Ed's finger quickly Alienation into a twig and began to write and draw on the ground:
"I hope you can join my information exchange network, so that when the Soul Returner trade privately, changes to their account information can be directly synchronized to your contract through my cloud, thus enabling what is known as online trading."
"Convenient, safe, fast—it's all advantages."
"Um..."
Seraphina fell into a brief moment of thought. It did sound like an interesting proposal. All she had to do was join this so-called network and grant some access to modify contracts, and she could sit at home and watch her money flow to and fro in the form of information rather than physical goods...
Interesting, very interesting!
"That sounds good, but if your plan succeeds, will my existence and that of my bank become meaningless?"
Seraphina quickly considered the opposite of what she thought. For a dragon, ignoring her existence would be tantamount to an insult. If Ed's online trading plan completely squeezed her business out of the market, the bank teller, who had only been in her position for three days, would obviously not be happy.
Ed shook his head confidently upon hearing this:
"On the contrary, Your Excellency Seraphina."
He said this:
"That's the difference between the internet and a local area network. Well, you might not understand what I mean, but basically, this information exchange network of mine is only for use by our own people. If it involves external transactions or large-scale transactions with outsiders, such as merchants passing through here, we still need to come here to withdraw the numbers in those contracts."
Seeing that Seraphina remained silent, Ed continued:
"In other words, from now on, only truly large transactions will require your intervention for fulfillment and oversight; otherwise, everyone will conduct sincere transactions with you as their witness."
This summary made Seraphina's breathing quicken slightly.
They only display their power in important events; otherwise, they exist merely as rules and witnesses. Isn't this what only a true adult dragon can do?
I never realized I'd grown to this extent...
happy.
"Okay, I agree."
Seraphina smiled contentedly.
What should I do?
"It's very simple."
Ed smiled and reached for the half-crown on his head.
"No, no, please don't!"
Ignoring the Little Green's wailing in his mind, Ed picked the best-growing tender leaf and handed it to Seraphina:
"Just accept its existence."
The Red Dragon girl took the leaf with some skepticism, watching as the leaf, which didn't seem to be made of pure matter, merged into her body.
Ed closed his eyes and sensed it for a moment, then showed a somewhat embarrassed expression.
At the same time, Seraphina seemed to sense something was amiss.
"Um... could you please grant me access permissions?"
"What?"
"What I mean is, please allow the power represented by that leaf to be integrated into your contractual abilities, and to gain the right to modify the contract's terms to a certain extent."
Ed was indeed somewhat embarrassed at this moment. This wasn't the first time he had performed this kind of leaf implantation, but initially he did it for players who didn't even have a level, then he did it for the elderly Kaping, and Duolin, whose strength was close to his own. These people all had one thing in common: their strength was significantly weaker than Ed's or not much different.
His implantation of leaves to interfere with the field of vision (game panel), share the field of vision, or even call out in the brain can all be seen as a kind of erosion of the target's authority, but it is a benign erosion.
Ed had never encountered resistance on the level of will before, which made him think that his ability could ignore the opponent's level and rank. But it wasn't until he infused this leaf into Seraphina's spirit that he truly understood that the dragon race was indeed as powerful in all aspects as the legends said.
In real-world terms, it's like Ed successfully installed the auxiliary software he used to synchronize and modify information, but it was blocked by the phone's security system, which, while sending an alert to the owner, kept asking if the software had the necessary permissions...
"Oh, I see. Although you have many extraordinary abilities, your raw strength is still too weak."
With these thoughts in mind, Ed suddenly felt that Seraphina was like a young person who had made up her mind and then clicked "Ignore the risks and continue installing."
"It's necessary to clarify that I'm a mechanic-driven player, not a stat-driven player, and I'm also a late-game powerhouse..."
After Ed offered a feeble rebuttal, a small door appeared on the impenetrable firewall in Seraphina's mind.
His leaves transformed into tendrils of thought, extending along the permissions ceded by Seraphina and precisely accessing the permissions within Seraphina's contractual domain.
But that's all.
Aside from the aforementioned permissions, Seraphina is essentially a cautious person who has installed software in a hidden space or a box system. Ed cannot modify her filters or share her field of vision; at most, he can only locate her and communicate with her.
But that was enough. Back when facing Seraphina, Ed had a clear understanding of his own strength on paper. He could use his three special abilities to perform many fancy maneuvers that left the natives speechless, but when facing truly powerful individuals, all he could say was...
It's not as good as a spray of Seraphina.
As for the question of strength, Ed had already thought about it. He wasn't quite clear about the power structure in this world, so this was a good opportunity to ask Seraphina.
Your eyes tell me what you want from me.
The girl frowned slightly as she looked at Ed.
Is it really that obvious?
Ed felt he was just trying to get some benefits, no, he should say he was trying to get some benefits from the dragon. The other party's subconscious wariness was indeed a bit disheartening.
Although I enjoy getting a little bit of intellectual advantage, I'm a staunch supporter of paid knowledge. Every time I ask Seraphina a question, I exchange it for other knowledge of equal value, including but not limited to " Twenty Common Home-Style Dishes," " How to Observe a Tree," " Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance," and so on...
However, looking into her eyes and recalling his earlier promise regarding large-scale commodity transactions between the factions, Ed felt it was time to explain the concept of tariffs to Seraphina...
"So that's how it is, there's even such a way to make money..."
Seraphina thoughtfully rubbed her chin, quietly noting down the new information on a dragon scale before looking at Ed:
"Speak, what do you want to ask?"