Brother Fang Chang's "Market Research"

The towering mega-wall made Boulder City a paradise famed far and wide. Compared to distant Yunjian Province and Ideal City, this place seemed within reach. Yet this grandeur did not extend its blessings to everyone here. Walking toward Boulder City's main gate, the first thing that caught the eye was an enormous slum. Ragged shacks clung like psoriasis to the foot of the mega-wall; seen from afar, it looked like an endless, putrid drainage ditch. Most people living here were emaciated and sallow. Wrapped in clothes that had clearly gone unwashed for who knew how long, they sat blankly before their doors or prepared to head out scavenging. There was hardly any junk left to scavenge in the immediate vicinity. If they wanted a decent haul, their only choice was to climb higher up into ruined buildings or venture farther afield. Sewage and excrement scattered everywhere stained what should have been white snow with foul hues. Things would undoubtedly worsen once the snow melted; it was a miracle no plague had broken out. Fang Chang, who had never seen so many NPCs in this game before, stared blankly at the scene before him and asked, "Just how many people are here?" Xu Shun repeated the question. Qian Lai answered in an offhand tone, "Ten thousand, twenty thousand, maybe a hundred thousand. In any case, you never see fewer people around here. Who'd bother wasting effort counting them? It's utterly pointless." A look of astonishment crossed Xu Shun's face. Tens of thousands?! That was absurd. Meanwhile, Fang Chang, who was staring intently at the subtitles on his VM screen, was thinking about something entirely different. Tens of thousands of people?! ...What do this many people eat?! In any case, it certainly wasn't farming. There didn't look like there was any room to farm here. At the edge of the slum stood a crooked utility pole with several loudspeakers wrapped around it, taking turns broadcasting a few dull radio channels. Another hundred meters ahead was Boulder City's main gate. There, clean concrete roads stretched out, guarded by on-duty militiamen, caravans ready to depart, and poor folk looking everywhere for work—many of them young children. For the vast majority here, life had only two hopes: being picked up by a caravan or peddler, or catching a factory recruitment drive. If neither panned out, and they couldn't cast aside their last shred of pride to beg or sell their souls, then their only option was to become mercenaries. Catching a Tide, they wouldn't even have to buy their own guns. Because they were carrying goods hauled from the outpost, Fang Chang and his group were quickly eyed as peddlers. A dirty-faced boy with slightly curly hair shadowed Qian Lai step for step, saying in a shrill voice, "Mister, do you need a servant? I can do arithmetic, wash clothes, haul heavy things... I can even smell rats and roaches hiding in crevices! I can do any kind of work." He had sharp eyes, recognizing right away who in this group looked most like a businessman. Yet skills like his were a dime a dozen in the slums. "No." "Mister—" The boy tried to push, but Qian Lai impatiently cut him off. "I'll only say it once." Seeing Qian Lai's unfriendly glare and the pistol holstered at his waist, the boy shrank back. Not daring to press further, he darted off to the side to scout his next target. Xu Shun glanced at the boy's dejected back and said nothing. He wasn't overflowing with sympathy, and he certainly wasn't naive enough to think about helping the kid. Once you opened that door, endless trouble would follow. Who on this wasteland wasn't pitiful? To him, the mission entrusted by the Lord Administrator was top priority; everything else took a backseat. Still... Gazing up at the towering mega-wall, Xu Shun couldn't help sighing in his heart. The wall was immense, projecting an imposing sense of security. Yet, after all was said and done, it was the northern outskirts ruled by the Lord Administrator that felt truly warm... Separated from Boulder City's main gate by a street stood the Far Wind Grand Hotel, its sign hanging above magnificent, gilded entrance doors. The guests there, however, seemed to have had a bit of a disagreement with the hotel. In front of a hotel attendant, a man in a battered leather jacket flushed red with rage. Beside him lay a suitcase; judging by the scattered belongings, it had been tossed straight out the door. Behind him stood other guests who had also been kicked out. "Didn't we agree on one chip a day?" The attendant picked his ear, speaking impatiently. "Yes, our manager did say that, but that was winter. Prices have gone up now. We haven't stopped you from extending your stay, have we?" "Ten chips a day?! Are you robbers? Why is it more expensive now that winter is over?!" "To clear out rooms for guests from