This Game Is Too Real
Chapter 303: Who Needs a Knife to Harvest Leeks?

Chapter 303: Chapter 303: Who Needs a Knife to Harvest Leeks?

Sim felt he was simply a genius.

He deduced his neighbor’s next move just from some data on paper.

Upon discovering the situation, he immediately arranged for his salesmen to go to the nearby mines and massively purchase inventories of copper ore, sulfur, and other war materials.

Currently, the Horseshoe Iron Business Group’s warehouse had already stored 200 tons of copper material, and according to his calculations, the full-power ammunition produced by the New Alliance needed about 16 to 17 tons of copper.

To fight a local battle, millions of rounds of ammunition were needed, and to take down West State City, they would need tens of millions of rounds at the very least.

After all, the Looter was no fool.

These men, under the training of Army instructors, had learned to dig trenches and crouch in shelters. They had fought with Red River Town and the Snake Tribe for a few months and had already experienced how difficult those people were to deal with.

Since Horseshoe Iron Business Group raised the inventory reserve line, increased the purchase of copper mines and other materials, and reduced the shipment volume, the copper price in Red River Town had already risen by twenty percent, and the price of sulfur had even risen by more than thirty percent.

And this was just the beginning.

He was still in the phase of sweeping goods, and once he finished, filled the warehouse with copper ore, and pinched off the source of shipments, using the time difference of the mines increasing production, there would be no problem in doubling or tripling the copper price in a short period.

Of course.

He couldn’t handle this business alone.

The business group didn’t have the right to issue notes, and those who could issue notes were mine owners, while they were just dealers caught between slave owners and merchants.

To hike the price of copper mines, he had to win over one or two influential mine owners to cooperate with him.

To Sim, this was easy.

He had always maintained a good relationship with the nearby mine owners, and besides, this wasn’t their first time cooperating.

...

In the Horseshoe Iron Business Group’s conference hall.

After listening to Sim’s proposal, a man dressed in luxurious attire slightly hesitated and furrowed his brows.

"...This idea indeed sounds good, but isn’t it a bit improper?"

The man speaking was named Dennis, who held considerable sway in Red River Town and even within the Mining Association, backed by his 500 fierce thugs and the gold mine of a garbage mountain.

He admitted that the pie Sim had drawn for him was indeed tempting; even just a twenty to thirty percent increase would already be enough for him to make a fortune.

However, he still had some concerns.

The Chewing Bone Tribe was a common enemy to all survivors.

If the New Alliance planned to attack the Chewing Bone Tribe, it would be an absolutely beneficial thing for Red River Town, both strategically and business-wise.

If West State City was taken over by the New Alliance, the Snake Tribe would find themselves sitting with their other half directly in the line of fire from those Blue Jacket men, and the pressure on Red River Town would be much less.

Although Sim’s offer was enticing, Dennis instinctively felt that backstabbing "allies" at this time was somewhat unsportsmanlike.

Yet...

Sim didn’t think so.

"My dear friend, please don’t think of this as a betrayal. Price increases are market behavior. Considering their buying pattern, the price of copper going up is just a matter of time. Would you increase production without a price increase? We are just helping to press the accelerator."

Dennis: "So you’re saying they should thank you?"

Sim said with a smile, "Of course."

Dennis always felt his arguments were skewed, but he could not think of a counterargument.

"What do you need me to do?"

"It’s simple. When necessary, you just have to issue a notice with us to reduce production, whether it’s a mining disaster or equipment malfunction, just reduce the issuance volume of next quarter’s tickets, but keep the production as it is."

Nervously gripping the arms of his chair, Dennis said,

"What if no one buys what’s produced?"

The issuance of tickets was meant to avoid this issue.

Spot trading had too many uncertainties. Before the ticket system, everyone just randomly mined a bunch of garbage which no one would buy, living meal to meal.

It was only after the merchants of Red River Town invented tickets, stuffing them into the pockets of passing merchants with Red Notes and Blue Notes, that they gradually began living better lives.

