"So, your father is the General currently at Camp Waterford?" Daz asked Dorian.

He thought back to what he had seen on Greg's status page and he couldn't help but think that maybe his luck stat had a hand in what had transpired, but then again, he figured that such a possibility would have been pretty absurd.

Greg Miller's Status Basic Information Name: Greg Miller Species: Human Age: 52 Sex: Male Class: Assault Charger Affinity: Good Description A nearly retired General of the American Army who had requested to be posted at Camp Waterford to teach new recruits in his final year of service. He is a divorced man and used to live with his son whom he dearly cherishes, Dorian Elkwood. Now the Lord of Camp Waterford, his goal is to ensure the safety of others and to find his son. Energies Lifeforce: 2,000/2,000 Stamina: 2,500/2,500 Stats Accuracy: 60(72) Dexterity: 60(72) Strength: 60(72) Charisma: 50 Endurance: 50

Four things were of note. The first was another unfamiliar class to Daz. After having inspected it, he saw that it was purely based around an assault rifle as the core, so after taking note of the skills the General had, Daz was able to evaluate that he wasn't a threat.

This was also due to the fact that Greg had barely any stats when compared to Daz, the second point. Greg clearly hadn't impressed any Gods or accomplished any great merits.

The third point was that the General was good, but not lawful good, so Daz figured he'd be able to blackmail him with little to no issue.

The final point and the nail in the General's coffin was that he cared about his son greatly, who just so happened to be in Daz's care.

Daz looked at Dorian while his mind thought of all the possible ways he could use the man to somehow peacefully get the military base under his complete control. Daz was dead set on getting the military base first before he even dared to put his sights on the large city of Waterford as a whole.

"..M-My father?" Dorian stumbled over his words. He was very shocked by what Daz had just said.

True, he was going to the military base today and had returned successfully with weapons and vehicles, so he had definitely interacted with Dorian's father, the General, but how did Daz know that he was General Miller's son?

In the first place, they had different names since Dorian took his mother's name upon her death to honour her. Dorian could only look at Daz in awe as a feeling of worship and dread built up within him. Having the ability to know what Daz knew could be considered both a blessing and a curse.

"Right, your father. He's the General at Camp Waterford, right? I thought I'd let you know that he's fine and that I used my connection to you to get the supplies you saw earlier," Daz claimed with a passive expression.

"W-Why are you telling me this?" Dorian was a bit confused. Surely Daz could have just kept that secret and not told him about his deals with Dorian's own father.

"I trust you, Dorian. It would feel weird if you somehow found out that I used you to benefit myself from exploiting your connection to your father. I thought it'd be the right thing to do to just tell you directly. You don't mind, do you?" Daz said with a genuine tone of concern in voice.

Dorian was shocked. "You did it for the base, not for yourself, right? I never had the best relationship with my dad anyway, so I don't mind. Thank you for trusting me, Daz, but I really don't mind."

'Too easy,' Daz sneered inwardly. 'You've got your work cut out for you, Greg. Your son is firmly wrapped around my finger. Honesty truly is the best way to gain someone's trust... though I'm not exactly being honest, hahaha.'

"Thank you, Dorian. That's lifted a weight off my shoulders," Daz expressed with a relieved sigh.

"No problem... by the way... d-did my father say anything about me?" Dorian had a worried look on his face that spoke volumes more than his words did.

Daz nodded lightly and smiled. "He was happy to hear that you were safe and he asked me to let you know that he'd welcome you in Camp Waterford should you choose to go there."

'This should be the final barrier. If he declines, then Camp Waterford is as good as mine,' Daz happily thought, clearly quite expectant of Dorian's response.

A thoughtful and unsure expression filled Dorian's face. He slowly looked down at his arm and a pained look crossed his face.

"What's wrong? Is your arm hurting?" Daz asked with concern.

"No," shaking his head, Dorian replied. "I can't see him now, even if I wanted to. Not with this arm. Haha... besides, you've been kind to me, Daz... I'd like to stay here at Fort Skip, that is, if you'd let a cripple like me stick around."

A wide grin spread across Daz's plain face. "Of course you're welcome here! And don't worry about that arm of yours. I'm sure it won't be long before we're able to fix it up."

"T-Thank you," Doran replied with a small voice.

Daz shortly left and no one but Dorian heard the additional reason he gave for staying put. "I can't possibly leave when Sarah is here..."

Daz went to find Crusher and asked her about the mines that he had purchased. As it turned out, only three people volunteered to go work there as a day job, which made Daz frown. 'Is it because there's no incentive? System, is there some sort of base upgrade that will let my Citizens get paid for work or to allow them to trade their merit points?'

Confirmed. Desired base upgrades exist. [Basic Citizen Wage System] Price 50,000 (12,500) merit points and 10,000 (2,500) Base Points. [Basic Merit Trading system (Base Edition)] Price 200,000 (50,000) merit points and 40,000 (10,000) base points.

Daz's eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets. This was a very expensive price considering the resources Daz had access to at this moment.

It made sense considering how one was a one-way transaction for completing a single task while the other was a much broader option for exchanging merit points. Daz could only sigh and keep in mind that both of these upgrades were definitely needed for his base.