The ideal is always plump, and the reality is always skinny.

Jones's life seems to be a struggle between ideals and reality, and he struggles over and over again.

After a period of grief-stricken, Jones finally regained his mood and sat down with the dwarves to negotiate. After all, debts still have to be repaid. And he has no money for a group of dwarves.

"I thought that if I gave you such a good treatment, you would be grateful to Dade. And then you threatened me in turn?"

"Why should we be grateful to Dade? Do you have any misunderstanding of the relationship between slaves and slave owners?"

"But, if you were bought by other slave owners, would you have such a good chance? Only me! Only I would give you such a good promise! You should cherish me!"

"How to cherish? Hard work makes you rich? There are not many slave owners like you, I dare to pack a ticket, if you have money, you will be like other slave owners. Should we cherish a poor slave owner like you, and let you stay poor?"

As he spoke, the barrel couldn't help but laugh. The other dwarves in the cages laughed as if they were infected, and eventually turned into laughter.

However, this sentence left Jones speechless. He could only widen his eyes and tremble with clenched fists. If it can be solved directly with the Blood Overseer, Jones is still talking to them here!

He pulled a pipe out of his pocket, and the barrel silently lit it, took a deep breath, and spat out a puff of mist. He looked at Jones with a pleasant face.

That expression, if there were no cages, probably everyone would think that Jones was a slave.

Jones was a little depressed: "You are a slave, and you actually have cigarettes, aren't slaves allowed to have private property?"

"Not only cigarettes, but also alcohol. Would you like to take a sip?" the barrel pulled out another flask and poured it into his mouth, then wiped his mouth and burped.

Jones was shocked.

Through the fence, the barrel looked at Jones expressionlessly and said, "There are many kinds of slaves, and physical slaves are the best to control. It's also the least entitled to claim anything. But I'm sorry, I'm not. In the past, every slave owner would provide me with cigarettes and alcohol in order to make me work well. You'll have to do the same in the future. ”

"But you're still sold, aren't you? Maybe it's because you're asking too much that you're being resold over and over again. ”

"No, sell me because he's broke. ”

"Bankrupt?"

"Yes, he's broke. ”

"All three are bankrupt?"

"Yes, all three are bankrupt. I can't be blamed for that. I can prospect for veins, but I can't conjure up a vein that doesn't exist. Of course, I'm tired of being sold. So, maybe we can have a good talk. Well talked, I can enjoy my old age with you. ”

This is a plague god, a plague god worth eight thousand gold coins. Jones was already convinced of this. However, he didn't have the extra money to buy another one. So, he could only bite the bullet and ask, "How to talk about it?"

After coughing dryly, the barrel replied with a snort, "You have two choices. One, treat us like other slave owners, whip us with a whip and make us work hard. But I promise you, you're going to go bankrupt. I've got a myriad of ways to make things go wrong with the veins, and you don't even know I did it. ”

"If you dare to do this, I'll kill you!" Jones said without thinking.

"Hopefully, when it happens, you can give it up. The wine barrel spread his hands, and looked indifferent: "Don't forget, I'm worth eight thousand gold coins." What would you choose between a breath and eight thousand gold coins? I can't beat me, and the value of a slave will depreciate if it is injured. I hope you understand that. ”

Jones was trembling with rage. This is a threat, a naked threat!

Taking a sip of wine, the barrel continued, "You will go bankrupt, and we will only be sold to the next slave master, and continue to live an unhappy but at least peaceful life." Of course, given that the conditions you just offered are not bad, we may just keep you poor all the time and not ......"

"Stop!" Jones said bluntly, "Alright, I've got the first choice." What's the second option?"

Since you don't want the first option, let's talk about the second option. The barrel grinned and said, "The second option is for you to contract the veins to me." ”

"Contract?" Jones was stunned for a moment.

"Yes, contracting. The barrel pinched his fat fingers and said, "Allow us to redeem ourselves." Yes, redeem yourself, regain your status as a freedman. I can bring you a good profit, but I will definitely leave myself a good profit as well. Otherwise, how are we going to redeem ourselves? Right? If we could redeem ourselves, there's no need to risk running away, right? It's a good way to unite your interests and mine. ”

"How much profit can you bring me?" Jones said, skeptically.

"It's hard to say. The barrel spread his hands and said, "I can't tell you until I'm done." I heard you're in a gold mine, right? I can promise you a profit of no less than 20,000 gold coins a year. That's already a good rate of return. If the final exploration results fall below this number, I will tell you directly. After all, I want profit too, don't I?"

"So I don't even know how profitable my gold mine is?"

"No, you'll know. We are only responsible for mining. You sell the ore that you dig up. But the price of the sale must be negotiated between you and me, and if you can't give me a price that satisfies me, I can offer a better buyer. ”

Jones was a little confused: "Buyers? Why should I buy them, and I have to negotiate the price with them? Shouldn't I just take the gold and mint gold coins?"

This time it was the barrel's turn to be stunned, and he looked at Jones suspiciously.

Jones pulled out the gold lump he had dug up.

All of a sudden, the dwarves burst into laughter, and Jones's face turned red.

The wine barrel reached out and took the gold lump from Jones's hand, took a deep breath, and said, "This is called natural gold, and it usually occurs in gold mines. But if you're counting on this kind of thing to make money, you can declare bankruptcy now. There is very little natural gold in a gold mine. At least you can't have much here. ”

"Why can't I have more of this one here?"

"Because of the terrain, it can't be much. To mine gold, either sell the gold ore or refine it yourself. However, if you don't even have the money to buy the Blood Overseer, then we'll have to sell gold ore. To be honest, I'm starting to worry now, what if you don't have a gold mine here?"

