"Here we are, hahaha! We are finally here!"
The towering giant wall finally appeared in everyone's eyes, and the man wrapped in a white robe cheered with joy.
Old Luca, who was walking on the Third Ring Road, finally had a relaxed expression on his face.
They traveled for two full days on this trip.
Except for the guy named Black who they met initially, they encountered at least three waves of attackers along the way.
Of course, the next two waves were all small minions. Not only did their weapons have broken weapons, but their morale was low. After being beaten by Tutu for two times, they quickly dispersed and fled.
As for the man wrapped in a white robe following them, he was the one they saved from the last wave of predators.
His name is Hal, and he comes from Luoxia Province. According to him, he is the prince of the Lion Tribe, the successor of the oasis, and believes in the spirit of the sand sea.
And when asked why, as a prince and heir, he traveled thousands of miles to the south of Qingquan City and was captured by a group of villains holding fire sticks, he expressed embarrassment.
"...There are many princes in our kingdom, and we must do something to prove that we have the courage and quality to govern the kingdom."
A young diplomat asked curiously.
"for example?"
Hal said eloquently.
"For example, if you bring something back that is not found in the desert, this is our tradition. Whoever brings back the most expensive thing will be qualified to become a candidate to inherit the throne."
asked another older diplomat.
"So have you found it?"
Hal's expression was slightly embarrassed, and he coughed slightly.
"...Didn't I just arrive in Boulder City? Believe me, I will definitely find it."
Not to mention finding anything valuable, his two guards and the dinars he carried were all gone.
If he hadn't met this group of kind people, he might have been buried in a frying pan.
Just like the unlucky guy in the same cage with him.
He even began to regret that he did not go south to Jinchuan Province with his brother, but went to the Big Rock City instead.
The folk customs here were tougher than he imagined. They were completely different from the endless sea of sand. There were high-rise buildings everywhere, and every window seemed to have a gun hidden in it.
The two diplomats following Luca looked at each other.
As survivors living in the Qingquan City area, the concept of a throne and a prince is completely unfamiliar to them.
If managers are compared to kings, then this guy... is probably the son of the manager of the Lion Kingdom?
Thinking of this, everyone couldn't help but feel a little envious on their faces.
I really hope their managers can have more children...
"Dear sir, do you need any escort?" Hal looked at Luca who had been silent and said respectfully.
His intuition told him that this old man should have the highest status among everyone here.
Luka looked at him strangely, wondering where this guy got his confidence.
However, Luka finally left the young man with some self-esteem and spoke concisely.
"No need, what's wrong?"
Hal had an embarrassed expression on his face, hesitated for a moment, and finally spoke.
"My money has been taken away and I have nowhere to go...can you give me a job?"
Luca asked.
"what will you do?"
"I can make tea, play the piano, write poetry, and draw, and of course... shooting. I can prove myself that as long as you give me a revolver or rifle, I can hit a plastic bottle 100 meters away.
!”
Hal said confidently, but Brother Dog and Brother Dagger walking nearby couldn't help laughing.
A plastic bottle 100 meters away is fine.
With that revolver's hit rate, it's pretty good if it can hit someone from a hundred meters away.
"If we don't help him, he may not even be able to pay the city tax."
An older diplomat lowered his voice and whispered next to Luka.
"If he can really play the piano and draw, his status should be high...it's not a bad thing to help him."
This is true.
Although the new alliance has not yet established diplomatic relations with the survivor forces in other provinces, this will happen sooner or later.
There's nothing wrong with walking outside often and making two more friends.
Luka nodded, looked at the unfortunate young man and said.
"I happen to be short of someone to do book work, so you should follow me first."
Hal said overjoyed.
"Thank you so much! By the way, I also know twelve artistic fonts."
Luka coughed lightly.
"That's not necessary, as long as you can write things neatly."
The group continued to move forward and soon arrived at the foot of the towering giant wall.
The plaque of the Far Wind Hotel is hung on the building opposite the giant gate. All kinds of merchants and tourists are walking back and forth in the square in front of the gate. Occasionally, you can see prosthetic bodies modified from metal or silicone, or machines with antennas inserted into the Tianling Cover.
Poor people in scanty clothing stood by the roadside, holding wooden signs, waiting for work to come to them.