afar, of course. Why do you think it was cheap in winter?" The attendant sneered. "Alright, take your luggage and scram." "And what if I say no?" The man glared at him viciously. "What's that got to do with me?" The attendant yawned, not giving him a second glance, and turned toward the front entrance. As he passed the entrance, he glanced at the security guard by the doors. "Handle it." The fully armed guard gave a deadpan nod, standing motionless and staring straight ahead like a statue. Furious at being ignored, the man reached for his waist. Yet the moment his fingers touched his waistband, a gunshot cracked. A bloody hole instantly punched through the center of his forehead, and he toppled straight backward. A nearby woman screamed. The other evicted guests backed away in a panic, scrambling to gather their luggage and clear out. Having witnessed the entire scene, Fang Chang looked over at the militiamen by the city gate in shock, only to find they didn't even bother glancing this way. Walking beside him, Xu Shun voiced the bewilderment in Fang Chang's mind. "Those guards... aren't going to do anything?" Qian Lai shot him an odd look. "Those people? You mean the militia?" Xu Shun swallowed hard. "Yeah." Qian Lai chuckled. "The militia doesn't care about disputes outside Boulder City; they only watch the ground right outside the gate. Law enforcement has boundaries. The wasteland is vast—we can't possibly police every inch of dirt. If we police this street, do we have to police the next one too? This hotel actually has a decent reputation. The owner is an inner-city noble, and the manager is a capable man who stays on great terms with several slum gangs. If you come here to do business, they'll introduce clients to you... for a mere ten percent commission, and only once." Pulling out a rusty pocket watch to check the time, Qian Lai continued, "It's noon right now, so there aren't many people. Come nightfall, it gets much livelier, though I wouldn't recommend looking for fun here." "Fun?" "Nothing. If you're not interested, forget it. If you are, you can ask that attendant by the door just now—he'll set you up." "...?" Xu Shun looked thoroughly baffled. Qian Lai urged him along. "Let's go. Time to line up at the city gate... By the way, do you have the entrance tax ready?" Xu Shun froze. "Entrance tax? You have to pay a tax just to get in?" The Lord Administrator had told him that once the goods were sold and the caravan received its cut, a portion of the remaining money could serve as their operating funds. But the goods hadn't been sold yet, and he didn't have a single chip in his pocket. He wondered if those people took silver coins... Qian Lai smiled and said, "Of course. Three chips per person to enter, which is why most people don't come and go casually. It's fine if you don't have them; I'll pay for you this time." There would be plenty of chances to deal with them in the future. Judging by his boss's reaction that night and the subsequent attitude of that Administrator, Qian Lai felt it was necessary to build good relations with them. It was a long-term investment. Six chips was a pittance to both him and his boss. Lining up didn't take long. The check was mainly to see if the cargo contained hazardous items. Notably, explosives with an equivalent yield of over three hundred grams were contraband, but bullets and rifles were not. Perhaps possessing absolute confidence in their ability to eliminate troublemakers instantly, the militiamen didn't seem to care in the slightest whether people carried weapons inside. Come to think of it, that made sense. Several heavy machine gun barrels were visible right on the mega-wall, and it was entirely reasonable that snipers or similar defenses were positioned in blind spots. However, when they reached Fang Chang, several militiamen gave him and the bow on his back a few extra glances. After exchanging a few quiet words, they jotted something down in a densely written notebook. Of course, Fang Chang was doing the exact same thing, calmly scribbling away with a pen in his little notebook: [...The militia squad leader at the Boulder City gate is very strong; I can sense a dangerous aura. Likely an Awakened, level uncertain.] [Additionally, Awakened entering survivor settlements are registered.] [Judging by the reactions of those around, ordinary Awakened don't warrant special treatment; registration is merely routine.] The militiamen waved the group through. Looking up at the towering, massive gate passing overhead, Xu Shun adjusted his pack and sighed inwardly. Finally made it. ... "...We followed the caravan into Boulder City. The caravan leader paid the entrance tax for us, six chips in total." That evening. Immediately after logging off, Fang Chang opened a thread on the official website, sharing firsthand information about Boulder City