Conquering alien worlds starts from the game

Before the Age of Discovery, the Sorensen Mountains were not as haunted by miasma as they are now. At that time, not only a large number of caravans passed by the Sorensen Mountains every year, but also active expedition teams and adventurer teams from various regions. Renson's Westham brings vitality and endless business opportunities.

This grand occasion has gradually declined since the opening of the Great Navigation Era.

There are two reasons. First, the cost of sea transportation is indeed lower than that of land transportation. Except for the caravans that need to trade with inland countries, most long-distance caravans choose sea transportation more, switching from land merchants to sea merchants.

Second, the Sorensen Mountains have gradually become difficult to pass through...Except for a few areas that are barely passable due to rugged terrain or other reasons, most of the areas are covered by thick miasma; not only the passing caravans have decreased, but even explorers and Adventurers no longer gather.

More than a hundred years ago, the local well-known hotel operators fled to Innatrix one after another, and Westham quickly degenerated from a prosperous commercial town to an obscure frontier poor town.

Only relying on the underdeveloped agriculture and piecemeal handicrafts cannot solve the employment problem of thousands of young people in town households, and the phenomenon of labor outflow among young and middle-aged people has naturally become the mainstream.

For girls like Caroline, when they are fifteen or six years old, most of them will find someone from their family to help them find a job in the town and use their salary to subsidize the family; when they are around 23 or [-] years old, the marriage can no longer be delayed. , it is up to the family to arrange a suitable marriage partner and marry into someone else's home—the years before marriage are the last time for girls to repay the families who raised them.

Caroline is 23 years old and has been working in the town's fine dining restaurant for eight years.Her mother, Winnie, loves her very much. She has been choosing a marriage partner for her since last year. According to the agreement with her family, she should have resigned and returned home this winter to get married on a blind date.

Caroline has no dissatisfaction with her life being arranged in this way, after all, most of the girls she knows in small towns also live in this way.If she hadn't heard too many negative rumors about Westem in the past half month, which made her worry day and night, she would not have thought about asking for leave to come back to see the situation - the restaurant is very harsh on waiters like her who can be replaced at any time, Leave of absence will be deducted from wages.

The three young people who returned with Caroline in the same car were also in a similar situation. Most of them were introduced to the city as apprentices or entered workshops when they were fifteen or sixteen years old. Or paid a certain price.

When they entered the town gate, they saw that the town was as peaceful and peaceful as they saw when they went home last winter, and the four young people were secretly relieved... It doesn't matter whether the lord has changed, as long as their hometown can remain the same.

Then...they saw the undead walking calmly on the street in broad daylight among the townspeople.

The townspeople are obviously afraid of these terrifying skeletons. When the undead approach, even a drunken alcoholic will rush to avoid them.

But...that's about it.

There was no panic, no running away, as if as long as they kept a distance of one or two meters from these undead, the townspeople would acquiesce to the reality that these undead walked with them on the same street...

The four young men stood blankly at the crossroads, watching the two undead who frightened them first swagger past them and left the town gate.

The two undead hadn't gone far, and another group of undead came out from the direction of Martin Street, talking "KABAKABA" as if there was no one else around.

All the undead have gleaming steel knives stuck in their waists, some have glaring scars on their bones, and some have obvious battle marks on the weird scales on their bodies... How do you look at these undead? None of them have anything to do with peace and kindness.

But the townspeople who came and went on the street just didn't know to be afraid of them, and the housewife who went out to sell vegetables with a basket even passed by within half a meter of these undead.

Caroline stared blankly at this incredible scene, her jaw dropped...

"I, I have to go home and have a look." A young man said with a pale face, breaking the silence.

"Me too!" The other two responded as if they had just woken up from a dream.

"Wait a minute." Seeing that the three of them were about to disperse, Caroline quickly stopped them.

The girl looked around with a pale face, pulled the three of them to the side of the road, and said in a low voice, "I, we shouldn't really disperse, everyone go home and have a look...then we'll come out and meet again."

Enduring hardship is the most life experience that can make people grow.

Leaving home in their teens, the discrimination, exclusion, and bullying they encountered in the lowest-level environment in Inadoli made these young people in small towns grow up rapidly, making them more mature than their peers who stayed in their hometown or in the countryside.

Although Caroline didn't speak very clearly, the three young men understood what she meant, nodded solemnly, and agreed on a time and place to meet again...

The situation in the town is too strange, they can't think about it - if the black magician who supported the new lord used some weird magic to make all the townspeople lose their vigilance against those terrible undead, then they must at least stay awake!

