"We’re here, hahaha! We’ve finally made it!"
The towering ramparts of Giant Stone City had finally co into the sight of the n, and the man wrapped in a white robe cheered with joy.
As Old Luka walked on the triple-ring overpass, his face finally relaxed with a semblance of breaking through the clouds into sunlight.
The journey had taken them a full two days.
Apart from that fellow nad Black they encountered at the start, they had faced at least three groups of attackers along the way.
Of course, the last two groups were just small fry, not only was their weaponry shoddy, but their morale was low, and after being riddled with a couple of bursts of gunfire, they quickly scattered like birds and beasts.
As for the man in the white robe beside them, he was soone they had rescued from the clutches of the last group of Looters.
His na was Hal, hailing from Falling Leaves Province, according to him, he was a prince of the Lion Tribe, the heir of the Oasis, a follower of the Spirit of the Sand Sea.
When asked why a prince and an heir had traveled all the way to the southern part of Qingquan City, only to be captive by a bunch of thugs wielding firesticks, he embarrassingly admitted,
"...Our Kingdom has many princes. We must do sothing to prove that we possess the courage and quality to govern the Kingdom."
A young diplomat inquired curiously,
"Like what?"
Hal spoke with a natural flow,
"Like bringing back sothing not found in the desert. It’s our tradition. Whoever brings back the most expensive thing is eligible to beco a candidate for the throne."
Another older diplomat asked,
"Did you find it?"
Hal’s expression held a subtle sense of embarrassnt, and he coughed lightly,
"...I’ve only just arrived at Giant Stone City. Trust , I’m sure to find sothing."
Forget finding anything valuable, he lost his guards and all his Dinars.
If it weren’t for this group of kind people, he might have already found his end in a boiling pot.
Just like that unlucky sod they were locked in the sa cage with.
He even began to regret not heading south towards Brocade River Province with his brother, insisting on going to this Giant Stone City.
The local customs here were far more fierce than he could have ever imagined, completely different from the endless Desert Sea. Skyscrapers everywhere, behind every window seed to hide a gun.
The two diplomats following Luka glanced at each other.
As survivors living in the Qingquan City area, the concepts of a throne and a prince were completely foreign to them.
If they were to compare these Managers to kings, then this guy... was probably the son of the Lion Kingdom’s Manager?
With that thought, envy couldn’t help but surface on the faces of the people.
They truly wished their Manager would have a few more...
"Respected sir, do you need a guard?" Hal, looking at Luka, who had not spoken, asked respectfully.
His intuition for reading the room told him that this old man must be the highest-ranking among all present.
Luka gave him a strange look, not knowing where the guy’s confidence ca from.
However, Luka eventually decided to spare this young man so dignity and responded in a brief and concise manner,
"No need, what’s the matter?"
Hal’s face showed an awkward expression, and after hesitating for a mont, he finally spoke up.
"I’ve been robbed of my money and have nowhere to go... Could you give a job?"
Luka asked,
"What can you do?"
"I can brew tea, play musical instrunts, write poetry, and paint, and of course... I can also shoot. Just give a revolver or a rifle, and I can hit a plastic bottle over 100 ters away!"
Hal said confidently, yet nearby Dog Brother and Dagger Brother couldn’t help but laugh out loud.
Hitting a plastic bottle over 100 ters was not bad.
But with that revolver’s accuracy, hitting a person at a hundred ters would be quite a feat.
"If we don’t help him, he might not even be able to afford the entry tax,"
whispered an older diplomat in a hushed tone, close to Luka’s ear.
"If he truly knows how to play music and paint, his status shouldn’t be low... It wouldn’t be bad to lend him a hand."
That was indeed the case.
Although the New Alliance hadn’t yet established diplomatic relations with the survivors from other provinces, it was only a matter of ti.
It’s always good to make more friends when you’re often out and about.
Luka nodded and turned to the unfortunate young man,
"I just happen to be short of soone to do clerical work. You can follow for now."
Hal expressed his surprise and gratitude,
"Thank you so much! By the way, I also know twelve artistic fonts—"
Luka coughed lightly.
"That’s not necessary; just write things clearly and neatly."
The group continued on their way, and before long, they arrived at the base of the towering ramparts.