Well, there are some things that only professionals understand. Jones's IQ was once again pressed to the ground and rubbed. The dwarves' laughter grew louder as a basin of cold water that drenched Jones from head to foot.

After a while, Jones, who had calmed down, could only stubbornly ask, "I will sell the gold ore, right?"

The barrel smoked a cigarette and replied casually, "Yes, if you can find a good buyer." ”

"Then how do we divide it? The 20,000 gold coins belong to me, and the rest belongs to you?"

"No, that's going to be a problem. We have a share-sharing system. After deducting all expenses, since the gold mine is yours and we are still your slaves, you will share seventy percent, and I will share thirty percent. After the first ore is mined, you must return my status as a freedman, and I will sign a loan agreement for eight thousand gold coins. You can pay interest. This is done to prevent you from taking advantage of the loopholes. After all, slaves were not allowed to own private property. I'm afraid you'll use this as an excuse to not give me a share when the time comes. ”

"Fair enough. ”

"Well, deal. ”

"Deal. ”

The two sides shook hands across the cage, and the dwarves around them applauded happily.

Despite the constant surprises and the terrible situation, at least an acceptable deal was reached anyway. For the time being, Jones can still use the money he has to run and does not need to borrow any additional money. Additional investment is what Jones fears the most at the moment.

When the tall Bloodclan sent the second batch of two dozen dwarven women with a one-to-one match, as well as the remaining pile of urgently needed mining equipment, he was surprised to find that the dwarves sent by the previous batch had already gone all over the place.

Yes, walking around, completely unattended. The cages that had been sent from the previous batch were piled aside, empty.

Some of the dwarves began to cut and collect wood, others began to hunt, make fires and cook, and the rest were already preparing for exploration. Everyone is busy. Dora and Jones were left standing idle.

"Oh my God, young master, don't you need to take care of the slaves here?" the tall Bloodline handed Jones the second list suspiciously.

"Yes. Jones took it with a blank face and began to take a closer look.

"Aren't you afraid that they will run away?"

"They won't run, I've submitted them with charisma. ”

"Charisma?" The tall bloodline was shocked, and looked at Jones with wide eyes: "I can't believe that you look so small, but you are already so good at it." Is it magic? Mind control magic?"

"Yes. Jones silently signed the list and handed it back, still expressionless.

This answer immediately caused a burst of amazement from the surrounding blood clans. After all, spiritual magic is the most complex and esoteric of all magic, and only the top blood clans can understand it.

Of course, Jones's heart was unfazed by their amazement. After all, he had just lost thirty percent of the gold mine's profits.

The delivery clans are finally gone, and everything is finally in order. Every dwarf is full of energy. After all, what could be more inspiring for a slave than the prospect of regaining freedom?

The wind was blowing gently, and the branches of the trees were swaying in the wind.

Well, until one of the dwarves stepped into the castle.

"Wow——! what is this? A hydra!"

"Oh my God! There's a hydra in the castle. ”

"Help! there's a hydra in the castle!"

A large group of dwarves hular-laed in front of Jones, breathlessly speaking.

"Oh, Hydra? I know. Jones replied calmly.

"Your hydra?"

"Could it be that it raised me?"

The dwarves were stunned.

In the distance, Jones had seen Hydra poking its head out of the window. Helpless, Jones could only walk over.

"Ma'am, they are my men, I hope you don't eat them. I assure you, and I promise you, will do it anyway. ”

"I don't like to eat dwarves, dwarves have fangs. But you'd better keep them from sleeping with me, or I'll probably not be that picky. ”

"Yes, as you wish, ma'am. ”

As a result, the 300-meter radius around the castle was designated as a forbidden area, and no one was allowed to approach it. The dwarves honestly began to build their own houses, and no dwarves shouted that they wanted to live in the castle.

After all, the fact that the big hydra lives in the castle is the best reason not to live in the castle. If you go to bed and snor, you may not see the sun the next day. Except for Jones.

Jones insisted that the castle belonged to him, and that as the owner of the castle, he had to live in the castle.

Anyway, that's it anyway. After a small episode, everything was back in order. The dwarves seem to have changed their attitude towards Jones, at least not by almost ignoring Jones as they had at first.

Who would have thought that it was Hydra who helped Jones save face. Whether it's the blood clan raised by the hydra or the hydra raised by the blood clan, it's not easy to mess with anyway.

The next day, the airship arrives, and the zombies are delivered as promised. The dwarves began to assign all the heavy work, which did not require mental power but only physical strength, to the zombies. The construction of the camp has been accelerated, and everyone is busy.

In the beginning, Jones would run home to "eat", after all, he was already extremely sensitive to money expenditures, and he was unwilling to pay for the fresh blood that people brought from Heard. Later, he simply ate in the camp. After all, there is just no blood in the camp, and the blood of other animals is quite complete. Jones, who had long been accustomed to drinking pig's blood, pretended to be like it for two days, and then he was in order. In addition to going home and sleeping every day.

"I don't want my family to know that I borrowed money to buy a castle, and I don't want them to know that I'm mining. ”

"Why?"

"Father is fine, if Mother knew, she would have been worried a lot. Nagging, annoying. So, let's just pretend to go out and participate in various activities every day. Anyway, they go out every day to participate in various activities. ”

"Oh......"

"Wait, you can't have told my mother already, have you?" Jones looked at Dora suspiciously.

Dora was startled and hurriedly said, "No! Dora has been too busy these days to say anything." ”

Jones looked at Dora expressionlessly and sighed helplessly.

Regardless, the dwarves were doing their best, and everything seemed to be on track. Except that Jones could no longer refuse Adair's invitation to the Brotherhood.

In this way, in the midst of ups and downs, Jones ended the first year of the silver moon and ushered in the second year of the silver moon.

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