Chapter 353 Why don’t you lend me some chips?

  Chapter 353 Why don’t you lend me some chips?

  ”We’re here, hahaha! We’re finally here!”

  The towering 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 Sanhuan elevated road, finally had a look of relaxation on his face.

  They walked for two whole days on this trip.

  In addition to the guy named Blake who they met at the beginning, they encountered at least three waves of attackers along the way.

  Of course, the two waves that came later were all minions. Not only did they have broken weapons, but they also had low morale. After being shot twice, they quickly fled in all directions.

  As for the man wrapped in a white robe next to them, he was the one they rescued from the last wave of looters.

  His name is Hal, and he is from Luoxia Province. According to him, he is the prince of the Lion Tribe, the heir of the Oasis, and a believer in the spirit of the sea of ​​sand.

  When asked why he, as a prince and heir, traveled thousands of miles to the southern part of Qingquan City and was captured by a group of villains with fire sticks, he said awkwardly.

  ”… There are many princes in our kingdom. 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, bring back something that is not found in the desert. This is our tradition. Whoever brings back the most expensive thing is qualified to be a candidate for the throne.”

  Another older diplomat asked.

  ”Then did you find it?”

  Hal’s expression was a little awkward, and he coughed lightly.

  ”… Didn’t I just arrive in Boulder City? Believe me, I will definitely find it.”

  Not to mention finding something valuable, his two guards and the dinars he brought with him were all gone.

  If he hadn’t met this group of kind people, he might have been buried in the oil pot.

  Just like the unlucky guy who was locked in the same cage with him.

  He even began to regret not going south to Jinchuan Province with his brother, but going to Boulder City.

  The people here were more sturdy than he had imagined. It was completely different from the endless sea of ​​sand. There were tall buildings everywhere, and every window seemed to hide a gun.

  The two diplomats following Luca looked at each other.

  As survivors living in the Qingquan City area, the throne and the prince were completely unfamiliar concepts to them.

  If the manager is compared to the king, then this guy… is probably the son of the manager of the Lion Kingdom?

  Thinking of this, everyone couldn’t help but feel envious.

  I really hope their manager can have more children…

  ”Dear sir, do you need a guard?” 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 all the people here.

  Luca looked at him strangely, wondering where this guy got his confidence from.

  However, Luca finally left some self-esteem for the young man and said concisely.

  ”No, what’s wrong?”

  Hal, with an embarrassed expression on his face, hesitated for a moment, and finally spoke.

  ”My money has been robbed, and I have nowhere to go… Can you give me a job?”

  Luca asked.

  ”What can you do?”

  ”I can make tea, play the piano, write poetry, and draw, and of course… shoot. I can prove myself. As long as you give me a revolver or a rifle, I can hit a plastic bottle 100 meters away!”

  Hal said confidently, but Brother Dog and Brother Dagger, who were walking nearby, couldn’t help laughing.

  A plastic bottle 100 meters away is okay.

  With the revolver’s hit rate, it’s good to hit a person 100 meters away.

  ”If we don’t help him, he may not even be able to pay the city tax.”

  An elderly diplomat lowered his voice and whispered beside Luca.

  ”If he really can play the piano and draw, his status should be not low… It’s not a bad thing to help him.”

  That’s right.

  Although the New Alliance has not yet established diplomatic relations with the survivors in other provinces, it is only a matter of time.

  It’s always good to go out often and make a few more friends.

  Luca nodded and looked at the unfortunate young man and said.

  ”I just happen to be in need of someone to do clerical work, so you can follow me first.”

  Hal said happily.

  ”Thank you so much! By the way, I also know twelve kinds of artistic fonts–”

  Luca coughed lightly.

  ”That’s not necessary, as long as I can write things neatly and 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 was hung on the building opposite the giant gate. All kinds of merchants and travelers shuttled back and forth in the square in front of the gate. Occasionally, you could see metal or silicone modified prostheses, or machines with antennas on their heads.

  Poor people with no clothes stood by the road, holding wooden signs and waiting for work to come to them.

  The polarization of living standards is the same here year after year.

