By June, the Nanyang Industrial Exposition officially opened. Large numbers of Far East Empire citizens poured into the exhibition grounds, and among the many exhibition halls, East Africa's automobile section was undoubtedly the most eye-catching.
East Africa's automobile section had an utterly insane eleven automobile brands alone, covering vehicles across every price range.
An official from Jinling studied a black automobile with great interest and asked an East African staff member named Ryder, "Could you introduce this automobile to me?"
Ryder said, "Sir, you have an excellent eye. This is our East African Mercedes-Benz automobile, priced at only eight thousand taels of silver. It is currently one of the most luxurious automobiles on the market, entirely handcrafted and selling quite well in European and American markets. Its interior fittings are exceedingly luxurious: a crocodile-leather steering wheel, genuine leather sofa seats..."
"Too expensive! This is outright robbery! Although automobiles are indeed rather magical means of transportation, still..."
Eight thousand taels of silver was no small sum for anyone. Even though this Jinling official clearly looked wealthy, a top-tier luxury automobile purchased by High Official Yuan in his previous life to curry favor with Cixi had only cost ten thousand taels of silver. The automobile the Empress Dowager rode had cost merely ten thousand taels. Yet this automobile dared to ask eight thousand taels—it truly was daylight robbery.
Ryder explained, "Sir, this Mercedes-Benz is a top-class luxury automobile. Naturally, it cannot come cheap. It is entirely a symbol of status. Those who can own such luxury automobiles in this world are either rich or noble. Besides, this one is not even the most expensive. Do you see that luxury automobile surrounded by railings? That automobile with gold trim and diamonds set into it is the most expensive one."
The official had actually