Shadow Empire - Chapter 929 Light a Fire

Previously, SEG City was just a distribution center, very small in scale, with a permanent population of probably less than 500 people.

Because there are silver mines on Mabei Mountain, it is said that someone has discovered gold mines on Mabei Mountain before.

But for various reasons, the gold mine was not discovered.

Some people also say that the gold mine has actually been discovered, but the president has no plans to develop it at present. He wants to leave it to his children to develop.

There were gold diggers in the Federation, and there were gold diggers in Lapa, too, and they were even more enthusiastic.

In the Federation, people can do a lot of jobs if they don't pan for gold. Whether it's being a security guard, a warehouse manager in a supermarket, or working in a factory, they can find a way to make money to support themselves and their families.

But in Lapa, if people don't pan for gold, they will most likely not be able to find a job.

Gold panning gave many people the opportunity to live a relatively decent life, and there were abundant resources of mountain products in Mabei Mountain.

After these purchasing merchants get these goods, they will sell part of them domestically to the ruling groups and the privileged classes.

Another part, and a considerable part, will be exported to the Federation to earn foreign exchange.

With resources and dividends, people will naturally gather here, and the scale of this distribution center will gradually expand.

As the scale grew, the government of Lapa had to intervene, and it gradually changed from an unmanaged distribution center to a small village and a town.

"Sager" is just a transliteration. In the local language of Rapa, this word means "gray forest", just like the mountains behind it, continuous, dark and gloomy.

It gives people an indescribable feeling of depression.

Because the air humidity in Lapa is high, Mabei Mountain maintains a high humidity no matter what time it is. Looking from a distance, it gives people a feeling that it is swallowed by clouds.

The mountains are shrouded in fog and clouds, so it's hard to see clearly.

There are many mountain runners here. They stay in the mountains for ten days or half a month, and some may even stay in the mountains for a month.

You need to make sufficient preparations before entering the mountains, and food is a very important part of it.

Although there is food in the mountains, no one can guarantee that they will encounter food that can fill their stomachs and last for a long time along the route they take.

Most people will bring enough food when going into the mountains. For example, if you plan to go into the mountains for a month, you must bring at least 20 pounds of food.

There are also things like "a pound of wheat is a pound of gold", which are all very good wishes.

The large group of mountain runners has also created a large amount of food reserves in the local area, which is no less than that in other cities.

Because the Lapa people have relatively low incomes and have no habit of storing food, the food in most cities is only enough to sustain daily consumption for a short period of time.

But SEG can last for a long time.

Pedro had already changed his glasses for a new pair, for which he paid five hundred paras, about seven federal soles, nearly a month and a half's salary for a Lapa man.

Because the lenses are imported, Lapa's industrial base prevents them from even producing the lenses.

The development of national science and technology has not pointed out the technology tree of "hand-rubbing lenses". They lack a reduction factor, so all lenses have to be imported, even the frames.

The price of these eyes imported from the Federation is less than one dollar, and the Federation's mature industrial production makes the prices of these things very low.

The legs of the glasses are also stamped parts and rubber, which were considered cheap industrial products at that time.

But when it is sold, it costs more than seven yuan. This is the huge profit from monopoly!After changing his glasses and hairstyle, Pedro entered Sage City openly.

They walked along the street and looked at everything here, which was full of traces of "government background".

Gomez and his chamber of commerce also purchase various mountain products and gold ores here, especially nugget gold.

As outsiders and strangers, many people's eyes would linger on Pedro and others for a moment.

Their looks were not friendly, because with the outbreak of famine, some people had fled to Sage City from surrounding areas.

They break the rules in the city and are unpopular.

There were not many people coming this time, and they mainly came to observe.

Pedro's colleague, a common language teacher, frowned all the way. Seeing the scale of the city and the people on the road, he obviously felt the pressure.

"I really can't imagine how we, with so few people, can attack this city and... control it?"

"God, that Mr. Lance must have wanted to reject us, so he gave us a difficult problem that we can't achieve!"

The expression on his face looked painful, and the expressions of others were also serious.

Compared to their frustration, uncertainty and doubts about the future, Pedro seemed very calm.

He wasn't frustrated at all, and he didn't even feel like these things were impossible.

His colleague nudged him with his elbow. "What do you think?"

Pedro's eyes fell on some people huddled in the corners of the street. They were most likely refugees who had escaped from other places.

This city gave him a very absurd feeling, an atmosphere he had never felt in any other city.

There are countless casinos, bars, red-light districts, and all kinds of things that can wear down people's will.

Sometimes it even made Pedro feel that this was not a remote area at all, but just a microcosm of a certain block in Zhuolan!It is prosperous, lively and full of entertainment atmosphere.

He can understand.

When you make money, you will definitely have the desire to spend it. You can find some girls to vent your anger after staying in the mountains for ten days, half a month or even a month, or go to the bar to have a couple of drinks to relax.

The local fruit wine is not valuable, including the whiskey from some small factories, I don’t even know about it.

There is no prohibition on alcohol here. A bottle of whiskey costs just over a hundred paras, which is equivalent to a little over one federal sol.

Of course, the price has gone up now, and it will cost about two hundred paras, because the price of food has gone up, which is about three federal sols.

For two hundred dollars, you can enjoy the ultimate in tobacco, alcohol and sex.

Some people are interested in gambling. After doing all this, they go to the casino to play a few rounds. In the end, they lose everything, and the past half month’s work has been wasted. Then they find a dry place on the street to lie down and wait for the next time to go into the mountains.

There are many people like this. They have been working hard but have never been able to save any money. It seems as if a curse has been cast on them.

