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"Knowledge with knowledge isn\'t this a fair trade?" Daniel asked.

"It\'s fair to you but not to us, Mr. Emberweave. The ancestor law stated that the dwarf secret could not be leaked to the outsider." Hargrim stated.

"So, let me make sure I understand this correctly. You\'re saying it\'s unfair for you to share your knowledge with outsiders. However, in return for working for us and receiving payment, you\'ll gain knowledge of how to create Atlantean artifacts and benefit from the mana-rich environment in the city to fix your Ancestor Stone," Daniel said, emphasizing the fairness of the deal.

"You\'ll have exclusive access to knowledge from us, receive payment from me as you improve your skills with that knowledge, and benefit from the mana-rich environment where I\'ll soon be starting a project. You can also use the rich mana to fix your Ancestor Stone. In return, I\'ll have a group of skilled workers who will be like any other employees, receiving payment for their work," he continued.

"Does that sound fair to you?" Daniel asked, highlighting the term \'fair.\'

Hargrim felt a cold sweat, realizing that Daniel was confronting him directly, making him feel selfish and ungrateful. However, he could not change the ancestral law.

"I know this may seem selfish, but that\'s the best I can offer you. The ancestral law cannot be changed. If this will satisfy you, we will work for you for free," Hargrim offered.

"Stop right there, Mr. Hargrim. I\'m not a slaver, and even slaves receive payment in the form of food to sustain themselves. Unfair payment will only lead to more problems. Employees will become burnt out and dissatisfied, affecting the quality of our products and increasing employee turnover. Doing so could cost me more than I would gain," Daniel explained.

"Worse still, unsatisfied employees might sabotage my company or leak key information to my competitors," he added.

"We won\'t do such a thing!" Hargrim retorted.

"Why are you so sure? Can you speak for every dwarf? Can you take responsibility if something goes wrong?" Daniel shot back with reason.

"I can use my life to vouch for it," Hargrim said with determination.

"Your life? What do I get from taking your life? In case you forget, I\'m running a business and a city here, not a gallows," Daniel shot back, leaving Hargrim unable to come up with a response.

Seeing Hargrim was about to lose it, Daniel knew that this was as far as he could push him. Any more and he would burst, which would be counterproductive.

"How about this? Let\'s do a gambling contract. I\'ll pay you guys to work for us with lucrative compensation, learn from us about Atlantean Artifact creation, and let you use our mana-enriched environment to fix your Ancestral stone too. On two conditions," Daniel paused, showing two fingers.

"First, you don\'t leak this knowledge to a third party. Second, you don\'t use this knowledge for the gain of the dwarven, such as using our steel forging method for your smithy or the exclusive technique for creating Atlantean artifacts to make your own artifact for use in the dwarven community or privately.

Failing to do so, you\'ll have to share the knowledge inside the Ancestral Stone with us," Daniel offered, looking directly into Hargrim\'s eyes.

Hargrim was stunned at the condition, but he knew what Daniel was getting at. He only wanted them as skilled labor and didn\'t want them to make use of his technology, similar to what they did to Daniel, as they didn\'t want to share the knowledge in the Ancestral stone. Therefore, Daniel didn\'t want them to benefit from Atlantean Artifact creation knowledge either.

Hargrim knew that this was a trap, with a very high chance that they would fail. The dwarves were a stubborn bunch and craftsmen by blood, and they were most likely to try to create artifacts for their own use.

The point is that even though they know this is a trap, they don\'t have a choice but to jump into it. They specifically came here to fix the problem with their Ancestral Stone, which is why they brought this knife-eared elf to talk with Envy in the first place.

Seeing Hargrim hesitate, Daniel offered a compromise

"I\'ll give you a week to decide, Mr. Hargrim. I understand this is a significant decision requiring input from your people. This is my final offer. If you decline, you\'ll need to find a solution for your Ancestral Stone independently."

Hargrim nodded, clearly contemplating the proposal.

