This Game Is Too Realistic

"We're here, hahaha! We're finally here!"

The towering giant wall finally appeared in everyone's eyes, and the man wrapped in a white robe cheered with joy.

Old Luca, who was walking on the Third Ring Road Elevated Road, finally had a look of relaxation on his face.

This trip took them two full days.

Except for the guy named Black who they met initially, they encountered at least three waves of attackers along the way.

Of course, the two waves that came later were all small minions. Not only were their weapons broken, but their morale was low. After being kicked two times by Tutu, they quickly dispersed like birds and beasts and fled.

As for the man wrapped in a white robe following them, he was the one they saved from the last wave of predators.

His name is Hal, and he comes from Luoxia Ting Province. According to him, he is the prince of the Lion Tribe, the successor of the oasis, and believes in the Sand Sea Spirit.

When asked why, as a prince and heir, he traveled thousands of miles to the south of Qingquan and was captured by a group of villains holding fire sticks, he expressed embarrassment.

"...There are many princes in our kingdom, and we must do something to prove that we have the courage and character to govern the kingdom."

a young diplomat asked curiously.

"for example?"

Hal said chatteringly.

"For example, it is our tradition to bring back something that is not found in the desert. Whoever brings back the most expensive thing will be qualified to become a candidate to inherit the throne."

asked another older diplomat.

"Then did you find it?"

Hal's expression was slightly embarrassed, and he coughed slightly.

"...Didn't I just arrive in Boulder City? Believe me, I will definitely find it."

Not to mention finding anything valuable, his two guards and the dinars he carried were all gone.

If he hadn't met this group of kind people, he might have been buried in a frying pan.

Just like the unlucky guy in the same cage with him.

He even began to regret that he did not go south to Jinchuan Province with his brother, but went to Boulder City instead.

The folk customs here were tougher than he imagined, completely different from the endless sea of ​​sand. There were high-rise buildings everywhere, and every window seemed to have a gun hidden in it.

The two diplomats following Luca looked at each other.

As survivors living in the Qingquan area, the concept of a throne and a prince is completely foreign to them.

If managers are compared to kings, then this guy... is probably the son of the manager of the Lion Kingdom?

Thinking of this, everyone couldn't help but feel a little envious on their faces.

I really hope they have a few more managers...

"Dear Sir, do you need any escort?" Hal said respectfully, looking at Luca who was silent.

Jue, who was very observant, told him that this old man should have the highest status among all the people here.

Luka looked at him strangely, wondering where this guy got his confidence.

However, Luka finally left the young man with some self-esteem and spoke concisely.

"No need, what's wrong?"

Hal had an embarrassed expression on his face, hesitated for a moment, and finally spoke.

"My money has been robbed and I have nowhere to go... Can you give me a job?"

Luka asked.

"What will you do?"

"I can make tea, play the piano, write poetry, and draw, and... also include shooting. I can prove myself that as long as you give me a revolver or rifle, I can hit a target 100 meters away. plastic bottle!"

Hal said confidently, but Brother Dog and Brother Dagger who were walking nearby couldn't help laughing.

The plastic bottle 100 meters away is still there.

With the accuracy of the revolver, it would be pretty good if it could hit someone from a distance of just one meter.

"If we don't help him, he might not even be able to pay the city tax."

An older diplomat lowered his voice and whispered next to Luka.

"If he can really play the piano and draw, his status should be high...it wouldn't be a bad thing to help him."

That's true.

Although the new alliance has not yet established diplomatic relations with the survivor forces in other provinces, this will happen sooner or later.

It never hurts to go out more often and make a couple more friends.

Luka nodded, looked at the unfortunate young man and said.

"I happen to be short of someone to do paperwork, so just follow me first."

Hal said overjoyed.

"Thank you so much! By the way, I also know twelve artistic fonts——"

Luka coughed slightly.

"That's not necessary. I can write things neatly."

The group of people continued to move forward, and soon they came to the foot of the towering giant wall.

The plaque of Yuanfang Yufeng Hotel is hung on the building opposite the huge gate. Various merchants and tourists are walking back and forth in the square in front of the gate. Occasionally, you can see prosthetic bodies modified from metal or silicone, or machines with antennas inserted into the Tianling Cap.

