Dark Ruins Dawn

Chapter 98 Financial Clique
"Brother, what's wrong with your brain? You're a born shrewd businessman!"

"Who's a swindler like you? Don't try to scam me."

"Touch porcelain?"

King Mao didn't understand, nor was he too lazy to think about it, and began his grand plans again:

“I have connections with more than a dozen landfill owners, big and small, from residential areas in the south to factories in the north.”

"As long as I spread the word that they should leave all the waste tainted by the decaying fog behind, it will be a piece of cake to haul thirty truckloads out of the city every day!"

He counted on his short, stubby fingers, doing mental calculations at lightning speed, his mouth practically stretched to his ears in a wide grin.

“I’ll give them five thousand gold coins for a truck. That’s a price that’s already making them chuckle. After all, those things are worthless junk in their hands, but they’re a different story in ours!”

Mao Shanwang's abacus clicked loudly.

"We can sell each truckload of goods for 60,000 gold coins, making a net profit of 50,000! Thirty trucks a day, that's... 1.5 million gold coins!"

"Brother, we've struck it rich this time! We're making a millionaire in a single day!"

The air grew hot, and Mao Shanwang's breathing became heavier; he was even contemplating longer-term plans.

"We can even go even bigger!"

He exuded a businessman's fervor: "I can pay a deposit in advance and buy all their scrap for the next week, or even a month! This way, the cost can be reduced by another 20%! By locking in the supply in advance, we can leave others with nothing to buy and monopolize the entire market!"

"Old Cat".

Zhuang Fan finally couldn't hold back and interrupted him directly.

Mao Shanwang paused for a moment, the excitement on his face fading slightly. "What, is it still not enough?"

"What do you take me for? A vacuum cleaner?"

"Is not it?"

Zhuang Fan suppressed his urge to punch. "There's a limit to how many rotten fogs I can process each day. Let alone thirty, I can only process six at most."

Mao Shanwang's smile froze, and he scratched the back of his round head.

"And...have you thought about the consequences?"

Zhuang Fan continued to pour cold water on the situation:
“You collect scrap on a large scale in the city, specifically choosing scrap that has been contaminated by the rotten fog, and then in the blink of an eye, these scraps are transformed and quickly sold at high prices.”

"How long do you think it will take those cunning wastelanders to figure out what's going on?"

Mao Shanwang's fat face twitched; he hadn't really thought about that.

"What do you think the consequences would be if someone discovered this path to wealth that could turn stones into gold?"
"At that time, we will not be facing one or two scavenging gangs, but the entire Linhai City."

After hearing this, Mao Shanwang slumped down, his palm-leaf fan trembling weakly. He had only been thinking about the profits and had overlooked the huge risks behind it.

"You're right... These bastards are all ruthless, they'll do anything for money."

He knew very well that the larger the trade volume, the more difficult it was to keep secrets. No matter the supply side, the sales side, or even the trade chain, there would always be times when things went wrong.

King Mao sighed deeply, filled with regret and resentment:

"In the end, it's because we're not strong enough. If I had hundreds of cat-men warriors in power armor under my command, along with a few swarm fortresses, would I, Old Cat, be afraid of them? Anyone who dares to be so blind, I'll blow their head off!"

Before the words were finished, a deep humming sound came from afar and swept across the recycling station without warning.

Their conversation abruptly ended, and they looked up.

Five all-black patrol drones flew overhead, their fuselages bearing the emblem of the Nuclear Corporation.

One after another, the red-glowing probes indifferently surveyed everything below.

Mao Shanwang tensed up suddenly, his hand instinctively reaching for the weapon at his waist.

Zhuang Fan's muscles were tense, and he was ready to fight to the death at any moment.

The drone did not stop; it simply completed a routine patrol and flew towards the distant wilderness, disappearing on the horizon.

Only when the buzzing sound completely disappeared did Mao Shanwang slowly breathe a sigh of relief, but his fat claws, which were tightly gripping his weapon, did not loosen their grip in the slightest.

The surroundings fell silent again, and the atmosphere plummeted to freezing point.

"Brother, see that? That's real strength."

Mao Shanwang sighed, “If you have strength, you are the rule; if you don’t, you have to behave like a rat and avoid the rules.”

The oppressive force of that moment was more convincing than any words. In the face of absolute power, no amount of schemes or wealth seems futile.

