"What are you scheming???"

Shane could vividly recall how the Lesser Starlet Fox had toyed around with him when they had been inside the Starlight-river dimension.

As such, he couldn't help but be suspicious about the small fox's behavior.

However, even after eyeing it for some time, Shane couldn't detect anything off.

At most, its overly intimate attitude towards him was weird and the Old Emperor couldn't help but blurt in an astonished voice.

"Did you, by chance, rescue the Lesser Starlet Fox? If that's the case, does your injury stem from saving it too?"

Shane was not sure how to respond, but he sensed that providing a half-cooked story would only lead to more doubts and questions. Thus, it was better to give the Old Emperor the complete and unedited version of his story.

As such, once he felt that it was possible to speak without his wound opening again, Shane explained everything that had happened to him after he and Princess Ilya had parted ways.

It didn't take him longer than 10 minutes but in those few minutes, he covered every little detail he could remember, right from the fact that the Lesser Starlet fox had toyed with him up to the fact that he had to wait several weeks for it to reappear.

When he finished summarizing his adventure and mentioned that he had to seal the surrounding space, which was a necessary means to catch the Lesser Starlet Fox, the Old Emperor couldn't help but add.

"After you sealed the surrounding space, a Peak-Awakened stage beast used this opportunity to attack the Lesser Starlet fox and you intervened, right?"

Shane just nodded his head, knowing that the last part was not difficult to comprehend as he detailed the Air chanter Panther's attacks and what followed later.

"The Lesser Starlet Fox probably thought that you had started to play with it when you sealed the surrounding space...but to think that an Air chanter panther attacked you...It's fortunate that you tamed a Horned Darkness snake, otherwise, both you and the Lesser Starlet Fox would have been dead by now!"

The latter part was obvious and Shane couldn't help but thank Umbra once again as the Old Emperor suddenly said

"I know this question might sound rude because it concerns your personal status, or rather skills...yet, I can't help but ask! How is it possible that you can use your skill on an unconscious beast you haven't tamed? The system is quite strict with permissions and so on! Furthermore, how can the Horned Darkness snake use the same skill without consulting you? Is it possible to transfer the skill's authorization rights to your tamed beasts?"

Shane felt nice to talk with the Old Emperor again because he was at least as eager to learn new things as he was.

It might have been disappointing to hear that the human ambassador was a disgrace to the human race, and had destroyed their image before it had even formed.

Yet, somehow both Shane and Kalur didn't bother about this right now. They were not conversing with each other as members of a different race right now but two individuals that were eager to share knowledge and wisdom, learn, and explain new things to each other.

Kalur knew much more than Shane, but right now he could explain a few things.

However, instead of telling the Old Emperor everything about Hidden Paradise, Shane thought that it would be better to say that he had a small dimension within him. Dimensions had a set size and enlarging those was extremely expensive.

The price was even more expensive than for miniature worlds which were already expensive to begin with!

The reason for Shane to avoid talking about the Hidden Paradise was that he didn't want Kalur to know that he had brought 8 more humans to Masua without their knowledge or prior consent.

It was not like he didn't want to tell the truth, but the Hidden Paradise was also something not many individuals in basic races could afford.

Obviously, there were a few, but in most cases, they wouldn't be able to use the self-earned discount in order to awaken the mana heart of the world they harbored.

If the discounted price for [self-earned + Apprentice stage] was 5 million gold coins already, Shane couldn't even estimate how other races could accumulate such a fortune.

There was the possibility that they tried to use the same tactic as Shane did, by using his own fortune to create an Artisan hall, nurture his own farmers, craftsmen, and all kinds of other non-combatant occupations to become his working force.

From the looks of it, this counted as [self-earned] income by the system and Shane knew that this tactic was the best he could have ever employed.

There was also the possibility that the [self-earned] tag wouldn't vanish because he used his world as the production location for everything his small artisan group had produced until now, however, that was not really important.

Even if the [self-earned] tag would vanish in the future, with enough time, his artisan group would be nurtured and grown to a height that he wouldn't have to rely on discounts anymore!

It might take a few years, decades, or maybe even a century, but Shane had more than enough time! Difficulties would only help him and the others grow stronger!

As long as one never gives up and continues to strive forward, it would be fine and Shane tried to teach this mindset to everyone he would accept as a member in his artisan group.

Talia and the others were just the beginning, but the foundation was the most important to start something properly!

At least, that was what Shane believed!

After he had explained to Kalur some things about the dimension he had within himself, Shane couldn't help but feel guilty.

It was not like the Elus-race or more likely the Old Emperor didn't have any secrets of their own, but Shane didn't want to lie to someone who was eager to learn more.

He felt wrong doing so because he had given partially wrong information to Old Emperor Kalur right now!

As such, he couldn't help but say

"I'm sorry Kalur...I lied right now...I don't have a Dimension within me, but it's a little bit difficult to explain without having an assurance that you won't spread the information about me...

Old Emperor Kalur was astonished to hear that Shane had lied to him, but more so was the fact that Shane was being honest about it, without trying to hide the fact that his situation was something more special than owning a dimension.

Being in possession of a dimension would already be an astonishing feat, but Shane indirectly told him that his situation was even more unique.

Instead of being angry or disappointed with Shane, Old Emperor Kalur was glad that Shane didn't continue to lie to him.

It was clever to provide an unknown race with partially wrong information if it had something to do with a grand secret, and the fact that Shane didn't want to lie to him despite knowing that the Elus-race was about to cancel signing the treaty and trading agreement with the human race showed how much Shane valued Old Emperor Kalur!

At least, that was how Kalur interpreted Shane's honesty which caused him to ask

"What if I were to say that we will sign a treaty and trading agreement as long as you're our assigned ambassador?"

The Old Emperor was sure that Shane would give in to this offer, mainly because the price list in the already written agreement was much higher than it should have been.

Shane was also aware of the value of such an offer, but he just shook his head

"I don't care about the agreement right now! This is my personal secret and it shouldn't have any influence on whether the Elus race signs an agreement with the human race or not!"

Hearing this made Kalur happier than it should have, because the young man in front of him noticed his worth and that it was something concerning his personal matters.

There was nothing wrong with accepting Kalur's offer because this small offer made a difference of several tens of thousand Diamond coins, if not more!

Yet this would prove to every race that one could easily bribe the human race which was bad for their reputation.

"So...not even a treaty would be enough? You won't reveal your secret, no matter what?"

Kalur became more and more interested in Shane, and he couldn't hide this fact anymore.

The Empress's [Foresight] ability might have played a greater role for the Elus-race to ponder whether or not they should give the human race their attention, but that had changed substantially since they had met Shane.

Shane was an anomaly and was not someone to be taken lightly!

"A treaty? What can I do with that? I think you know what it would take for me to reveal my secret!"

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