Poor people with half-clothed clothes standing by the roadside, holding wooden signs, waiting for him to come to the door.

The polarization of living standards remains the same here year after year.

Hal stretched his neck and looked around excitedly. Everything here was full of freshness to him.

However, those players who have been here countless times are already accustomed to the people and things here.

"A new mission has been triggered." Looking at the VM on his arm, the old man raised his eyebrows in surprise.

"What mission? Let me see." Fang Chang came over.

I saw one word written on the screen.

[Task: Go to the Pirate Bay Tavern to find Bit and inquire about hiring Bit]

Lao Bai stared at the task for a while.

"It should be the follow-up mission of the muscular guy named Blake...I've synchronized with the team."

"Tavern? This elder brother Fang is familiar to me." Sha Dagger said with a playful smile.

"Boss, when are you going to write a romance guide? We've been waiting for a long time!" The dog also shouted from the side.

"Guangguangguan, I am a pure group, unlike you old filthy monsters who know art every day."

Looking at the smiling faces of his teammates, Fang Chang rolled his eyes angrily.

Lao Bai didn't laugh at him, he just smiled.

"What should I say? After sending the NPC to its destination later, let's go to the Pirate Bay Tavern to inquire about it?"

Fang Chang sighed.

"Do you think this is something you can ask just by shouting into a tavern?"

Lao Bai asked curiously.

"Then what do you think of it?"

After holding his chin and thinking for a moment, Fang Chang's eyes fell on the poor people holding signs beside him, and his eyes moved slightly.

"...Blake lives in the slums. Let's find out where his home is first. Regardless of whether his relatives are alive or not, there are always friends who know him. Through his friends, we should be able to find out who the man named Bit is."

"Is it so troublesome?" Sha Dagger said blankly.

"This game really requires some thinking," Lao Bai said with a smile, "Just follow what Fang Chang said, let's go to the city first."

Pay the city entry tax.

A man stored prohibited explosives and passed through the towering city gate.

Regarding the exoskeletons on their bodies, the militiamen at the city gate didn't say much. After all, in a place like Boulder City, these things were not rare enough for them to stare at them.

According to the manager's instructions, Luka was about to go to the alliance's office in Boulder City. As soon as he arrived on the street, he noticed that something was wrong with the atmosphere here.

I saw a huge crowd of people at the entrance of the warehouse area, and everything looked dark.

The Japanese people wearing linen shirts and hyena skin coats gathered together. They looked angry, held wooden signs high in their hands, shouted chaotic but extremely loud slogans, and moved towards the core of the outer city.

"Reject unequal trade!"

"Give us back the work!"

"Get the New Alliance stuff out of Boulder!"

"I want bread! I don't want nutritional cream!"

"Those who are cheating on you, get out of the giant wall!"

The noisy arrogance was like a boiling heat wave, and it was as hot as a soldering iron under the bright June sun.

The guards standing at the edge of the crowd looked at loss, and the sticks in their hands had begun to fail to control the crowd.

Militiamen loyal to the city looked on.

As long as it doesn't develop into a shootout, they won't care about these things.

Hal, who came to Boulder City for the first time, stretched his neck excitedly and looked at the surging crowd.

"Are they having a holiday?"

The diplomats on the side had serious expressions.

"...Do you think they are celebrating?"

"That's right... who are they shouting to get out of?"

Luka glanced at him, ignored him, and looked at the diplomats aside.

"Let's go faster. It's best not to stay in the street too long."

Everyone nodded and quickened their pace.

Although the players following the NPC were curious and wanted to get closer to see what was going on, their mission was urgent.

"...It's really strange," Sha Dagger muttered in a low voice, "It wasn't like this the last time we came here."

"I didn't expect that what was supposed to come came anyway." Looking at the surging crowd, Fang Chang said thoughtfully.

"What's coming?" the dog asked curiously.

Fang Chang: "Didn't you see it? They were protesting that the things we sold them were too cheap."

Too cheap?

I don't quite understand, the dog is confused.

"Ah... we gave them cheap goodies, what can they complain about?"

"Under normal circumstances, it is reasonable to exchange 10 nutritional creams for a piece of bread, but now a person suddenly appears, willing to exchange 1,000 nutritional creams for an oven for baking bread, and at the same time make the nutritional cream and bread the same. It became unprofitable.”