  Hal stretched his neck excitedly and looked around. Everything here was full of novelty to him.

  However, those players who have come here countless times have long been accustomed to it and are accustomed to the people and things here.

  ”A new task has been triggered.” Looking at the VM on his arm, Lao Bai raised his eyebrows in surprise.

  ”What task? Let me take a look.” Fang Chang came over.

  There was a line of words on the screen.

  [Task: Go to the Pirate Bay Tavern to find Bit and inquire about the employer.]

  Lao Bai stared at the task for a while.

  ”It should be the follow-up task of the muscle man named Blake… I synchronized it to the team.”

  ”Tavern? This brother Fang Chang is familiar with it.” Sha Bi said with a grin.

  ”Boss, when are you going to write a romantic strategy? We’ve been waiting for a long time!” The dog thing also made a noise on the side.

  ”Get out of here, I’m a pure person, unlike you old dirty monsters who only know art every day.”

  Looking at the group of teammates with grins, Fang Chang rolled his eyes in annoyance.

  Old White didn’t laugh at him, but just smiled.

  ”What do you mean? After sending the NPC to the destination, let’s go to the Pirate Bay Tavern to ask?”

  Fang Chang sighed.

  ”Do you think this kind of thing can be found out by just shouting in the tavern?”

  Old White asked curiously.

  ”Then what do you say?”

  After pinching his chin and thinking for a moment, Fang Chang’s eyes fell on the poor people holding signs on the side, and his eyes moved slightly.

  ”… Blake lives in the slums. Let’s find out where his home is first. Whether there are any relatives alive or not, there are always friends who know him. Through his friends, we should be able to find out who the person named Bit is.”

  ”Is it so troublesome?” Sha Bi said in a daze.

  ”This game really requires some brains,” Old White said with a smile, “Just do as Fang Chang said, let’s go into the city first.”

  After paying the city entry tax,

  the group deposited the prohibited explosives and passed through the towering city gate.

  The militiamen at the city gate didn’t say much about the exoskeletons on their bodies. After all, in a place like Boulder City, this thing is not so rare that they stare at it all the time.

  According to the manager’s instructions, Luca was going to the Alliance’s office in Boulder City. However, as soon as he arrived on the street, he found that the atmosphere here was a little wrong.

  There was a sea of ​​people at the entrance of the warehouse area, and it was dark everywhere.

  Citizens wearing linen shirts and hyena skin coats gathered together. They looked angry, holding wooden signs in their hands, shouting chaotic but extremely loud slogans, and moving towards the core area of ​​the outer city.

  ”Reject unequal trade!”

  ”Give us back our jobs!”

  ”Get the New Alliance’s stuff out of Boulder City!”

  ”We want bread! Not nutritional paste!”

  ”Get out of the giant wall, you traitors!”

  The clamorous arrogance was like a boiling heat wave, and it was even hotter than a branding iron under the June sun.

  The guards standing on the edge of the crowd were at a loss, and the sticks in their hands could no longer control the crowd.

  The militiamen loyal to the city lord were watching the excitement.

  As long as it didn’t develop into a gunfight, they wouldn’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 celebrating?”

  The diplomat on the side had a heavy expression.

  ”… Do you think they are celebrating?”

  ”That’s right… Who are they shouting to get out?”

  Luca glanced at him, ignored him, and looked at the diplomat on the side.

  ”Let’s go faster, it’s best not to stay on the street for too long.”

  Everyone nodded and quickened their pace.

  Although the players following the NPC were curious and wanted to get closer to see what was going on, the mission was urgent.

  ”… It’s really strange,” Sha Bi muttered in a low voice, “It wasn’t like this when we came here last time.”

  ”I didn’t expect that what was coming would come.” Looking at the surging crowd, Fang Chang said thoughtfully.

  ”What was coming?” The dog thing asked curiously.

  Fang Chang: “Didn’t you see that they were protesting that the things we sold to them were too cheap.”

  Too cheap?

  It’s a bit hard to understand, the dog thing said in confusion.

  ”Ah, this… we gave them cheap and good things, what can they complain about?”

