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墨書 Inktalez
When dealing with enemies, one must be as decisive as autumn winds sweeping away fallen leaves, as cold and unyielding as the winter breeze.
This was the principle upheld by Sun Zi Wu, the president of the Explorer Alliance, and naturally, the soldiers of the Gatekeeper followed it as a golden rule.
After all, the Explorer Alliance had grown significantly in power, wielding influence throughout the Gathering Place.
Most importantly, they controlled one-third of the market's resource collection share. The remaining portions came from the output of the Gathering Place and were provided by Zheng Yifan.
Despite the daunting number of several hundred thousand people scavenging for valuable items among the ruins, it was truly intimidating.
The scope of this world was ten times that of Earth, with a population ten times greater and resources far exceeding anything on Earth.
Cities with tens of millions of inhabitants were commonplace, and a county within a city could be comparable to an entire city in the real world; some counties even rivaled provincial capitals.
There were many cities with populations exceeding one hundred million. Given such geographical conditions, the quantity of resources in the ruins was overwhelming.
Even more crucially, Zheng Yifan primarily supplied food and essential strategic materials. In contrast, they provided daily necessities. These items had no expiration dates; zombies would not seek them out and were not at risk of contamination from viruses—disinfection sufficed.
Thus, most everyday goods were their responsibility.
Upon entering Totenburg, members of the Chamber of Commerce were met with a reception that was neither warm nor cold.
The Gathering Place did not welcome too many merchants; it preferred its own people to venture out as traders.
This reluctance stemmed from the significant uncertainty surrounding these external merchants. Once they took resources from Hope Gathering Place, there was no guarantee they would sell them locally; they might sell them far away for better prices.
Moreover, many of the items they traded often involved population factors.
Hope Gathering Place does not favor human trafficking, and the most important thing is that once Hope Gathering Place occupies other Gathering Places, they will naturally integrate the population. There are no slaves in Gathering Places, which means they will inevitably have to grant them identities in the future.
It is clearly a losing business. Therefore, Hope Gathering Place particularly encourages its people to engage in commerce.
However, when outsiders arrive, it is not easy to turn them away. They can only maintain a cold demeanor; the trading prices remain the same, but Hope Gathering Place has plenty of ways to deal with them.
The most basic method is taxation, with a shopping tax reaching 75%, something unimaginable in the Post-Apocalypse.
To buy anything, one must first pay a 75% tax before being allowed to make a purchase. The prices of the goods they acquire are even lower than what ordinary citizens pay at stores.
But this is reality. They just don’t know it yet.
For an entire period, they are trapped in the Quarantine Room, slowly waiting for the isolation time to pass.
However, once they enter here, they discover that there are many entertaining things in the Quarantine Room. The most basic feature is that there are playing cards under every table, and even several tables of Mahjong set up in the corner.
Thousands of people can fit into the Quarantine Room. The floor is carpeted, and everyone enters clean and sits casually on the ground. Spitting is strictly prohibited, and picking one’s nose or digging at their feet is even more forbidden.
The most obvious figure, Fat President, has changed into a bathrobe and lies in the center of the room, staring at the wall ahead. No one dares to stand up; everyone is either lying down or sprawled on the ground.
The slaves are busy playing poker among themselves. Fat President doesn’t bother with them. They can do as they please; such matters do not require his attention.
Of course, what matters most to him is his money. There is a form for the Cleaning Fee in this room, and just looking at the prices makes him wince—one dollar per square meter.
The price of Fifty Dollars was enough for him to buy several quality slaves.
However, what surprised him the most was not this. It was the large screen at the front, where an old projection screen was playing a movie.
In this post-apocalyptic world, technology no longer required a dark environment to watch projected films; images were directly displayed on the pristine white wall without any distortion.
Electricity!
What astonished him the most was that in this Gathering Place, he could actually use Electricity. It was a power that once elevated humanity to divine heights, and now it was available for use.
It was simply unbelievable.
There were movies—some he had seen, but most he had not. After all, they were old films from decades ago; who would indulge in such nostalgia?
By the time they left, it was already the second time. The slaves had been stored in the Bunkhouse he had rented at the Gathering Place, costing him a total of 100 Essence Fruits.
It was indeed a rip-off! But he wouldn’t leave because this Gathering Place was clearly unusual. He needed to find out why, and in his heart, he had already decided to explore some specific matters here; there might be better rewards.
As a businessman, his main destination was the Slave Trading Market, and within the Hope Gathering Place, there was a list of Commodity transactions.
Barter was the basic trading method in this post-apocalyptic world; he would not accept trades listed with New Hope Currency as the Currency.
The most fundamental item was Essence Fruit.
The lowest grade Essence Fruit could be exchanged for ten pounds of rice.
The exchange rate was considered high among all Gathering Places, and not every Gathering Place was bustling with activity. Most people would need high-tier Essence Fruits.
What surprised him the most was actually the exchange price of the Essence Fruits.
One hundred of the lowest-tier Essence Fruits could be exchanged for one of the next tier. This could go on infinitely, with no limits on levels.
Of course, he certainly did not have that many low-tier Essence Fruits; just looking at this price made his heart race.
What kind of power was this, allowing for infinite exchanges with no restrictions on the quantity of goods?
The exchange price for food was also limitless. This meant that with several hundred thousand Essence Fruits, he could exchange for millions of pounds of food.
He knew that in some cities, there were quite a lot of Essence Fruits. If one were to go to those places to exchange for Essence Fruits and then come to this Gathering Place to trade, they would truly make a fortune.
"Are you sure this is an infinite exchange? You dare accept hundreds of thousands or even millions of Essence Fruits?" Fat President clearly seemed skeptical.
"Pfft! What’s so special about this amount of food? Don’t worry; as long as it’s on the list, the quantities are accurate. Feel free to exchange; just hope you have enough stock!" The Trader appeared somewhat impatient.
If they weren't trading with merchants in the Gathering Place, there would be no points or rewards. Right now, this was merely due diligence in service.
"Aren't you afraid someone will come and rob you? Or place large orders and then hijack you on the way?" Fat President asked. (To be continued)
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