"If the economy is the battleground, what is the fastest way to acquire the most Victory Marks?" K'Vash-9 demanded, his voice a low, eager rumble.
Joshua leaned back, the last residual exhaustion from the Audit threat finally giving way to calculated strategy. The warrior saw the economy as a conflict. A true warrior wouldn't settle for the slow grind of manual labor—that was the work of drones. He needed an arena where strategy, risk, and decisive action determined the outcome.
"We will not utilize your physical skills for Victory Marks, K'Vash-9," Joshua stated firmly.
The warrior's four eyes narrowed, radiating sudden disappointment. "The slow acquisition of currency is for peasants. My T-Rank requires rapid accumulation."
"Precisely," Joshua countered, letting the Rapid Rapport skill guide his language. "Physical combat is short-term resource gathering. You kill one beast, you get one hide. We are seeking control over the entire resource network. We are seeking the ultimate Strategic Conflict Zone."
Joshua opened a new window on his desktop, displaying a complex, chaotic graph of the global stock market. It was a dizzying display of green and red lines spiking up and down, labeled with acronyms like NASDAQ and S&P 500.
"This," Joshua announced, gesturing to the volatile screen, "is the Terran Finance Market. It is not a physical battlefield; it is the arena where empires are lost and won every micro-second. It is pure, high-level, verifiable strategy."
K'Vash-9 stared at the screen, his massive, ridged head tilting in fascination.
"The green lines represent armies marching forward—Victory. The red lines represent casualties—Defeat," Joshua explained, simplifying the core concept of investment risk and return into military terms. "Your goal is not to trade your hours for marks. Your goal is to use your existing marks to command the movements of the green armies, forcing them to capture territory for you while you are elsewhere."
"I command armies without drawing a blade?" the warrior asked.
"You command capital—the highest-tier resource of Terran warfare," Joshua affirmed. "The objective is to identify vulnerable territories, deploy your capital (your initial Victory Marks), and dominate the conflict. It is pure strategy. It is the ultimate T-Rank engagement."
The warrior slowly reached out a scaled finger and traced the frantic movements of the market on the monitor. Joshua could almost hear the click of his strategic mind engaging.
"And what is the entry requirement for this Conflict Zone?" K'Vash-9 demanded. "How much capital is required for the first deployment?"
"You need an established Terran bank account and a brokerage account," Joshua explained. "And you need initial capital—let's say, 1,000 dollars—to be taken seriously."
"I have nothing," K'Vash-9 stated flatly. "The Collective provided me only with the clothes on my back and the paperwork for this useless office."
[CLIENT BARRIER DETECTED: ACCESS TO STARTING CAPITAL (100% DEPENDENCY ON TERRAN SUBSIDIES). CRITICAL.]
Joshua felt the unwelcome pressure of a new crisis. The warrior had the motivation, but not the means. Normal clients would get a small subsidy loan, but 1,000 dollars would take months to save on a resettlement budget. K'Vash-9 would lose interest—or worse, attempt a physical takeover of a small business—long before then.
I need a High-Value Bridge Deed, Joshua realized. He needed to find K'Vash-9 1,000 dollars in a way that satisfied the warrior's sense of honor and provided a massive, immediate injection of SP.
"K'Vash-9," Joshua said, his mind already calculating the quickest path to 1,000 dollars that would satisfy the System. "We will acquire your first Victory Marks through a demonstration of your strategic skills. A test of honor that also pays well."
Joshua is now tasked with finding a temporary, high-paying, one-time job for K'Vash-9 that can earn him $1,000 instantly, which should reward a significant amount of SP.