  ”Under normal circumstances, 10 tubes of nutritional paste for a piece of bread is reasonable, but now someone suddenly appears and is willing to exchange 1,000 tubes of nutritional paste for a bread oven, making the business of nutritional paste and bread unprofitable at the same time.”

  ”No matter how cheap the bread is, it’s cheap for those who have bargaining chips. For ordinary survivors, they don’t have jobs and can’t afford it, so it’s useless. 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 of the outer city is planning to expand the scale of trade with the New Alliance.

  The residents of the outer city, who are already on the edge of the poverty line, have completely exploded.

  But…

  is the root cause of the problem really because the goods of the New Alliance are too cheap?

  The essence of the crisis is that wealth is concentrated in the hands of a few people. Once the currency is no longer in circulation, it loses its role in the market.

  The residents of Boulder City have no bargaining chips to consume, the factories reduce production, the number of jobs decreases, the residents are poorer, and finally enter a lose-lose cycle.

  The massive import of external industrial products has only accelerated this process.

  The simplest method is nothing more than external colonization.

  Whether it is economic colonization or military colonization, as long as the surplus goods can be continuously sold to small and medium-sized survivor settlements such as Bet Street and Brown Farm, and industrial raw materials can be exchanged from them, the original chain can be maintained.

  Unfortunately, the New Alliance is not only unwilling to be a colony of Boulder City, but also liberated a part of the survivor settlements of Boulder City’s economic colonization, and exported industrial products to their market in reverse. The

  economic crisis of Boulder City began a long time ago.

  However, in the wasteland, the economic crisis is not worth mentioning in the face of the survival crisis, so no one has ever realized it, and there is no time to care.

  The nobles in the inner city don’t care about the intrigues of the “providers” in the outer city, and in the eyes of the city lord, except for the things that are really worth his concern, everything is an ant.

  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.

  It’s just that recently, those poor people finally found someone to vent their anger on.

  Thinking of this, Fang Chang couldn’t help but have a hint of interest in his eyes.

  It’s not that he is cold-blooded.

  For a pure player like him, NPC is just a piece of data, which doesn’t make him sympathize.

  But what he didn’t expect was that the economic system of this game is unexpectedly real.

  Not only the supply and demand relationship is made, but even the production relationship is restored.

  Great.

  It seems that the day of the public beta is one step closer!

  The group came to the office on the edge of the warehouse area.

  When they arrived here, they found a large group of people gathered at the door, and several guards stood in front of the crowd to maintain order.

  Judging from the chaotic situation at the scene, something bad happened just now.

  Shuyu, who was in charge of the office’s operations, had already come out of the door to greet the delegation, who had received the news of their arrival.

  ”Finally you have arrived safely. I was just worried that something might have happened to you on the way.” Shuyu had a comfortable smile on his face, although that smile looked a little tired.

  Obviously, he had been very worried about what had happened here in the past few days.

  Looking at the garbage and stones on the ground, as well as the broken glass, Luca frowned, led everyone through the crowd, and walked to Shuyu’s side.

  ”What is going on here?”

  Shuyu followed his line of sight and saw the broken glass on the ground, and a helpless expression appeared on his face.

  ”Most of the factories in the industrial zone gave the workers a holiday, and the residents who lost their source of income took to the streets… The city hall sent guards over, but you saw the situation, so many people are not something that one or two guards can deal with.”

  ”You are not injured, are you?” Luca asked with concern.

  ”No,” Shuyu shook his head. “There are many ‘players’ living here, and the city hall has sent guards to maintain order. There is no big problem with safety… But at this critical time, it’s better not to go out casually.”

  I’m afraid that someone will take advantage of the chaos to do something small.

  For example, suddenly firing a gun 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.

  At this point, Shuyu paused for a moment, glanced at the guard next to him, and continued.

  ”The situation here cannot be explained in a few words. Anyway, come in and talk first.”

  …

  After sending the NPCs to their destination, the players dispersed and went about their own business.

  Lao Bai took two brothers and went to the slums outside the giant wall.

  Fang Chang took off his equipment and changed into casual clothes and mixed into the crowd of demonstrators.