The Carolines lived in the same block to the north as the Porta Lowrys, two lanes from Town Hall.

The blocks to the north of the town are mostly single-family small buildings over a hundred years old. Like Martin Street, they were the last batch of houses built when the prosperity of Westham ended; Mostly bungalows, the town never saw new buildings before Westham became a red-light district.

There are three generations living in Caroline's single-family building with a small garden. Two uncles occupy the second floor, and their family and grandfather are on the first floor.

The eldest lord was still alive, and Caroline's uncle and her father were exempt from paying taxes.But her grandfather's health has been getting worse and worse in the past two years. When her grandfather dies, the three adult men in their family will be recognized as independent male heads of household, and a large sum of tax expenses will be added every year. The reason why her mother was eager to marry her off - if her grandfather died, the family would not be able to prepare a slightly larger dowry for Caroline.

"Caroline?" Winnie Megan was washing vegetables by the well in the yard. When she saw her daughter open the yard door and walked in, she quickly wiped her hands on the apron and greeted her with surprise and worry, "Dear , why did you come back early? Did something happen at work? "

"Mom." Caroline hugged her mother vigorously, "I'm fine, mom, where's grandpa?"

"Your grandfather is in the Environmental Sanitation Bureau... are you really okay?" Winnie asked with concern.

"It's really fine, I just want to come back and see you." Caroline took her mother into the house, looked around the house quickly, saw two little cousins ​​and aunt mending clothes in the living room, smiled and waved at them Started, looked left and right, "Mom, is everyone in the family okay?"

"Everyone is fine... Oh, did you rush back after hearing about Westem's new lord?" Winnie said suddenly.

"Yes, everyone is fine?" Caroline repeated the question nervously, "By the way, you just said that grandpa is in the Environmental Sanitation Bureau? What is the Environmental Sanitation Bureau?"

Winnie knew her daughter well, and now she almost guessed the reason why her daughter hurried back, so she couldn't help but smiled and patted the back of Caroline's hand: "Silly girl, don't listen to the nonsense of people outside. What does it matter to us to change the lord, earlier, when your grandfather was young, our lord here was not the Marcus family."

Caroline didn't look relaxed, but became more and more worried... Could it be that her guess was right, that even her mother was affected by the black magician who supported the new lord?

"Stop talking about it, Mom has something nice for you to see." Winnie pulled Caroline into the room and took out the good fabric she hid in the cabinet, "Look at this, how beautiful it is Color and pattern, when you get married, use this to make a long skirt that can cover your ankles, you must be the most beautiful bride!"

Caroline's attention was drawn to the fabric for a moment, with smooth surfaces, vibrant colors and lifelike prints like nothing she had ever seen before.

But Caroline couldn't be happy at all, she couldn't help but said: "Mom, are these undead cloths that make you all lose your vigilance?"

"What undead cloth?" Ms. Winnie was startled, "Don't talk nonsense, this is sold to us by the new lord, but it has nothing to do with undead."

Caroline couldn't help shaking her head, and said painfully: "I knew the situation in the town was not right—you should think about it calmly, Mom, I have worked in Inadoli for so many years, and I have met many ladies in the city, None of their skirts are as beautiful as those made of undead cloth... How could such a good cloth fall into the hands of people like us so easily?"

Ms. Winnie couldn't laugh or cry, and quickly comforted her: "Calm down, my baby, this kind of fabric is not only available in our family, people in the town and even vegetable farmers from the countryside have bought a lot of them back. Did you Seeing how much of this fine cloth the owner has sold during this time, if this is to deceive us, how much will the new owner lose?"

"If it wasn't to deceive everyone, how could it be possible to sell us this kind of fabric that can be sold at a high price in the top store in Inadoli?" Caroline shook her head again and again, "Believe me, Mom, there is definitely something in it." Secretly, this is definitely not normal."

Ms. Winnie is extremely embarrassed...

It is impossible to say that a small-town woman like Ms. Winnie does not reject the weird situation in Westham at all.Not to mention the fact that the new mayor is actually an undead, and the undead who bumps into her when she walks out of the house always surprises her.

But on the other hand...she really doesn't think Westham's new lord is that bad—she has personally lived under the new lord's rule for more than ten days. It was worse before.

"I should have asked someone to write you a letter early in the morning, so that you don't have to be so paranoid." Ms. Winnie struggled, "Just thinking that the money to send a letter can buy almost half a meter of fabric, I am a little bit reluctant... A meter of cloth only costs ten copper coins."

