Chapter 0262 – Exceptional Trades
Translated by: Kun
Edited by: Ulamog, Dedition, TheNo1Fan
[Book 2: The Sea of Zombies]
The special combat forces were quick to react and had swiftly surrounded the entire villa.
“To the people inside! Listen up! You have already been surrounded! Your only option is to put down your weapons, and surrender immediately. Only by doing that, can we guarantee a way out for you.” The captain of the special combat forces Xiao Panshan hollered out.
The few girls in the villa looked at Yue Zhong with fear, uncertain if this killing machine was going to kill them casually like he done the others.
“Don’t worry, I am here to save you guys!” Yue Zhong said indifferently as he glanced at those girls who were scared witless.
With that, Yue Zhong strode up to the window of the villa and spoke out clearly. “I am Ning Guang County’s Yue Zhong. Today, I was under orders to clean up the degenerates of the government. You can affirm this with Secretary General Peng and Mayor Wen!”
Xiao Panshan heard Yue Zhong’s words and was thrown off for a moment. After some hesitation, he still didn’t give the order to attack. Secretary General Peng and Mayor Wen were the 2 major powers in SY County after all. If it was an order by either of these 2 people, he didn’t dare to question nor go against it. Therefore he decided to report it to the higher-ups first.
The murder of a director of the tax bureau wasn’t a small matter, both Wen Baoguo and Peng Mingde had rushed over the moment they received the news.
Wen Baoguo’s face had turned green as he looked towards Yue Zhong and spoke heavily: “Yue Zhong, this time you have crossed the line! If you can’t give me a suitable explanation, then I can’t help but to announce that you’re not a welcome guest of SY County, and would have to order your arrest!”
Yuan Yeshan wasn’t Wen Baoguo’s subordinate, but he was a government official after all. Yue Zhong had actually killed him in front of other people, without the use of a disguise and had seemed extremely tyrannical.
Yue Zhong pointed to the girls who were trembling uncontrollably as they kneeled on the ground and hugged his leg tightly, sternly speaking to Wen Baoguo, “Mayor Wen!! Yuan Yeshan that scum did this kind of disgusting and perverse things, don’t tell me he doesn’t deserve death?”
Wen Baoguo stared at Yue Zhong, spitting one word out at a time: “Yes! He is scum! He deserves to die! But he’s a government official after all! If you want to take him down, you need to go by the lawful route! Nobody has the right to carry out judgement on a government official!! If you want his life, you have to go by the lawful way!”
Those who sat in the government positions were very concerned about their lives and stability. If everyone acted out in vengeance like Yue Zhong, then all the officials in the government would not sit easy. This had reached Wen Baoguo’s threshold. Regardless of how overwhelmingly strong an expert was, they had to adhere to the rules SY County was running on, this was on the insistence by both Wen Baoguo and Peng Mingde.
Peng Mingde sighed, while his eyes lit up inwardly with delight. He maintained a steely look as he spoke softly, “Yue Zhong! Yuan Yeshan was indeed scum!
Yue Zhong laughed lightly as he blatantly distorted the facts: “What are you guys talking about? I did not touch a single hair on Yuan Yeshan. When I came in here, I saw his 4 bodyguards fighting amongst themselves and killing each other. He simply was not careful and was caught in the fray. The rest then died under each other’s merciless attacks!”
Wen Baoguo and Peng Mingde frowned. They were also experts at twisting the truth, but facing Yue Zhong’s shameless lie, they didn’t know how to react.
The few girls kneeling by Yue Zhong’s feet were even more confused, they had clearly seen Yue Zhong beheading Yuan Yeshan with their own eyes.
Yue Zhong smiled before he gave an offer. “This time, I have invited the 2 of you to discuss a potential deal! I want to use 100 tonnes of rations to buy 400,000 sets of quilts between the both of you.”
Wen Baoguo and Peng Mingde were smart people, and naturally knew of Yue Zhong’s intentions to wipe the slate clean with these 100 tonnes of food. Right now in SY County, a quilt was not even worth a jin of rations. Hearing those words from Yue Zhong, the 2 of them finally started to relax.
After the end of the world, 50 tonnes of rations was not a small amount. In SY County 5 jin of rations could cause a huge fight to break out and a slaughter amongst the survivors. One person after another would bite, kick privates, gouge eyes, punch and fight as dirty as they could. 50 tonnes of food could support 100 people for almost 200 days.
