This Game Is Too Real
Chapter 712: The Night That Decided the Fate of Jinjaron Harbor

Chapter 712: Chapter 712: The Night That Decided the Fate of Jinjaron Harbor

The sun at dusk gradually sank into the sea, its golden shimmer stretching far and wide against the tide.

A young man, draped in a gem blue shawl and wearing a devil silk woven dress, walked straight out of the warehouse district and into his view came the most luxurious hotel in the harbor area.

The hotel was named "Triumph."

It was said that the owner was a citizen of Jin Galun Harbor.

After seizing control of the settlement and confirming property ownership, the Alliance had returned this harborside hotel to its original owner and replaced its business license.

And in thanks for the Alliance’s generosity and to celebrate the liberation of Jin Galun Harbor, the owner immediately changed the hotel’s name from "Empire" to "Triumph."

It was rumored that he had originally wanted to rename it "Alliance," but the city hall rejected the idea on the grounds of "the use of misleading signage."

Dalia didn’t care about the origins of this hotel, but what interested him was the Alliance’s attitude towards this harbor.

Clearly, with the war having reached this point, it was unlikely that the Alliance’s soldiers would withdraw from here, or even if they did, they wouldn’t pull out completely.

After investing such substantial costs, even if they didn’t intend to directly incorporate it as part of the Alliance territory, they would at least establish some form of indirect control with a puppet Z Mansion here.

Otherwise, they wouldn’t need to distribute food to the locals but could have, like the Weilante People, directly looted the pockets of the survivors.

Or at the very least, looted those corpulent nobles empty.

From the current performance, Dalia could almost be certain that the Alliance wasn’t just freeing the slaves and then leaving them be, but planned on seriously governing this land.

If that were true, then this settlement of over a million people would undoubtedly welcome a tremendous opportunity for development, perhaps becoming the second Silver Moon Bay!

As an armed merchant with his own cargo ship and private guard, if he lacked even this most basic business sense, he might as well sell his ship and go home to farm the land.

However, he couldn’t just consider the potential profits of one thing and ignore the objective risks present; money earned would be meaningless if he couldn’t take it with him.

Doing business on land was entirely different from doing it at sea—the latter being a one-off deal mostly just needing to check the weather before sailing and dealing with Variants and pirates who weren’t particularly strong, while the former required constant interaction with the local forces’ complex interweaving.

Especially in a place like Jin Galun Harbor.

This place was once the largest human trade harbor along the Poluo Sea coast, and the local situation might be more complicated than he imagined.

He needed to understand two things.

What kind of order the Alliance intended to establish locally.

And—

To what extent they could achieve it?

He believed he wasn’t the only one curious about these two questions; all the merchants docking here were full of curiosity.

It just so happened that Jin Galun Port Authority had prepared a banquet at the Triumph Hotel to welcome and clean the dust off for these guests from afar.

It was heard that important individuals from the settlement would be present at this banquet.

He could take this rare opportunity to observe...

Stepping onto the hotel’s red carpet at the entrance.

He presented his invitation to the attendant standing by, who bowed slightly and gestured towards the inner door.

"Right this way, sir."

Feeling that there was something unusually distinctive about the attendant, Dalia couldn’t help but ask curiously,

"Are you a noble from around here?"

The attendant was briefly taken aback, then with a gentle smile replied,

"Of course not, I was a noble’s servant... But those ’Iron Men’ returned my freedom, and now I am employed by this hotel."

"Iron Men..." Dalia repeated the term, curious to continue inquiring, "Do you know they are actually people from the Alliance?"

The servant nodded slightly, continuing in a refined and elegant manner.

"I do, but I have grown accustomed to using this term, and many people here do the same."

Dalia stared into the servant’s eyes for a while, trying to discern the mark of a slave but was surprised to find no such thing.

The servant’s gaze did not waver, just a normal look in return, without excessive flattery or a degrading level of respect, like one person looking at another.

A hint of surprise emerged in Dalia’s eyes.

On the way from the warehouse district to here, he had seen every local walking with their head down, scurrying away even from an accidental eye contact.

