The towering walls make the Stone City a well-known paradise. Compared with the distant Yunjian Province and Ideal City, this place seems to be within reach.
However.
This grandeur does not benefit everyone here.
On the way to the main gate of the Stone City, the first thing that comes into view is a huge slum.
The shabby shacks grow at the foot of the giant walls like psoriasis, and look like a stinking ditch that stretches as far as the eye can see from a distance.
Most of the people living here are pale and thin, sitting in front of the door in a daze in a piece of clothing that they don't know how long they have worn, or preparing to go out to pick up waste.
There is no garbage to pick up in the nearby area. If you want to have a good harvest, you can only go to higher floors or go to farther places.
The sewage and excrement that can be seen everywhere have dyed the snow, which should have been white, into other colors. I guess the situation will be worse when the snow melts. It is a miracle that there is no plague.
Fang Chang, who had never seen so many NPCs in this game, stared at the scene in front of him and asked.
"How many people are there here?"
Xu Shun asked his question again, and Qian Lai answered in a nonchalant tone.
"Ten thousand, twenty thousand, maybe one hundred thousand, anyway, the number of people here has never decreased. Who would bother to count such things? It's meaningless."
Xu Shun showed a surprised expression on his face.
Tens of thousands? !
This is too exaggerated.
At this moment, Fang Chang, who was staring at the VM screen and reading the subtitles, was thinking about something completely different.
"Tens of thousands of people?!"
"... What do so many people eat?!"
Anyway, it's not farming.
It doesn't look like there is room for farming here.
The camera of the slum is a crooked electric pole with a few speakers wrapped around it, playing a few boring channels in turn.
Another hundred meters ahead is the main gate of Boulder City.
There are clean cement roads, militias on duty, caravans ready to go, and poor people looking for work, many of whom are even young children.
For most people here, there are only two hopes for life.
One is to be noticed by caravans or merchants, and the other is to catch up with the factory recruitment.
If you can't rely on these two, and you can't let go of your only self-esteem to beg or sell your soul, then you can only be a mercenary.
Catch up with the trend, you don't even have to buy your own gun.
Because they were carrying goods from the outpost, Fang Chang and his group were soon targeted as merchants.
A little boy with slightly curly hair and a dirty face followed Qian Lai step by step and said in a very shrill voice.
"Sir, do you need a servant? I can count, wash clothes, move things... I can also smell rats and cockroaches hidden in the cracks. I can do any job."
He has good eyesight and can tell at a glance who is the most likely to be a businessman in this group of people.
However, there are a lot of people with his ability in the whole slum.
"No need."
"Sir——"
The boy wanted to fight for it, but Qian Lai interrupted him impatiently.
"I will only say it once."
Looking at his unfriendly eyes and the pistol on his waist, the boy took a step back, not daring to entangle anymore, and ran to the side to look for the next target.
Xu Shun glanced at the boy's lost back and said nothing.
He is not a person with overflowing sympathy, and of course he will not naively think of helping the child or something. Once this kind of thing starts, the troubles behind will be endless.
Who is not pitiful in this wasteland?
For him, the task assigned by the administrator is the first priority, and everything else has to be put aside.
However...
Looking at the towering giant wall, Xu Shun couldn't help but sigh in his heart.
The giant wall is very high, and it makes people feel safe.
But it is still the northern suburbs ruled by the administrator that makes him feel warmer...
Across the street from the main gate of Boulder City is the Far Wind Hotel, and the sign is hung on the magnificent gate.
However, the guests there seem to have a little conflict with the hotel.
In front of the hotel waiter, a man in an old leather jacket, his face flushed with anger. Next to him lies a suitcase, and judging from the scattered luggage, it should have been thrown out of the door.
Behind him, there is a guest who was driven out like him.
"Didn't we agree to only take one chip a day?"
The hotel waiter scratched his ears and said impatiently.
"Yes, our manager said so, but it was winter and the price has increased now. We didn't stop you from renewing the room, did we?"
"Ten chips a day? Are you robbers? Why is it more expensive after winter?!"
