Wasteland Border Inspector - Chapter 666

Chapter 666: Chapter 226: The Predicament of Stone

At this point, the relationship between the two could be considered a half life-and-death bond.

Through daily interactions, he could roughly guess the “unusual purpose” of this Third-stage Inspector, and coupled with the information passed to him by Liu Bi, Ding Yishan had explicitly mentioned that in critical moments, cooperation with Luokuke was possible. This meant that even if Luokuke wasn’t Ding Yishan’s person, he was definitely a “sober-minded” individual.

Excluding factional alignments, there were inherently no conflicts of interest among the Inspectors.

“I saw you wrote about wanting to develop a waterborne transport system based on White Water River, which is indeed a bold idea.” Luokuke initially gave high praise but then subtly shifted his tone, “But actually, Yueye Shelter City tried it before us and failed.”

“Was it because the risk on the water was too great?” Cheng Ye immediately asked, as he was indeed unclear on this point.

Moreover, the bottom of the White Water River hides Demon Eye Sponge, a Destruction Level infection source, making the safety hazards of water transportation arguably no less than those on land.

“Not at all.” Luokuke shook his head, his tone certain, “The risks on water are not much different from those at sea; Sea Province can still launch ships normally, so why can’t Lin River? The real issue lies in… the trade goods!”

“Does Yueye Shelter City lack trade goods that can be scaled for profit?” Cheng Ye instantly caught on.

“Exactly!”

Seeing Cheng Ye grasp the point so quickly, Luokuke’s drowsiness vanished instantly, and his eyes brightened, experiencing the ease of finding someone on the same wavelength.

“To put it bluntly, our Happiness City is also facing the problem of a lack of trade goods now. Take firearms and ammunition, for example. During the last great expansion era, they were indeed in high demand because there was chaos and conflict everywhere, and even ordinary people had a severe fear of insufficient firepower.”

“But times have changed. As the situation becomes more stable, human conflicts have shifted from person-to-person to people versus infection sources and Infected Bodies, reducing the urgent need for conventional weapons.”

By Taboolaby TaboolaSponsored LinksSponsored LinksPromoted LinksPromoted LinksStart Forex Trading. Get a 100% Welcome BonusLFind out why you should join iFOREX, a regulated broker with over 25 years of experience. Open your iFOREX account and enjoy a 100% Welcome Bonus. Sign up today!iFOREXUndoLifree Adult DiapersStock up now before the offer ends!Lifree Extra Absorb Adult Diaper PantsUndoMr. Bala’s Powerful Intraday Strategy Revealed – No More GuessworkJoin Bala Sir’s Market Profile Masterclass and Book Your Profit By 11 AM, Sign Up Now For Trading Success.TradeWiseUndo

He paused, adding a note of realism to his tone: “Hypothetically, it’s already New Era year 35, which decent Shelter City hasn’t learned to produce guns? Maybe our Happiness City’s firearms are more durable, but this advantage is something we reassure ourselves with. When it comes to actual trade, the other party will definitely keep cutting prices back, and there’s barely any profit to be made.”

“As for other trade goods…”

Luokuke gave a slight shake of his head. “You’ll know when you go outfield. What our Happiness City can present now is basically just weapons and medicines. Other items aren’t without value, but they’re far from ‘scale-level’ and can’t support a sustainable trade route.”

The so-called scale-level refers to items that can be sold to ordinary people.

In Cheng Ye’s mind flashed a bounty report he previously saw in the intelligence space.

Happiness Alloy, chips, batteries, Healing Reagent…

All these high-value goods are ‘Shelter City-level’ trade goods, neither accessible nor affordable for ordinary people.

“Then can we sell things like chips and batteries outside?” Cheng Ye couldn’t help but ask.

“No.”

Luokuke replied straightforwardly, “We can represent Happiness City and negotiate cooperation contracts with other Shelter Cities, with a dedicated freight convoy from the city handling transportation and delivery thereafter, but we can’t run around with the finished products ourselves. First, there’s too much risk since these items are too eye-catching, and encountering robbers on the way would be quite a trouble. Second, the quantity would be too small to make it meaningful; it wouldn’t support the name of trading and would at most be considered underground trafficking.”

“So… did Yueye Shelter City’s waterborne trade fleet eventually go bankrupt due to losses exceeding income?”

“Sort of, but it also had to do with the water systems around Lin River.”

As Luokuke spoke, he simply took out the Defense Communication device, pulled up the map of Stone Province, and zoomed in on the Lin River area. “See, Lin River traverses four provinces, and the routes are actually excellent, yet there aren’t many large Shelter Cities along its banks; most are medium to small Shelter Cities or even just large gathering settlements. Transporting goods to these areas means the local demand is easily saturated, and the quantities simply can’t sell.”

