Chapter 275.1: The Famous Death Corps

Outside Longevity Town stopped a group of about 20 people, and 6 two-headed ox loaded with cargo.

The person in the lead should be a merchant, and the few people spreading around the group were likely to be mercenaries. As for the rest of the people whose hands and feet were chained, they were probably slaves.

Staring blankly at everything in front of him, Sun Shiqi's eyes were filled with confusion, and he almost thought he was hallucinating. "This is... The northern suburbs?"

Behind a person-high wooden fence with barbed wire installed were a bustling street and neat houses built with bricks and wood. On the street, there were pedestrians coming and going, children playing, peddlers hawking, and farmers going to work in the fields.

Most of the local residents wore jackets made of hyena skins, but recently the weather had warmed up, so many people wrapped jackets around their waists, and some wealthy people had already changed into cloth clothes.

Looking further away, there were tall concrete walls and sentry towers, on which stood soldiers in black military uniforms with rifles on their backs.

Looking at the thriving town in front of him, Sun Shiqi took out the map again and confirmed he was in the right place.

However, that also made is harder for him to believe.

"This is weird..." Sun Shiqi kept muttering, "Where did such a large survivor settlement come from?"

Before winter the previous year, he had come here twice.

In the past, he was still a poor one-man caravan, leading a two-headed oxen to make a living in the wasteland. He made a small fortune by doing business with the blue coats in the north.

Having earned his first small fortune, he seized the historical opportunity of the continuous turmoil in the River Valley Province, sold the slaves from Red River Town to the Brocade River Province in the south, and bought grain and two-headed oxen from the farm owners there. He then shipped the goods back to Garbage City and Red River Town, gradually increasing the size of his caravan, and eventually reaching its current scale.

Recently, the slave owners of Red River Town were fighting fiercely against their old customers on the garbage mountain. Sun Shiqi, who had just returned from the Brocade River Province, immediately smelled the opportunity to make a fortune and exchanged the food and surplus livestock in hand for slaves and ores without any hesitation, with the intention of going to Boulder Town to buy a batch of goodies.

However, what puzzled Sun Shiqi was that he didn’t remember the northern suburbs to be such a bustling place. The year before, it was still a deserted place, with weeds and bushes filled with soil slopes and mud pits. There was even a group of murderous monsters living beside the road out of the city. There wasn't any village with thousands of people and endless farmland...

At the gate of the village stood 2 guards with rifles on their backs.

They had obviously noticed Sun Shiqi's gaze and were currently looking straight in his direction vigilantly.

The mercenary next to Sun Shiqi coughed lightly and lowered his voice to remind him, "Boss, you'd better not stare at them for too long... I'm worried that we won't be able to protect you."

There were only 4 of them.

There was no way they would be able to defeat those people.

Sun Shiqi, who came back to his senses, immediately realized his dangerous behavior, quickly put on an embarrassed smile, and took the initiative to resolve the misunderstanding. "Friend, we are merchants from Red River Town, may I ask... Where... Where are we?”

"Longevity Town." The guard on duty pointed skillfully at the sign hanging on the gate, as if he had already answered the question countless times. "This is the west gate, the village where the locals live. If you want to trade, go to the north gate. There is a trading post and hotels there."

Sun Shiqi expressed his gratitude, and hurriedly left the place with his group. He returned to the way they came, and then detoured to the north gate where they were supposed to go.

Compared with the villages he had seen before, the situation there was even more surprising.

Not only were the streets more spacious, but the roads were also paved with cement. The hotels, taverns, and post houses along the street should have been built not long ago. They all looked pretty decent.

After looking around for a while, Sun Shiqi and his group headed to the nearest hotel to the trading post.

That hotel was big enough, and there was a cowshed for keeping animals in the backyard. Moreover, there were people hovering at the entrance who were out of tune with the surrounding environment. It was obvious that they were also merchants who came here to do business just like himself.

The sign at the entrance of the hotel was scrawled strange symbols which he eventually made out to be the world ‘Road’, which probably meant the place was called Road Hotel.

Seeing a group of people coming towards him, the staff standing at the entrance enthusiastically helped them lead the two-headed oxen into the shed. "Let me help you, sir."

"Thanks." Sun Shiqi threw a Dinar to the young man as a tip, instructed the mercenaries to watch the goods in the cowshed before walking into the hotel alone.

The space in the hotel looked as spacious as the outside, and the wooden stairs and floors still exuded the scent of the forest. There were rows of wooden tables on the first floor, and the kitchen was buzzing with activity. Some guests were sitting in the corner eating noodles, which smelled quite nice.

The old man sitting behind the counter raised his head and showed a reassuring smile on his wrinkled face. "Welcome, our guests from afar, how may I help you?"

Sun Shiqi stared at him for a while, and then his eyes suddenly widened in surprise. "You... Aren’t you Hooke from Highway Town?!"