The signboard of the Hotel Wind from Afar hung across the giant gates on the skyscraper, with various rchants and travelers bustling about in the plaza before the gates. Occasionally, one could see tallic or silicone-enhanced prosthetic limbs, or machines with antennae plugged into their head caps.
Poorly dressed civilians stood by the road, holding wooden signs as they waited for work to co to them.
The stark disparity in living standards, year after year, was all the sa here.
Hal looked around excitedly, everything here filled him with a sense of novelty.
But for those players who had visited countless tis, it was all old hat; they were accustod to the people and the goings-on here.
"A new mission triggered," Old White said, his eyebrow raised in slight surprise as he looked down at his VM on the arm.
"What mission? Let see," Fang Chang ca over to look.
On the screen were the words,
[Mission: Head to Pirate Bay Tavern and find Bit to inquire about the employer’s related information]
Old White stared at the mission for a while.
"It should be the follow-up mission for that muscular guy nad Black... I’ve synced it to the team now."
"Tavern? Brother Fang Chang is familiar with this place," Kill Dagger said with a playful smile.
"Boss, when are you going to write us a guide to the pleasures of the night? We’ve been waiting for a long ti!" Dog Brother chid in teasingly.
"Scram, scram, scram, I’m pure as can be, unlike you dirty demons who only think about ’art’ all day."
Watching his teasing teammates, Fang Chang rolled his eyes in annoyance.
Old White, however, didn’t join in the mockery and just smiled.
"What do you say? After we deliver the NPC to the destination, should we head to Pirate Bay Tavern to ask around?"
Fang Chang sighed.
"Do you think this is the kind of thing where you can just walk into a tavern and shout out to get the information?"
Old White asked curiously.
"Then what do you suggest?"
Rubbing his chin thoughtfully for a mont, Fang Chang’s gaze fell upon the poor residents holding signs nearby, his eyes flickering slightly.
"...Black lives in the slums; we start by finding where he lives. Whether he has any surviving family or not, there are bound to be friends who knew him. Through his friends, we should be able to find out exactly who this Bit person is."
"Is it that complicated?" Kill Dagger asked, puzzled.
"This ga really does require so brainpower," Old White said with a smile, "Let’s do as Fang Chang says and get into the city first."
They paid the entrance tax.
The group stored any prohibited explosives and passed through the towering city gates.
Regarding their exoskeletons, the guards at the city gate didn’t say much. After all, in Giant Stone City, such gear wasn’t rare enough to warrant constant attention.
Following the Manager’s instructions, Luka was headed to the Alliance’s office in Giant Stone City, but as soon as they hit the streets, they sensed sothing off in the atmosphere.
At the entrance to the warehouse district, a sea of people stretched as far as the eye could see.
Wearing linen shirts and hyena skin coats, the angry citizens were gathered together, holding wooden signs and shouting disorganized but loud slogans as they advanced towards the heart of the outer city.
"Refuse unequal trade!"
"Give us back our jobs!"
"Get the New Alliance’s stuff out of Giant Stone City!"
"We want bread, not nutrition paste!"
"The backstabbers should roll out of the Giant Walls!"
The tumultuous atmosphere was like a boiling heat wave, scorching alike a branding iron under the June sun.
Guards at the edge of the crowd were at a loss, their batons already ineffective in controlling the masses.
The militia loyal to the city’s lord were simply watching the spectacle.
As long as it didn’t escalate into gunfire, they had no intention of getting involved.
Hal, visiting Giant Stone City for the first ti, stretched his neck excitedly to gaze at the surging crowd.
"Are they celebrating a festival?"
The diplomat beside him looked grave.
"...Do you think they look like they’re celebrating?"
"Good point... who are they shouting to get out?"
Luka glanced at him and ignored him, instead turning to the diplomat beside him.
"Let’s move quickly; it’s best not to stay on the streets too long."
Everyone nodded and hurried along.
The players following the NPC were curious and wanted to get a closer look, but the mission was crucial.
"...This is strange," Kill Dagger muttered quietly, "It wasn’t like this last ti we were here."
"To think that what had to co, has co," Fang Chang said thoughtfully as he watched the swelling crowd.
"What was bound to co?" Dog Brother asked curiously.