The polarization of living standards remains the same here year after year.
Hal stretched his neck and looked around excitedly. Everything here was full of freshness to him.
On the other hand, those players who have been here countless times are already accustomed to the people and things here.
"A new mission has been triggered." Looking at the vm on his arm, Lao Bai raised his eyebrows in surprise.
"What mission? Let me take a look." Fang Chang came over.
I saw only one line of words written on the screen.
Lao Bai stared at the task for a while.
"It should be the follow-up mission of the muscular guy named Blake...I've synchronized with the team."
"Tavern? This elder brother Fang is familiar with me." Sha Dian said with a playful smile.
"Boss, when are you going to write a guide to Fengyue? We've been waiting for a long time!" The dog also shouted from the side.
"Guangguangguan, I am a pure group, unlike you old filthy monsters who know art every day."
Looking at the smiling faces of his teammates, Fang Chang rolled his eyes angrily.
Lao Bai didn't laugh at him, he just smiled.
"What should I say? After sending the nP to the destination later, let's go to the Pirate Bay Tavern to inquire about it?"
Fang Chang sighed.
"Do you think this is something you can ask if you walk into a pub and just shout?"
Lao Bai asked curiously.
"Then what do you think we should do?"
After holding his chin and thinking for a moment, Fang Chang's eyes fell on the poor people holding signs beside him, and his eyes moved slightly.
"...Blake lives in the slums. Let's find out where his home is first. Regardless of whether his relatives are alive or not, there are always friends who know him. Through his friends, we should be able to find out who the man named Bit is."
"Is it so troublesome?" Sha Dagger said blankly.
"This game does require some thinking," Lao Bai said with a smile, "Just as Fang Chang said, let's go to the city first."
I paid the city entry tax.
The group of people stored the prohibited explosives and passed through the towering city gate.
Regarding the exoskeletons on their bodies, the militiamen at the city gate didn't say much. After all, in a place like Boulder City, these things were not so rare that they kept staring at them.
Following the manager's instructions, Luka was about to go to the alliance's office in Boulder City. However, as soon as he arrived on the street, he realized that something was wrong with the atmosphere here.
I saw a huge crowd of people at the entrance of the warehouse area, and everything looked dark.
Citizens wearing linen shirts and hyena skin coats gathered together. They looked angry, held wooden signs high in their hands, shouted chaotic but extremely loud slogans, and headed towards the core of the outer city.
“No to unequal trade!”. “Give us our jobs!”
"Get the New Alliance stuff out of Boulder!"
"I want bread! I don't want nutritious cream!"
"Those who cheat on you, get out of the giant wall!"
The noisy arrogance was like a boiling heat wave, and it was as hot as a soldering iron under the bright June sun.
The guards standing at the edge of the crowd looked at loss, and the sticks in their hands were beginning to fail to control the crowd.
Militiamen loyal to the city lord looked on.
As long as it doesn't turn into a shootout, they won't care about these things.
Hal, who came to Boulder City for the first time, stretched his neck excitedly and looked at the surging crowd.
"Are they having a holiday?"
The diplomats on the side had serious expressions.
"...Do you think they are celebrating?"
"That's right... By the way, who are they shouting to get out of?"
Luca glanced at him and ignored him, but looked at the diplomats on the side.
"Let's go faster. It's best not to stay in the street too long."
Everyone nodded and quickened their pace.
Although the players who were following the nP were curious and wanted to get closer to see what was going on, their mission was urgent.
"...It's really strange," Sha Dagger muttered in a low voice, "It wasn't like this the last time we came here."
"I didn't expect that what was supposed to come came anyway." Looking at the surging crowd, Fang Chang said thoughtfully.
"What's coming?" the dog asked curiously.
Fang Chang: "Didn't you see it? They were protesting that the things we sold them were too cheap."
Too cheap?
I don't understand a bit, the dog is confused.
"Ah... we gave them cheap and good things, what do they have to complain about?"
"Under normal circumstances, it is reasonable to exchange 10 nutritional creams for a piece of bread, but now a person suddenly appears and is willing to exchange 1,000 nutritional creams for an oven for baking bread, and at the same time, the business of nutritional creams and bread has changed.