That was why, for the ticket trading model, these slave owners were actually more sensitive than those big merchants who made a fortune from tickets.

Knowing what his counterpart was worried about, Sim gave him a confident smile.

"Don’t worry, my friend. Imagine if the New Alliance goes to war with the Chewing Bone Tribe tomorrow. Would you still need to worry about selling the copper they produce? Once the war machine starts, there’s no reason for it to stop. We’re just hoping for a ’more reasonable’ price for it to sell at."

"You don’t need to bear any risk, and you can take the lion’s share of the profits. There’s no need to worry about unable to sell either. We’re willing to serve you!"

Hearing the last sentence, Dennis finally relaxed, and his expression eased.

He picked up the pipe on the table and stood up from his chair.

"Then let’s do as you say."

He didn’t want to think about the complex issues, and he couldn’t figure them out anyway.

The reason Red River Town had these business groups was exactly because these scheming guys helped them sell their worthless garbage for better prices.

His bionic organs, his android partner, even the equipment of his thugs, the mining devices of the slaves, and those mercenaries fighting brutally on the frontlines... all were bought with money.

As for what money was?

His understanding was those Red and Blue Notes, the Dinar of the Army, and Cr of the businesses, although his instinct told him this was just on the surface, really figuring it out was too complicated.

Dennis knew he didn’t have the brain for it; better to let those who understood worry about it.

He just needed to know he could earn more.

Watching Dennis nod in agreement, Sim stood up ecstatically and extended his right hand.

"To a fruitful cooperation!"

"Cheers to our partnership!"

After ushering out the mine owner.

Back in his office, Sim couldn’t hold it in any longer and laughed uproariously.

"Hahaha!"

Each time he dealt with those mine owners, it was the happiest moment of his life.

Although he only shared some soup with them, they always nodded with full belief when he said, "You guys can take the lion’s share."

"Copper, sulfur... shame that they can produce steel and aluminum themselves."

Suppressing his laughter, Sim walked to the wall and gazed at the map for a moment, then continued thoughtfully.

"I had actually thought they would expand westward."

To the south of the New Alliance was Giant Stone City, and to the east lay nearly a hundred kilometers of desolate, waterless wasteland.

The benefits of moving west were obviously greater than going north.

After all, Qingquan City was located in the middle of the plains in the southern River Valley Province, with lakes and rivers to the west, primarily plains and forests, and only a few hills.

But going north would be like plunging straight into the mountains.

Why bother?

What treasures could there possibly be there?

At that moment, a knock at the office door interrupted Sim’s thoughts.

"Come in."

The door opened.

His subordinate, Engert, walked in with a list in his hand.

"Boss, today’s inventory numbers are in; our copper stock has grown to 500 tons!"

"Excellent!"

A bright smile spread across Sim’s face, a major step closer to his plan of 1000 tons.

"By the way, boss... our commercial team heading to the City of Dawn heard a rumor there that I think you might be interested in,"

Sim: "What rumor?"

Engert hesitated for a moment, then whispered,

"They heard from people in the tavern that in the mountains to the north of Far Creek Town, they’ve discovered a copper mine with reserves of a million tons."

Sim froze for a moment, then laughed scornfully.

"Bullshit!"

Those cunning Blue Ground Squirrels were quite clever; they realized someone was buying up the same goods as they had increased the price by 20%.

But this kind of retaliation was rather childish.

Could it be possible that the New Alliance had really discovered a copper mine with reserves of a million tons?

Of course!

But the possibility was too slim, and the timing too coincidental!

Why discover it now, just when copper prices were rising?

And a million tons at that, it would have to be a major vein.

They’re fooling ghosts!

If they had really discovered such a large deposit, with their demand for copper, they would have built a road there immediately and set up an outpost there...

Wait.

A road?!

Sim’s expression shifted slightly, and he returned to examining the railway lines on the map.

According to information collected by his commercial teams, the New Alliance had been laying railroad tracks northward, currently extending from the industrial zone of the City of Dawn to the edge of Elm District.

He had always wondered why the New Alliance had taken the unpleasant route north.

