Damon's Ascension-Chapter 139: The Great Reshuffle Of Humanity 9

The room had quieted into something deeper than silence, it was just pure focus now. Even the most prideful delegates were scribbling notes, their aides furiously recording the presentation in full.

Damon didn’t slow down for them though.

"This next segment deals with the logistics of managing economic power. Specifically: who owns what, who gets to sell what, and how we control value from leaking out into the void."

The screen flickered, revealing three new panels with bold titles:

1. Resource Nationalization

2. Trade Licensing Protocol

3. Galactic Tariff Integration System (GTIS)

Damon began with the first.

"Let’s talk Resource Nationalization."

He tapped a new overlay that showed a spinning globe of Earth, zooming in on several familiar locations: South Africa’s mineral zones, Siberian gas fields, the Amazon basin, the Tibetan plateau, and the newly developed Essence instances in parts of North America, Eastern Europe, and West Africa.

"Essence-rich instances and resources-adjacent zones will soon become the most valuable land on this planet. Which means, if we don’t have unified rules, you’ll all fight each other for control and not just in terms of votes."

He looked around evenly.

"So, here’s the proposal: all Essence-based resources, meaning Chaos Essence from the Chaos Realm, Worldly Essence related materials, and any excavated items from Local Essence AR instances are recognized as dual-sovereign property, meaning they belong both to your nation and to the human race."

A murmur immediately followed, which Damon cut short.

"You mine it? You keep it. But ten percent is taxed and another ten percent must be reported to the embassy for recordkeeping and valuation purposes. Beyond that, it’s yours."

He gave a small nod. "This structure ensures transparency, prevents speculation wars, and locks value inside our own ecosystem. You want to trade it off-world? You apply for a license."

He turned to the second tab.

[Trade Licensing Protocol – Earth Integration Guidelines]

"All galactic trading of essence-based goods, whether from AR instances, Chaos Realms, or privately owned excavation guilds, must go through an officially sanctioned channel. That channel is called the Planetary Trade Axis."

A visual popped up, showing something like a futuristic customs network with satellites, interstellar relays, embassy verification drones, and a cloud-based commerce tracking system.

Damon spoke plainly. "This system links each licensed trader to our national treasury in real time, so Essence Coin income, Chaos Essence volume, and even performance metrics can be monitored."

President Rourke raised a brow. "Sounds like surveillance."

Damon didn’t blink. "It’s economic survival. You either know who’s hoarding what, or one day a rogue faction sells an Essence-tier weapon to a galactic terrorist and Earth gets blamed."

That quieted things again.

He moved to the third panel.

[Galactic Tariff Integration System (GTIS)]

"This one’s simpler. When Earth starts exporting or importing with other races, the IUAS mandates tariffs based on species maturity."

Damon gestured to the chart, and an explanation unfolded:

- Top-tier races (like the Dragons) pay 2% on imports.

- Mid-tier races pay 5%.

- Emerging races—which includes humanity—pay 8%.

- However, all tariffs paid by Earth were credited back to the Human Treasury for reinvestment.

President Liang frowned slightly. "So... we’re taxed more, but it’s returned?"

Damon nodded. "Exactly. The IUAS sees it as a stabilization mechanism. The more we trade, the more we generate, and the more we get back to support infrastructure, awakening efforts, or tech growth."

He gave a breath before stating the next part plainly.

"But to benefit from this, you have to join the Economic Unity Treaty. Otherwise, your tariffs go to the IUAS directly and you get none of it back."

The hint wasn’t subtle.

President Cruz scowled, but didn’t speak. Others looked down at their datapads, already comparing budget forecasts.

Damon continued. "And yes, we’ll establish embassies on other races’ territories in the future to reduce our outbound tariffs. That’s a long-term strategy, and this board..."

He gestured to the delegates "...will vote on those expansions yearly."

Then, he leaned on the podium slightly.

"We can win this race to the top and not just because we’re the strongest in talent, but because we’re the greediest as well. If we unite our resources, enforce transparency, and open our economy with the right safeguards, we can build a foundation strong enough to stand on for generations."

He tapped the screen again.

[Next Subtopic: Awakener Assignments, Enforcer Rotation, and Chaos Realm Deployment Quotas.]

He exhaled once, then looked across the room.

"Now let’s talk about labor."

Damon let the word settle.

Labor.

It wasn’t the most glamorous topic. It certainly didn’t provoke fire like sovereignty or silence a room like economy, but labor was where most real power changed hands and in the age of Essence instances, labor meant one thing: deployment.

"This is the operational core of our future. With every Essence instance cleared, every unit of Chaos Essence mined, every galactic treaty enforced,it all comes down to who we send, how often, and under what terms." Damon began, his voice firm.

He raised a finger.