Fang Chang replied, "Didn’t you see? They’re protesting that we sold them things too cheaply."
Too cheap?
A bit confused, Dog Brother asked.
"Ah... we gave them good things for cheap, what do they have to complain about?"
"Under normal circumstances, trading ten tubes of nutrition paste for a loaf of bread is reasonable, but suddenly soone cos along willing to offer a thousand tubes of nutrition paste for a toaster, making both the nutrition paste and bread businesses unprofitable."
"Even if the bread is cheap, it’s those with the resources who benefit. For the average survivor, without work, they can’t afford it, and they’d be happy? That would be clever indeed."
The factories in City of Dawn had taken the jobs of the residents of Giant Stone City, and recently the outer city’s town hall had even planned to expand trade with the New Alliance.
Already on the brink of poverty, the outer city residents finally erupted.
But...
Was the real problem the cheapness of the New Alliance’s goods?
The essence of the crisis was the concentration of wealth in the hands of a few; once money stopped circulating, it lost its function in the market.
The residents of Giant Stone City had no ans to consu, factories reduced production, jobs decreased, residents beca poorer, and entered a cycle of mutual loss.
The influx of external industrial goods rely accelerated this process.
The simplest thod was colonialism.
Whether through economic or military colonization, the surplus of goods could be sold to dium and small-sized Survivor Settlents like Bet Street and Brown Farm, exchanging them for industrial raw materials and keeping the original chain functioning.
Unfortunately, the New Alliance was not only unwilling to be a colony of Giant Stone City but even liberated so of the Survivor Settlents colonized by Giant Stone City’s economy, exporting industrial goods back into their markets.
The economic crisis of Giant Stone City had started a long ti ago.
But in the Wasteland, an economic crisis is trivial compared to survival, so no one had noticed, nor did they have the leisure to care.
The inner city nobles didn’t care how the "providers" of the outer city sched against each other, and in the eyes of their lord, all was ants except for things truly worth his attention.
Moreover, even amidst the clutches of poverty and unemploynt, the residents here were still luckier than the residents of Bet Street and the serfs of Brown Farm a year ago.
Only recently had these wretched souls found an object for their anger.
With this in mind, Fang Chang couldn’t help but wear a look of interest.
It wasn’t that he was cold-blooded.
For a pure player like him, NPCs were rely data and weren’t worth sympathy.
What he hadn’t expected was the unexpectedly realistic economic system of the ga.
They had not only developed a supply and demand relationship, but even restored the ans of production.
How great.
It seed that the public beta release was another step closer!
A group of people arrived at the office located on the edge of the warehouse district.
By the ti they got there, they found a large crowd gathered at the entrance, with several guards maintaining order.
From the chaotic scene, it was clear that sothing unpleasant must have happened earlier.
Shuyu, who was in charge of the office operations, had received news of the visiting group’s arrival early on and had co out to greet them from inside.
"You’ve finally arrived safely, I was worried that sothing might have happened to you on the way," Shuyu said with a relieved smile, albeit a tired one.
It was obvious he had been harried by the recent events at this location.
Looking at the trash and rocks on the ground, as well as the shattered glass, Luka frowned and led the crowd through to join Shuyu.
"What exactly is happening here?"
Shuyu followed his gaze to the glass fragnts scattered on the ground, and a hint of helplessness appeared on his face.
"Most of the factories in the industrial area have given the workers days off, and the residents who lost their inco took to the streets... City Hall sent so guards, but as you can see, that large a crowd isn’t sothing one or two guards can handle."
"You weren’t hurt, were you?" Luka asked with concern.
"No," Shuyu shook his head, "we have quite a few ’players’ living here and City Hall dispatched more guards to maintain order, so security isn’t a big issue... However, at this critical ti, it’s still best not to go out without good reason."
The fear was that during such chaos, soone might try sothing sneaky.
Like firing a shot in the middle of the crowd.
With the proliferation of weapons in the Wasteland, such an incident wouldn’t be surprising at all.
The so-called order was only relative safety; absolute safety didn’t even exist in Ideal City, let alone here.
Having said this, Shuyu paused for a mont, glanced at the guard beside him, and continued.
"The situation here is not sothing that can be explained in a few words. Anyway, let’s go inside to talk."