"It's unprofitable." "No matter how cheap the bread is, the cheapest ones are only for those who have leverage. For ordinary survivors, they don't have jobs and can't afford it, and it doesn't help. It's a coincidence that they are happy."
The factories in Dawn City have taken away the jobs of the residents of Boulder City, and recently the city hall in the outer city actually plans to expand the scale of trade with the New Alliance.
The residents of the outer cities, who were already living on the edge of the poverty line, completely exploded.
but……
Is the root of the problem really because the new alliance's business is too cheap?
The essence of the crisis is that wealth is concentrated in the hands of a few people. Once currency is no longer in circulation, it loses its role in the market.
The residents of Boulder City have no chips to consume, factories reduce production, jobs decrease, and residents become poorer, ultimately entering a lose-lose cycle.
The massive input from external industries has only accelerated this process.
The simplest way is nothing more than foreign colonization.
Whether it is economic colonization or military colonization, as long as the surplus business can be continuously sold to small and medium-sized survivor settlements such as Beit Street and Brown Farm, and industrial raw materials can be exchanged from them, the original chain can continue.
Keep it up.
However, it is a pity that the New Alliance is not only unwilling to be a colony of Boulder City, but has even liberated some of the survivors of Boulder City's economic colonization and exported industry to their market.
Boulder's economic crisis began a long time ago.
It's just that in the wasteland, the economic crisis is not worth mentioning in front of the survival crisis, so no one has ever realized it, and there is no time to care about it.
The nobles in the inner city didn't care about the intrigues of the "providers" in the outer city, and in the eyes of the city lord, except for things that were truly worthy of his concern, everything was ants.
What's more, even though they are trapped in poverty and unemployment, the residents here are still much luckier than the residents of Bate Street and the serfs of Brown Farm a year ago.
Only recently, those poor people finally found someone to vent their anger on.
Thinking of this, Fang Chang couldn't help but have a look of interest in his eyes.
It's not that he's cold-blooded... For a pure player like him, nP is just a piece of data and won't make him sympathize.
But what he didn't expect was that the game's economic system was unexpectedly real.
Not only has the supply and demand relationship been created, but even the production relationship has been restored.
Great.
It seems that we are one step closer to the day of public beta!
A group of people arrived at the office located on the edge of the warehouse district.
When they arrived, they found a large group of people surrounding the door, and several guards standing in front of the crowd to maintain order.
Judging from the chaos at the scene, something bad probably happened just now.
Having received the news of the arrival of the visiting delegation early, Shuyu, who is in charge of office operations, has already greeted them from the door.
"You have arrived safely. I was worried just now whether something might happen to you on the way." Shuyu had a comfortable smile on his face, although the smile looked a little tired.
Obviously, he has been very worried about what happened here these days.
Looking at the garbage, stones on the ground, and the smashed glass, Luka frowned and led everyone through the crowd and walked to Shuyu.
"What's going on here?"
Shuyu followed his line of sight and saw the broken glass scattered on the ground, and couldn't help but have a helpless expression on his face.
"Most of the factories in the industrial zone gave workers a holiday, and the residents who had lost their source of income took to the streets... The city hall sent guards over, but as you can see, there were not just one or two people there.
The guards can take care of it."
"You are not hurt." Luka asked with concern.
"No," Shuyu shook his head, "We have many 'players' living here, and the city hall has sent guards to maintain order. There is not much of a safety problem... But at this critical time, the last
It’s better not to go out casually.”
I'm just afraid that someone will take advantage of this and make some small moves.
For example, shooting suddenly in the crowd.
With the proliferation of weapons in the wasteland, this kind of thing is not surprising at all.
The so-called order is only relative safety. Absolute safety does not exist even in the ideal city, let alone here.
Speaking of this, Shuyu paused for a moment, glanced at the guard next to him, and continued.
"The situation here cannot be explained clearly in a few words. Anyway, let's talk first."
…
After sending the nPs to their destination, the players dispersed and went about their own business.
Lao Bai took the two brothers to the slum outside the giant wall.
Fang Chang took off his equipment, put on casual clothes, and blended into the crowd of demonstrators.
There were some things he cared about and he wanted to investigate.
In my own words, "Participating in this special event might trigger a hidden mission."