  There are some things he cares about, and he wants to investigate.

  In his own words, “Participating in this special event may trigger a hidden task.”

  As for old Luca, after he comforted the staff of the office on behalf of 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 sip slowly and was about to talk about something to ease his mood, but seeing Luca 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 zone caught fire.”

  ”Fire?”

  Looking at the surprised Luca, Shuyu nodded.

  ”Well, the 1,000 tons of Didiwei nutritional paste stored there were burned… That thing is not resistant to high temperatures and is basically destroyed.”

  1,000 tons of nutritional paste, calculated according to wholesale cost, is worth nearly 100,000 to 200,000 chips.

  If it is a retail price, a zero is often added to the wholesale price.

  Luca’s heart tightened slightly.

  ”Is it serious?”

  ”The warehouse has bought insurance and will pay part of it, but it is not clear how much it will pay in the end.”

  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 have not accumulated in one or two days, but they have all erupted in the past few days.”

  ”I am worried…what happened recently will affect our signing of the Treaty of Friendship and Cooperation with the City Hall.”

  ”In order to avoid more trouble, I suggest that we sign the contract as soon as possible.”

  After hearing Shuyu’s suggestion, Luca pondered for a while and spoke.

  ”The administrator said that the treaty is just a piece of paper. If the problem is not fundamentally solved, even if we go back with a beautiful agreement, they will tear up the paper at any time.”

  Shuyu pressed his eyebrows with a headache.

  ”The problem you mentioned is simply unsolvable… Do you know what those people are shouting about? They keep asking the City Hall to impose a 100% special tax on us and give the collected taxes to the poor who have lost their jobs.”

  ”Not only that, they also require us to deposit all the chips in their bank, use the book-entry settlement method, the exchange rate is determined by the market, and all chips must be used in the way they specify.”

  To put it bluntly.

  Not only do they want to make the New Alliance’s products unprofitable in Boulder City, but they also want to stipulate how the profits earned by the New Alliance should be used.

  If they really agree, the New Alliance will become a dumping ground for their industrial products, or even deindustrialize and become a large farm and mine.

  The residents of Dawn City also need jobs.

  This kind of agreement is impossible for anyone to sign.

  Those protesters, and the factory owners behind them, obviously have no intention of solving the problem, but hope to make some impossible demands to overturn the table.

  Since we can’t beat you.

  Then we won’t play.

  ”Of course there is a way to solve it,” Luca said seriously, “I came here for this purpose.”

  Shuyu looked at him with a slightly stunned expression, not understanding what method he could come up with.

  Just when he was about to ask curiously, there was a knock at the door.

  The maid who had made tea for them before came in again.

  ”Sir, the director of the city hall is downstairs now. Do you want to invite him up?”

  Shuyu was stunned, and he didn’t remember that there was such an arrangement today.

  ”Did he… make 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 Luca, and when he saw the latter nodded, he looked at the maid again.

  ”Please ask Mr. Director to go to the reception room on the second floor.”

  The other party has already come downstairs, and we can’t just turn him away.

  ”Okay, sir.”

  The maid nodded slightly, turned around and left the lounge.

  ”…What are you going to do? This guy is definitely not passing by temporarily. He is probably driven out by the survivors who surrounded the city hall… I bet he is definitely not here to seek peace this time.”

  Shuyu said in a low voice.

  However, at this moment, he suddenly noticed that there was no nervous expression on old Luca’s face.

  A hint of realization flashed in his eyes, and Shuyu reacted immediately.

  ”…Has the administrator told you what to do?”

  Old Luca did not answer, but gave him a reassuring smile and stood up from the sofa.

  ”Let’s go, let’s go meet the director.”

  …

  In the reception room.

  Du Long’s face was full of anxiety and irritability due to lack of sleep.

  He couldn’t figure it out.

  He had clearly signed a beautiful agreement and not only made the New Alliance give up its claim to Qingquan City’s airspace, but also opened up the market in the northern suburbs without spending any money.

  He thought everyone would cheer for his wisdom.

  However, except for the Lord of the City and Giant Stone Military Industry, who had no objections, the residents of the outer city and other factory owners almost scolded him.

