Chapter 248 Brother Fang's "Market Research"

  The majestic giant wall makes Boulder City a well-known paradise. Compared with the distant province among the clouds and the ideal city, this place seems to be within reach.

However.

  This majesty does not benefit everyone here.

   On the way to the main entrance of Boulder City, the first thing you see is a huge slum.

  The dilapidated shacks are like psoriasis, growing under the feet of the huge wall, looking from a distance like a stinky ditch that can't be seen.

  Most of the people living here are yellow and thin, wrapped in a clothes that don’t know how long they have been worn, sitting in a daze in front of the door, or going out to pick up waste.

  There is no garbage to pick up in the vicinity. If you want to have a good harvest, you can only go to a higher floor or a farther place.

  The sewage and excrement that can be seen everywhere have dyed the snow that should be white into other colors. It must be worse when the snow melts. It is a miracle that the plague did not break out.

   Fang Chang, who had never seen so many NPCs in this game, stared blankly at the scene in front of him and asked.

   "How many people are there?"

  Xu Shun asked his question again, and Qian Lai replied in a nonchalant tone.

   "Ten thousand, twenty thousand, maybe one hundred thousand, anyway, there are never fewer people here. It is meaningless for anyone to spend that much effort to count such things."

   Xu Shun had a surprised expression on his face.

Thousands? !

  This is too exaggerated.

   At this moment, Fang Chang, who was staring at the VM screen to read the subtitles, was thinking of completely different things.

   "Ten thousand people?!"

   "...What do so many people eat?!"

   Anyway, it is not farming.

  It doesn't look like there is a place to farm here.

   At the end of the slum is a crooked telephone pole with several speakers wrapped around it, playing several boring channels in turn.

   A hundred meters further ahead is the main entrance of Jushicheng.

  There are clean concrete roads, militiamen standing guard on duty, caravans ready to go, and poor people looking for work everywhere, many of whom are even small children.

   For the vast majority of people here, there are only two things to count on in life.

  One is to be favored by caravans or merchants, and the other is to catch up with the factory to recruit workers.

  If you can’t count on these two, and you can’t let go of your only self-esteem to beg or sell your soul, then you can only become a mercenary.

  Catch the wave and don't even have to buy a gun yourself.

  Because they were carrying the goods from the outpost, Fang Chang and his party were soon targeted as merchants.

  A little boy with slightly curly hair and a dirty face followed Qian Lai step by step and said in a high-pitched voice.

   "Sir, do you need a servant? I can count, I can do laundry, I can move things... I can smell rats and cockroaches hiding in the crevices, and I can do anything."

  His eyesight is good, and he can tell at a glance who in this group of people is most like a businessman.

  However, with his ability, there are a lot of them in the entire slum.

"unnecessary."

"gentlemen-"

  The boy still wanted to fight for it, but Qian Lai interrupted him impatiently.

   "I'll just say it once."

  Looking at his unfriendly eyes and the pistol on his waist, the boy took a step back, not daring to pester him anymore, and ran to the side, looking for his next target.

   Xu Shun glanced at the boy's lost back, but didn't say anything.

  He is not a person full of sympathy, and of course he would not naively want to help children or something. Once this kind of thing gets started, there will be endless troubles behind.

  Who is not pitiful in this wasteland?

  For him, the task entrusted to him by the manager is the first priority, and everything else has to be sidelined.

but…

  Looking at that majestic giant wall, Xu Shun still couldn't help but sigh in his heart.

  The huge wall is very high, and it makes people feel safe when they look at it.

   But it is still the northern suburbs ruled by the manager, which makes him feel warmer...

   Across the street from the main entrance of Jushicheng is the Yuanfangfeng Hotel, and the signboard hangs on the magnificent gate.

   But the guests there seem to have a little conflict with the hotel.

  In front of the hotel waiter, a man wearing an old leather jacket, his face flushed with anger. There was a suitcase lying next to him. Judging from the scattered luggage, it should have been thrown out of the door.

  Behind him stood the guests who were driven out like him.

   "Didn't you agree that you only need one chip a day?"

  The hotel waiter picked his ears and said impatiently.

   "Yes, our manager said so, but it was winter, and now the price has gone up. We didn't stop you from renewing the room, did we?"

   "Ten chips a day? Are you robbers? Why is it more expensive after winter?!"