"Of course it's to make room for guests from afar. Why do you think it's cheaper in winter?" The hotel waiter sneered, "Okay, take your luggage and you can go."
"What if I say no?" The man stared at him.
"What does that have to do with me?"
The waiter yawned, turned around and walked towards the main entrance without even looking at him.
When passing the main entrance, he glanced at the security guard at the door.
"Leave it to you."
The fully armed security guard nodded expressionlessly, standing there motionless, his eyes looking straight ahead, like a statue.
The ignored man was annoyed and reached his hand to his waist.
However, just when his hand touched his waist, a gunshot rang out, and a bloody hole instantly appeared between the man's eyebrows, and he fell backwards.
The woman next to him screamed.
The other guests hurriedly retreated, packed their luggage and left.
Having witnessed the whole scene, Fang Chang looked at the militia at the city gate in surprise, but saw that they were too lazy to even look at this side.
Xu Shun, who was walking next to him, asked for his surprise.
"Those people... don't care?"
Qian Lai looked at him strangely.
"Those people? Do you mean the militia?"
Xu Shun swallowed his saliva.
"Yeah."
Qian Lai smiled and said.
"The militia doesn't care about disputes outside the Stone City, they only care about the land at the door. Law enforcement has boundaries. The wasteland is so big, we can't manage every piece of land. After managing this street, should we manage the next street? This hotel has a good reputation. The owner is a noble in the inner city, and the manager is a capable man. He has a good relationship with several gangs in the slums. If you come to do business, they will introduce you to customers... Only 10% commission, and only once."
Taking out the rusty pocket watch to check the time, Qian Lai continued.
"It's noon now, not many people, if it's at night, it will be more lively here, but I don't recommend you to have fun here."
"Fun?"
"Nothing, forget it if you're not interested. If you are interested, you can ask the waiter at the door just now, and he will introduce you."
"...?"
Xu Shun looked confused.
Qian Lai urged him.
"Let's go, we should line up at the city gate... By the way, have you prepared the city entry tax?"
Xu Shun was stunned.
"City entry tax? I have to pay tax when I enter?"
The manager told him that after selling these goods, he would give the caravan a share, and the remaining money could be used as their activity funds.
But the goods have not been sold yet, and he has no chips in his pocket.
I wonder if those people accept silver coins...
Qian Lai smiled and said, "Of course, it costs 3 chips to enter the city once, so most people will not go in and out casually. It's okay if you don't bring it, I'll pay for you this time."
There will be more opportunities to deal with each other in the future.
Judging from the boss's reaction that night and the manager's attitude afterwards, Qian Lai felt that he needed to have a good relationship with them.
This is a long-term investment.
Six chips are just a small amount for both him and his boss.
It didn't take long to line up.
The main purpose is to check whether there are any dangerous goods in the cargo.
It is worth noting that explosives with an equivalent of more than 300g are prohibited items, but bullets and rifles are not. Perhaps they are absolutely confident that they can kill the troublemakers in the first place, and these militiamen don't seem to care whether they bring weapons in or not.
Think about it.
There are several heavy machine gun barrels that can be seen on this giant wall, and it is reasonable to arrange a few snipers or similar things in invisible places.
However, when checking Fang Chang, several militiamen unexpectedly looked at him and the bow behind him twice, whispered a few words, and added a stroke to a notebook full of words.
Of course, Fang Chang was doing the same thing, calmly holding a pen and writing in a small notebook.
[…The militia leader at the gate of the stone city is very strong, and you can feel the breath of danger. He is probably an awakener, but I'm not sure what level he is. ]
[In addition, awakeners will be registered when they enter the survivor base. ]
[But judging from the reactions of the people around him, ordinary awakeners should not deserve special treatment, and registration is just a routine matter. ]
The militia let the group pass.
Looking at the towering gate passing overhead, Xu Shun, who was carrying a bag, couldn't help but sigh.
The giant wall was very high and felt very safe.
But it was the northern suburbs under the rule of the administrator that made him feel warmer...
...
"... We followed the caravan into the Giant Stone City, and the caravan leader paid the city entry tax for us, a total of 6 chips."
That night.