Even though most of them were born free.

It was clear that the master this servant used to serve must have been a remarkable person, or else even the household servants wouldn’t have received such a good education.

At least in Poluo Province, such dignity was extremely rare...

"...You give me a completely different impression from the others, it seems your former master must have been quite an extraordinary fellow."

Hearing this, the servant smiled wryly, softly saying.

"I am very grateful to Governor Nihak for nurturing me, whether it was for show or some other purpose, he taught me to read and write. As for whether he was extraordinary, please allow me to reserve my opinion; that’s a separate issue from my gratitude."

Amused by this interesting statement, Dalia chuckled and said.

"You shouldn’t be a waiter here, you should take a ship out to sea, to earn more money out there."

The servant nodded slightly.

"I’ve been free for less than a month; I plan to start with work that I can do well, perhaps later I will consider your suggestion... Now we have been chatting for too long, may I please lead you to the banquet hall?"

There were other servants at the entrance, but the banquet was about to begin.

Realizing he had interrupted his work, Dalia briskly smiled and said.

"Please lead me there... Oh, and my name is Dalia, may I know your name?"

The servant nodded slightly.

"Of course, my name is Zayed."

Zayed...

Dalia silently noted the name in his heart.

It seemed this land was not entirely without hope.

A million faces were not all of the same despairing countenance; there were still some faint sparks emitting firefly-like glimmers.

Following Zayed’s steps into the banquet hall, Dalia saw the spacious auditorium was almost filled with guests in extravagant attire.

Faces of all shapes and colors gathered in the lavishly decorated banquet hall, clustering in groups to engage in conversation.

He recognized two familiar faces.

One was Bugara, the sausage magnate of Silver Moon Bay; the sausages for the entire Camel Hump Kingdom were produced by his meat-processing plants!

The other was even more remarkable, none other than the chairman of the Silver Moon Bay Merchant Association, Iqabu! His textile industry commanded 30% of the Camel Hump Kingdom’s market share and 23% of the textile industry’s exports. Thanks to his substantial tax contributions, he had even been received by the king of Camel Hump Kingdom and was bestowed the title of an honorary knight.

A look of surprise appeared on Dalia’s face.

He didn’t expect to see this fellow here!

He had only just found out!

And what surprised him even more was the content of the two people’s conversation.

While he was still hesitating, it seemed that they had already started to consider investing and building a factory here?

"I heard that the Baiyue Corporation is planning to build a steel mill and a cement plant here."

"Oh? Who told you that?"

"I just took a stroll near Knight Road, and there was a hiring notice posted. They are offering a monthly salary of 1500 gallons for a worker."

"1500 gallons... That’s 150 silver coins?!"

"Quite cheap, isn’t it? In City of Dawn, even a dog wouldn’t glance at this salary, but for the locals, it’s already considered a high wage. If the import tax isn’t too high and the supply of materials at the port can remain stable, this amount of money is enough to exchange for over one hundred kilograms of corn; they probably don’t eat that much dirt in a month."

"Hiss... Now that you mention it, I suddenly feel like the salary is too high."

"Just afraid that the Alliance might implement their labor law here as well."

"That’s not impossible, but they will likely take local circumstances into consideration. City of Dawn didn’t start with the rules they have now... And honestly, if they paid them 7200 gallons according to the Alliance’s laws, I bet they would exchange their entire salary for food on the first day."

"Haha, that would truly be a disaster... But a monthly wage of 150 silver coins, if they can spend a third of their income on clothes, bedding, and curtains, that could also be a considerable market."

"You plan to open a textile plant here?"

"Why not? This place is naturally a producer of flax and dyes. The Empire’s embargo might be a problem, but things should improve once the ceasefire agreement officially takes effect."

Although eavesdropping was not a nice act, Dalia still listened intently to every word of their conversation and found himself itching with the business opportunities discussed.

He was in the grain import and export business, and expanding his original trade onshore might be somewhat difficult; he certainly couldn’t beat those big shots who had been deeply rooted in their respective fields for decades.