Now, he vaguely guessed their intention.

If that rumor was true...

"Is this rumor reliable? Are there any other clues?"

Seeing his boss’s grim expression, Engert quickly shook his head.

"There aren’t any more!"

With his arms crossed, back turned to his subordinate, and eyes fixed on the map, Sim bit his thumb, his mind racing.

After a while, he calmed down.

Even if they discovered a copper mine, what of it?

It would always take time to start mining.

Turning back to his subordinate, Sim immediately ordered,

"Tell our commercial teams to keep an eye out for news in this area; I need more intelligence!"

Engert quickly nodded.

"Yes!"

...

"Have you heard? They’ve found a copper mine in Far Creek Town!"

"Really? Is that true?"

"I don’t know! I heard it from a drunkard in the tavern of Highway Town! Those people said that the Blue Jackets had geological data from the Human Alliance Era, and they had discovered the copper mine in Far Creek Town long ago, but kept quiet about it until recently when they couldn’t hide it anymore!"

"I think it makes sense...Why else would they keep laying the railroad tracks northward? Is there anything worth transporting up there?"

"By the way, has anyone been to Far Creek Town?"

"Why go there? There’s not even a post station, and beyond Far Creek Town to the north is Chew-bone, with New Alliance soldiers stationed there. Wandering around there carelessly, you might be mistaken for a scout of the Looters and get caught, causing a hassle having to explain everything."

City of Dawn.

The entrance to the trading post.

A group of merchants waiting for goods delivery stood in line, chatting and bragging.

They were all merchants who had come from Red River Town, each dealing in different commodities.

As they were chatting, an "Electric Donkey" drove into the trading post.

Seeing the cylindrical devices being unloaded from the train car, many knowledgeable people expressed shock in their eyes.

"Multi-cylinder hydraulic crusher?"

"I’ve seen this before, imported by Giant Stone City, heard even second-hand equipment costs 20,000 chips."

"...It seems to be true."

Next to the truck bearing the Horseshoe Iron Business Group’s crest, the Commercial Team captain’s face was slightly grave.

That night, he reported the news to the steward of the business group.

In fact, there was no need for him to report.

Within a few days, the news of the major copper mine discovery at Far Creek Town had spread to Red River Town along the trade routes.

As one of the major buyers of copper from Red River Town, the discovery of copper by the New Alliance was a bolt from the blue for those major mine owners who depended on exporting copper to exchange for bullets, shells, and other industrial goods.

Previously, during the surge in Qingquan City, the New Alliance had increased its procurement of copper, profiting significantly from the trade, with some powerful mine owners taking the opportunity to increase production.

If the price of copper were to fluctuate significantly in the future, even plummet...

Whether or not production is reduced next quarter, the priority for those mine owners now is to take advantage of the "artificially high" copper prices to offload their stock as much as possible.

Yes.

It looked like the New Alliance was gearing up for war, but the war hadn’t started yet.

War was anticipated, and so was the discovery of copper.

These were clues analyzed based on limited intelligence; they were not explicitly stated in documents.

The increase in copper procurement could be interpreted as boosting munitions reserves, or it could be seen as expanding electrical infrastructure—the uses for nitric and sulfuric acid extend beyond just making shells, including steel pickling and other industries too.

Every argument has its pros and cons.

However, one thing was highly probable.

If the New Alliance really had discovered copper...

Perhaps war matters would have to be put on hold.

Red River Town did not have just one business group nor just one mine.

When prices had risen previously, many tacitly followed Horseshoe Iron Business Group in hoarding goods, and now they were tacitly lowering their copper reserves and dumping copper on the market.

When the increase in copper supply significantly exceeded the growth in demand, the resultant outcome was clear.

Sim quickly discovered in horror that he hadn’t even managed to backstab his neighbor before his own people had first stabbed him in the back.

The senseless fire-sale had knocked the prices he had worked so hard to inflate back down again.

The warehouses of Horseshoe Iron Business Group were now full of copper.

All because of that perhaps non-existent copper mine, the mine owners and business group heads of Red River Town had turned into fools.

