Chapter 352.1: Why Don't You Loan Us Some Chips?

"We've arrived, hahaha! We're finally here!" As the towering giant wall finally appeared before everyone's eyes, the man clad in a white robe joyously cheered.

Luca, walking on the third-ring elevated highway, finally relaxed a bit, his face showing a hint of relief.

They had been on this journey for a full 2 days.

Except for the initial encounter with a guy named Blake, they encountered at least 3 waves of attackers along the way.

Of course, the subsequent waves were just small fries. Their weapons were shabby, and their morale was low. After a couple of shots, they quickly dispersed and fled.

As for the man clad in the white robe walking alongside them, he was rescued by them from the hands of the last wave of marauders.

His name was Hal, hailing from the Sunset Province. According to him, he was a prince of the Lion Tribe, the heir to the oasis, and a believer in the Spirit of the Sand Sea.

When asked why, as a prince and heir, he had traveled from far away to the south of Clearspring City only to be captured by a group of thugs wielding crudely-made weapons, he replied with embarrassment, "... We have many princes in our kingdom. We must do something to prove our courage and qualities to govern the kingdom."

A curious young diplomat asked, "Such as?"

Hal eloquently continued, "Like bringing something back to the desert that hasn't been seen before. It's our tradition. The one who brings back the most valuable item becomes a candidate for the throne."

Another older diplomat inquired, "Have you found it?"

Hal's expression became subtly awkward, and he coughed lightly. "... Haven't I just arrived in Boulder Town? Trust me, I'll surely find it."

Forget about finding something valuable, he had lost both of his bodyguards and the dinars he carried. If it weren't for encountering those kind people, he might have ended up in serious trouble.

It was just like the unlucky guy locked in the same cage with him.

He even began to regret not going south to the Brocade River Province with his brother.

The local people he met were fiercer than he had imagined. It was completely different from the endless desert. There were skyscrapers everywhere, and each window seemed to hide someone.

The 2 diplomats following Luca exchanged glances.

For survivors living around Clearspring City, concepts like thrones and princes were completely foreign.

If they likened the administrator to a king, then this guy... Was probably the son of the administrator?

Thinking about this, everyone couldn't help feeling a bit envious.

They really wished their administrator would have a few more children...

"Sir, do you need bodyguards?" Hal looked respectfully at Luca, who had been silent, and asked.

Intuitively perceiving something, he felt that this elderly man probably held the highest status among everyone here.

Luca gave him a strange glance, wondering where the fellow's confidence came from. However, Luca still left a bit of dignity for the young man and succinctly replied, "Not needed. What's the matter?"

Hal wore a slightly embarrassed expression, hesitated for a moment, and finally spoke up, "I've been robbed of my money and have nowhere to go... Can you give me a job?"

Luca raised an eyebrow and asked, "What can you do?"

"I can brew tea, play musical instruments, write poetry, and paint. Of course... I can also shoot. I can prove myself. Just give me a revolver or a rifle, and I can hit a plastic bottle from 100 meters away!"

Hal confidently said. However, the nearby Doggo and Peepo couldn't help but burst into laughter.

Hitting a plastic bottle with a gun from 100 meters away was a pretty mediocre skill. But as for hitting with that revolver, hitting someone from a hundred meters away would already be pretty good.

"If we don't help him, he might not even be able to afford the entrance tax," a senior diplomat lowered his voice and whispered beside Luca.

"If he can really play musical instruments and paint, his status should not be low... Helping him wouldn't be a bad thing."

That made sense. Although the New Alliance had not yet established diplomatic relations with survivors from other provinces, it was only a matter of time.

It was never wrong to make a couple of friends while out and about.

Luca nodded and looked at the unfortunate young man beside him, saying, "I happen to need someone for clerical work. You can follow me for now."

Hal was overjoyed. "Thank you so much! By the way, I also know twelve artistic fonts."

Luca cleared his throat. "That won't be necessary. Just write things neatly."

The group continued forward and soon arrived at the foot of the towering giant wall.

Across from the giant gate stood a high-rise building adorned with a signboard proudly displaying the words ‘Wind From Afar Hotel’. In the bustling square before the gate, a diverse array of traveling merchants and adventurers hurried to and fro. Amidst the crowd, there were occasional sightings of individuals with metallic or silicone enhancements, or machines with antennas implanted in their skulls.

Barely dressed, the impoverished stood on the roadside as they held wooden signs. They were waiting for work to come to them.

The polarization of living standards remained the same year after year.

Hal excitedly craned his neck to look around; everything here seemed fresh and new to him. However, for the players who had been there countless times, everything and everyone was familiar.

"Triggered a new mission," Old White said, raising an eyebrow as he glanced at his virtual monitor.

"What mission? Let me see," Ample Time leaned in while muttering.

A line of text was displayed on the screen.

[Mission:

Go to the Pirate's Bay Tavern to find Byte and inquire about the employer-related information.

]

Old White scrutinized the mission for a while. "It should be the follow-up mission from that muscular guy named Blake... I've synced it to the team."

"A tavern? Ample Time, you seem familiar with this," Peepo joked.

"Hey boss, when are you going to write a brothel guide? We've been waiting for so long!" Doggo also chimed in.

"Get lost, I'm pure at heart, unlike you old perverts who only think about dirty stuff every day," Ample Time retorted, rolling his eyes at the playful teammates.