But at that moment, he thought of someone—

It was the waiter he had just seen at the hotel entrance.

The battle in the first and second industries would surely be extremely fierce, but the tertiary sector, especially the service industry, seemed to be overlooked by everyone for the time being.

He didn’t have much capital, but taking advantage of the fact that there wasn’t a lot of hot money in Jin Galun Port yet, investing in one or two hotels could still be easily manageable.

If there really were so many tycoons optimistic about this place’s future business prospects, making money off of them seemed like a good idea.

A lively thought crossed Dalia’s mind.

Perhaps, after the banquet was over, he could chat with that interesting young man...

It wasn’t just the merchants of Silver Moon Bay engaging in conversations at the scene, but also some local traders and nobles who lived on Tulip Street.

Perhaps because they had been dragged out of their homes recently, although many of the small and medium-sized nobles still managed to maintain their dignity with forced smiles, quite a number of large nobles whose interests were harmed had the word "dissatisfaction" written all over their faces.

It wasn’t completely dissatisfaction with the Alliance.

It was also towards those "troublemakers," the "new nobility."

Like that militia leader named Laxi, who was already drunk before the banquet started, looking like a baboon that couldn’t find its own home.

And even more detestable was Chief Bahari, who used to be nothing but a dog of Governor Nihak and now had a new master, almost turning his nose up to heaven!

Not to mention the likes of Port District Chief Mandar and others, their tail-wagging was simply nauseating.

They were truly blind!

Blind to see who had the truly noble lineage!

At that moment, a moderate clapping sound suddenly came from the center of the banquet hall.

"Please, everyone, a moment of silence. Before the banquet begins, allow me to take a little of your precious time."

Hearing that voice, everyone turned their attention to the center of the banquet hall where a man in a blue jacket stood with a smile on his face.

Whether it was his handsome features, the unintentional intellect and elegance that flowed between his brows, or the iconic jacket he was wearing, he instantly became the focal point of the entire room.

The residents of the refuge were all highly attractive, but apart from those ladies and madams whose eyes burned with fervor, most guests paid more attention to his jacket.

Shelter No. 404!

Looking at that youthful face and the all-too-familiar piece of clothing, a glint of expectation couldn’t help but kindle in Dalia’s eyes.

The main event was finally about to begin!

...

As he watched pair after pair of expectant eyes, Fang Chang was finally beginning to appreciate a bit of the pleasure the Manager must feel.

People were waiting with bated breath, hanging on his every word, pondering over every single one, and betting all their hopes and fortunes on him.

This was even more pleasing to him than the balance of his savings account.

He felt like he held a tremendous power in his hands.

With this power, he could turn dung into gold, gold into dung, and even turn last night’s dream into reality—

Of course, that was just a hyperbolic metaphor.

Ever since he had the helmet, it had been a long while since he had experienced such bizarre dreams.

"...Welcome everyone to Jin Galun Harbor, this banquet has been prepared for you, you are the true hosts tonight, and I do not plan to commandeer too much time," he started with a modest preamble, then cleared his throat in front of everyone and continued politely.

"I will only talk about two things."

"Our original intention for coming here has not changed at all, we aim to establish an order in Jin Galun Harbor that will endure over time, and a proper order at that, otherwise the blood shed for it would be meaningless. Of course, we will not overbearingly demand that the local survivors eat the same rice as us, we only make the most basic demands on principal matters, as for what kind of life they wish to lead in the future, that is something for the locals to contemplate."

"Secondly, talking about establishing order when you cannot fill your stomachs is empty talk. While establishing a new order, our focus will also be on economic development. After all, only when the lives of the local survivors improve, picking up hopes for the future, will hospitals and schools spring up from the land like bamboo after the rain, and the order we establish will gain true meaning."

"For this reason, the new administration has approved a series of 37 infrastructure projects, including road building, bridge construction, drainage facility renovation, and shantytown reconstruction. The specific engineering plans have been posted in the bulletins at the city hall, those interested can proceed to the administrative hall for inquiries, and if anything is unclear, you may come directly to the Governor’s Office here at the port to ask me."