  Du Long didn’t understand it at all.

  These factories in Giant Stone City have the technology and people, and there are no 12-hour work restrictions and minimum wage standards. Why would they be afraid of a group of scavengers’ small workshops?

  They are dumping industrial products at low prices, so why don’t you dump them back?

  This doesn’t work, and that doesn’t work either. What on earth do these insatiable vampires want?

  Du Long couldn’t help but start thinking, it would be nice if the city hall also had a militia.

  They don’t have to be as strong as the city lord. As long as their fighting power is slightly higher than the mercenaries, he won’t have to spend so much effort negotiating.

  These people are unwilling to give him the rights he deserves, and unwilling to pay him. What else can he expect from him?

  At this time, footsteps were heard outside the reception room. After three knocks on the door, the door opened.

  Looking at the acquaintance he had seen in the holographic image before, Du Long stood up from his seat out of politeness, cleared his throat, and took the initiative to speak.

  ”Hello… Mr. City Lord.”

  When he said this, his expression was a little unnatural.

  After all, in Boulder City, City Lord is the exclusive title of that lord.

  ”Hello, Mr. Dulong, you don’t have to be so polite, please take a seat…” Luca sat down opposite Dulong with a smile to ease the atmosphere, “In fact, we can call each other by name.”

  ”These are all insignificant little things,” Dulong waved his hand after sitting down again, without any previous politeness, “I’ll get straight to the point, I know it’s abrupt to say this, but our agreement has to be renegotiated…”

  Luca was not surprised by Dulong’s proposal, but he still frowned.

  ”This is different from what we agreed on.”

  ”Because the current situation is different from that time,” Dulong stared at him and continued, “You have seen the situation outside. If I can’t bring back an agreement that satisfies those people, they will tear me and the agreement to pieces, and then the person sitting here to talk to you will not be me.”

  ”So what we talked about before is invalid?” Luca asked calmly.

  ”Only the part about trade, the airspace and border issues are not negotiable… This is the request of our city lord.”

  Although Dulong’s tone was tactful, his tough attitude did not change at all.

  Luca nodded.

  ”We understand your difficulties.”

  Seeing the unexpected compromise of the other party, Du Long was pleasantly surprised and relieved, and finally a smile appeared on his face.

  ”That’s great… Don’t worry, I’m not an unreasonable person. In exchange for your concession, we will take better care of you in terms of safety. After all, we are friends now. Including the rental of aircraft, and more powerful weapons… I will try my best to help you get some discounts within my authority.”

  Shu Yu looked at Old Luca in disbelief.

  He remembered that he should have said what those people’s demands were.

  With a look of confidence on his face, Du Long took a list from his assistant and put 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 need to be discussed, but I hope the negotiations will follow this framework.”

  In his opinion, the other party has given in, and the matter is basically stable.

  However, things did not develop as smoothly as he imagined.

  Luca just glanced at the list on the table and cast his eyes on him.

  ”We can feel your sincerity in wanting to solve the problem, but this is obviously not a solution.”

  Dulong looked at Luca blankly and slowly frowned.

  ”…What do you mean?”

  ”Imposing heavy taxes on our goods and requiring us to put the money we earn in your pockets and spend it the way you want, this kind of dog of trade will not do.”

  Looking at Dulong’s stunned expression, Luca shook his head and continued.

  ”It doesn’t make any difference whether this agreement is signed or not. If I sign it, there will be no more trade between the New Alliance and Boulder City. If there is, it must be in the form of the black market.”

  ”…Then do you have a better way?” Dulong frowned.

  Luca nodded happily.

  ”Of course, in comparison, our respected administrator has a better proposal.”

  Although his intuition told Dulong that these cunning blue coats were probably going to play some tricks again, he decided to listen to what these people said first.

  ”…What proposal.”

  Seeing that the fish was about to take the bait, Luca smiled calmly.

  ”The dissatisfaction of your factories and residents is ultimately due to the fact that the former need the market to make profits and the latter need jobs to support their families.”

  ”In that case…”

  ”Why don’t you lend us some chips?”

  (End of this chapter)