"No matter how cheap the bread is, the cheapest ones are only for those who have leverage. For ordinary survivors, they have no help and it is useless if they can't afford it. It's just a coincidence that they are happy."

The factory in Dawn City has taken away the work of the residents of Boulder City, and recently the factory in the outer city actually plans to expand the scale of trade with the new alliance.

The residents of the outer cities, who were living on the edge of the poverty line, completely exploded.

But...

Is the root of the problem really because New Alliance's products are too cheap?

The essence of the crisis is that wealth is concentrated in the hands of a few people. Once money is no longer in circulation, it loses its role in the market.

The residents of Boulder City have no bargaining chips for consumption. Factories reduce production, jobs decrease, and residents become poorer, ultimately entering a lose-lose cycle.

The large input of external industrial products has only accelerated this process.

The simplest way is nothing more than foreign colonization.

Whether it is economic colonization or military colonization, as long as surplus commodities can be continuously sold to small and medium-sized survivor settlements such as Beit Street and Brown Farm, and exchanged for industrial raw materials from them, the original chain can be restored. Keep it up.

It is a pity that the New Alliance is not only unwilling to be a colony of Boulder City, but also liberated part of the survivor settlement of Boulder City's economic colonization and exported industrial products to their field.

The economic crisis in Boulder City began a long time ago.

It's just that in the wasteland, the economic crisis is not worth mentioning in the face of the existential crisis, so no one has ever realized it, and no one cares about it at all.

The nobles in the inner city didn't care about the intrigues of the "providers" in the outer city. In the eyes of the mayor, except for things that were truly worthy of his concern, everything was an ant.

What's more, even though they are trapped in poverty and unemployment, the residents here are still much luckier than the residents of Bate Street and the serfs of Brown Farm a year ago.

Only recently, those poor people finally found someone to vent their anger on.

Thinking of this, Fang Chang couldn't help but have a look of interest in his eyes.

It's not that he's cold-blooded.

For a pure player like him, the NPC is just a piece of data and will not make him sympathize.

But what he didn't expect was that the game's economic system was unexpectedly real.

Not only has the relationship between supply and demand been created, but even the relationship of production has been restored.

Awesome.

It seems that we are one step closer to the day of public beta!

The group arrived at the office located on the edge of the warehouse district.

When they arrived, they found a large group of people gathered around the door, with several guards standing in front of the crowd to maintain order.

Judging from the chaotic situation at the scene, something bad probably happened just now.

Having received news of the arrival of the visiting delegation early, Shuyu, who is in charge of office operations, has already greeted them from the door.

"You have arrived safely. I was worried just now whether something might happen to you on the way." Shuyu had a comfortable smile on his face, although the smile looked a little tired.

Obviously, he has been troubled by what happened here these days.

Looking at the garbage, stones on the ground, and the smashed glass, Luka frowned and led everyone through the crowd to Shuyu.

"What's going on here?"

Shuyu followed his line of sight and saw the broken glass scattered on the ground, and couldn't help but have a helpless expression on his face.

"Most of the factories in the industrial zone gave workers a holiday, and the residents who were their main sources of income took to the streets... The police department sent guards over. You have also seen the situation. So many people are not at all. One or two guards can take care of it."

"You are not hurt, are you?" Luka asked you thoughtfully.

"No," Shuyu shook his head, "We have many 'players' living here, and guards have been sent over from the Hall to maintain order. There is not much of a safety problem... but at this critical time. , it’s better not to go out casually.”

I'm just afraid that someone will take advantage of this time to do some tricks.

For example, a shot was suddenly fired in the crowd.

With the proliferation of weapons in the wasteland, this kind of thing is not surprising at all.

The so-called order is only relative security. Absolute security does not exist even in an ideal city, let alone here.

Speaking of this, Shuyu paused for a moment, glanced at the guard next to him, and continued.

"The situation here cannot be explained clearly in a few words. Anyway, let's talk first."

…

After sending the NPCs to their destination, the players dispersed and went about their own business.

Lao Bai took his two brothers and walked into the slum outside the giant wall.

Fang Chang took off his equipment and put on casual clothes, and blended into the crowd of demonstrators.

There was something interesting and he wanted to investigate.

