As soon as the Human Emperor Banner came out, I became the Lord of the Old Ones

Chapter 120 True Power

There are many reasons for this.

In order to consolidate their monopoly position, the four major card-making companies of the Heroic Spirit Alliance have controlled the Spirit Card Association and a large number of media through various means, using a nearly brainwashing method to promote the benefits of first-hand cards and exaggerate the dangers of second-hand cards.

The seal card has its own special features. The remnant souls of the past are directly connected to the spiritual world of human beings through the card. Even consumers who do not have mysophobia have extremely high requirements for security and privacy.

The second-hand card market lacks an open and transparent evaluation system and after-sales regulations, and various fraudulent methods such as passing off inferior products as good ones, taking advantage of the situation, and looting are emerging one after another.

In addition, over the past century, the Alliance of Heroes has been in a golden period of development, especially during the decades when it stopped blind expansion and invested a lot of resources in internal construction. The vast majority of the alliance's citizens have enjoyed the dividends of development, their pockets are bulging, and they are naturally willing to spend a lot of money to pay for the more powerful remnants of the old souls.

Even the whole society has developed a culture of showing off and comparison. Everyone is proud of owning a powerful seal card, and suddenly ignores whether their own personality is compatible with the remnant souls of the past, and whether they can perfectly control it.

The existence of the above problems means that second-hand cards only have a market in planned areas and wilderness areas, and have never become popular in safe areas.

It’s not that no one has thought about changing this situation in the past.

Many wealthy new business tycoons have invested astronomical amounts of resources in an attempt to open up this vast blue ocean.

However, it was suppressed by the joint efforts of the old card-making companies. Coupled with technical limitations, immature business models and the fact that the timing was not right, it suffered a huge loss and lost everything.

Since then, no second-hand card dealer has been able to grow big and strong within the league.

"Brother Xu, do you want to run a second-hand seal card business within the alliance?"

"Crazy Cat" Chris is not a business genius, but she knows that Xu Yan has chosen a very narrow and dangerous track, which may not be easy to succeed.

Xu Yan told her that times have changed and past failures did not mean that there would be no success in the future.

Even in the core areas of the alliance, those developed cities with rich resources, active economies and where Lingka Company controls everything, there is no soil for the survival of second-hand cards.

But in a border city like Dawn City where resources are depleted, finances are tight, and a large number of citizens are struggling to make ends meet and can barely afford a second-hand card, the second-hand card business may be able to carve out a path for itself.

"The fact that the second-hand Lingka street in Rolling Stone Castle is known as 'Black Heart Street' shows how many problems and chaos exist in this market."

Xu Yan spoke eloquently, "However, let's think about it from the opposite perspective. 'Black Heart Street' has been called that for over a decade or two, so why are there still over a dozen second-hand spirit card shops on this street that can survive? Consumers would rather take all kinds of risks to buy second-hand spirit cards than go to the Rolling Stone Club to buy brand new sealed cards with excellent quality and guaranteed after-sales service?"

Chris laughed.

"How can ordinary people afford a Rolling Stones Club card?"

"That's right, that's the key. Even if a used card has ten thousand shortcomings, as long as the absolute advantage of price is there, it's enough to guarantee its appeal."

Xu Yan snapped his fingers. "If we can establish open, transparent, and unified regulations based on low prices, correct all the problems of the 'black-hearted street', allow consumers to clearly see every process of recycling, repairing, recasting, and remaking used cards, establish a comprehensive transaction and evaluation system, and provide strong after-sales protection like the Rolling Stones, how can the used card business fail?"

Chris thought thoughtfully.

She knew that in the past half month, with the support of Long Jianhuan and the promotion of Xu Yan, the second-hand spiritual card street had undergone earth-shaking changes, just like the northern garbage dump.

In the past, all those black-hearted shop owners who were blinded by greed were cracked down by the patrol team and had to "reform their ways". At the initiative of the Star Shop, they jointly formulated relatively fair and open rules, which gave the "Black-Hearted Street" a new atmosphere.

As the Rolling Stone Club was hit, part of its business shifted to the second-hand Lingka Street. The unscrupulous shop owners could not afford to offend the members of the Rolling Stone Club, so they had to bite the bullet, use their means, trade fairly, and strive to satisfy their customers.

In order to survive in the planned area, these unscrupulous shop owners are not just good at cheating and deceiving. Many card makers in second-hand shops have their own unique skills.

When they have no choice but to use their best skills, they can still solve some problems.

For a time, the second-hand Lingka street was not in the pain of the downfall of its big bosses like other industries.

Instead, it has become more prosperous and active than before.

Chris originally thought it was just coincidence and luck.

Unexpectedly, Xu Yan had already started to plan and even orchestrate everything?