   "Of course it's to make room for guests from afar. Why do you think it's cheaper in winter?" The hotel waiter sneered, "Okay, take your luggage and you can go away."

   "What if I say no?" The man stared at him firmly.

   "What does that have to do with me?"

  The waiter yawned, turned and walked towards the main entrance without even looking at him.

   When passing by the main entrance, he glanced at the security guard at the door.

"give it to you."

  The heavily armed security guard nodded expressionlessly, and stood there motionless, his eyes looking straight ahead, like a statue.

  The man who was ignored looked annoyed, and stretched his hands to his waist.

  However, the moment his hand just touched his waist, a gunshot rang out, and a blood hole was imprinted on the man's brow, and he fell backwards in response.

  The woman next to her screamed.

   Several other guests quickly backed up, packed their luggage and left here.

  Witnessing this scene the whole time, Fang Chang looked at the militiamen at the city gate in surprise, but saw that they didn't even bother to look at this side.

  Xu Shun, who was walking beside him, expressed his surprise for him.

   "Those people...don't care?"

  Qian Lai gave him a strange look.

   "Those people? You mean the militia?"

   Xu Shun swallowed.

"Um."

   Qian Lai smiled and said.

"The militiamen don't care about the disputes outside of Boulder City. They only care about the land at the entrance. Law enforcement has boundaries. The wasteland is so big, and we can't manage every piece of land. If we manage this street, should we manage the next street? The reputation of this hotel is still good. The owner is an aristocrat in the inner city, and the manager is even more capable. He has a good relationship with several gangs in the slums. If you are here for business, they will introduce you to customers... only A 10% commission is charged, and only once."

  Taking out the rusty pocket watch to check the time, Qian Lai continued.

   "It's noon now, and there aren't many people. If it's night, it will be more lively here, but I don't recommend you to have fun here."

   "Fun?"

   "It's nothing, it's fine if you're not interested. If you're interested, you can ask the waiter at the door just now, and he will introduce you."

   "...?"

  Xu Shun looked bewildered.

  Qian Lai urged him and said.

   "Let's go, we should go to the city gate to line up... By the way, have you prepared the city entrance tax?"

  Xu Shun froze for a moment.

   "City entry tax? Do you have to pay the tax when you enter?"

  The manager told him that if these goods are sold, the caravan will be given a share, and part of the remaining money can be used as their activity expenses.

   But those goods have not been sold, and he has no bargaining chips in his pocket.

   I don’t know if those people receive cash coins...

  Qian Lai said with a smile: "Of course, there are 3 chips for a trip into the city, so most people won't come in and out at will. It's okay if you don't bring them. I'll pay for you this time."

   There will be more opportunities to deal with them in the future.

   Judging from the boss's reaction that night and the manager's attitude afterwards, Qian Lai felt that it was necessary for him to establish a good relationship with them.

   This is a long-term investment.

  Six chips is a small amount for both him and his boss.

   It didn't take long to queue.

   It is mainly to check whether there are dangerous goods in the goods.

   It is worth noting that explosives with a yield of more than 300g are prohibited, but bullets and rifles are not. Perhaps it is because they have absolute confidence that they can kill the troublemakers in the first place. These militiamen don't seem to care whether they bring weapons or not.

   Think about it too.

   The barrels of several heavy machine guns can be seen on this huge wall. It is also reasonable to arrange a few snipers or similar things in places that cannot be seen.

   However, when Fang Chang was checked, several militiamen accidentally looked at him and the bow behind him twice, exchanged a few words in a low voice, and added a note to a notebook full of words.

  Of course, Fang Chang was doing the same thing, calmly writing in a small notebook with a pen.

  【...The leader of the militia at the gate of Jushi City is very strong, and he can feel the danger. He is probably an awakened person, not sure how many levels. 】

  【In addition, the awakened will be registered when entering the survivor stronghold. 】

  【However, judging from the reactions of people around you, ordinary awakened people should not deserve special treatment. Registration is just a routine. 】

  The militiamen let the group go.

  Looking at the majestic giant gate passing overhead, Xu Shun, who was carrying his luggage, couldn't help feeling emotional.

finally reached.

  …

   "...We followed the caravan into Boulder City, and the leader of the caravan paid the entry tax for us, a total of 6 chips."

   That night.

  After Fang Chang went offline, he immediately posted on the official website, bringing the first-hand information about Boulder City to the forum.