"The total project budget is around 10 billion gallons, expected to leverage a market scale of a hundred billion... After all, with so many people in this settlement, even if you could earn an extra 55 gallons per person per day, taking half of their annual income from their pockets would be enough."

Fang Chang noticed that even the faces of the local nobles and gentry, who initially wore discontented expressions, couldn’t help but show moved expressions as he uttered these words.

They might be pedantic, but that didn’t mean they hadn’t learned to do math.

Ten billion gallons!

In other words, a billion silver coins!

Although the West Winds Empire did not use silver coins as its main foreign exchange reserve, judging by the attitudes of the traders from Silver Moon Bay, they widely recognized the exchange rate between dinars and silver coins was 3~5:1.

In other words, this market was worth at least thirty billion dinars! That was even more astonishing than His Majesty’s deposits in the area!

After tallying the calculation on their fingers, nearly every noble’s face showed an expression of disbelief.

After all, even if they sold every animal in the settlement, and all of them at an average price of 1000 dinars, they could never fetch such an astoundingly high price.

No—

It wouldn’t even be enough to cover the tip of three billion!

Fang Chang knew very well what these fellows were so amazed at, nothing more than the childish addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division, trying to comprehend the unknown with their shallow cognition. Selling a million animals certainly would never fetch tens of billions of dinars, but that’s because a bunch of idiots were selling humans as livestock.

In fact, anyone’s needs can become the soil from which another person’s creativity blooms, with proposing needs and solving needs being the main thread that runs through human reproduction, evolution, and civilization. Even in the most extreme circumstances, a debt laborer whose needs were castrated down to just food, clothing, and shelter could create value far beyond what a feudal lord’s slave could.

And if it were an educated worker with dignity, he might even figure out a way to improve the tools and methods of production himself, pondering on how to become more dignified... even if he ate much, used much, and had as many demands and quirks as hairs on his head.

Of course, Fang Chang had no intention of explaining so much to them.

The aversion to and resistance against progress were talents that flowed in the veins of the feudal nobles and conservative forces, whether it was the advancement of productive forces or anything else. After all, the sense of superiority they needed largely arose from the suffering of another group of people. Even if he were to explain more, it would be useless; they had a thousand ways to argue, such as the Tuo Ri Shen Niu being the ultimate truth, just as the sages of the Era of Prosperity had said.

That respected Manager never bothered explaining anything to those Slave Owners who had lost their slaves and the slaves who longed for their masters.

When The Sun rose, the cold night would naturally disperse; if once was not enough, then it would come several more times. Among the ashes, there could always be a sliver of hopeful light.

He paused, then continued.

"...To show support for the new authority’s infrastructure projects, and also to support those in Potato Harbor, Baiyue Corporation has decided to lead by example and invest a budget of at least 20 million Silver coins to introduce from the Alliance a steel and cement production line each. We plan to invest in Jinjaron Harbor to establish a steel plant with an annual output of 500,000 tons and a cement plant with an annual output of 1 million tons."

"We sincerely hope that the lives of the local survivors can get back on track as soon as possible. At the same time, we also look forward to Jinjaron Harbor playing a more significant role in the Wasteland in the future... and I mean a role with more than just positive significance!"

Looking at the guests who listened intently with bated breath, Fang Chang’s face revealed a relaxed smile as he continued in an easy tone.

"That’s all, nothing more. I’ve talked myself dry, and you’re probably tired too... Enjoy the banquet, friends from afar!"

"By the way, all the fine wines at the banquet are from the private collection that Governor Nihac was keeping for his majesty, although he himself is still in jail praying for his majesty to save him. To be honest, though, I recommend the Delicacies on the serving carts over those head-spinning drinks. Though those dishes are not rare delicacies, they are common fare from our hometown..."

As his voice fell, Servants were already pushing serving carts to the sides of the banquet hall and opening the silver dome covers.