Yes.

They were fools.

At least in Sim’s eyes, these people were only slightly smarter than donkeys, nothing more.

"These stupid things, can they not just wait!"

"So what if they have a copper mine? I’ll assume they do! Can copper ingots just grow out of the ground tomorrow?"

The office was filled with angry shouts.

Engert, standing aside, held his breath, not daring to inhale.

After finally venting enough, Sim turned to him and spoke deliberately.

"How much budget do we have left?"

Engert replied hastily.

"Without affecting other operations... We can purchase about 700 tons," Engert cautiously looked at his boss, "Originally, it was only a bit over 400 tons, but since the copper price has dropped recently, we can buy more now..."

tons!

Compared to the nearly ten thousand tons released by those imbeciles, it was simply a drop in the bucket!

Furious to the point of nearly vomiting blood, Sim took a deep breath to calm himself down.

Besides these purchasing budgets, he no longer had enough tickets to buy more copper ore from the mine owners.

Borrow someone else’s ticket to buy?

No matter how much he borrowed, it wouldn’t be enough!

Plus, even if he could borrow, he couldn’t possibly absorb all the surplus goods coming out of other business groups and mine warehouses by himself.

If he really did so, his downfall would be from a farmer cutting leeks to being the leek that got chopped.

Who was most worried about the drop in copper prices?

It had to be the person who bought it with multiple times leverage.

Once other business groups figured out he was hoarding a warehouse full of copper ore with a huge debt on his back, they would definitely laugh crazily and decisively sell him even more copper ore.

Actually, there’s no need for multiple times; as long as 80% of the copper in the market ended up in his hands, regardless of whether he leveraged 80% or 800%, he would definitely become the ultimate bearer.

"These damn Blue Ground Squirrels!"

Sim had spent a long time unable to figure out how to curse the people in the "North Suburb," finally squeezing out this phrase through clenched teeth.

To this moment, he still firmly believed that the New Alliance would definitely make a move against the Chewing Bone Tribe.

But what use was his belief alone?

Could a market be swayed by one person’s perception?

"Boss," Engert cautiously said, "are we buying more?"

"Buy your mother!"

Sim couldn’t help but curse.

Seeing his flustered subordinate, he took a deep breath and controlled his temper.

"Keep the inventory reserve level unchanged..."

Engert hesitated, "And those copper ingots in the warehouse?"

Sim gritted his teeth and said,

"Keep them!"

He was in the business of making big money.

Let those foolish donkeys sell if they wish to, he wouldn’t make a move even if the copper prices fell to the same level as iron ore.

A war would break out sooner or later!

And prices would rebound eventually!

...

"Don’t you want to get rich with your brothers?"

"Don’t blame me for not helping you, buy now or you’ll miss out!"

Observing the report sending from the military base at Red River Town, Chu Guang couldn’t help but laugh.

The news he released had worked indeed, but he never anticipated it would be so effective.

Copper ore prices had dropped by 37%!

Supply had quadrupled!

And this was on top of the basis from two weeks ago, the effect of the smoke bombs had far exceeded Chu Guang’s initial expectations.

His original intention was to hope for prices to "return to rationality," but when the mining owners and business heads heard about the New Alliance’s copper finding, they rushed to lower their own copper reserve lines, not only following him to sweep the market of copper ore but also filling the New Alliance’s commercial team with cheap copper ore.

Because copper ore generally existed in the form of sulfides, the price of sulfur was also affected.

Considering that in the future their big customers might not buy these two materials from them, adjusting the inventory while they could sell at a good price was the most prudent choice.

But once the selling started, emotions, rather than logic, might dominate the market.

Later it wasn’t just the major business groups that were selling, the merchant teams arriving at Red River Town also chose to wait and see if they could get even cheaper prices.

And large consumers of copper ore like the New Alliance naturally became the biggest winners.

Sure, taking down Red River Town was also an option and wouldn’t be very difficult.