In Pedro's view, these people can actually be considered his helpers.

There are only about 200 adult males who are really capable of showing off their skills.

After returning to the camp, he took two big gulps of water from the cup, and the men gathered around him.

Pedro sat down and sorted out everything he had seen during the day, "I have a plan..."

In the next few days, Pedro and a few smart people around him returned to Sage City.

There was financial assistance from the federal government, and their money had been exchanged for some Para on the way here.

Every time they lose money, they would have a couple of drinks, find a place with many people who are in a similar situation to them and sit down, and use a complaining tone to guess whether the casino has done something wrong.

"As long as I don't bet much, the chances of winning are high."

"But if I make one more move, I'll definitely lose!"

"They must have done something..."

Everyone around me has had similar experiences. In fact, the casino itself is a sophisticated mathematical game.

It is not that easy to win money in a casino, and they might really have cheated you.

Even if it moves, these people may not know.

After all, there is a background behind every casino.

People without background are not qualified to do business here. Even for those girls who need help, there are people supporting them behind them.

Otherwise, they would have fought each other to death due to the fierce competition. How could they be as harmonious as they are now?Pedro's complaint soon attracted the approval of many people. When people are poor, they always look for reasons for their misfortune.

They are unwilling to admit that it was their greed for the possible high returns from gambling that ultimately led them to lose everything. They would rather admit that it was the casino that resorted to trickery to cause them to lose the money they should have won.

But if someone says it today, someone says it tomorrow, and someone keeps saying it, then naturally, some people will feel that "this is the truth."

What is the truth for people at the bottom?

The truth is what everyone agrees on, that’s the truth!Whether it is true or not is no longer important. What matters is that everyone accepts the result!It didn't take more than a few days for the casino's business to be affected.

With fewer customers, the daily turnover has dropped significantly.

When he heard that someone said that the casino had rigged the deal and caused everyone to lose the money they had risked their lives to get back from Horseback Mountain, he became a little uneasy for a moment.

It is obviously impossible to say that there is no trick in the casino!

Even if it is an extremely small probability, the denominator is infinite, and the numerator is still a "1"!As long as it exists, it will definitely be possible to achieve it.

So in order to avoid this situation, casinos naturally have their own countermeasures.

They have not been able to improve their industry, economy and development, but they have been able to keep up with the international leading level in terms of exploiting the people.

Some dealers even go to Paradise City or Jingang City in the federation to participate in dealer training, learning how to turn cards that originally have no chance of winning into winning ones!Now that these rumors have damaged the casino's interests, the boss and his thugs have begun searching the streets for those who spread the rumors.

But the result was definitely that they could not find the person, so some people who were "suspected" of spreading rumors or who participated in spreading rumors became their targets.

Those people were beaten for no reason, and not only did the casino fail to solve the problem, but it actually led to even fewer people entering the casino!Contradictions began to arise in this way.

But if these mushrooms are exported to the federal government, they can be sold for thousands of dollars per pound!These businessmen swallowed up their profits dozens or hundreds of times!

These people also said that they only needed to save up some mountain products, then buy a ship ticket to the Federation, and then sell the goods at the Jingang Wharf. This would be much better than selling directly to local merchants!In order to make people believe that this was true, the person who spread the rumor also showed others a lot of old circulating federal sole banknotes.

In their words, the money they earn from a trip to the Federation is equivalent to what they earn working here in a year!

When these people who risked their lives to hide in the mountains thought about how so much money had been transferred away by unscrupulous businessmen, they couldn't stand it anymore. They asked the local businessmen to raise the recycling price.

Then, based on the information they obtained, they calculated how much the bag of mountain products they brought out could be sold for!There were more and more similar stories that suddenly began to circulate in Sage City, and the originally stable order suddenly became chaotic.

Even among the girls who needed help, there were many rumors, such as these women were actually trafficked or kidnapped and they were not there voluntarily.

Let people think about their families, the women in their families before they go looking for these girls…

"Fuck!" The mayor, his shiny hair reflecting the light of the crystal chandelier, slammed the table hard and cursed with a slight local accent.

"It's been more than half a month. Don't you guys notice anything?"

Sitting in the room were local leaders, and everyone had a grim look on their face. Their business had experienced a drastic drop.

Not only will they not make any money, but the people behind them may also be very dissatisfied with them because of this.

Everyone has a fire in their heart, wanting to destroy something, but without a clear target.

He turned to look at these people and said, "Let the price of food go up."

"Aren't they unwilling to sell things, unwilling to go to the casino, unwilling to go to the red-light district, unwilling to leave their money behind?"

"Then let the price of food go up. How much is one pound of our wheat now?"

One of the merchants said, "A pound of wheat costs three dollars and seven paras."

“And you have to tell them that prices will rise again at any time and anywhere!”

He looked at the people in the room with a stern face and slightly bulging eyes, giving people a feeling of great pressure, "No one can take our money out of here!"

He prodded his fingers hard on the table, making a thumping sound, "No one!"

"If we find someone leaving with a large amount of supplies..." He pursed his lips, stood up, and took a deep breath, "then kill them."

Everyone nodded, of course they understood!

If someone really brought mountain products to the Federation and made a lot of money by selling them, he just had to come back and show his gains.

Then Sage City, which emerged because of mountain runners and mountain products, will soon disappear!

Without consumption, some of the mountain product processing factories here will lose their supply, the factories will have to shut down, and the workers will have to be laid off.

It's just a distribution center!

So no matter for any reason, for any purpose, these people cannot leave here!

(End of this chapter)