Zhuang Fan said softly, "If others hoard grain, I'll hoard guns. Others are my granaries... We still need to strengthen our armed forces."

"What?"

"No, we should keep a low profile in the early stages."

Zhuang Fan slowly withdrew his gaze. "Once our team has gathered a hundred sets of power armor, no one outside this city should dare to provoke us easily."

"One hundred sets?"

A longing gleamed in Mao Shanwang's eyes; he could already see that scene:

"If we can really gather them, that would indeed be a considerable force, enough to roam freely outside the city, but..."

He abruptly changed the subject, fanning himself rapidly with a palm leaf fan, "If we were to face the top ten conglomerates, they wouldn't even be enough to fill a tooth gap."

Zhuang Fan did not deny it.

Even the "weakest" among the conglomerates possess the power to crush themselves into dust.

Mao Shanwang glanced at him: "Brother, I had already guessed that you were being targeted by the Nuclear Ones, but the Nuclear Ones are only in the middle to lower ranks among the top ten conglomerates, which is relatively weak."

“I’ve been to the city where the nuclear headquarters is located before, in that desolate valley. There are hundreds of thousands of troops stationed there, and I estimate there are tens of thousands of armored soldiers.”

Ten thousand powered armored soldiers...

In Zhuang Fan's mind, Xu Renyi's fragmented memories were gradually activated.

Thousands of soldiers in power armor formed an iron torrent, patrolling the canyons and causing the earth to tremble.

Sunlight shone on the heavy armor, reflecting a cold luster. The chilling aura emanating from it could penetrate the barrier of memory, making one's chest feel tight.

If a force of just a thousand people can be so oppressive, imagine the sheer scale of tens of thousands of armored soldiers.

He had heard of the term "Top Ten Financial Groups" before, but he had been so busy that he didn't have a clear understanding of these behemoths.

He only knew a few names: Heavy Hammer Armed Forces, Dewey Group, Nuclear Group, and Morisaka Networks.

Moreover, Xu Renyi's memory is becoming increasingly blurred over time, with fewer and fewer activations and many key pieces of information being permanently lost.

He must obtain more information from other sources.

"Old Cat, tell me in detail what exactly is going on with these ten major conglomerates."

For the first time, he desperately wanted to understand the power structure at the top of the world hierarchy.

"You've come to the right person. It's very difficult for ordinary wastelanders to understand the ins and outs of the top ten conglomerates."

Mao Shanwang brought over two broken chairs, gesturing for him to sit down, then cleared his throat and began to speak in a leisurely manner.

"Although there are many different opinions, if we were to rank these ten major conglomerates, the top three would remain firmly in their positions and no one could shake them."

He held up a large, thick finger: "The number one spot belongs to Yuanchuan Energy."

"Yuanchuan Energy?"

"Yes, they control half of the energy supply, from nuclear and geothermal to hydropower, they've got it all."

"Their headquarters is in 'Yuandu,' a very strange place. If you are an outsider, you have to pay for the air by the minute! Last time I went to do business, I felt the pinch even if I took a few extra breaths."

Yuanchuan Energy...

The first thing Zhuang Fan thought of was Durian, who had been mutated into a lizardman and was shot to death by his men.

At the time, I heard from Grey Goose that he had been a bodyguard for Yuanchuan Energy, and after killing his employer, he fled and hid in Strange Stone Hill.

Deep within Zhuang Fan's mind, Xu Renyi's memories were also faintly triggered, but regarding Yuanchuan Energy, the old man only had a few vague keywords left:
The group nation has a huge number of employees and a very strong military; it must not be offended...

"Second place is the Dewey Group."

Mao Shanwang held up a second finger, “They control 60% of the mineral resources in the wasteland. Their headquarters are in Texas. They have a presence behind every metal, rare earth element, and crystal you can think of.”

"But I hate Texas. It's full of musclemen and cowboys. If you look at them, they'll pull out a gun at the drop of a hat. They're really wild."

Zhuang Fan's deepest impression of the Dewey Group was the exorbitant bounty he saw on the Nuclear Network.

What kind of scientist could prompt the Dewey Group to offer a reward of up to 80 million gold coins?

The bounty offered by the Nuclear Group for "Zhang Dafan" was only eight million gold coins, but it had already made the wastelanders so excited that they couldn't sleep at night.

"The third is the heavy hammer weapon."