What the 㳎㰴 people say is - "Participating in this special event might trigger a hidden mission."

As for Old Luka, after expressing condolences to the office staff on behalf of the manager, he followed Shuyu to the lounge on the third floor.

The young waitress came over and poured each person a cup of hot tea.

Shuyu took a slow sip, and was about to talk about something to lighten his mood, but when he saw Luka sitting there indifferently, he couldn't help but put down the teacup with a wry smile.

After a pause, he spoke.

"Last night, the warehouse in the industrial area caught fire."

"Fire?"

Looking at the surprised Luka, Shuyu nodded.

"Well, the 1,000 tons of Didiwe Nutritional Cream stored there were burned... That thing is not resistant to high temperatures and is basically destroyed."

1,000 tons of nutritional cream, based on wholesale cost, is worth close to 100,000 to 200,000 chips.

If it is the retail price, 0 will often be added to the wholesale price.

Luka's heart tightened slightly.

"Is it serious?"

"The warehouse has purchased insurance and will pay part of it, but it's unclear how much the final compensation will be."

After a pause, Shuyu continued in a serious tone.

"You should have seen it when you entered the city. The demonstrations against us are getting more and more intense. These conflicts are not accumulated in a day or two. They have all exploded in the past few days."

"I'm worried that... recent events will affect our signing of the Treaty of Friendship and Cooperation with the Agency."

"In order to avoid long nights and long dreams, I suggest that it is better for us to sign the contract as soon as possible."

After hearing Shuyu's suggestion, Luka pondered for a while and then spoke.

"The manager said that the treaty is just a piece of paper. If we don't solve the problem from the root, even if we bring a beautiful agreement, they will tear up the paper at any time."

Shuyu pressed his eyebrows with a headache.

"The problem you mentioned has no solution at all... Do you know what those people are clamoring for? They keep asking the Ministry of Finance to impose a 100% special tax on us and distribute the collected tax to the Ministry of Education. of poor people.”

"Not only that, they also require us to deposit all the chips in their bank and adopt a book-entry settlement method. The exchange rate is determined by the exchange, and all chips must be used according to their prescribed methods."

To put it bluntly.

They not only want the new alliance's products to be unprofitable in Boulder City, but they also want to stipulate how the new alliance's profits earned here should be used.

If they really agree, the new alliance will become a dumping ground for their industrial products, and even industrialize into a large farm and mine.

The residents of Dawn City also need jobs.

It is impossible for an individual to sign this kind of agreement.

Those protesting, as well as the factories behind them, obviously have no intention of solving the problem at all, but hope to overturn the table by putting forward some demands that are simply impossible to achieve.

Since I can't beat you.

Then we won’t play.

"Of course there is a way to solve it," Luka said seriously, "I came here precisely for this purpose."

Shuyu looked at him with a slightly surprised expression, wondering what method he could come up with.

Just when he was about to ask out of curiosity, there was a knock on the door.

The maid who made tea for them earlier came in again.

"Sir, the director of the Hall is downstairs. Do you want to invite him to come up?"

Shuyu was stunned for a moment, not remembering that Yaotian had this arrangement at all.

"Has he...made an appointment?"

The maid shook her head.

"No, he claimed that he came here temporarily when he was inspecting the fire scene in the warehouse area."

Shuyu looked at Luka, saw the latter nodded, and looked at the maid again.

"Mr. Director, please come to the reception room on the second floor."

The other person is already downstairs, so you can't keep people away.

"Okay, sir."

The maid shook her head slightly, turned around and exited the lounge.

"...What are you going to do? This guy is definitely not passing by temporarily. He was probably kicked out by the survivors who surrounded the Hall...I bet that he is not here to ask for peace this time."

Shuyu lowered his voice and said.

However, at this moment, he suddenly noticed that there was no nervous expression on old Luka's face.

A hint of surprise suddenly appeared in his eyes, and Shuyu reacted immediately.

"...The manager has told you what to do?"

Old Luka didn't answer, just gave him a reassuring smile and stood up from the sofa.

"Let's go, let's meet the director."

…

In the reception room.

Dulong's face was filled with anxiety and irritability due to lack of sleep.

He couldn't understand.

He signed a beautiful agreement, not only letting the new alliance give up its claim to Qingquan's airspace, but also opened up the northern suburbs airspace without spending any money.