...
After they had delivered the NPCs to their destination, the players went their separate ways to attend to their own affairs.
Old White took two brothers out to the shantytown beyond the Giant Wall,
while Fang Chang took off his equipnt, changed into casual clothes, and mingled into the protesting crowd.
There were so matters he was interested in investigating.
In his own words—"participating in such special events might trigger hidden quests."
As for Old Luka, after comforting the office staff on behalf of the Manager, he followed Shuyu to the lounge on the third floor.
A young maid ca over and poured a cup of hot tea for each of them.
Shuyu took a slow sip, hoping to talk about sothing to ease the mood, but then saw Luka sitting there unmoved, and couldn’t help but smile bitterly as he put down his teacup.
After a pause, he started speaking.
"Last night, a warehouse in the industrial area caught fire."
"Fire?"
Seeing Luka’s surprised look, Shuyu nodded.
"Yes, the 1000 tons of Didivei nutrition paste stored there was destroyed... That stuff doesn’t tolerate high temperatures, and it was pretty much all ruined."
tons of nutrition paste, calculated at the wholesale cost, was worth close to 100,000 to 200,000 chips.
If sold at retail price, it would often add a zero to the wholesale price.
Luka’s heart tightened slightly.
"Is it serious?"
"The warehouse was insured, so they will cover so of the losses, but it is unclear how much they will pay out," Shuyu continued in a serious tone.
"You must have seen it on your way into the city, the protests against us are escalating. These conflicts are not sothing that has built up over one or two days, but have erupted altogether in the past few days."
"I’m worried... The recent events might affect our negotiation of a friendly cooperation treaty with City Hall."
"To avoid any further complications, I suggest we’d be better off signing the contract as soon as possible."
Hearing Shuyu’s advice, Luka pondered for a mont before speaking.
"The Manager said that a treaty is just a piece of paper, and unless we solve the problem at its core, even if we co back with a beautiful agreent, they could tear up that piece of paper at any ti."
Shuyu pressed his temples with a headache.
"The problem you’re talking about is unsolvable... Do you know what those people are shouting for? They keep demanding City Hall impose a 100% special tax on us, redistributing the collected taxes to the unemployed poor."
"Not only that, they also demand that we keep all our chips in their bank, use a bookkeeping-style exchange, let the market determine the exchange rate, and that all chips must be used according to their stipulated thods."
In short.
They wanted the commodities of the New Alliance to be unprofitable in Giant Stone City, and even to deindustrialize and transform us into a big farm and mine.
The residents of City of Dawn also needed jobs.
Such a treaty was impossible for anyone to sign.
Those protesting people and the factory owners behind them apparently never intended to solve the problem but rather aid to propose demands that were impossible to et, just to flip the table.
If they couldn’t beat us.
Then they would stop playing the ga.
"Of course, there is a way to solve it," Luka said earnestly, "I ca here specifically for this purpose."
Shuyu looked at him with a sowhat astonished expression, not understanding what thod he could have in mind.
As he was about to ask curiously, there was a knock on the door.
The maid who had served them tea earlier walked in again.
"Sir, the City Hall Manager is currently downstairs; should I invite him up?"
Shuyu was startled, not recalling such an arrangent for today.
"Did he...make an appointnt?"
The maid shook her head.
"No, he claid he was just passing by while inspecting the warehouse district fire scene."
Shu Yu looked at Luka, who nodded, and then turned back to the maid.
"Please lead Mr. Hall to the reception room on the second floor."
The other party was already downstairs; they couldn’t just turn him away at the door.
"Alright, sir."
The maid bowed slightly and turned to leave the lounge.
"...What are you planning to do? This guy definitely didn’t just happen by; he was likely driven out by those survivors surrounding the city hall... I bet he’s not here to make peace."
Shu Yu spoke in a lowered voice.
However, just then, he noticed that Old Luka’s face bore no sign of nervousness at all.
A flicker of realization crossed his eyes, and Shu Yu imdiately caught on.
"...Has the Manager already told you what to do?"
Old Luka didn’t reply but gave him a reassuring smile and rose from the couch.
"Let’s go, let’s et this Mr. Hall."
...
Inside the reception room.
Duron’s face was etched with the anxiety and irritation of sleep deprivation.