Seeing Hargrim\'s reluctance, Daniel had an idea. Since many of his actualized artifact cards were far superior to modern-day magical artifacts, having Hargrim witness the wonders of his base might help him come to a favorable decision.

With this thought in mind, Daniel turned toward the elf queen.

"Since we seem to be on the same page, Your Majesty, would you like to join Lady Envy and me on a tour of your people\'s new workspace?" he suggested to the elf queen. Turning to the reluctant dwarf, he added,

"Mr. Goldgrip, your presence would be appreciated. A little exploration never hurt anyone."

Hargrim, realizing Daniel\'s intentions, scoffed. "Fine, I suppose I have nothing better to do," he grumbled, feigning indifference.

— Hargrim POV —

Hmph! I know what you\'re trying to do. I\'ve lived more than 350 years. I knew about the Curtained World long before you were born. I\'ve witnessed many wonders and surprising events. Do you think your base will impress me?

Dream on!

And now, I\'ve arrived at this lad\'s so-called base. There\'s nothing impressive—just a parking lot, some guard posts, and some soldiers in power armor patrolling the area. Do you think using power-armored soldiers will impress me? Dream on!

Heh... The base itself must be that big building that looks like a warehouse. Hmm... disguising it as a warehouse? Not impressive! And now the lad leads us into a warehouse.

Wait... why are there so many goods and materials here?

Hargrim\'s eyes then noticed a pile of black-luster metal on the ground and a section of the high shelf filled with the same metal.

Isn\'t this warehouse supposed to be a disguise? Why are there so many goods and cargo here? Wait... isn\'t that adamantine? That entire part of the warehouse contains only adamantine! Is this lad crazy?

Isn\'t adamantine supposed to be kept safer than lying around like this?

Ohhhh, I see what you did there, lad. You deliberately moved that adamantine from your secure vault to lie around like this to impress me with your wealth! That\'s not bad... but your petty trick has been exposed by me! HAHAHAHA!!

Hmm... that lad nearly got me there. He\'s good, but still an amateur. Huhuhuhu,

The lad then led the group to a large space with some big consoles on the side at the center of the warehouse, introducing how his base worked. Whatever, no matter what, I\'m not impressed.

Wait… the ground is moving? Is it going down?

Oh? What\'s this? An elevator—a large one that could support several tanks, trucks, and heavy machinery. I see... the real base is underground. Hmph, but that was to be expected.

Still, not impressive.

Wait… how long is this elevator ride? It should be more than 20-30 meters by now. How much longer do I need to wait?

At that moment, light shone through the structure, making it hard for me to keep my eyes open, but just a little. My eyes can adapt.

Wait, that frame… that should be made of Atlantean steel, isn\'t it? It\'s supporting the ground above and the entire base below. And those thousands of drones and metal scarabs are working nonstop. Wait… that black liquid metal they\'re injecting into the frame, isn\'t that adamantine?

The lad uses adamantine as a supporting material for his base!? How wasteful can he be!? Didn\'t his parents teach him about frugality!? No! The lad is an orphan. The one who should have taught him is Envy!

That hag! Why didn\'t she teach him!?

"Mr. Goldgrip, I don\'t know why, but I think you\'re thinking something rude about me, aren\'t you?" The hag spoke. Shit… I got too careless. This hag will skin me alive if she knows what I\'m thinking.

"What are you talking about!?" Hmph! Shamelessness is a necessity in the political field. If I say no, then it\'s a no.

Wait… did I just enter a sci-fi movie setting? Those futuristic bases, hangars, advanced aircraft, machinery, and the landscape of an entire futuristic city. What is that colossal tree doing there atop a skyscraper?

"Ancestor\'s beard… what in the world…" Is… is… this lad specially prepared all of this to impress me!? Hmp! You put in some effort, but I\'m still not impressed!

"Welcome to the Atlanteus base, everyone. We will return to this level later, but for now, we need to go deeper to see where the workplace of the elven people is," that lad said to the elven queen.