Yue Zhong was after all a strong expert, and had a huge force under him. As long as it didn’t reach a point of no return, Wen Baoguo and Peng Mingde weren’t willing to butt heads with Yue Zhong. Furthermore, Yue Zhong had provided them a subtle way out. As long as they put in a little more effort to convince the other officials, this matter would not be too huge of an issue.
Wen Baoguo pondered a while before exchanging a cold look with Peng Mingde. He then stepped forward and said: “Yue Zhong, this time I’ll overlook this! I hope there won’t be a second time. If it happens again, I can only give the order for your arrest.”
Yue Zhong lightly smiled and indifferently said “I got it.”
Seeing the obstinate Yue Zhong giving way, Wen Baoguo and Peng Mingde let out a breath of relief. Dealing with this stubborn and prideful Yue Zhong who could easily go on a rampage was a headache to them.
“I have a proposition for the 2 of you!” Yue Zhong suddenly spoke out.
“What is it?” Wen Baoguo spoke somewhat coldly. After Yue Zhong had killed Yuan Yeshan without regards for the law, Wen Baoguo had somewhat less of a favourable impression of Yue Zhong.
“I want to impose tax near the river!” Yue Zhong smiled, as he threw out this unexpected bomb.
“No way!! Definitely not!!” At almost the same time, Wen Baoguo and Peng Mingde immediately rejected the proposal.
Taxation was of utmost importance to a power. While there were few people who dared to fish at the river, and the tax gained per day could not even hit a tonne of fresh seafood, it was still a form of rations. Wen Baoguo and Peng Mingde would definitely not give this up.
“Let me finish speaking!! I want to clear the Mutant Beasts in the river. As long as the Mutant Beasts are exterminated, then we can ensure a fresh and unending supply of seafood for SY County!”
“I’m going to be delegating my power and resources to clear the river, I naturally can’t do it for free. Once the river is freed up, anyone can just enter the waters that I cleared to fish, or pluck vegetation, but I will take 30% as tax!” Yue Zhong spoke out heavily.
The river was a treasure trove in Yue Zhong’s eyes, and it had a huge amount of potential in terms of food. If it could be made use of, the people of SY County could all have decent meals.
“Of the 30% tax, I will use 5% to pay SY County, and it’s up to you guys to split it your own way! Once the river is cleared of the Mutant Beasts, the 5% of freshwater products as well as wild vegetation will surpass the current amount by 10 times, or even 100 times.”
Yue Zhong’s words shook the hearts of Wen Baoguo and Peng Mingde, and they knew Yue Zhong was not exaggerating. The river was indeed a precious resource pool, it wasn’t for the fact that there were so many Mutant Beasts, they would not even be worrying about rations.
Wen Baoguo considered a while, before speaking, “50-50. After you clear the river, we split the tax 50-50!”
Yue Zhong replied readily, “Sure!!”
Wen Baoguo and Peng Mingde’s eyes lit up in delight. While they might be at loggerheads, they wanted to join hands to fleece Yue Zhong like a fat little lamb. However, Yue Zhong’s following words caused them both to frown deeply once more.
Yue Zhong continued speaking seeming indifferent to their machinations. “If you can dispatch 30 Level 20 and above Enhancers to help me, then once the river is cleared the tax can be split 50-50! If you guys aren’t willing to send help, then I can only give you 5%! I will also need to leave some for the people from the military!”
If one hoards everything, it would not bode well. Should Yue Zhong monopolize the tax percentage, even if he used all his strength to clear the river, other people will get jealous. He had to give a little as a sign of goodwill. The government and military were both powerful heads of state in SY County, and Yue Zhong’s foothold in this county was still too small.
Peng Mingde’s eyes narrowed, as he thought carefully before replying softly, “Then we’ll stick with 5%. Recently, our manpower is a little tight, we can’t leisurely afford to send out so many experts.”
Countless strong Mutant Beasts currently resided within the river, and the SY County’s government and military had sent out many forces to try and clear the place many times before. As of now, the government, military and even some civilian experts had joined hands to kill many Mutant Beasts, yet they always came out on the losing side. In fact, the total experts that had died in these clearing expeditions numbered in the 100s, and a few precious Evolvers had already died at the hands of those Mutant Beasts. Wen Baoguo and Peng Mingde naturally did not have much faith in Yue Zhong’s preposition. Furthermore, even without doing a single thing, they stood to gain 5% of tax, they will naturally delighted to watch Yue Zhong exhaust his strength, if he was defeated, it was not their problem, and if he won, they stood to benefit from it.
