Industry: Cthulhu

Chapter 24 Business
"peddler?"

After hearing Fang Yan's question, Brown looked a little strange and said, "As the name suggests, traveling merchants are a group of businessmen who travel around the galaxy."

"They usually live on cargo ships, using them as their homes. They go wherever there's business, whether it's the remote outer rims of the galaxy or even the perilous Gray Zone. They can be found everywhere."

"Why are you asking about them? Are you suddenly thinking of doing business?"

Fang Yan shook his head. "It's just pure curiosity. The company is busy enough. I don't have time to run a ship or do business."

Brown finally felt relieved and said with a smile, "That's great. As a young engineer and a strong contender for this year's Star Ring Award, if you become a merchant, Mr. Aliat will definitely be furious and hunt you down everywhere."

"But the group of traveling merchants is really special. Rather than calling them merchants, it's better to say they are a group of pioneers."

"The history of traveling merchants can be traced back to the period before the Galactic Alliance was established. At that time, the Inner, Middle, and Outer Rings of the Milky Way were already closely connected by advanced warp and communication technologies."

"But the marginal and gray areas have always been regarded as wild and untamed lands, plagued by constant wars and chaos, and filled with pirates and lawless criminal organizations. However, it is precisely in this chaotic environment that merchants see huge business opportunities."

"The first traders were mostly small merchants from the Central and Inner Ring Roads. Unable to compete with large commercial companies, they took the risk of bringing high-end goods from the Inner and Central Ring Roads to the remote and marginal areas for sale."

"Because they could provide goods that local residents couldn't obtain, traveling merchants quickly established themselves in the marginal areas. Over time, the number of traveling merchants continued to grow, and now even the Gray Zone is full of them."

Fang Yan nodded repeatedly, feeling that the history of traveling merchants was quite eventful, just like the cowboys in those western movies, traveling alone on horseback to the ends of the earth.

"Do the merchants have great power? The key components needed for quantum field fusion can be easily found by the merchants." Fang Yan asked.

Brown thought about it seriously. "Leaving aside the economically and technologically advanced Inner Three Ring Roads, even in the marginal areas and the murky areas, the merchants still have a lot of power."

"Not to mention you, even a senior engineer like me working for the Galactic Alliance has to seek help from merchants when we're short of supplies. After all, the outer regions are too far from the inner ring. By the time I submit my report and the inner ring delivers the supplies, I'm afraid the opportunity will be gone."

"Although merchants appear to be acting alone, they are actually organized. This organization is called the Merchant Alliance."

"Superconducting coils might not be available on a single merchant, but among a thousand or ten thousand merchants, one might have them in stock."

"As long as you know someone in the Merchant Alliance and tell them your needs, they will take the initiative to contact members and have the supplies you need delivered to your door."

"Of course, none of this is free, but in a remote place like the fringe, it's good enough to be able to buy things, so it's understandable that they're a bit more expensive."

"When you came to me with the list, I contacted an old friend from the Merchant Alliance, and he helped you find all the necessary components."

"I see."

Fang Yan's eyes lit up when he heard Brown's words. It might be okay for the Merchants to roam the most remote regions of the galaxy, but they actually had an internal structure, not a loose organization. Fang Yan poured Brown a cup of his favorite raw Pu'er tea. "Since you have friends in the Merchant Alliance, you must know a lot about them, right?"

Brown took the teacup and drank it all. "In the beginning, the merchants organized themselves to share what they had and to jointly deal with the threat of pirates in the outlying areas."

"But there's another situation. Due to poverty and a lack of law, many civilians and even the military in marginal galaxies engage in shady activities. When they put on their uniforms, they're soldiers, and when they take them off, they're pirates. In many cases, soldiers and bandits are practically the same family."

"So, several powerful merchant groups reached an agreement with those local forces. If they allowed their men to rob merchants, then from now on, no merchants would do business in their territory anymore."

"You know, for marginalized areas, the medicine and medical equipment, weapons, and survival supplies provided by merchants can literally save lives in critical moments. If all merchants stop operating in our own territories from now on, it will pose a huge threat to the rulers' power."

"As more and more merchants join the alliance, the Galactic Edge and the Gray Zone are increasingly valuing their relationships with merchants. It's gradually become a tradition not to arbitrarily rob merchants."

"Of course, this doesn't mean that being a traveling trader is risk-free. After all, not all atrocities can ultimately lead to the discovery of the culprit. The complex environment of the fringe zone itself, along with the ubiquitous electromagnetic storms, poses a significant threat to traveling traders."

At this point, Brown looked up at Fang Yan and said, "I've told you everything I know. Now, can you tell me why you want to know about this?"

Fang Yan chuckled and refilled Brown's tea in a flattering manner. "Aren't we planning to commercialize quantum field controlled fusion? I'm thinking that traveling merchants might be a sales channel for the company."

Brown nodded. "That's a good idea. At least in the galactic fringe and the Gray Zone, if traveling merchants are willing to help you sell, the results will definitely be better than those of the large trading companies."

"But first, you'd better miniaturize the reactor to the utmost. After all, the small cargo ships commonly used by merchants have very limited loading capacity and can't carry just your family's goods."

"That's inevitable." Fang Yan continued, "There's another reason. Several core reactor components have to be imported from the inner ring of the Galaxy. I'm afraid one day they'll choke us and stop selling to us."

Brown was taken aback, then burst into laughter. "Fang Yan, Fang Yan, you're thinking too far ahead. With Blue Light Technology's size, why would a giant corporation sanction you? This isn't just killing a chicken with a sledgehammer; it's like using a cannon to smother a mosquito."

Fang Yan scratched his head, looking a little embarrassed. "I understand the logic, but there's nothing we can do. We're used to preparing for a rainy day, and history has taught us countless bloody lessons. It's best to take control of our own destiny."

"But then again, you're using a sledgehammer to kill a chicken, or a cannon to smother a mosquito. I feel like you're speaking more and more like an Earth native."

"Really?" Brown chuckled. "It seems my study of Earth culture is quite effective."

"Then you might as well marry an Earth wife and become an Earth son-in-law." Fang Yan joked.

Cut~
Brown waved his hand dismissively. "No matter which galaxy a woman comes from, she will only slow down my sword-drawing speed."

"By the way, I just happened to order some goods from an old friend. The merchant ship will be coming to Earth in the next two days. If you are interested, I can introduce you to my old friend's daughter."

(End of this chapter)