As for Old Luka, after expressing condolences to the office staff for the manager, he followed Shuyu to the lounge on the third floor.
The young waitress came over and poured a cup of hot tea for each of them.
Shuyu took a slow sip, and was about to talk about something to lighten his mood, but when he saw Luka sitting there indifferently, he couldn't help but put down the teacup with a wry smile.
After a pause, he spoke.
"Last night, the warehouse in the industrial area caught fire."
"on fire?"
Looking at the surprised Luka, Shuyu nodded.
"Well, the 1,000 tons of Didiwe nutritional paste stored there were burned... That stuff is not resistant to high temperatures, so it was basically destroyed."
1,000 tons of nutritional paste, based on wholesale cost, is worth close to 100,000 to 200,000 chips.
If it is a retail price, 0 will often be added to the wholesale price.
Luka's heart tightened slightly.
"is it serious?"
"The warehouse has purchased insurance and will pay part of it, but it's unclear how much the final compensation will be."
After a pause, Shuyu continued in a serious tone.
"You should have seen it when you entered the city. The demonstrations against us are getting more and more intense. These conflicts did not accumulate in a day or two, but they all broke out in the past few days."
"I'm worried that ... recent events will affect the signing of a treaty of friendship and cooperation between us and the city hall."
"In order to avoid long nights and long dreams, I suggest that it is better for us to sign the contract as soon as possible."
After hearing Shuyu's suggestion, Luka pondered for a while and then spoke.
"The manager said that the treaty is just a piece of paper. If the problem is not solved fundamentally, even if we go back with a beautiful agreement, they will tear up the paper at any time."
Shuyu felt a little headache and pressed his eyebrows.
"The problem you mentioned has no solution at all... Do you know what those people are clamoring for? They keep asking the city hall to impose a 100% special tax on us and distribute the collected tax to the poor who have lost their jobs."
"Not only that, they also require us to deposit all chips in their bank, adopt a book-entry settlement method, the exchange rate is determined by the market, and all chips must be used according to their prescribed methods."
to be honest.
Not only do they want the new alliance's businesses to be unprofitable in Boulder City, but they also want to stipulate how the profits the new alliance earns from them should be used.
If it really agrees, the new alliance will become their industrial dumping ground, or even de-industrialize and become a large-scale farm and mine.
The residents of Dawn City also need jobs.
It is impossible for an individual to sign this kind of agreement.
Those protesting, as well as the factory owners behind them, obviously have no intention of solving the problem at all, but hope to overturn the table by making some demands that are simply impossible to achieve.
Since I can't beat you.
Then we won't play anymore.
"Of course there is a way to solve it," Luka said in a serious tone, "I came here precisely for this purpose."
Shuyu looked at him with a slightly surprised expression, wondering what method he could come up with.
Just when he was about to ask out of curiosity, there was a knock on the door.
The maid who made tea for them earlier came in again.
"Sir, the director of the city hall is downstairs right now. Do you want to invite him to come up?"
Shuyu was stunned for a moment, not remembering that there was such an arrangement today at all.
"Has he...made an appointment?"
The maid shook her head.
"No, he claimed that he came here temporarily while inspecting the fire scene in the warehouse area."
Shuyu looked at Luka, saw the latter nodded, and looked at the maid again.
"Mr. Director, please come to the reception room on the second floor."
The other party has already gone downstairs, so we can't keep people away.
"Okay, sir."
The maid shook her head slightly, turned around and exited the lounge.
"...What are you going to do? This guy is definitely not passing by temporarily. He was probably kicked out by the survivors who surrounded the city hall...I bet that he is not here to ask for peace this time."
Shuyu lowered his voice and spoke.
However, at this moment, he suddenly noticed that there was no nervous expression on old Luca's face.
A hint of surprise suddenly appeared in his eyes, and Shuyu immediately reacted... "...The manager has already told you what to do?"
Old Luca didn't answer, just gave him a reassuring smile and stood up from the sofa.
"Let's go and meet the director."
…
In the reception room.
Dulong's face was filled with anxiety and irritability due to lack of sleep.
He couldn't understand.
He clearly signed a beautiful agreement and went back, which not only allowed the new alliance to give up its claim to the airspace of Qingquan City, but also opened up the market in the northern suburbs without spending any money.