Mao Shanwang held up his third finger, his expression turning somewhat strange. "They're in the arms business, headquartered in Steel City. They have all kinds of heavy weapons and large machinery."

"But I really hate these Northerners. They love to drink and cause trouble. Last time I went to Steel City, they insisted on arm wrestling with me. Fine, they did, but they even used an exoskeleton and almost broke my claws!"

Zhuang Fan spoke up at the opportune moment: "I heard that the Heavy Hammer Armed Forces are engaged in a civil war?"

Mao Shanwang clicked his tongue with schadenfreude, "The ruling faction and the opposition are fighting, and everyone is watching the show to see which side will have the last laugh."

"Anyway, I hope they fight for a long time, the fiercer the fight, the more orders we middlemen will have, right?"

"As for the remaining seven conglomerates, their strengths are roughly equal, and they are indistinguishable from one another."

Mao Shanwang counted them down on his fingers, one by one:

"Morihan Networks, they make virtual games;"

"Bionic intelligence, the stuff of robots;"
"Chocobos, they're in the transportation business;"
"United Grain Industry, they deal in grain;"

"Nuclear Group, they build shelters;"
"Water angel, someone who works with water;"

"There's another protective umbrella, from the medical field."

A protective umbrella?
Upon hearing those three familiar names, Zhuang Fan immediately sat up straight. "Wait... what Umbrella?"

Mao Shanwang was taken aback: "It's just the Umbrella Corporation, is there a problem?"

"Is its company logo an open umbrella with red and white edges?"

Mao Shanwang scratched his round chin, trying hard to recall.

"It is indeed an open umbrella, but... where did the red and white come from? It's always been blue and white, you've confused me."

It was indeed blue and white... Xu Renyi's memories were also activated.

The history of the Umbrella Corporation can be traced back to 2380, when humanity was still under the rule of the Earth Alliance.

The founding team came from the headquarters laboratory of the Earth Alliance, which was later spun off and became the Umbrella Corporation.

As for the company's specific development history, the old man's memory was vague.

The older people get, the more confused they become... Zhuang Fan had given up hope of remembering Xu Renyi.

"Old Cat, who is the current chairman?"

"Hmm... I think his name is Jun Watanabe."

"Japanese citizenship?"

"Right, there's no such thing as nationality anymore."

Good heavens... Zhuang Fan's suspicions deepened.

Without hesitation, he took out the Wasteland Traveler, connected to the public network of Linhai City, and began searching for all information related to "Umbrella".

[Umbrella Corporation, a leading large-scale medical and biotechnology group, is dedicated to safeguarding the lives and health of all humanity through cutting-edge technology.]

He quickly skimmed over the embellished official descriptions, his gaze settling on the three core businesses:
【I. Protective Umbrella Medical Center】

It provides a full range of medical services, from basic diagnosis to complex surgery, and citizens with health insurance can enjoy significant cost reductions.

【II. The Death Squad】

Equipped with state-of-the-art floating emergency vehicles, they promise to rush to the scene as soon as possible after receiving a distress signal, racing against death.

The accompanying personnel consist of elite medics, ace drivers, and armed security experts to ensure rescue operations can be carried out in any environment.

III. Bio-enhancement Technology

We provide gene enhancement drugs, clones, and prosthetic body modification services, and our business currently covers major cities.

After reading it, Zhuang Fan felt it was somewhat absurd.

Protective umbrella, medical biotechnology, gene enhancement, cloning services, Japanese chairman... all the elements are there.

Mao Shanwang brought the cat's head closer and began to explain with great interest:

"You want to sign up for a membership card, right? I'm a platinum member of Umbrella. Just ask me anything."

How much does a Platinum membership cost per year?

"Sixty thousand gold coins a year, 20% off medical services, and one spot in the 'Death Squad' every year." "The Death Squad? Is it really that powerful?"

"Of course, they are professionals."

Mao Shanwang's expression suddenly turned serious. "If you're not a member, you can also seek help from the Death Squad, but make sure you have money in your pocket, otherwise they'll 'reclaim' all your valuables, and their methods are very cruel..."

"Yes, it's very balanced and logical."

The thought lingered in Zhuang Fan's mind.

"Old Cat, do you think... the Umbrella Corporation might be responsible for the wasteland becoming this mess?"

"How could that be? It's nothing!"

