Arknights' Lock of Heaven

Yes, why is that?

Is it because of those capitalists?

Is it because of the Knights?

still is……

She couldn't figure it out.

Why does Kazimierz turn a blind eye to the suffering of its people?

Until she heard Xia Yu say those words.

Ah, so that’s it.

Because they are considered worthless, the infected are ignored.

Big capitalists wouldn't even glance at it, because they'd rather spend their time getting into the Knights Arena than exploiting the infected.

Small businesses, unable to compete with large corporations, resort to unconventional methods, such as exploiting infected individuals.

Of course, their working conditions are predictable; the infected are probably treated worse than slaves...

The government has never been the government of the people; it belongs to the nobles, the knights, and the big capitalists.

But it is not for ordinary people from the lower classes.

Therefore, even after an ordinary person is infected with Oripathy, Kazimierz will not cast a single glance at him.

Sona understood immediately.

After all, he had been in the Great Knight Territory for so many years and had seen too many things.

“So,” her expression softened slightly as she said to Xia Yu, “you claiming to be a pharmaceutical company person from Yan, I admit you’re quite right, and it’s been very enlightening for me, but what are your motives towards the infected?”

"You know, we who have nothing have already exhausted all our efforts, and we have no money left to buy medicine."

“Yeah, you guys definitely don’t have any money, it’s obvious at a glance,” Xia Yu sighed, sizing up the infected people opposite her.

His clothes were tattered, and his face was gaunt...

"So, in order to sell the medicine to you, I need to find you a way to make money."

This is not a question, nor is it sarcasm; it is a statement made earnestly.

"Do you... know what you're saying?"

Sona was truly stunned. What kind of logic was this?

So that you can afford my medicine, I need to find you a job.

What kind of brain circuit is this.

"There's nothing I can do, I'm just too kind-hearted," Xia Yu shrugged, "I can't stand these things."

"Every time I see it, I want to change it, and then, sigh..."

"No, are you serious?" Seeing that his expression didn't seem fake, Sona was truly dumbfounded.

"Otherwise what?" Xia Yu said innocently, "What good would it do me to lie to you?"

“This… what you’re saying is really outrageous,” Sona looked at him suspiciously. “You’re not some shady factory recruiting laborers, are you?”

To be honest, she's seen far too many scams like this.

The HR staff made all sorts of appealing claims, and quite a few infected people ignored their advice and believed their lies, ultimately ending up in illegal factories where they were exploited to death.

What? Salary?

Ah.

A group of infected people, and they still want wages?

As long as the higher-ups are properly patted on the back, who cares about the life or death of the infected?

If someone dies, they're just dragged out and buried. Those illegal factories don't even bother to dispose of the bodies of infected people.

Their bodies were left to rot in the wilderness.

It's no wonder she was suspicious, after all, this really... sounds too much like the advertising of those shady factories.

There's no such thing as a free lunch. To get you to buy my medicine, I'd have to find you a job...

Haven't those pharmaceutical companies always had that arrogant attitude of "if you can't afford it, then die"?

“Okay, I also think it’s a bit outrageous,” Xia Yu said, stroking her chin and frowning. “But we can’t just give away our medicine for free…”

No matter how idealistic Rhodes Island is, it still has to consider reality.

Employee salaries, research and development expenses, daily maintenance of the ship, drug production, funding for offices in various locations, and security teams traveling to and from major dumping zones...

Which one is free?

This world cannot be accomplished with just enthusiasm.

The above are only some of the expenses; there are many more that cannot be listed one by one.

To be fair, it's quite remarkable that Kal'tsit was able to single-handedly rebuild Rhodes Island after Theresa's death.

If it weren't for the investment she secured through her connections, Rhodes Island might not have even been able to maintain its own ships back then.

Rhodes Island's Oripathy inhibitors are now among the best in the industry, and even with the full sale of various drugs, the net profit is barely enough to sustain Rhodes Island's existence.

After all, they are not unscrupulous pharmaceutical companies. The profit margin from the prices of those inhibitors in various regions is not actually that large after deducting costs and transportation expenses.

Here's a joke: Rhodes Island's inhibitors actually follow a low-profit, high-volume strategy.

The market for treating Oripathy is enormous, and the strongest company in this field is actually going down this path.

In fact, "small profits but quick turnover" is not a derogatory term, but it is not suitable for Rhode Island at present, at least from a business perspective.

After all, as a legacy of the former Sarkaz queen, Rhodes Island is still viewed with suspicion by many countries.

Moreover, Rhodes Island is still relatively new, and its reputation and sales network are still under construction.

At this point, they should be as ruthless as other pharmaceutical companies, making a quick buck off the last penny from local middle-class infected individuals, and then using this huge profit to expand the market and open up distribution channels again and again, and then the cycle repeats.

Once they have captured a large enough market share and their brand is strong enough, then they should switch to a low-profit, high-volume strategy and start exploiting the truly vulnerable infected individuals.

This is the normal business mindset, and this is how this era should be.

After all, the infected at the bottom level can't really make any money these days, otherwise the capitalists wouldn't ignore them, and only Rhodes Island treats them the same.

Rhodes Island is currently in a very awkward situation, a classic case of being critically acclaimed but commercially unsuccessful.

But since we're all idealists, it's normal not to make money for the sake of our ideals.

These are all business thinking; the current approach is the kind of thinking that people at Rhodes Island should have.

Kal'tsit and her team didn't research Oripathy to make money!

However, this prevented Rhodes Island from expanding production because it lacked sufficient funds.

Opening up new markets is going to be a tough battle.

After all, no one would stand by and watch their market share be taken away.

Now, Casimir is the new market that Rhodes Island wants to open up. By taking advantage of the SEC's attempt to crack down on the Business Federation, it might have a surprising effect.

However, judging from the survival situation of the infected people here, it seems to be very difficult...

"I know this sounds outrageous, but I'm really worried about it..."

Seeing Sona become wary, Xia Yu was also very troubled.

"Well, although I should know the answer, I still have to ask: since you can't survive in the Great Knight Territory, why don't you leave?"

"Go to the countryside, go to the wilderness?" Sona scoffed. "If you can't survive in the Great Knights' territory, do you think you can survive in those places?"

"So, if, and I mean if, you had a territory, would you be willing to lead them away from the Great Knight's Territory to make a living?"

"Go farm, go work, go live by your own hands."

"If it were really possible, who wouldn't want to..."

Hearing this, Sona lowered her head. "But we are infected..."

"How could one possibly own territory?"

And even if someone were willing to accept them, they would still be afraid that the other party had ulterior motives!

After all, infected workers who have used it all say it's good!

To own one's own territory... is even more of a pipe dream.

The fact that infected people are allowed to participate in the competition is thanks to the Blood Knights' efforts to secure it, yet champions like the Blood Knights never seem to gain territory.

“I see,” Xia Yu said, stroking her chin. “Then I understand.”

“Trust is built over time,” Xia Yu stood up and said to Sona, “I know you don’t trust me.”

"This is a good thing. If you really believed everything I said, I would start to doubt whether the partners I chose were even capable."

“Well then, I have some inhibitors produced by Rhodes Island here,” Golden Ripple lit up on the spot, and he pulled out a large box of medicine from behind him, saying, “Consider it a gift for our first meeting.”

"You can take it back and try it out, and see how capable Rhodes Island is at treating Oripathy."

"As for what happens next, we'll deal with it gradually."