He thought everyone would applaud his wisdom.
However, except for the city lord and Jushi Military Industry, who had no objections, the residents of the outer city and other factory owners almost scolded him bloody.
Dulong didn't understand it at all.
These factories in Boulder City need technology and people, and they don’t have a bunch of rules and regulations about 12-hour work limits and minimum wage standards. Are they afraid of small workshops built by a group of scavengers? They use low-priced industrial products.
Dumping, won’t it be over if you dump it too?
This won't work, that won't work either, what else do these greedy vampires want?
Dulong couldn't help but start to think, it would be great if the city hall also had a militia group.
He doesn't have to be as strong as the Lord of the City, as long as his combat power is slightly higher than that of the mercenaries, he won't need to spend so much energy negotiating.
These people are neither willing to give themselves the rights they deserve nor to pay them, so what else do they expect them to do?
At this time, footsteps were heard outside the living room, and after three knocks on the door, the door opened.
Looking at the acquaintance he had seen in the holographic image before, Dulong stood up from his seat out of politeness, cleared his throat and spoke proactively.
"Hello...Mr. City Lord."
When he said this, his expression was slightly unnatural.
After all, in Boulder City, the city lord is the exclusive title for that adult.
"Hello, Mr. Dulong, you don't have to be so polite, please sit down..." Luka sat down opposite Dulong with a lightening smile on his face, "Actually, it's okay for us to call each other by our names."
"These are all trivial matters," Du Long, who sat down again, waved his hand, without the slightest hint of politeness before, "I said it straight to the point. I know it's rude to say this, but our agreement needs to be renegotiated.
…”
He was not surprised by Dulong's proposal, but Luka still frowned.
"This is different from what was promised."
"Because the situation now is different from that then," Dulong stared at him and continued, "You have also seen the situation outside. If I can't bring back an agreement that satisfies those people, they will put me and the agreement together.
Tear it up together, and then I won’t be the one sitting here talking to you.”
"So what we talked about before is invalid?" Luka asked calmly.
"Only about the trade part, there is no need to discuss airspace and border issues... This is the request of our city lord."
Although Du Long's tone was tactful, his tough attitude remained unchanged.
Luca nodded.
"We understand your difficulty."
Seeing the unexpected compromise, Du Long was so surprised that he couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief, and finally a smile appeared on his face.
"That's great... Don't worry, I'm not an unreasonable person. In exchange for your concessions, we will take more care of you on safety issues. After all, we are friends now. Including the rental of the aircraft, and
More powerful weapons...I will try my best to help you obtain some discounts within my scope of authority."
Shuyu looked at old Luka in disbelief.
He remembered that he should have said just now what the demands of those people were.
With a confident expression on his face, Du Long took a list from his assistant and placed it on the table in front of him.
"We have listed some of the residents' demands, and I think many of them are reasonable. The specific details still need to be discussed, but I hope that the negotiations will follow this framework."
In his opinion, the other party has relented and the matter is basically settled.
However, things did not develop as smoothly as he imagined.
Luka just glanced at the list on the table and then turned his attention to him.
"We can feel your sincerity in wanting to solve the problem, but this is obviously not a way to solve the problem."
Dulong looked at Luca with a blank expression, and slowly frowned.
"……What's the meaning?"
"Implementing heavy taxes on our businesses and requiring us to keep the money we earn in your pockets and spend it the way you want is something no business dog will do."
Looking at Dulong with a stunned expression, Luca shook his head and continued.
"It makes no difference whether I sign this agreement or not. If I sign it, there will no longer be a single silver coin trade between the New Alliance and Boulder City. If there is, it will definitely be in the form of a black market."
"...Then do you have a better way?" Dulong frowned.
Luka nodded happily.
"Of course, in comparison, our respected manager has a better proposal."
Although Du Long's intuition told him that these cunning blue coats were probably trying to play some trick, he still decided to listen to what these people had to say first.
"...What proposal."
Seeing that the fish was about to take the bait, Luca smiled on his calm face.
"The dissatisfaction between your factories and residents ultimately lies in the fact that the former need the market to make profits, while the latter need to work to support their families."
"In that case..." "Why don't you lend us some chips?"
(
This chapter has been completed!