"Mom, these undead cloths—"

"Okay, honey, listen to me first." Ms. Winnie stopped her anxious daughter, "Your mother has been living in the town, what is going on in the town, I am better than those who don't know anything and just guess at random." Innatrix knows better."

"That's right, the new lord of Westham is very different. This Mr. Rex even appointed an undead as the mayor. But I believe that Mr. Rex is absolutely—not a bad person, and he certainly has no malice towards us. Ms. Winnie opened her hands forward, and said seriously, "Do you know Winnie, those poor people on the main road in the town are all taken care of by Mr. Rex. He can be so gentle to those poor people, How could Mister Rex possibly hurt us?"

Caroline has been nervous about her family ever since she heard about the changes in her hometown. She never thought about caring about the fate of those poor people on the main road in the town. She was a little shocked for a while.

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Every winter, as long as it snows, people in the town can hear rumors that a few corpses of such people have been dragged out from some corner of the main road in the town...

Some people will hate these people because of their rejection of the red-light district, but some people will sympathize with this kind of people who can't control their own destiny at all... Comparing people's hearts, who would be willing to be sold to a place far away from their hometown? Painful ordeal followed by a tragic death?

"Your grandfather saw it with his own eyes when he went to work in the Environmental Sanitation Bureau. Those people were concentrated in two big houses. The undead would cook food for them every day. The two working meals provided by the Environmental Sanitation Bureau were also prepared by the undead. He The thick soup is saved every day and brought back in jars.” Ms. Winnie said with a smile, “Your aunt would add this thick soup to the dinner soup, it’s really delicious.”

Before Caroline asked what the Environmental Sanitation Bureau was, Ms. Winnie said again: "This Environmental Sanitation Bureau is a new department opened by the new lord. It employs old people like your grandfather, widows and orphans without families, and takes turns cleaning the town every day. Did you notice it when you came? The pile of rubbish at the entrance of our alley is gone, that’s the work of the Environmental Sanitation Bureau.”

"Originally we didn't agree with grandpa going to the Environmental Sanitation Bureau. It was grandpa who thought he should go and see what the new lord wanted to do in the town..." Ms. Winnie sighed, "Now the undead mayor and the new lord propose to post an announcement of the employment day Salary workers, if your father, uncles, and your cousin haven’t come back yet, your grandpa will definitely support them to sign up.”

Now is the autumn harvest season. Every autumn, adult men who are willing to endure hardships in the town will go to the countryside to do odd jobs together, or help farmers harvest crops, or work in the manor for a month-it will be very hard, but they can also earn a lot of money. less money.

In a family like Megan’s with a good family tradition and everyone is very hardworking, five middle-aged men go to the countryside to suffer for a month, and can earn the whole family’s living expenses for half a year.

Of course, not all men will do odd jobs in the fall... skilled craftsmen, lazy widowers, alcoholics, or those who have property and work at home will not suffer from this.

Caroline hesitated to speak.

She respected her grandpa very much, and even grandpa thought Westem's change was not a bad thing, and the new lord was not a bad person with ulterior motives, so she was a little shaken.

"It's more than that." Ms. Winnie saw her daughter's wavering, and said with a smile, "The new lord, Mr. Rex, posted a notice in front of the town hall that he will cancel the population tax for all townspeople starting this year, and will not Then collect the agricultural tax that the farmers should pay him. At present, Westham only collects two taxes, one is the commercial tax, and the other is the high-income income tax that only those with a monthly income of more than [-] copper coins need to pay. "

"[-] copper coins?!" Caroline was shocked when she heard the number, "Doesn't that mean that people who don't do business don't need to pay taxes?!"

What is the concept of a monthly income of [-] copper coins?

It is the concept of earning eighteen silver coins every month!

If it is exchanged for gold coins, it can be exchanged for more than one and a half!

Generally speaking, large coins such as gold coins are not circulated among the people. The coins on hand of most people are mainly copper coins, supplemented by silver coins.

Caroline has worked in a high-end restaurant on Inadrian South Street for eight years, and has been promoted to a top waiter, with a monthly income of seven silver coins.

This is almost the ceiling of the service industry, and if it goes up, those maids in big families can get even higher—in Westham, seven silver coins are enough for a family of four to live on a budget One and a half months; if it is in Inadali, as long as it does not use gas and burns coal honestly, it will be fine for a month.

But even if she is a maid of a wealthy family, it is not said that she can earn a monthly salary starting with gold coins... It is almost the same as being a housekeeper.