By Taboolaby TaboolaSponsored LinksSponsored LinksPromoted LinksPromoted LinksIndians over 70 are switching from hearing aids to this new device.Recommended by audiologistHearing AidsUndoNashik – Born before 1975? You’re eligible for trial of German hearing aid.Recommended by audiologistHearing AidsUndoMake Massive Side Income with this Method of Intraday TradingJoin Bala Sir’s Market Profile Masterclass and Book Your Profit By 11 AM, Sign Up Now For Trading Success.TradeWiseUndo

He pointed to the nodes on the map, continuing to explain: “Moreover, two dilemmas cannot be bypassed. One is being undercut by middlemen; the biggest advantage of water transport is tonnage, and Yueye Shelter City could ship over much more ore each time than by land transport. However, when the volume increases, surrounding Shelter Cities will band together to press prices down.”

“If you don’t sell, there are always others who will. Ultimately, no money can be made, and secondly, water transport undermines the already ailing land transport system of Stone Province. When you transport so much goods at once, other Shelter Cities’ land transport convoys can only drag along bit by bit with vehicles, utterly unable to compete. To put it candidly, in the end, when Yueye Shelter City’s waterway fell apart, other Shelter Cities in Stone Province, including our Happiness City, didn’t hesitate to fan the flames clandestinely. After all, without a feasible water transport system, we rely even more on land transport convoys.”

Damn, it’s really a reality check!

Cheng Ye couldn’t help but curse inwardly. When it comes to who most doesn’t want to see Yueye Shelter City get rich off water transport, White Stone would certainly count as one.

With your ships, you can sell ore outside with large volumes and speed, yet White Stone can only rely on land transport to haul it slowly, with high costs, and the market all disrupted by you, struggling to get reasonable prices, leaving the land transport system teetering on the brink of collapse.

As a result, a consensus quickly formed among the Shelter Cities within Stone Province: as long as Yueye isn’t finished, no one can sleep peacefully.

But the problem is, now that Yueye’s water transport has failed, can the current predicament of Stone Province be solved?

It’s just changing the way they scrape by!

“So your idea to build a waterborne transport system is not in itself an issue.”

Luokuke opened his visor and exhaled towards the river surface, his tone took on more certainty, “Our Happiness City is not the same as Yueye Shelter City; no Shelter City would dare to easily reach out and disrupt the system we build. But you have to think ahead about what to ship to the outside world that can truly aid the Shelter City’s development; if the trade goods aren’t right, the transport fleet will just keep incurring losses, and other Shelter Cities will also take the opportunity to pressure us under the pretext of market disruption.”

By Taboolaby TaboolaSponsored LinksSponsored LinksPromoted LinksPromoted LinksShriram FD – trusted across generations with 50+ years legacy.Shriram Finance LimitedUndoPlay War Thunder now for freeFight in over 2000 unique and authentic Vehicles. Fight on Land, on Water and in the Air. Join the most comprehensive vehicular combat game. Over 2000 tanks, ships and aircraft.War ThunderUndoNashik – Born before 1976? You’re eligible for trial of German hearing aid.Recommended by audiologistHearing LossUndo

“This problem isn’t urgent,” Cheng Ye nodded, already having a preliminary plan in mind, “The construction of the waterborne transport system will take at least one to two years to materialize. As for what specific goods to trade, I’m not entirely sure yet, but I have some directions.”

Once Dapo Town is settled, and I have my own research lab, I can start analyzing intelligence principles.

Maybe manufacturing items with extremely high technological content isn’t realistic, but creating some everyday objects that could achieve scale effects shouldn’t be too difficult.

As long as the Source Rail technology can be applied to everyday items that meet outside demands, surely there will be a market.

However, switching to a different perspective, having conversed with Luokuke until now, he truly realized that Stone Province, despite having abundant mineral resources, is in such a difficult development scenario.

Tan Ming, this Extraordinary, truly is a fierce figure.

Not sure if he contributed to this land while he was alive, but the impact he left in death can cover a million square kilometers, affecting millions living here.

Even a colossus like Happiness City finds itself trapped in this affected land, its original advantages ebbing away bit by bit, while the exposed disadvantages grow, making life increasingly difficult.

Since it’s so formidable.

Also wondering if the atmosphere gushing through the sponge breach is of any use, whether Lord Tan performed any miracles…

With this thought, Cheng Ye halted his wandering thoughts and once more asked, “Then do you think, among the neighboring provinces right now, which one has the most trade value for us?”

“Guang Province!”

Luokuke answered without a moment’s hesitation, quickly pinpointing the answer, and then tapped a few times on the Defense Communication device to enlarge the Guang Province area on the map.

Soon, a name with a striking prefix appeared on the screen.

The prefix matched the “Super” of Happiness City, followed by five bold, clear Chinese characters:

Rainbow Light Shelter City!

…