Old White didn't tease him but simply said with a smile, "So, how about it? Once we deliver the NPC to the destination, let's go to that Pirate's Bay Tavern?"

Ample Time sighed. "Do you think this kind of task can be completed by just walking into a tavern and asking?"

Curious, Old White frowned. "Then what do you suggest?"

After pondering for a moment, Ample Time's gaze fell on those holding signs nearby, his eyes flickering slightly. "... Blake lives in the slums. Let's first find out where his house is. Whether he has any living relatives or not, there are always friends who know about him. Through his friends, we should be able to find out who this Byte person really is."

"Does it have to be that troublesome?" Peepo asked, puzzled.

"This game does require a bit of thinking," Old White laughed. "Let's do as Ample Time says, enter the city first, and then we'll see."

After paying the entrance fee, the group stored their prohibited explosives and passed through the towering city gate.

The militia guards at the city gate didn't say much about the exoskeletons on them. After all, in a place like Boulder Town, things like that weren't rare enough to warrant prolonged scrutiny.

Following the administrator's instructions, Luca was about to go to the New Alliance's office in Boulder Town. However, as soon as they stepped onto the street, they noticed something was off.

The entrance to the warehouse district was swarming with people, the area crowded as far as the eye could see.

Citizens dressed in linen shirts and hyena leather coats gathered together, their expressions angry as they held up wooden signs, shouting random but loud slogans, advancing toward the core area of the outer city.

"Reject unfair trade!"

"Give us back our jobs!"

"Kick the New Alliance's goods out of Boulder Town!"

"We want bread! Not nutrient cream!"

"Traitors, get out of the Boulder Town!"

The clamor was like boiling hot waves, scorching under the June sun.

The guards standing on the edge of the crowd looked helpless; their batons were already struggling to control the crowd.

The militia loyal to the mayor stood by, indifferent as long as it didn't escalate into a gunfight.

Hal, who was visiting Boulder Town for the first time, excitedly craned his neck, looking towards the surging crowd.

"Are they celebrating something?" he asked.

One of the diplomats beside him had a grim expression. "... Do you think they look like they're celebrating?"

"That's true... By the way, who are they shouting to leave?"

Luca glanced at him but didn't pay much attention, instead turning to the other diplomat beside him. "Let's walk faster, it's best not to stay on the street too long."

Everyone nodded and hastened their pace.

Although the players accompanying the NPCs were curious and wanted to go closer to see what was happening, the mission was more important.

"... It's so strange," Peepo murmured softly. "It wasn't like this when we came here last time."

"I didn't expect the inevitable would eventually happen." Watching the surging crowd, Ample Time said thoughtfully.

"The inevitable? What's that?" Doggo asked curiously.

Ample Time replied, "Didn't you see? They're protesting that the things we sold to them are too cheap."

"Too cheap? I don't quite get it," Doggo said, feeling a bit confused.

"What?... We gave them good things at cheap prices. What do they have to complain about?"

"Under normal circumstances, exchanging 10 nutrient creams for a loaf of bread is reasonable. But suddenly, someone emerged willing to exchange 1000 nutrient creams for a bread oven, making the business of nutrient cream and bread unprofitable."

"Even if bread becomes cheaper, it is only the ones with chips who benefit from the reduction. For ordinary survivors without work, it doesn't make a difference because they can't afford it anyway. It would only be strange if they're happy about it."

The factories in Dawn City took away the jobs of Boulder Town residents, and recently, the City Hall even planned to expand trade with the New Alliance.

Because of this, the outer city residents, already living on the edge of poverty, erupted completely.

However... Was the root cause really because the New Alliance's goods were too cheap?

The essence of the crisis lay in the concentration of wealth in the hands of a few people. Once currency stopped circulating, it lost its function in the market.

The residents of Boulder Town lacked chips for consumption. With reduced factory production and fewer job opportunities, the residents became poorer, ultimately entering a cycle of mutual loss.

The influx of external industrial goods only accelerated this process.

The simplest method was external colonization.

Whether it was economic or military colonization, as long as surplus goods were continually sold to small survivor settlements like Baker Street and Brown Farms in exchange for industrial raw materials, they would be able to sustain the original chain of consumption.

Unfortunately, the New Alliance not only refused to become Boulder Town's colony but had also partially liberated survivor settlements economically colonized by them, exporting industrial goods to their markets in return.

Boulder Town's economic crisis started long ago.

However, in the wasteland, economic crises were insignificant compared to the survival crisis. Therefore, no one had ever realized it, nor had the leisure to care.

The inner city nobles were entirely indifferent to how the outer city providers schemed against each other. To the ruler of the city, everything, except for what truly concerned him, was insignificant.

Besides, even though trapped in poverty and unemployment, the residents here were still luckier than the Baker Street’s residents and Brown Farm’s slaves from a year ago. It was just recently that these unfortunate people had finally found something to vent their anger on.

Thinking about this, Ample Time's eyes involuntarily showed a hint of keen interest.

It was not that he was cold-blooded. For him, a pure player, NPCs were just data, hardly something to evoke sympathy. He just didn't expect the unexpectedly realistic economic system of the game.

It wasn’t just the supply and demand relations but even the production relations had been restored.

Fantastic!

Looks like we're getting closer to the public beta!