Roasted ducks with crispy skins, braised pork in rich mahogany sauce, Mapo Tofu sprinkled with Sichuan pepper and scallions, and sizzling roasted shrimp, roast meat, and grilled scallops and oysters cooked over charcoal - among these were also a variety of fruits, steamed goods, and pastries.

For players, these Foods would not be unfamiliar; removing their helmets and walking downstairs might even lead them to find similar dishes.

Yet for the survivors of the Wasteland, especially those from this uncivilized land, it was indeed a sight that shocked their eyes.

The surprise came not just from the Foods themselves, which clearly used ingredients commonly found, but the methods of preparing them were unheard of for them.

An array of mouthwatering delicacies unfolded before everyone’s eyes, with tempting aromas lingering at the tip of every nose.

It was not just technology—

Even their remaining pride in being a land of spices was thoroughly crushed in the face of that bottomless Food culture.

Mandar, the director, swallowed hard.

Compared with these dishes, what Prince Dilip ate was practically pig feed!

Tipsy Laxi felt the same when he saw the dazzling array of Delicacies; it was as if he had seen heaven, and he rubbed his reddened nose, sobering up quite a bit.

It was clear that the local old-fashioned Nobles and wealthy families were far more shocked than the merchants from Silver Moon Bay.

While a single meal was not enough to change their attitudes toward the Alliance, after all, no one here was deprived of a meal, the endless rows of serving carts inevitably made them question the sense of superiority they had held for decades.

These...

Are these just commonly seen things in the City of Dawn?

Even the common people can enjoy them?!

Expressions of confusion, even self-doubt, appeared on their faces.

Then what were they?

Beggars?

There was a time when they could comfort themselves by saying that although the Alliance had strong soldiers and horses, their supplies were scarce and there were no herds of slaves to serve them, so they did not know what true enjoyment was.

But now they realized that they didn’t live any better than the most ordinary survivors of the Alliance...

"All that bragging... Everyone can afford to eat, huh? If you’re so capable, then don’t buy the cattle from Poluo Province! See if you starve to death, you Ground Squirrels..."

Of course, nor from Luo Xia Province!

A bull-tribe merchant murmured a curse that only he could hear, but his mung bean-like eyes couldn’t stop glancing at the serving cart, wanting to take another look at that round, odd thing to figure out what kind of meat it was.

Aside from the distinguished guests from Silver Moon Bay and the nouveau riche from Jinjaron Harbor who had already gathered around the serving cart, hardly any noble had moved their esteemed legs.

It wasn’t that they weren’t curious about how those flashy-looking foods tasted, but they were waiting for servants to bring the plates to them.

It wasn’t until they realized they had to fetch the food themselves, and a few simply couldn’t resist the soul-stirring aroma, that people gradually deigned to step forward and reached out to take plates from the long table covered with a pristine white tablecloth.

An earl, worth billions in West Winds currency, scooped a piece of braised pork that was tender like soup onto a spoon, clumsily with a fork, and then slowly brought it to his mouth.

The shock in his eyes at that moment was as if he were beholding His Majesty’s palace or like the survivors from Qingquan City seeing the majestic Pioneer for the first time.

Fatty but not greasy, melting in the mouth, soft and sweet...

What is this...

What meat?!

A dazed expression appeared on his face, and on the faces of many others of similar status.

It always felt like a defeat...

Fang Chang, satisfied, watched the variety of expressions on their faces and those eating voraciously, taking a champagne from a tray handed over by a servant.

This was one of Witch Xi Lan’s treasures from the distant Triumph City.

Those Weilante people indeed had a knack for brewing wine.

He raised his glass toward the guests in a distant toast, as if saluting another far-off friend, gently clinking it with a beam of light that cascaded from the central chandelier of the banquet hall.

"Cheers!"

...

The banquet officially began.

The buffet on the first floor was mainly for NPCs, while the second floor was open to players active around the harbor. Shareholders and employees of Baiyue Corporation, and staff from cooperative units had free entry, while solo players could just pay a 50 silver coin entry fee.

As guests eagerly indulged themselves, Tomato Scrambled Eggs, exhausted, plopped down onto a chair, cursing under his breath.

