stocks of magrifles are secured."

Karl exhaled, running a hand over his skull. "Oh, alright. I was shocked there for a second. Now tell me what this weapon is all about."

Leo continued. "It's called the Pearlwood 79. It's less a rifle and more a magic staff converted into a bulky device akin to their crossbows, fitted with mana conduits. It is similar in principle to our mag rifles in terms of energy delivery, but these weapons are slower to charge and highly inaccurate beyond short range. However, they produce a much more volatile explosion and magical output on impact, sacrificing precision for destructive area effect."

"Ahhh… so that's why these Foxkins are hoarding raw mana stones, huh? They're running a glass cannon strategy, prioritizing payload over kinetics," Karl deduced, a slow smile spreading across his face. "It's less a rifle and more a specialized grenade launcher. Short-range, inaccurate, but powerful against clustered infantry. Have we developed a countermeasure for that kind of concentrated magical explosion?"

Leo nodded, turning to the final page of his report. "Yes, my lord. The DEWS (Department of Experimental Warfare Solutions) have already solved it by mixing specialized steel with Qualscoo crystal they recovered and then reinforcing it with normal steel. The key difference is that the crystal they recreated is modified to actively absorb and dissipate mana energy, rendering it inert on contact. They have named the resultant compound Beelzebub Steel."

Karl let out a sharp, amused chuckle, leaning back to savor the irony. "These damn bastards, they just do whatever they want, huh? Beelzebub Steel. I suppose we should be grateful for their flair for the dramatic." Leo managed a slight, thin smile in return, nodding to the name.

Karl's grin widened, his eyes darkening with strategic fervor. "Those Foxkins just don't know what will hit them. They gave us a crystal that will essentially become their undoing—a self-correcting market failure. Their entire new military alliance hinges on the superiority of magic, and we hold the key to negating it."

He thought for a moment, then leaned in, speaking with a demonic intensity that was half-joke, half-sincere corporate evil. "The Ursaroks are basically on the losing side in the war, right? They are the traditional power, being undermined by this new technology."

Leo nodded once.

"Deliver a secret letter to Commander Urma at Stonehorn Crossing. Since his father-in-law is a major Ursarok noble, tell him it's highly recommended he tells no one except him. Tell him we can supply them with armor plates made of Beelzebub Steel. We can mess around with the Foxkins' operational capacity, get them to rack their brains about their weapon's sudden, inexplicable weakness. That way, we can equalize the war and prolong the conflict."

Karl chuckled, a low, devilish sound. "Also, tell them we'll supply them with elemental weaponry—the superior, accurate models, of course, but at a two-hundred percent premium. We'll be making a fortune off this war, stabilizing our capital reserves and proving our technological dominance. Ha ha ha. We'll have the Foxkins to thank for forcing our hand. If we're making losses in the civilian sector, we might as well earn it back in a more efficient, high-margin, military sector."

"Yes, my lord. I will arrange for the most discreet courier and the letter will be encoded with the new cypher," Leo replied, shaking his head slightly at the sheer audacity of the plan to sell the countermeasure and the weapon to the same side.

"Anyway, onto the main thing," Karl said, straightening up. "How many employees do we have in total? I need to know the population size we're about to induct into the new economic framework."

Leo flipped back to the personnel sheet. "We have in total, 147 ghouls under your command, though they said they don't necessarily need a salary. And 11 Kobolds are currently on the payroll, not including the new hires from this morning."

"Is one gold per month sufficient for the lower working class in this region?" Karl asked.

"It's sufficient, my lord. For the current market price, it is extremely generous. It is equivalent to several months of unskilled labor pay outside our Domain."

Karl pondered. A heavy chest of gold coins is both inefficient to mint and to transport for a growing internal population. The System V3.0 requires a functioning proto-society, one complete with currency and consumerism, to achieve peak labor efficiency and happiness multipliers.

"Hmm… why don't we create our own currency?" Karl smirked. "It will allow us to control the local economic environment entirely."

Leo showed visible interest for the first time, nodding rapidly. "An internal scrip system?"

"Precisely. We'll design a paper-based currency," Karl added. "Of course, it'll be sturdy, water-resistant, and fire-resistant for longevity. We'll call it the Necro Dollar. It's an essential, currency we can use when they've already moved into their own homes in the residential zone, as well as when the commercial zone is finished and stocked."

He laid out the conversion rates on a blank sheet of paper, ensuring it aligned with existing standards to maintain perceived value.

"We'll establish the following denominations: 100 bronze coin or 1 silver is equal to 1 dollar. And 1 gold coin is 100 dollars."

"So, we'll have 1-dollar bank notes, a 2, a 5-dollar, a 10, a 20, and a 100, just like the efficient paper currency system of the US dollar. That way people won't have to carry so many heavy, cumbersome coins. A monthly salary of 100 dollars for a laborer might sound small, but for the current market, it's competitive, easily managed, and will not suffer from internal inflation, as we control the supply of goods and the money itself."

He looked at Leo. "This is just for us. We'll basically create our own internal, closed-loop economy here in the company that us ghouls and other potentially living employees can use to purchase goods and services within the Domain. This allows them to own something, to experience and have fun—the necessities of a functional, motivated society. And for a senior executive like you, you should be compensated accordingly for your loyalty and service. Your salary will be 1,000 dollars per month, Leo, paid entirely in Necro Dollars."

"My lord, there's no need to do that," Leo protested immediately, focused solely on efficiency. "My duties are their own reward."

"No, it's a requirement, Leo. It's not about need, it's about system dynamics," Karl explained firmly. "Don't worry. This part of our phase is also needed as we create a societal structure for the ghouls. We can't expect them to just keep working like mindless undead; they need a break, to experience leisure, to have fun, and most importantly—to contribute their salaries back into the system by purchasing goods, thus triggering those significant efficiency bonuses."

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