He couldn’t understand.
He had just signed a beautiful agreent and returned, not only having made the New Alliance give up on the airspace demands over Qingquan City but also opening the market in "North Suburb" without any cost.
He thought everyone would cheer for his wisdom.
However, except for the City Lord and Huge Rock Military Industry, who had no complaints, residents of the outer city and other factory owners nearly scolded him viciously.
Duron was utterly baffled.
Giant Stone City’s factories had both technology and plenty of manpower, without the myriad restrictions of 12-hour work limits or minimum wage standards—how could they fear a few small workshops by Scavengers?
They could dump cheap industrial goods, so why don’t you also dump back?
Nothing was acceptable; what did these insatiable Vampires want after all?
Duron began to wish that the city hall had a Militia Group.
No need to be as strong as the City Lord’s n, just slightly more combat power than the rcs would have spared him the trouble of such difficult negotiations.
These people were unwilling to give him his due rights or money; what did they expect him to do?
Then, footsteps approached from outside the reception room, followed by three knocks on the door before it opened.
Seeing the familiar face he had seen in the holographic image, Duron stood up politely and cleared his throat to greet him.
"Hello... Mr. City Lord."
He was a little uneasy saying that, as in Giant Stone City, City Lord was a title exclusive to that great person.
"Hello, Mr. Duron, no need for formality, please take a seat..." Luka smiled, a gesture to ease the mood, as he sat down opposite Duron, "Actually, it’s fine to address each other by our nas."
"These are trivial matters," Duron said, sitting back down, dismissing the previous politeness with a wave, "Let’s cut to the chase. I know it’s abrupt, but we need to renegotiate our agreent..."
Luka was not surprised by Duron’s proposal but still furrowed his brow slightly.
"This isn’t what we agreed on."
"Because the situation now is not the sa as it was," Duron pressed on, staring at him, "You’ve seen the situation outside. If I can’t bring back an agreent that satisfies them, they’ll tear and the agreent to shreds, and it won’t be who’s sitting here talking to you next ti."
"So everything we talked about before is voided?" Luka asked calmly.
"Only regarding the trade part, there’s nothing to discuss about airspace and borders... that’s the City Lord’s requirent."
Duron spoke diplomatically, yet his firm stance did not waver.
Luka nodded.
"We can understand your predicant."
Seeing the unexpected concession from the other side, Duron felt a rush of joy and relief, finally allowing a smile to form on his face.
"That’s great... rest assured, I am not unreasonable. In exchange for your compromise, we will take extra care of you on security issues, after all, we are now friends. This includes leasing aircraft and more powerful weapons... I will do my best within the scope of my authority to get you so favorable deals."
Shu Yu looked incredulously at Old Luka.
He rembered exactly what the demands of those people were.
With a confident expression, Duron took a list from his assistant and laid it on the table in front.
"We’ve listed so of the residents’ demands which I believe are quite reasonable. We need to discuss the specifics, but I hope the negotiation will follow this frawork."
In his view, the other party had already softened its stance, and the deal was virtually in hand.
However, things did not progress as smoothly as he had imagined.
Luka only glanced at the list on the table, then his gaze returned to Duron.
"We can feel your sincere desire to resolve this matter, but clearly, this is not a way to solve the problem."
Duron looked puzzled at Luka, slowly furrowing his brow.
"...What do you an?"
"Taxing our commodities heavily, demanding us to keep the money we earn in your pocket, spending it the way you want—no dog would enter into such a deal."
As Duron looked shocked, Luka shook his head and continued.
"Signing this agreent makes no difference. If I were to sign it, there would be no trade at all between the New Alliance and Giant Stone City in silver coins, and if there was, it would definitely be through the black market."
"...Then do you have a better idea?" Duron asked, frowning.
Luka nodded affirmatively.
"Of course, our respected Manager has a far better proposal."
Although Duron’s instincts told him that these cunning Blue Jackets were probably conniving sothing, he decided to hear them out first.
"...What proposal?"
Sensing the fish about to bite, Luka showed a steady smile on his face.
"Your factories and residents are unhappy because the forr need a market to make profits, and the latter need jobs to support their families."
"If so..."
"Why don’t you lend us so chips?"
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