He thought everyone would cheer him for his heroism.

However, except for the adults in the city and Jushi Military Industry, who had no objections, the residents of the outer city and other factory workers scolded him bloody.

Dulong didn't understand at all.

These factories in Boulder City need technology and people, and they don’t have a bunch of rules and regulations about 12-hour work limits and minimum wage standards. Why are they afraid of a small workshop built by a group of scavengers?

If they are dumping low-priced industrial products, you will also be dumping them. Wouldn’t that be the end of it?

This won't work, that won't work, what else do these greedy vampires want!

Du Long couldn't help but start to think, it would be great if there was also a militia group in the Hall.

It's not as strong as Lord Shiro's. As long as his combat power is slightly higher than that of the mercenaries, he won't need to spend so much energy negotiating.

These people are neither willing to give themselves the rights they deserve nor to pay them, so what else do they expect him to do?

At this time, footsteps came from outside the living room, and after three knocks on the door, the door opened.

Looking at the acquaintance he had seen in the holographic image before, Dulong stood up from his seat out of politeness, cleared his throat and spoke.

"Hello...Mr. Shiro."

When he said this, his expression was slightly unnatural.

After all, "Boulder City" and "City City" are the exclusive titles of that gentleman.

"Hello, Mr. Dulong, you're not so polite, please sit down..." With a smile that eased the atmosphere, Luca sat down opposite Dulong, "Actually, it's okay for us to call each other by our first names. "

"These are all trivial matters," Du Long, who sat down again, waved his hand without any of the previous politeness, "I'll get straight to the point. I know it's very abrupt for me to say this, and our agreement needs to be renewed. Talk about..."

Not surprised by Du Long's proposal, Luka still frowned.

"This is different from what was promised."

"Because the current situation is different from that then," Du Long stared at him and continued, "You have also seen the situation outside. If I cannot bring an agreement that satisfies those people, they will Tear me and the agreement into pieces, and then I won’t be the one sitting here talking to you.”

"So everything we talked about before is invalidated?" Luka asked you calmly.

"Only the trade part, there is no need to talk about airspace and border issues... This is the request of our city."

Although Du Long's tone was tactful, his tough attitude still did not change at all.

Luka nodded.

"We understand your difficulty."

Seeing the other party's unexpected compromise, Du Long was pleasantly surprised and couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief, and finally a smile appeared on his face.

"That's great... don't worry, I'm not an unreasonable person. In exchange for your concessions, we will take more care of you on the issue of safety. After all, we are friends now. Including the rental of the plane. , as well as more powerful weapons... I will try my best to help you obtain some discounts within my scope of authority."

Shuyu looked at old Luka in disbelief.

He remembered that he should have said what those people's demands were.

With a confident expression on his face, Du Long took a list from his assistant and placed it on the table in front of him.

"We have listed some of the residents' demands, and I think many of them are reasonable. The specific details still need to be discussed, but I hope that the negotiations will follow this framework."

It seemed to him that the other party had relented and the matter was basically settled.

However, things did not develop as smoothly as he imagined.

Luka just glanced at the list on the table and turned his attention to him.

"We can sense your sincerity in wanting to resolve the issue and this is clearly not a solution."

Dulong looked at Luca with a blank expression, and slowly frowned.

"……What's the meaning?"

"Implementing heavy taxes on our goods and requiring us to put the money we earn in your pockets and spend it the way you want is something no one would do."

Looking at Du Long with a stunned expression, Luka shook his head and continued.

"It makes no difference whether I sign this agreement or not. If I sign it, there will no longer be a single silver coin trade between the New Alliance and Boulder City. If there is, it will definitely be in the form of black money."

"...Then do you have a better way?" Du Long frowned.

Luka nodded happily.

"Of course, in comparison, our respected administrator has a better proposal."

Although Du Long's intuition told him that these cunning blue coats were probably trying to play some trick, he decided to listen to what these people had to say first.

"...What proposal."

Seeing that the fish was about to take the bait, a smile appeared on Luka's calm face.

"The dissatisfaction between your factories and residents is ultimately due to the fact that the former need to work to earn profits, while the latter need to work to support their families."

"In that case..."

"Why don't you lend us some chips?"