After going offline, Fang Chang immediately posted a thread on the official website and brought the first-hand information about the Giant Stone City to the forum.
Not only the players were curious about what the dog planner put in the new map, but even the planner himself was very curious about what the Giant Stone City was like.
To be honest.
Chu Guang had saved up chips for five months, just to run there from Beth Street.
If he hadn't discovered Shelter 404, he might have been screwing in there.
Since it was a serial post, and Brother Fang couldn't type very fast, Chu Guang, who was sitting in front of the computer, clicked the option of [Only read the original poster] to temporarily filter out the comments of the stupid netizens.
"The situation inside the city is completely different from that outside. The streets here have been renovated, and the buildings are rebuilt on the ruins of the demolished buildings. The higher they are, the higher they are, but they are not higher than the huge wall."
"Good hotels are expensive, and the cheap inns and taverns are hidden in the intricate alleys. The conditions there are not much better than the slums outside. But it is worth mentioning that due to the construction of the drainage system, it does not smell too bad."
"Perhaps the planner is hinting that we should also consider adding some municipal facilities to the surface base?"
"As for clothing, the residents here mainly wear cotton and linen, and the weaving industry should be very developed. For citizens who have jobs in the city, there is basically no problem with clothing, but they will wear a piece of clothing for a long time. Mercenaries prefer leather clothes or bulletproof vests made of special materials, so even if they hide their guns, they are easy to distinguish."
"A few hospitals and schools are scattered in several communities on the edge of the inner city. The people living there have a completely different mental outlook from those outside, and their spending power is also stronger."
"There is another wall in the city center, which is the inner city of Boulder City. More than a dozen pre-war high-rise buildings have been renovated to form the top of the pyramid of Boulder City. The ruler who dominates all this is a man named Fang Ming. He rarely appears in front of the public directly, and often appears in holographic images. Most people are in awe of him, but quite a few people don't care."
"It is worth mentioning that Boulder City is not short of supplies, and productivity is not low. Many technologies have even reached the field of science fiction, but most people still live in poverty. Especially for the uneducated lower class, there are only two ways to make a fortune, either join a caravan or become a mercenary."
"After solving the problem of where to stay, we took the devil cloth and spirit leaves to the trading post with the caravan. The bulk commodities of the entire Boulder City are traded there, and there are hundreds of stalls inside, like a bazaar. The stall owners there are amazed at our weaving craftsmanship, and I have to give Miss Teng Teng a thumbs up here... But I can feel that they are obviously more interested in spirit leaves."
"In the end, 10 pieces of devil cloth were sold for 5,000 chips, and 100 kilograms of spirit leaves were also sold for 5,000 chips... This was the result of bargaining. At first, they only planned to give half of this number. The weight of the goods is actually not much different, but in my opinion, the latter is easier to obtain and obviously more profitable."
"After the transaction was completed, the guard NPC and I walked around here and conducted a simple market survey. We found that the demand for rubber and biomass oil here is very stable, the purchase volume is surprisingly large, and the most important thing is that the price is transparent! The only disadvantage is that the price is not high, where to get so much rubber and oil is a problem."
"In addition, cotton, flax, grains, and materials such as steel, aluminum, and even precious metals such as silver and gold can all be traded here."
"The following is just speculation!"
"Considering that Boulder City focuses on the characteristics of the two professions [Merchant] and [Mercenary], the next version may open up the running business and mercenary gameplay. "
"If you plan to do business, be sure to note that the residents here have weak spending power, and it is estimated that it will be difficult to sell food at a high premium! "
"But in contrast, the mercenaries have strong spending power and clear needs. Cheap weapons, protective gear, auxiliary equipment, stress-relieving alcohol and even spirit leaves, as well as medical gauze and dry food, can all be sold at a good price here! "
"Maybe we should run a store in Boulder City? Our weapons are obviously in oversupply!"
"Of course, if there are brothers in the power department who are interested, they can also go to the factory to screw in screws? But the triggering method is currently unknown, and the income is very low, and the process is suspected to be extremely boring. "
"Unless you have never been to a factory in reality, it is strongly not recommended! "