"The Rolling Stone Club suffered heavy losses this time. Even if it reopens under the leadership of Ms. Leiliana, it won't be able to maintain its previous scale and technical level. A large part of its business will definitely be permanently transferred to the second-hand spiritual card street." Xu Yan continued, "And the recent changes in 'Black Heart Street' also prove that in most civilian and some combat fields, high-quality and low-priced second-hand cards can replace the role of first-hand cards. In fashionable terms, it is a 'substitute.'

“Since this business model has been able to operate smoothly in the planning area for so many years, there is no reason why it cannot work in the safe zone.

“Yes, of course, Alliance citizens are richer than the quasi-citizens of the planned areas and the refugees in the wilderness, but the rich are not fools. They are willing to pay five or even ten times the price for products of the same quality.

"What's more, in a border city like Dawn City that relies on sunset industries for its survival, are ordinary citizens really that wealthy and can afford the high cost of using new seal cards in every aspect of life, work, and study?
“Now that I have the opportunity to go to Dawn City, I certainly won’t be satisfied with being an ordinary worker.

"I want to introduce Rolling Stone Castle's used card business to Dawn City. Using Dawn City as my base, I'll thoroughly run through the entire business logic, identify and resolve existing problems, and then expand this business to the entire alliance. This is what I want to do!"

Chris was deeply attracted by the cheerful look on Xu Yan's face.

"But what can we, the garbage bugs, do to help Brother Xu?"

she couldn't help but ask.

Xu Yan smiled.

"You are the most important part of this whole plan. You are the source of the second-hand cards!"

Due to the uncertainty and danger of the remnant souls of the past, severely damaged seal cards cannot be discarded at will. There are strict procedures for both scrapping and disposal.

In particular, dismantling scrapped cards and recycling the extraordinary materials inside is an extremely challenging task. No matter how much protection is taken, it is inevitable to be contaminated and there is a risk of suffering from spiritual erosion.

Apart from desperate wilderness wanderers, few people are willing to take on this high-risk, low-reward job.

In Rolling Stone Castle, a large amount of raw materials for the second-hand Lingka street come from the northern landfill, which allows the price of the finished products to be lowered to a level that ordinary consumers can accept.

If Xu Yan really wants to expand and strengthen this business, obtaining a sufficiently low-cost source of goods is indeed the most important thing.

Chrissy nodded.

Of course, she was willing to cooperate with Xu Yan and provide him with a steady supply of extraordinary materials and old cards that were worth repairing.

The problem is, a mere northern garbage dump can only satisfy the local market of Rolling Stone Castle. How can it possibly meet the needs of the huge Dawn City or even the entire alliance?
"One garbage dump isn't enough, what about ten? A hundred? A thousand?"

Xu Yan's next words introduced Chris into a new world she had never imagined.

"Look, I want to do this, and it's not all about the money."

Xu Yan said, "If it's purely for money, I can definitely find a hundred easier and faster ways.

"What I really want is to accumulate enough resources through the second-hand card business, and then hire professionals like you to use these resources to integrate all the garbage dumps in the planned areas of the dozen or so satellite towns surrounding Dawn City. I can tie tens of thousands of garbage collectors to the same chain of interests and condense them into an indestructible whole.

“I believe that all litterbugs in the world are the same.

"We are all bold and careful, daring to fight and fight, willing to risk our lives, and with no taboos. Even in the process of dealing with high-risk garbage day after day, we have been contaminated by the remnants of the past, suffering from varying degrees of spiritual corruption. While becoming deformed and ugly, we also possess superhuman fighting power and fighting spirit, eager to change everything and fight to the end against the cursed fate.

“Behind one garbage worm, there are often ten or even a hundred wilderness refugees.

"They are even more eager to escape the torment of the Wild Area than the garbage collectors who have already fled to the planned areas, to escape the fate of being torn to pieces by the echoes of the Scourge and devoured by the monsters of the Old Ones.

“If we can truly activate the second-hand card market throughout the Heroic Spirit Alliance and then take control of most of the Heroic Spirit Alliance’s high-risk waste disposal business, on the one hand, we can meet the needs of ordinary consumers within the Alliance and allow everyone to enjoy a more convenient life at a lower price.

"On the other hand, it can also continuously transfer astronomical amounts of resources to planned areas and even wilderness areas, allowing millions of litterbugs and wilderness refugees to live better lives than they do now, thereby gaining everyone's trust and support.

"In short, if you want to firmly grasp your destiny in your own hands, money alone is not enough. Money without power to support it is just a piece of stone, a piece of waste paper, or a string of numbers.

"What is power? No, no, no. Being a temporary employee of the patrol or a waiter at the Rolling Stone Club, relying on the protection of Long Jianhuan or Ms. Leiliana, is far from true power.

"Only by firmly controlling a hundred garbage dumps, forming a community of interests with tens of thousands of garbage bugs, and through them, controlling ten or a hundred times more refugees in the wilderness, can we possess the most basic power, sufficient to protect ourselves!"

(End of this chapter)