“My manpower in SY County is not enough, to battle against those Mutant Beasts, I need to gather a few more people as well as some form of accommodation. How about selling me Xinglong Street and Nanshan Street? I’m willing to buy them for 100 tonnes of rations!” Yue Zhong continued asking without even batting an eyelid.
Wen Baoguo replied without much care: “Add another 50 tonnes, you can have Xingye Street as well!”
Xinglong Street, Nanshan Street as well as Xingye Street were all near the river, and there were currently many survivors living there now. Most of them were prostitutes, thieves, robbers, kids, old people, hoodlums and even gang members. Furthermore, the 3 streets were dilapidated. Dirty water ran in the ditches and it was smelly beyond words. By throwing the 3 streets to Yue Zhong, Wen Baoguo could stop worrying about the situation there and save on rations as well.
“Thanks Mayor Wen!” Yue Zhong laughed lightly.
The 3 streets had plenty of apartments, if squeezed a little bit, he could fit two to three thousand people there. With these 3 streets, Yue Zhong could also be considered to gain a foothold in SY County, or a stronghold. And all he paid was 150 tonnes of food.
After the business transaction, Yue Zhong came to Xinglong Street.
Yue Zhong walked the entire street, and called for Zhang He, “Zhang He! I need to gather some people! Go and disseminate the info. Say I’m looking for people who are willing to fight and work hard! Those who work for me, whatever I require of them, they have to do it! Everyday I will ensure that they get to eat their fill! In addition, if they do well, I will not scrimp on rewards! I will only accept 200 people, not any more! Cheng Yu, follow him!”
Although Zhang He was young, he was mature, and he was a local resident after all, thus he was extremely familiar with the area. Therefore he was the most suitable person for this role.
“Yes! Boss Yue!” Zhang He replied in a respectful manner, before he dismissed himself.
Cheng Yu followed Zhang He silently.
“Little kid!! What’s the catch for today? I can use my cornmeal to change with you, 1 jin of fresh fish for 2 jin cornmeal! If you let me play with your sister for a night, I can give you 2 jin rice.” At one of the streets, a decently-dressed middle-aged man eyed Zhang He and spoke out while wearing a steely smile.
Zhang He looked at the man with undisguised contempt as he coldly replied. “Boss Niu, I’m not here to exchange food with you!”
The man in front was called Niu Dahui, and was a businessman. He used cornmeal and rice to exchange for various items with the survivors, and was well known amongst the people here as a vicious and callous man.
Niu Dahui immediately turned grim and chuckled, “Then pay your debts!! 4 days ago, you borrowed 4 jin of cornmeal from me. You owe me 6 jin of cornmeal! If you can’t pay up, I will take your sister as guarantee.”
Niu Dahui had long set his sights on Zhang He’s sister. The pretty little flower could be used to bargain and be sold for at least a 100 jin worth of food. Because of this, Niu Dahui had ‘generously’ loaned Zhang He 3 jin of cornmeal.
Zhang He’s face turned black, as he gritted his teeth and said, “I only borrowed 3 jin of cornmeal for 10 days, how is it that only after 4 days you demand a payment of 6 jin of cornmeal?”
Niu Dahui’s expression did not waver as he looked at Zhang He coldly and said, “Now that rations are so precious, don’t tell me my loan to you doesn’t require interest? My rates have always been 9 out,13 return. Everyday’s interest is 20%! Requiring your payment of 6 jin is already cheaper than what is required , damn brat!! You’re still not paying up?! If you don’t take out the rations, I will take your sister as a guarantee!!”
Niu Dahui had given the 3 jin of food with the grace of a magnanimous man, and had seemed decent, but the moment he required payment, he would be extremely callous.
Nearby, the survivors came around and looked on numbly.
“Too bad! The small kid was hoodwinked by that dog.”
“What a pity!!”
Those survivors saw the scene and broke into discussion. However, that Niu Dahui had 4 extremely burly thugs protecting him, thus no one dared to provoke him.
Zhang He’s face was full of fury as he looked at Niu Dahui, and he didn’t expect that this scum had actually thought of such an idea.
Niu Dahui stared at the infuriated but helpless Zhang He, and his face broke out into an extremely proud expression.