"The frontier war?" Dudian was surprised. He had faintly heard before the words but didn't have in-depth understanding. He asked: "Does it refer to the war outside the wall?"
Old Fulin nodded: "It mainly refers to the war outside the three districts. The war is happening in the radiation zone. The are is massive and the inhabitants are a lot. In addition to the beasts infected there are some deported barbarians. In the they are no different than beasts. They are hairy, drink blood and warlike people... Moreover they even eat their own kind if there is food shortage. They are very cruel!"
"The barbarians have repeated tried to invide in to the residential district to plunder the resources. The army is on duty to guard the borders through the border fortresses. They fight both against barbarians and monsters."
Dudian wasn't aware that in that piece of desolate area there still were people who lived.
"The barbarians...They should originate from the same ancestors as we are... I mean they couldn't be descendants of someone else... " Dudian wondered while his heart was still in doubt: "But the offsprings of the survivors should be born within the small walls and live at ease and comfort after the new era. Why would they deport their own descendants outside the border into the radiation zone?"
His brainstormed a lot but there was no clues to the answer. Although three hundred years was not a long term for humanity but wasn't a short period of time either. Perhaps the ancestors of these barbarians weren't the people who lived within the wall but survivors who fought for rights to enter and live in here. That was a possibility too.
"What about their population?" Dudian asked Old Fulin: "It should be very difficult to survive in the radiation zone where the radiation is too high. Even sterilization is possible after a long-time life. After such a long time of fights how could they have survived?"
Old Fulin shook his head: "According to that reason they population had to be extinct by now. But in the fact they have grown more and more after each passing year. It was very late the moment when military realized and was aware of the potential threat. Their size had become so much that military couldn't easily exterminate them. It is soo bad that the military is bitterly struggling to defend the border fortressees. It has become an extremely troublesome matter. Moreover, military and other consortia are secretly involved with dark church to make sure that the advance of barbarians is delayed."
Dudian frowned: "Why Holy Church doesn't intervene to solve out the problem?"
"The Holy Church and military are wearing the same pants but different legs. They naturally help them but Holy Church is at the same time fighting against Dark Church for self-preservation. They don't supply forces or troops to reinforce the borders." Old Fulin sighed: "Actually military has forcefully conscripted soldiers for six times in the last few years in the slums and residential district. The people are getting angry and there have been few riots regarding the matter."
Dudian secretly contemplated in his heart: "The Dark Church should be aware of this problem as their intelligence network is wide and deep. Moreover they are having problems with the human research as the Holy Church has prohibited any kind of such experiments. Most probably military has secretly commissioned the alchemists from life faction of the Dark Church to help them within the radiation zone. Those alchemist would be interested in finding the breeding grounds of barbarians and experimenting on them. The bodies of these barbarians should have some kind of mutation that protect them from radiation. If those antibodies could be found and sold in large-scales to people in slums and residential district then the profits would skyrocket. The alchemists of the dark church should be involved in this problem behind the shadows."
"Moreover it is also useful to me. "
"I don't have a 'light physique'. If the radiation content increases in my body more than four points then it is already a risky situation. I would still go to hunt outside the giant wall but after two or three times of hunt the radiation content would soar to more than ten points. It would obviously cause damage to my body. It is possible that my skin would deform or there would be some kind of physical deformity as a result. The only way to solve that out would be to buy the 'fountain of life' from Holy Church but that is a very expensive thing."
"If the barbarians really have the constitution that resists high radiation then it is kind of an inexhaustible source of 'fountain of life' for me. Furthermore it means that this people have 'light physique'. "
Dudian's eyes lit up as he dazed into thoughts.
Old Fulin saw that Dudian was contemplating about something so he didn't bother him. Dudian recovered after a while and asked Old Fulin: "Has anyone form Mellon consortium came over to offer us anything for the military crossbow?"
Old Fulin didn't think that Dudian would change the topic and jump to business of the consortia.: "No, they should be aware of the relationship between you and the Burong family. They would give Rudolph some face..."
"It shouldn't be as simple as that..." Dudian looked back at Old Fulin: "They may have already started their plan."
Old Fulin's face changed: "You are famous and it is a sign of warning for them. They should plan to eradicate you in the cradle as it would be the most resource-saving process. They have been pressuring us within the cotton industry and the market at Pine town. The Yard town's economy is in critical situations. I have decreased the taxes to almost nothing. Right now we are relying on the dividends form the Scott Consortium. You can sell the crossbow to support us for more time but by filling the water into the dry well, fundamentally nothing would change."
Dudian deeply looked at him: "Cotton industry, Pine town and Yard town are small industries. Even if everything is completely plundered it won't be one-tenth of the dividends from the new textile machine."
Old Fulin's face turned ugly: "Do you mean that they would contact Scott consortium? They are enemies! They would not act against us together! "
"We are a thorn in their eyes. But Mellon and Scott consortium would not join hands to act against us. We are not big enough to have such an affect. However Scott consortium will take the advantage of this opportunity to make sure that they get our products." Dudian slowly continued: "An old consortium such as Mellon won't use regular commercial means to suppress us. It will be a very slow move and it will be hard to do it directly. However they can rely on dirty tricks to crush us. We are nothing more than ants in their eyes right now."
Old Fulin's mouth twitched and his face turned ugly. It was the deepest worry in his heart and he was reluctant to put it forward before. But at the moment Dudian had clearly stated it and Old Fulin was aware that there were some things that were inevitable. The big consortium's such as Mellon couldn't reach the point they are today by simply relying on financial resources and businesses. They would always use dirty tricks behind the shadows. They would use their personal connections, assassinations and other means to crush the opposite party.
"They send someone to assassinate you the last time so there won't use this approach again. Moreover they are aware that I am an old man so they won't try to kill me either. They should be aware that consortium's burdens are on your shoulders. The one who is a threat to them is you but not me." Old Fulin slowly said after a moment of silence.
Dudian narrowed his eyes: "There are way too many means to deal with us and we can't waste our resources to prepare for each and every occasion. Actually there is no point in trying to be at defense. Right now the best defense is the attack."
Old Fulin was shocked: "Are we going to go on offensive against Mellon consortium? This is same like fighting a rock with the eggs!"
Dudian slowly replied: "Although Mellon consortium is a giant in comparison to us but it doesn't mean that it is indestructible. Furthermore the structure of the consortium is not a whole. There are many parties with different interests than Mel or Burong families. If we think of a Mellon as a single body and attack it form outside with a dagger then we wouldn't be able to kill it. But if we could let it swallow a rusty metal then we will have its life. Moreover we won't even use our own strength. It will destruct from inside."
Old Fulin stared back at him: "Since you have expected these then I presume you have already prepared a plan and ready to talk to me. How can I cooperate?"
There was a trace of smile on Dudian's face: "After I get the money you will need to help find a few helpers."
"Helper?" Old Fulin was surprised: "Where are we going to find them?"
"The place where the thorns are blooming."