"Damn, I’m dead tired."

A level thirty-plus Body Constitution System player was this exhausted, let alone the Awakeners who would probably be worked to death.

To say it as it is, this place really was a cultural desert when it came to food. The locals’ understanding of food was to mash the ingredients into a paste and then throw whatever main ingredients they could find into a pot to stew. The richness of the contents and the flavor of the food depended on the economic ability of the household head—the wealthier the family, the stranger the food, and the richer the taste.

Even hotels that mainly catered to foreign guests were no exception.

While the locals ate with great relish, brothers from the Burning Corps all expressed they couldn’t handle it. If they stayed here too long, they’d rather eat canned meat than dine out, or they’d run to the army canteen near the save point at the harbor for every meal.

To improve the food for the local garrison and to inject a bit of Alliance shock into the locals, Fang Chang had been brought here to teach the local chefs how to cook.

Just teaching those clumsy fools how to chop vegetables almost gave him high blood pressure.

He was starting to understand what the brothers from the cow and horse groups felt like when teaching those militia to fight.

Seeing him sit down, several senior apprentices rushed over to massage and pat the shoulders of this ’master,’ and even the boss of Triumph Hotel came out with a beaming smile, personally pouring him a cup of tea.

"Hard work, sir... oh no, I mean, sir, heh heh." He suddenly remembered these people didn’t like to be called ’sir,’ so he hastily corrected himself.

Having "Iron Man" personally teach his chefs, the news alone was enough to keep his Triumph Hotel buzzing until the following year.

And during this time, he really had his eyes opened.

So many different gimmicks could be played with just a few ordinary foods; a piece of pork could be turned into hundreds of dishes.

Don’t mention those Iron Man bosses paying him money to rent his hotel—if they even used his kitchen for free, he’d find it worthwhile!

Tomato and Egg took a sip of water and couldn’t help but quip,

"How did your previous customers ever manage to eat that stuff?"

The boss was taken aback, scratching his head in confusion, not understanding what that question was about.

After a long struggle, he finally squeezed out a sentence in a wronged tone.

"Sir, we... we never served it raw before."

Tomato and Egg: "..."

Well played.

So it was fine as long as it was cooked!

...

The party was winding down amid the clinking of glasses and the mess of dishes, and without realization, the banquet was drawing to a close.

One by one, the guests walked out of Triumph Hotel with their bulging bellies, their stupefied expressions from overeating illustrating their satisfaction with the food.

Sitting by the second-floor window, watching those guests leave the hotel with their rounded bellies, Meat Meat couldn’t help but murmur,

"If these folks ate less, there would be enough for more people to be full."

"!"

Ah Wei subconsciously pulled the skewer out of his mouth, but seeing that Meat Meat’s gaze was on the window outside, he quietly slipped it back in.

Holding her teacup, Si Si gently blew on it and then set it back on the saucer.

"That wouldn’t work, there would just be more people starving."

"Can’t we do anything about it?" Meat Meat shifted his gaze away from the window, and Sesame Paste, curious, looked towards her too.

Si Si casually replied,

"Not even the Manager could, maybe the planners could by directly tweaking the data, but obviously, we can’t do that kind of thing."

Meat Meat asked, puzzled,

"Why not?"

Si Si thought for a moment.

"Have you ever fed a ground squirrel?"

Sesame Paste smiled and raised his hand.

"I have! They are small and adorable."

Meat Meat also nodded, his fluffy face still marked with confusion.

As Si Si added some sugar to her teacup, she continued,

"But those creatures are not a bit small or cute, and they are the most ferocious among their kind. Even when there is an abundance of food, they can still fight over it. If the strongest one doesn’t get full, the other ground squirrels have no chance of snatching food from the visitors; they can only wait for the zookeeper’s feedings."

"And humans, we are far more cunning than other animals. Even if we distributed food like a zookeeper to every survivor in the area, there would still be someone taller, fatter, stronger, who would coerce or entice, or even use methods we can’t imagine, to take the food away from their weaker kind."