"At least your grandfather doesn't have to pay taxes. The monthly salary of the Environmental Sanitation Bureau is [-] copper coins." Winnie smiled while covering her mouth.

Caroline's jaw almost dropped—cleaning the streets, which can be done by the elderly and children, is actually higher than the monthly salary she gets in a high-end restaurant?

"Isn't the work of the Environmental Sanitation Bureau a steal?" Caroline said in surprise.

"It's hard to say... Anyway, no one snatched your grandfather when he went." Winnie said with a complicated expression, "Everyone thinks it's a trick to deceive people, and they are worried that the new lord will be driven away before the salary is paid. ... If you can really get the money, your aunts and I will also sign up."

These words revealed Ms. Winnie's true intentions - she was actually not very firm in her belief that the new lord was reliable and would be able to rule Westham forever... Although she herself expected so, the replacement of the lord is such a thing , how could a small town woman like her have the final say.

Caroline thought carefully about what her mother had told her, and was as tangled up as her mother.

Obviously, the new lord, Mr. Rex, is indeed a kind gentleman. If Westham can always be ruled by this gentleman, it will undoubtedly be a good thing for all people living in this land.

But... this Mr. Rex did become the lord because of the support of a terrible black magician, if those undead running around the streets captured the original town that turned Westham into a red-light district Mr. Rex will not become the lord of Westham if he drives away Baron Marcus.

To accept Mr. Rex's rule, one must get used to the existence of those undead.

"Good luck is always accompanied by bad luck." Caroline sighed, saying the Rhine proverb that Bosha once said with emotion.

Rex himself, who was so concerned by the townspeople... was holding a contract blankly in a daze.

When Yang personally came to the town hall to look for him, Rex thought that Yang had some ideas for him to implement, but in the end, Yang stuffed a contract without saying a word.

This contract... is a long-term supply contract between Yang, as the lord of Tarantan, and Charlie Rex, the lord of Westham, under his jurisdiction (yes, Yang Qiu is no longer the lord of Inadoli). .

Listed in the contract are Yang Qiu's own list of department stores on the earth plane that can be supplied stably for a long time.

For example, the most popular curtain cloth at present...

The textile factory that transformed itself into a ready-to-wear fashion that is popular on the Internet and competed with countless colleagues on Taobao still has a backlog of inventory in several warehouses. They can deliver as much goods as they want from Qiu's side. When their own stocks are sold out, there are colleagues who have also been beaten by e-commerce companies waiting to be rescued...

For example, plastic products that are not as well-known as curtain cloth, but are actually "just needed"-the plastic factory that supplies them is a downstream unit of a chemical company. Regardless of whether the production line is running or not, anyway, the raw materials are delivered on time and on time. The person in charge of the plastic factory wants to Even Indian customers are talking about opening up sales, Yang Qiu's side is much easier to deal with than Indians...

Yang Qiu got the suppliers of curtain fabrics and plastic products, but before he found the next one, the prison company he had worked with (...) came to him by himself; Brothers of Sales, come together...

Prison companies that most people don't know about are actually very large in China. Not to mention the whole country, the local prison companies in G province process labor-intensive products including clothing, electronic furniture, mechanical parts and so on. Yang Qiuyuan first looked for prison companies The fanny pack backpack I bought was just a drop in the bucket.

In short - it's not that Yang Qiu is stingy and unwilling to take out the gold in his pocket to buy Westem's people's hearts, but after purchasing the magic materials needed for the teleportation array, paying the full amount for the road construction equipment, and paying for various other things. After the manufacturer's long-term supply deposit, it has been spent.

The gold coins in this world are impure. A ten-gram gold coin is only 60%~70% gold, and the rest are alloys. Yang Qiu took gold coins and jewelry, and had to use magic to "purify" them before taking them to the earth plane. Use, the total amount shrinks, and it is not used at all...

Yang Qiu, who has a breeze in his sleeves and can't even afford to buy quick-frozen pasta from local manufacturers at ultra-low prices next month, is still as stable as an old dog.

"I will give you a wholesale price of [-]% lower than the market transaction price for all the products." Putting down the teacup, Yang Qiu clasped his hands on the table and said calmly, "Except for fabrics and products that have been sold locally before, the new products You can set the retail price yourself. I don’t care about the surplus, you just need to ensure that my payment is in place. Of course, I don’t want copper and silver coins, and only accept gold coins for settlement.”

Rex's expression was blank, as if he couldn't recover at all...