on the forum. Not only were the players curious about what the damn developer had placed in the new map, even the developer himself was dying of curiosity to see what Boulder City was really like. Truth be told, Chu Guang had saved up chips for five months intending to flee Bet Street and head there. If he hadn't discovered Shelter 404, he might already be screwing in bolts on an assembly line there. Because it was a serialized thread and Brother Fang Chang wasn't typing particularly fast, Chu Guang sat before his monitor and clicked the "Author Only" filter, temporarily screening out the silly netizens' comments. "The situation inside the city is completely different from outside. The streets here have been renovated, and the buildings were reconstructed over bulldozed ruins. They get taller the further in you go, though none surpass the mega-wall. "Nice hotels are very expensive, while cheap inns and taverns hide within intricate alleys where conditions aren't much better than the slums outside. It's worth noting, however, that because a drainage system was built, it doesn't smell too bad. "Maybe the developer is hinting that we should also consider adding some municipal facilities to our surface outpost? "As for clothing, the residents here mainly dress in cotton and linen; the weaving industry must be well developed. For citizens with jobs inside the city, clothing isn't much of an issue, though they wear the same garment for a long time. Mercenaries prefer leather clothing or ballistic armor made from specialized materials, so even if they conceal their guns, they're easy to pick out. "A small number of hospitals and schools are scattered across a few neighborhoods along the edge of the inner city. The people living there look completely different in spirit from those outside, and their spending power is much stronger. "In the center of town stands another wall, enclosing Boulder City's inner city. Over a dozen pre-war high-rises have been refurbished, forming the pinnacle of Boulder City's pyramid. The ruler who dominates all this is a man named Fang Ming. He rarely appears before the public in person, mostly showing himself through holographic projections. Most people hold him in awe, though a fair number simply don't care. "It's worth mentioning that Boulder City isn't short on supplies and its productivity isn't low—some technologies even reach sci-fi levels—yet the vast majority of people still live very tight lives. For the uneducated lower class in particular, there are only two paths to fortune: either join a caravan or become a mercenary. "After sorting out a place to stay, we accompanied the caravan folk and brought the devil cloth and spirit leaf to the trading post. Bulk commodities across Boulder City are traded there, with over a hundred stalls arranged like a wholesale farmers' market. The stallkeepers marveled at our weaving craftsmanship—major kudos to Miss Tengteng here... but I could tell they were clearly far more interested in the spirit leaf. "In the end, ten bolts of devil cloth sold for 5,000 chips, and one hundred kilograms of spirit leaf also fetched 5,000 chips... That was after bargaining; at first, they only offered half that amount. The weights of the goods were actually fairly close, but in my personal opinion, the latter is easier to procure and clearly much more profitable. "After the deal was done, the guard NPC and I strolled around for some brief market research. We found that demand for rubber and biomass oil here is very steady, with surprisingly large purchase volumes, and most importantly, transparent pricing! The only drawback is that prices aren't high, and where to get so much rubber and oil remains a question. "The same goes for cotton, flax, and grain, as well as materials like steel and aluminum, and even precious metals like silver and gold—all can be traded here. "The following is purely speculation! "Considering Boulder City highlights the traits of the 'Merchant' and 'Mercenary' professions, the next patch might unlock trading runs and mercenary gameplay. "If you plan to run trade routes, definitely keep in mind that local residents have weak purchasing power, so delicacies probably won't fetch much of a premium! "In contrast, mercenaries have strong spending power and distinct needs. Cheap weapons, protective gear, auxiliary equipment, alcohol or even spirit leaf for stress relief, as well as medical gauze and dry rations—all can fetch a nice price here! "Maybe we should run a shop in Boulder City? Our weapons are clearly in oversupply already! "Of course, if any Strength-type brothers are interested, you could also go screw in bolts at a factory? But currently the trigger method is unknown, payouts are low, and the process seems extremely tedious. "Unless you've never worked in a factory in real life, strongly not recommended!"