"No matter what kind of production relations we establish, we have to choose between the formal outcome and the substantive outcome. We can either use ’rightness’ to regulate their overt behaviors, allowing them to probe the edges of vague rules, or we set definite rules and let them fully exercise their instincts within the boundaries."

Meat Meat still didn’t quite understand and murmured his question,

"Can’t we have both?"

To her, the two things didn’t seem to contradict each other.

"Just write all the correct things into the rules, and that’s it, right?"

"Just like Kaili does, adding magic to bullets."

Si Si couldn’t help but hold her forehead, pondering how to explain this profound issue in layman’s terms, when Ah Wei, having comfortably swallowed a mouthful of delicacies, let out a satisfied burp.

"Burp—! Meat Meat has really grown up, huh? Not bad, not bad. Indeed, it’s only kids who do multiple-choice tests. But reality is another story; this is the Game, and Light won’t let you get away with anything for free. The cost might have been sneakily paid the moment you made your choice."

"Eh?!"

Watching a seriously concerned Ah Wei and a stunned Meat Meat, Si Si paused, then cracked a smile and said,

"That’s right, that’s how it is."

Speaking of which, the Game really is a great invention.

No wonder earlier than calendars and math, primitive men first learned to dance around the campfire...

...

It wasn’t just the NPCs who were full and satisfied with food and drink; the players were also greasy-mouthed, and there was even a long line in front of the second-floor bathroom, with some who couldn’t wait simply heading to the first-floor one.

Awakeners have quite an astonishing appetite, especially those of the Body Constitution System and Strength Type in the fourth stage. Although their metabolism isn’t usually exaggerated, they could open up their belly and eat half a cow if they wanted to.

As for the extra mass...

It could only be expelled by a powerful digestive system relentlessly working to get rid of it.

In the first-floor banquet hall, slightly tipsy and struggling on the edge of disconnection, Fang Chang was flailing his index finger, talking nonsense, and bragging to Old White.

"This meal has brought us an investment of hundreds of millions of silver coins to our plans. Once those guys get back to Silver Moon Bay, that figure might even triple... By then, it won’t just be Jinjaron Harbor, but the source of building materials for Potato Harbor will be solved, too."

Helping this tipsy guy towards the save point, Old White joked,

"Make money in Gallon Harbor, spend in Gallon Harbor, not a penny wants to go home, right?"

Fang Chang chuckled and moved his neck,

"That’s right! Cough, of course, it doesn’t include us... We’re not after those useless stacks of paper, but something more valuable. Why not turn them into something more precious to take home? Not only will the locals not hate us for smashing their emperor’s pot, but they’ll also be grateful to us!"

Old White joked again,

"In the past, you would probably have sold their kidneys too."

Fang Chang rolled his eyes,

"What nonsense are you talking about? I’ve never sold any, thank you. And even if I’d considered it, it would have only been those renewable kinds. And since when did this idea become mine? It’s all those damn dogs barking on the Forum every day about selling Meat Meat and Trash-kun’s skin and the Body Constitution System’s kidneys to farm money. I just happened to contact a buyer for them while doing the mission."

Of course, because that buyer also dealt with Looter’s business, they treated him like a wild monster to grind.

That was a long time ago.

After a pause, he continued with a burp from the wine,

"Actually, instead of the ’foreign merchants’ attracted from Silver Moon Bay and the players of life professions active in that area, I’d rather spend the over one billion West Winds currency piled in the bank. Relying on sneaky little stunts, we probably won’t be able to spend it all by the time the Empire itself goes bankrupt."

"Sneaky little stunts?" Old White looked at him puzzled.

If he remembered correctly, the Empire had implemented an embargo on them, and no goods could be imported from the inland port of Everflow River.

"Don’t you know?"

Fang Chang looked back at him, just as surprised, and then mumbled to himself,

"I thought you knew."

At the same time, Fang Chang and Old White were heading towards the save point, a shadowy figure was sneaking toward the Imperial Army’s position along the ceasefire line between the Alliance and the Empire, taking advantage of the cover of night...