Mao Shanwang was amused by his idea. "The Umbrella Corporation has only been around for a little over three hundred years. Before that, the wasteland was already like this for hundreds of years."

Zhuang Fan thought about it and realized that his association was too far-fetched, so he suppressed his doubts for the time being.

Anyway, the wasteland is already rotten to the core, so it can't get much worse.

Zhuang Fan moved on from that topic, now more concerned with the distribution of power in the wasteland.

Do you have a more detailed map of the wasteland?

"No details."

Mao Shanwang shook his head. "The wasteland is full of eerie fog, and the terrain changes every day. Who has the time to draw a complete map?"

"The most widely circulated map at present is a distribution map of the main human settlements."

As he spoke, he pulled out a somewhat worn-out paper map from the crab's storage compartment and spread it out on the table.

Zhuang Fan's gaze swept across the map, and he quickly spotted some interesting points.

The ten major conglomerates, in addition to having a place in "Zhongdu", each also control an independent city.

Yuanchuan Energy [Yuandu]

Dewey Group [Texas]

Heavy Hammer Armor for Steel City

Mori-Saka Networks [Dream City]

United Grain Industries [California]

Nuclear Group [Arani]

Bionic Intelligence [Future City]

Water Angel [Crystal City]

Chocobo [Siberian Peak]

Protective Umbrella [Anning Port]

The headquarters of the Nuclear Group, the Desolate Valley, is a city built in a huge meteorite crater, not far from the coastal city.

Zhuang Fan's fingertips traced the Anning Port, where the protective umbrella was located, situated on the eastern side of the South Asian Plate.

"So, to become one of the top ten conglomerates, one of the requirements is to have your own headquarters city in order to gain a foothold in Zhongdu?"

"This is just one of the conditions."

Mao Shanwang then explained: "There are also some independent cities in the wasteland, such as Karl, the lord of South City. He has considerable power, but he doesn't have much say in Central City."

"And then there's Moscow in the Northwest, and the oil cities in the wastelands. These places are a chaotic mix of forces, and they can't unite as one at all."

Zhuang Fan then asked, "How many people live in Zhongdu?"

"If you exclude mutants and androids, the number of homeless people living at the very bottom of society exceeds 100 million, probably around 120 million."

"What about the cities controlled by various conglomerates?"

"From five million to ten million people."

Zhuang Fan's heart sank.

So, the total human population in the wasteland, including those roaming the wilderness, is at most 300 million.

This quantity is too small.

Under the continued influence of the eerie fog, the number of mutants will only increase, while the number of walkers is incalculable.

Not counting the infected zombies, a single zombie queen can produce more than 10,000 pupal clusters every day, and each pupal cluster contains 200 pupal vesicles, which means 2 million zombies will hatch every day.

According to Xu Renyi's vague memory, there were at least more than a hundred corpses in the wasteland...

No matter how powerful humans are or how advanced their weapons are, production lines cannot be maintained, and resources are always limited.

Zhuang Fan looked at the map of the wasteland again.

The vast majority of humanity is confined to cities built of nails, hiding behind high walls, unable to step out into the wilderness.

Seeing him in a daze, Mao Shanwang glanced at the time and squeezed his round body out of the chair.

"It's getting late, I have to go back. I need to talk to those people tomorrow and see how we can cooperate."

"it is good."

Zhuang Fan escorted him out of the recycling station, watching the giant house crab disappear into the shadows of the ruins.

He stood there thinking about many things, then shook his head, putting them all behind him.

The next day, just as dawn broke.

Hua Xin and Cole led twenty cat people and ten human scavengers out the door.

Four members of the Firelink Squad, clad in power armor, followed behind, carrying machine guns, their steps still somewhat clumsy.

But after a night of "human and armor as one" sleep, their adaptability to the armor improved significantly.

Four modified trucks drove into the wilderness.

Xiong Da waved his paw at the convoy, watched it leave, and then turned around and closed the warehouse, standing guard outside like a gatekeeper.

The other two armored soldiers remained at the base to provide fire support.

Xiong Er, carrying a sniper rifle, climbed to the top of the clock tower to act as a lookout.

The rest of the group, led by Gage and Watson, began to expand and reinforce the recycling center.

Zhuang Fan did not participate in the base construction. He put on a new look and walked alone into the nearby gathering place.