Sneaky as he could be, Chu Guang could just issue a task, directing the players supporting Red River Town to turn their guns against the surrounding NPCs and tear a hole in the defenses, allowing the Snake Clan’s Looters to storm in, and then sending his own troops to clean up the mess.

A battalion would suffice.

The only risk was the Ya Clan getting the news from the Snake Clan and seizing the chance to head south to take advantage, and possibly performing a surrounding maneuver.

After all, this wasn’t a turn-based game; when you make your move, the odds of others standing idle were slim.

But that was also the problem.

Since it wasn’t a turn-based game, the war still had to consider the methods and causes for the targeted war participants.

This reason fell into two categories: internal and external.

Internally, the justification of liberating the slaves was enough, residents of the New Alliance genuinely supported him, and for the players, it was just content for an expansion pack.

Using the planner’s tool to issue a "declaration of war," he wouldn’t even need to explain – the best aspect of players was here, just spinning the story if it needed an explanation, or using the settings if it didn’t.

If a Filial Son of Lorderon could slay his father with a sword, why couldn’t I, a Manager having a bad day, deceitfully stab an ally? No alliance was signed, that’s reasonable!

But externally, this rationale was hard to argue.

From Giant Stone City to Garbage City, to other far-flung survivor settlements, though all opposed the Looters, none were against slavery; some acknowledged its legality, others allowed trading but not arbitrary execution.

Many of the slaves at the Red River Town mine were captives captured by other survivor settlements.

Using slave liberation as a pretext for war against them wouldn’t be any better than skipping that excuse altogether and attacking without a word – confusion might minimize the expansion impact.

Using emancipation as a war pretext might incur a "diplomatic penalty debuff" that could be higher than that of the Chewing Bone Tribe.

Certain things require a specific cultural soil; advanced cultures pair with advanced ideas, whether at Shelter No.117 or Shelter No.401, their ultimate downfall boiled down to one thing — failing to consider the actual situation of Wasteland or, even if considered, unable to let go of the demeanor of civilized folk.

What they thought was good might not be seen the same by others.

They could foresee events ten years away, but those under their management might only wish to live in the present.

Just like Boss Xia, who previously always liked to slack off — although Chu Guang often teased her, he never really kicked her out.

He wasn’t born a manager, having lived at the bottom, he understood exactly what it felt like to be in her position.

Not everything was about right or wrong.

In fact, the obedient and sensible demeanor of Little Fish sometimes painfully touched his heart.

Looking at the Manager whose face was filled with optimism, Old Charlie still appeared somewhat worried.

The decline in raw material prices was certainly something to be happy about.

But if it fell too rapidly, they would ultimately harm themselves.

"I must remind you, the drop in copper and sulfur prices is due to the release of inventory, not an increase in production capacity. If those mine owners reduce production because of this, the prices of copper ore could rise even higher in a few months."

"You’re right, so ultimately, we still have to rely on ourselves to solve the supply of raw materials."

Chu Guang set down the report in his hands and looked toward Old Charlie, who was standing across the desk.

"According to data feedback from the logistics department, we have already stored 700 tons of copper, with about 1200 tons on the way, these resources will suffice for our consumption over the next three months!"

Based on the current production efficiency of the industrial district, producing one million bullets required 16.7 tons of copper.

Just manufacturing bullets, those 1200 tons of copper would allow the production of over 71 million rounds.

Attacking West State City wouldn’t need nearly that much ammunition; not even half would be used.

Initially, he had planned to prepare five million rounds of ammunition, then continue production during the course of the conflict.

He estimated that total ammunition consumption by the end of the war would not exceed ten million rounds.

"...You’re really not leaving any way out for yourself."

Seeing the surprised face of the elderly man, Chu Guang smiled faintly, stood up, walked to the wall, and quietly spoke while gazing at the map filled with pin markings.

"I will liberate the Western Province from the Chewing Bone Tribe within a month."

"Our mining team will bring the equipment along with the shells we are sending to the front line."

"After that, whether our neighbors’ copper and sulfur are expensive or cheap, it won’t matter to us anymore."

"Since we won’t be buying from them in the future."

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