"First, Ability Users. You’re not just rare, you’re vital. Your abilities can easily complete essence instances, rewrite the inevitable outcome of failure in majority Chaos Realm explorations, or bring down city-sized threats. Because of this, the IUAS classifies all ability users of every species as national-grade assets."

A few presidents glanced back at their awakened bodyguards while one or two muttered something into their comms.

The atmosphere changed slightly but Damon continued.

"All awakened humans will be required to register with the Planetary Embassy within 30 days of receiving their ability, unless exempt by treaty and this is not optional. If they are to act outside the registry, they must apply as sovereign freelancers, under oath, with insurance paid to the Human Treasury."

He tapped the air and a new chart popped up:

[Awakener Pathways]

National Defender Track Chaos Miner Track Galactic Enforcer Track Private Sector Contracted Combatant Freelance Explorer (License Required)

"These are the legal routes. Each Ability User can choose a path, but quotas will be assigned per nation to ensure fair contribution."

President Greaves raised her hand. "What if our Ability Users decline all five?"

"They won’t be able to legally access Tier 2 Essence Instances or Essence Realm portals. Their bodies will be locked out of any IUAS related service or feature." Damon replied.

A few startled murmurs followed.

President Cruz sneered slightly. "What if they go rogue?"

"Then they’ll be hunted under Galactic Law. By us, or worse, by someone from another race who doesn’t care if they survive the retrieval. Though its more likely they will capture the fellow as a slave to either exploit or experiment on to find out why we are special." Damon said plainly.

Damon rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "In fact, I did not think about it before, but its likely that many powers plan to induce humans to defect so that when you are eventually hunted by them, they could achieve the goals they couldn’t legally."

No one spoke for a moment as their hearts went cold. So truly, these tyrannical laws were to protect them? Was it really a goddamn heartless jungle out there?

He turned to the next topic.

"Now, let’s talk about Enforcer Rotation."

The screen shifted again, showing a galactic map peppered with marked regions.

"One of the conditions of becoming the fifth-ranked race was that humanity must contribute personnel to assist with IUAS enforcement operations. That means some of our strongest will be sent out periodically to punish or correct other species who step out of line."

President Liang narrowed his eyes. "So we become a part-time galactic police force?"

"Yes, but it’s paid, protected, and prestigious with assignments that last three to five years. They’re selected randomly from the Ability User registry and approved by my office. Each Enforcer gets hazard pay, equipment subsidies, and long-term influence credits that boost their own national faction." Damon explained.

He turned his eyes to Rourke. "Don’t think of it as conscription. Think of it as positioning your champions on the galactic stage."=

Rourke nodded slowly.

The next slide appeared.

[Chaos Realm Deployment Quotas]

"This is the big one," Damon said.

He zoomed in on a column of data showing Chaos Essence yield and recovery rates across 12 basic Chaos nodes already mapped.

"Each member race of the IUAS is required to contribute a baseline amount of Chaos Essence per year. For us, that amount is 50,000 units and that’s it. Its a flat rate, no percentage, no tiered tax. Just fifty thousand."

He glanced at the room.

"That’s both a blessing and a curse. It means we can’t get extorted... but we also must meet it, with no exceptions. If we fall short, penalties escalate quickly."

President Holtz folded his arms. "How much have the dragons contributed?"

Damon didn’t even look up. "Roughly 400,000 units last year."

Silence.

"Yeah, we have work to do." Damon gave a dry laugh.

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"To meet our quota, each participating nation will be given target contribution amounts based on their ability user population, explorer density, and previous Essence Coin tax performance. But if a nation exceeds their expected share, they’ll receive increased access to Awakening Agents, top-tier Essence zones, and Chaos Realm deployment priority."

President Eloise spoke next. "And if we undershoot?"

Damon shrugged. "You’re docked in the same categories, and if you contribute nothing for over two years, your galactic access is frozen. You’ll still exist... but like I said before, in a sandbox, not a real economy."

The screen changed again, the final note for the labor discussion.

[Sanctioned Institutions – Guilds, Corporations, and Military Branches]

"Any guild, company, or national branch that handles Essence excavation, explorer training, or Chaos deployment must be registered as a Sanctioned Institution. This ensures you get legal protection and ensures you’re paying your due."

He gave the final statement flatly.

"You cannot enter the new age without responsibility as power without structure is how races fall. I don’t care what ideology you believe in, but if you want to keep your sovereignty, start with discipline."

There was a heavy pause in the chamber.

Then Damon folded his hands behind his back.

"Now that you understand how power and labor will be managed, we’ll close the economy section after one final section for investment protocols, awakening agent production quotas, and international subsidy negotiations and essence coin exchange rates between local currencies. After that, we’ll move to culture and religion."

He looked across the room and soddenly smiled.

"Stretch if you need to. We’re not done yet."