The old man looked at him in confusion. "You know me?"

Sun Shiqi smiled and said, "Of course I do. Have you forgotten that I bought resin from you last year? Why did you come here to open a hotel? What about your people?"

"This hotel is jointly opened by the people in our town. Oh, you mean the Camu Trees... That brings back memories." Hooke's cloudy pupils revealed a trace of nostalgia. However, although he missed the old days, he didn't want to go back to plant those trees himself.

Those Camu Trees had been transplanted to the planting area in the west, and several young men in the town were currently helping him take care of them.

After he partnered with Ye Xiao and his father to open the hotel, Ye Xiao was supposed to be working there, but that young man couldn't stay idle and insisted on becoming a soldier. Recently, he seemed to be transferred to Remote Creek Town for duty.

Sun Shiqi glanced around, and felt that the environment here was pretty good. Moreover, the hotel keeper was someone he knew, although the old man didn't seem to remember him...

"I'll stay for one night first... How do I pay?"

"10 silver coins a night, meals are not included."

"Silver coins?" Sun Shiqi was taken aback for a moment, "Do you not accept Dinar or CR?"

"No, but you can exchange them into silver coins at a trading post or a bank. From here all the way to Remote Creek Town is the Administrator's territory. We don't want to offend the respectable ruler. He’s not just out savior. It’s because of his grace that we are able to open a hotel here."

Seeing the troubled look on Sun Shiqi's face, Old Hooke smiled and said, "You don't have to pay for it now. You can settle the bill when you leave."

It hadn't even been a month since Longevity Town opened to the public, so it was naturally impossible to have customers with silver coins.

1 kilogram of two-headed oxen meat would cost 7 to 8 silver coins, and a two-headed oxen would weigh at least 600 kilograms. Whether it was sold to a farm or a slaughterhouse, it could be exchanged for a lot of money.

Therefore, Hooke didn't worry about them being unable to pay the bill at all, and if they really couldn't pay, he could also help introduce buyers to them.

Sun Shiqi glanced at the menu on the counter and had a rough idea of the prices. "Okay, then I need 5 rooms."

Opening the account book, Hooke glanced outside. "5 rooms? Isn't there more than 40 people outside?"

Sun Shiqi said casually. "Those are my slaves."

"Slaves... If that's the case, they're indeed not suitable to live in the hotel," Hooke ticked off several consecutive room numbers in the account book, "Your room is at the end of the corridor on the second floor. Just to remind you, slavery is forbidden in the north suburbs.”

Sun Shiqi was slightly taken aback, and his expression immediately became tense. "Forbidden? Wait... How come I have never heard of this?"

If slavery was banned, his itinerary may have to be adjusted a bit.

"It's normal that you've never heard of it. After all, you are here for the first time. The blue coats will always have some strange rules. But you don't have to be too nervous. This place only prohibits the practice and the unauthorized trade of slaves. Did you notice the trading post next door? You can keep your slaves there. Each person will be charged 5 silver coins per day. No contact will be allowed when they are kept there and you can take them away when you leave."

"Of course, I recommend you to sell them to the trading post. The price they offer isn’t bad, but they won't force you if you don't want to. However, don't blame me for not reminding you that slavery is not recognized here, only limited ownership is recognized. So it's best not to wander the streets with slaves, or try to take them into the town. And don't try to beat them with whips or sticks. The guards will not only fine you, but also detain you for 2 days."

The slaves bought by the trading post would be sent to the prisoner-of-war camp for a period of time, but their status would not be prisoners of war, but supervised persons.

When they earned enough money to redeem themselves through labor, learned at least a skill for making a living, and could proficiently recite the Basic Law, they would soon regain their status as freemen, even obtain citizenship, and be assigned to factories or assigned to fields.

It usually wouldn’t take long.

If it was fast, it would be 3 or 4 months. Even if he was slow, it would take a year at most.

Hooke didn't know why the administrator wanted to implement such troublesome rules, but since it was something that the benevolent ruler wanted to do, it had to be a good thing.

Most of the merchants in the wasteland would engage in slave trading from time to time, so a complete ban would not work. Moreover, they could simply choose not to head over to the northern suburbs. Buying slaves and releasing them would easily lead to some people taking advantage of the loopholes of the system, such as people selling themselves, or selling their wives and children.

Controlled but not totally banned, seeking common ground while reserving differences, and centralized supervision would be a good compromise solution. At least it would prevent merchants with slaves from passing the area.

Sun Shiqi already felt slightly strange in his heart when he heard Hooke mention the administrator before. Now that he heard him mention the blue coats, he was more convinced of his guess.

He asked in a tone of disbelief. "Is this... Is this the territory of Shelter 404?"

"Of course." Hooke placed the keys on the counter and gave him a strange look. "It seems that you haven't been here for a long time."