   Not only the players are curious about what the Dog Planner has put in the new map, but even the Planner himself is curious about what is going on in Boulder City.

   To tell the truth.

  Chu Guang had saved up chips for five months and planned to run there from Beit Street.

   If he hadn't discovered Vault 404, he might have screwed it there.

  Because it is a serial post, Brother Fang’s typing speed is not very fast. Sitting in front of the computer, Chu Guang clicked on the option of [Only look at the poster], and temporarily filtered the comments of sand sculpture netizens.

   "The situation inside the city is completely different from that outside the city. The streets here have been refurbished, and the buildings are rebuilt on the ruins that were knocked down. The higher the city is, the higher it is, but they are not as high as the huge wall."

“Good hotels are expensive, cheap hotels and taverns are tucked away in mazes of alleys where conditions are not much better than in the slums outside. But it’s worth mentioning that it doesn’t smell as good due to drainage It stinks."

   "Perhaps the planning is implying us that we should also consider adding some municipal facilities to the stronghold on the surface?"

"Furthermore, in terms of clothing, the residents here mainly wear cotton and linen, and the weaving industry should be very developed. For the citizens who have jobs in the city, there is basically no problem with dressing, except that a piece of clothing can be worn For a long time. Mercenaries prefer to choose leather clothing, or body armor made of special materials, so even if they hide their guns, it is easy to distinguish them."

   "A small number of hospitals and schools are scattered in several communities on the edge of the inner city. The mental outlook of the people living there is completely different from the outside, and their spending power is also stronger."

"There is also a wall in the city center, which is the inner city of Boulder City. More than a dozen high-rise buildings before the war have been refurbished to form the top of the pyramid of Boulder City. The ruler who rules all this is a man named Fang Ming. .He seldom appears directly in front of the public, but mostly shows people in holograms. Most people are in awe of him, but quite a few people don't care."

"It is worth mentioning that the materials in Boulder City are not in short supply, and the productivity is not low. Many technologies have even reached the realm of science fiction, but the vast majority of people are still struggling. Especially for the uneducated lower class As far as people are concerned, there are only two ways to make a fortune, either join a caravan or become a mercenary."

"After finding the place to stay, together with the caravan, we took the devil cloth and spirit leaves to the trading post. The bulk commodities of the entire Boulder City are traded there, and there are hundreds of stalls inside, like a market. The same. The stall owners there are amazed at our weaving technology, here we have to praise Fujiteng Xiaogai...but I can feel that they are obviously more interested in the spirit leaf."

"In the end, 10 pieces of devil cloth were sold for 5,000 chips, and 100 kilograms of spirit leaves were also sold for 5,000 chips... This is the result of bargaining. At first they only planned to give half of this number. The weight of the goods is actually similar, but As far as I personally feel, the latter is less difficult to obtain and obviously more profitable.”

"After the transaction was completed, the guard NPC and I walked around here, conducted a simple survey of the market, and found that the demand for rubber and biomass oil here is very stable, the purchase volume is surprisingly large, and the most important thing is that the price is transparent. The only downside is that the price is not high, and where to get so much rubber and oil is a problem.”

   "In addition, cotton, flax, and grains, as well as materials such as steel, aluminum, and even precious metals such as silver and gold, can all be traded here."

   "The following is only speculation!"

   "Considering that Boulder City focuses on the characteristics of the two professions [mercenary] and [mercenary], the next version may open the game of running merchants and mercenaries."

   "If you plan to run a business, you must pay attention to the weak spending power of the residents here, and it is difficult to sell food at a high premium!"

"But relatively, mercenaries have a strong spending power, and their needs are clear. Cheap weapons, protective gear, auxiliary equipment, alcohol to relieve stress, even spiritual leaves, as well as medical gauze and dry food, can sell well here s price!"

   "Maybe we should run a store in Boulder? We're clearly in oversupply of weapons!"

   "Of course, if there are brothers in the power department who are interested, they can also go to the factory to drive screws? But the trigger method is unknown at present, and the income is very low. The process is suspected to be extremely boring."

   "Unless you have never entered a factory in reality, it is strongly not recommended!"

-

   (I checked the information and found the text, and it’s much more comfortable to straighten out the detailed outline, but I’m running out of time. It’s really hard not to save the manuscript...After laying the groundwork and starting a new plot, I’ll update it today.)

  (end of this chapter)