บท 27: Chapter 27: Took Away My Wallet
This was a sight Dennison Henry had never seen in the Abandoned Cave Society. He simply could not have imagined that such earth-shattering changes could have taken place in the mere month he had been away.
He was from Rubbish Town and worked as a merchant. The ores produced by the Abandoned Cave Society were the ones he would purchase and then sell to Rubbish Town for primary processing into usable pig iron before selling them off again.
He had heard that a group of plunderers had set their sights on the Abandoned Cave Society. He thought it was the end for them and had even offered a silent prayer for these unfortunate people, while also feeling a pity at having lost a cheap resource import site. This meant he would earn less money.
But to his surprise, not only had the Abandoned Cave Society survived, but it had also received help from the Planetary Governor.
What was this if not a blessing in disguise?
In the Abandoned Cave Society, Henry saw rows of factories, and the erect smelting furnaces emitting white smoke, signifying industrial power;
He saw the residential areas that were being constructed nearby, and as it was mealtime, he could see the cooking smoke. The standard of food the residents of the Abandoned Cave Society were eating was actually better than that in his hometown, Rubbish Town.
He also saw the soldiers on guard, wearing combat suits, vests with bulletproof plates on the outside, and their left eyes uniformly transformed into mechanical ones, shining with a cold blue light, looking very elite.
Patel saw the expression on Henry's face and took it all in.
The surprised look of this 'old friend' gave Patel immense satisfaction.
He really enjoyed seeing others surprised. It affirmed from the bottom of his heart how utterly right he had been to fully embrace the Governor and to become his lordship's subject.
He patted Henry on the shoulder and said, "Stop gawking, let's go. There's even more great stuff to see."
Returning his gaze, Henry turned to Patel, "You... is the Governor really that generous?"
Patel's expression was devout, "Yes, and this is just the beginning. I believe that under the rule of the Governor, we will live better and better! Honestly, why don't you go back and talk to your bosses, too? Get them to join under the Governor's command sooner rather than later."
When this topic came up, Henry grew a little more composed, "We are already under the governance of the Governor, we are also members of the Alliance."
Patel could hear the perfunctory tone in his voice.
He felt a bit disappointed. He genuinely believed that Rubbish Town could join in and contribute to the Governor's cause.
Of course, he also knew that his old friend Henry was just an ordinary merchant from Rubbish Town, and his status was so-so. Rubbish Town had a population of over one hundred thousand and was a massive settlement. Those who had a say there were called 'agents.' These agents, big and small, determined the direction of the entire Rubbish Town.
Henry was just a merchant, and he was even still striving to qualify as the smallest of agents, so he didn't have much say in Rubbish Town.
Patel simply hoped that Henry could go back and persuade those agents.
But it seemed, indeed, he had been naive.
Those agents were making money from raw materials and energy, from scrappers and adventurers, with their bellies full and their minds content, why would they easily let go?
Unless they witnessed the Governor's authority with their own eyes.
Putting aside those thoughts, Patel's face broke into a smile again.
He took Henry along to see some more good things.
These were alloy steel products created by the Abandoned Cave Society.
Seeing the neatly stacked alloy steel, Henry was once again dumbfounded.
"This... is alloy steel? You can actually produce something like this?"
He truly hadn't anticipated this.
Watching those smelting furnaces, he thought at most they could produce steel, which was already very impressive to him. He had been calculating in his heart, in the future materials would be transported from Rubbish Town, then produced by Abandoned Cave Society, and sold to Revival City—this route would be much more economical than profiteering from mineral resources.
But unexpectedly, what Abandoned Cave Society was producing was not just any steel, but alloy plastic steel!
This material's performance was far superior to steel! With different formulations, it could exhibit very strong resistance to compression and tensile strength as well as great plasticity.
From a merchant's perspective, its selling price would naturally be higher than that of steel, but in reality, the increase was limited. Mainly because those manufacturers, whether using alloy plastic steel for munitions, machinery manufacturing, or construction materials, most of the large demand low-end product lines are very sensitive to cost. If the cost of alloy plastic steel is too much higher than steel, then they'd rather continue to use the cheaper steel.
Of course, if there is some alloy plastic steel with particularly special properties, then for some particular devices, like making better gun barrels or more robust mechanical structures, when used in high value-added production, it's definitely valuable and can fetch an especially high price.
But even though ordinary alloy plastic steel materials can't be sold for a very high price, with a reasonable pricing strategy, there's no worry about their marketability.
At the same time, currently, there are very few powers in the wasteland that have the capability to produce alloy plastic steel. Perhaps Blackbird Heavy Industries has this capability, but their production capacity is barely enough to meet their own consumption, and they have never been seen selling this material externally.
From this perspective, the alloy plastic steel produced by Abandoned Cave Society is practically a unique business.
Beyond making money, this represents a huge power of influence.
Dennison Henry was bursting with impatience!
"How much for these? Sell them to me!" he said, rubbing his hands together.
"Don't rush." Patel chuckled and then took Henry to another place.
Here, there were some finished products made of alloy plastic steel—individual armor vests and helmets.
Patel proudly introduced, "Take a look at these things. If you shoot them with an iron pipe rifle, it'll at most leave a mark!"
Having said that, he was worried Henry wouldn't believe him and actually took out an iron pipe rifle.
The weapon looked crude but was especially common on the wasteland. A basic iron pipe was tied to a wooden handle with the most simplistic firing mechanism, capable of shooting gunpowder bullets. Because there was really no technology to speak of, its power was rather unpredictable, and its accuracy even more so. A well-made one might be passable, but a poorly made one was just a noisemaker that could or couldn't hit a target; it all depended on luck.
The Abandoned Cave Society had hundreds of these guns, confiscated from the bandits after the 'Doomed Prisoners' were annihilated. The Planetary Governor thought little of this junk and gave it to them for self-defense.
Patel put the armor vest on a target, pulled the rifle bolt, and at a distance of more than a dozen meters, he fired more than a dozen rounds at it.
After the deed was done, Henry stepped closer to take a look.
There were bullet marks, but not a single one penetrated the single soldier's vest, and the back of the target was knocked slightly askew, but indeed there was no real damage.
This level of defense was sufficient.
Henry even tried on the vest himself and found the weight completely within an acceptable range. Alloy plastic steel was able to maintain enough strength and toughness while ensuring light weight.
This stuff, on the wasteland, was a deadly weapon. Equipped with such a set, the most common iron pipe rifles on the wasteland would indeed turn into mere fire sticks.
He could already imagine how enthusiastically these individual armor vests would be sought after by scavengers and adventurers in Rubbish Town.
This was all money!
"Stop talking! I'm buying! Take away my wallet!"
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