He needs to recruit more reliable people for the team and find those hidden talents who are loyal to the cause.

Later that evening, Zhuang Fan would go to the ratmen to support the new king.

Meanwhile, in an underground prison belonging to the Skaven.

Santa was covered in injuries, his feet were bound and he was hanging up, and his consciousness was already fading.

A burst of chattering noise came from my ear.

He struggled to open his eyes.

What came into view was the bodies of the rats tearing at each other for the last bit of moldy food, some even gnawing on rotting flesh.

Santa closed his eyes, and the team's morale completely collapsed.

A few days ago, during the battle to raid the recycling station, he didn't want to shoot his own kind, so he led his men to retreat halfway through.

But this move angered Tataji.

It immediately ordered a thorough digging to capture Santa and his gang, and imprison them in the deepest dungeon.

After Tataji's death, the brown rat tribe was leaderless, and the rat guards who were watching the dungeon all ran away.

Santa was unaware of what was happening outside; his group of imprisoned Black Ratmen had been completely forgotten.

He remained suspended there, on the verge of death, while the black ratmen around him had unfocused eyes, filled only with numbness and despair.

But their injuries were mostly caused by infighting. Later, when they were too hungry to fight anymore, they lay on the ground waiting to die.

Santa was not afraid of death.

But he feared this kind of undignified demise, like being casually abandoned.

Just as his consciousness was about to fade, there was a commotion outside, and the iron gate creaked open.

Several rat guards walked in.

Leading the group was a brown rat guard with a long beard. He glanced at the horrific scene in the cell and confirmed Santa's group's identity as black rats.

The man with the long beard stepped forward and untied Santa from the rope.

Another guard handed over water and food.

The long-bearded voice was somewhat harsh, "You've all been starving for days, this is your share."

The rat-men, barely alive in the corner, pounced on the clean water and black bread like madmen and devoured it.

Santa had no appetite; he thought this was his last meal before his execution, and he felt even more desperate.

In the tradition of the Skaven, prisoners are indeed given a full meal before execution.

However, the quality of this last meal was acceptable.

The guards began clearing the dungeon, then bandaged and treated the wounded ratmen one by one.

Santa was completely bewildered, utterly unable to understand the other party's intentions, and weakly asked:

"What are you doing?"

The man with the long beard paused for a moment before realizing that Santa knew absolutely nothing.

“Tataji is dead. Now Rat Master is in charge and tells us to treat all Black Rat people well.”

"died?"

Santa's mind went blank. "Your Majesty... how did Tataji die?"

"How else could he die? He failed to attack that human recycling station a few days ago."

The man with the long beard curled his lip. "Its head is still hanging on someone's roof."

This news greatly shocked Santa.

That was a demon king, a powerful being who commanded tens of thousands of ratmen, and he died so easily?

"The advisor has ordered a thorough investigation of all dungeon personnel, and torture is strictly prohibited."

The man with the long beard continued, "You can all just squat here patiently until the investigation is over, and then we'll make a judgment."

After the man with the long beard finished speaking, he gave them a few more fog lights and then turned and left.

Santa didn't say anything more.

He watched his people, like a pack of wild beasts starved for centuries, wrestling over food.

He looked away and remained silent.

Just then, a rat guard rushed in and stopped the long-bearded man.

"The advisor is here!"

"Oh, so fast?"

The rat guard quickly lowered his voice: "A new king is also accompanying the advisor!"

The man with the long beard was somewhat surprised: "The new king... the advisor has already decided so quickly?"

"Yes!"

Santa's hearing was very sharp; he heard everything.

"The old king had just died, and a new king was enthroned..."

At that moment, he thought of many things: four parts heartache, three parts confusion, two parts self-mockery, and one part relief.

"Jetta, you have won, you've cut off Tataji's head, but in the end, you've only made it easier for another ratman to become king. What a pity..."

Just as he was muttering to himself, the guard rushed over, panting and shouting:
"Who is Santa!"

Santa instinctively raised his hand.

The guard's gaze locked onto him, his tone urgent yet imposing.

"The new king specifically requests to see you, so hurry up and tidy yourself up!"

Santa stood frozen in place, his hand raised.

　I originally wanted to add a world map using an Easter egg chapter, but I found that I didn't have enough operating funds to do so, so I had to insert the map into the main text of this chapter. You can see it when you turn on multimedia display.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)