Henry, Oh Henry

Dennison Henry realized that every time he visited the governor's camp, he saw something new and surprising.

Having just completed a deal, he had come to see the governor again. Now he was accompanying Gu Hang on an inspection of the newly established synthetic starch production line.

He watched as the workers fed the machine a mixture of decomposed alien monster corpses, scraps of wood discarded after construction, and leaves and branches gathered from the nearby woods. The machine ground them up, broke them down, and reconstituted them. On the other end came out rectangular blocks of starch.

Each block weighed a standard fifty grams. A few blocks were enough to keep an adult from starving to death.

The raw materials used to produce it looked a little... strange, but Henry still recognized the immense value of the technology.

Toxic alien monster corpses, wood waste, weeds with almost no nutritional value, old clothes, rags... Things that had been worth almost nothing could be turned into precious food on the wasteland by this machine.

So what if the ingredients were disgusting? When people were starving to death, who had time to care?

This was real food, carbohydrates with a high caloric content.

Wasn't this much better than finding wild vegetables, weeds, and stinkbugs, then boiling them with a little grain into a thin, watery gruel?

Pinching his nose, Henry tried a piece himself.

The taste... could only be described as tasteless. It was like eating plaster powder, with at most a hint of sweetness from the starch being broken down by saliva, and a little saltiness.

But the same still held true: none of that mattered on the wasteland.

Forget the wasteland, where people were starving to death. Even the Imperial Astra Militarum and the Imperial Navy relied on "corpse starch" for a large portion of their food rations when supplies weren't coming through smoothly. Who was more high and mighty than anyone else?

This was a terrifying technology.

Henry stared at it, wide-eyed. "Incredible, I..."

Before he could finish, Gu Hang raised a hand and cut him off. "Don't even ask. I only brought you here to take a look."

"Uh..."

Henry's face flushed with embarrassment.

But he quickly understood. There was no way the governor would let him have any part of this business, especially not the production line or the technology.

In a sense, this technology had the potential to change the entire world. Its significance was immense.

All Henry could do was regret it—and become even more determined to cling to the governor's favor.

After they had finished touring the newly established synthetic starch production line, Gu Hang brought Henry to his office.

Having just completed a deal, Henry had plenty to report to Gu Hang.

Sitting before the governor, Henry was a little nervous. "I've done my best to deliver on your trust. The Alloy Plasteel has caused quite a stir among the merchants dealing in materials in Revival City. In the past, only Blackbird Heavy Industries had any available, and only in small quantities. They kept a very tight grip on it. Now there's another source, and the merchants are delighted. Our goods are selling very well."

"I've also managed to trade for nearly everything you asked for. The generators powered by Thermal Ash Stone should be enough to build a small power plant. I also called in some favors in Trash Town and arranged for a shipment of Thermal Ash Stone. The textile machines should be enough to set up a production line. Our porridge-stall recruitment stations brought in over two thousand refugees all at once..."

"However, Revival City has been somewhat unstable lately, which has affected our prices. The Alliance council has gone mad, searching the entire city for cults and heretics. A lot of people have been caught up in it, and everyone's on edge. I heard that a councilor in charge of food supplies was found to have ties to a cult. And... supposedly, Governor, you lost your temper?"

Henry paused and stole a glance at Gu Hang. When Gu Hang didn't answer, Henry understood: that was as good as a confirmation, wasn't it? Maybe the governor himself had taken the man out.

He continued, "This has caused a huge commotion. Revival City is in complete chaos. And with that councilor finished, the food-trading businesses he controlled have fallen into disarray, which has unsettled the whole market. If not for that, we could've sold our Alloy Plasteel for even more."

"Still, things aren't bad now. Revival City is the biggest market in the area. It can consume a lot of raw materials on its own, and more importantly, it's the central trade hub connecting multiple factions and regions. I've also struck long-term agreements with quite a few agents. They can take a huge amount of our output, so we don't have to worry about finding buyers."

"Also, the bulletproof vests we're selling have been even more popular in Trash Town. Those things can actually stop a Greenskin Ork's bullets! Our products have become a sensation in Trash Town. The Greenskins have been ranging farther afield lately, and scavengers and adventurers are clashing with them more and more often. Weapons and body armor are now the best-selling goods."

"This is an opportunity, Governor. I'm not asking for exclusive agency rights to everything, but if you're willing to grant me exclusive rights to sell the armored vests, it would go a long way toward helping me secure the Trash Town agency. Then I'd be in a much better position to serve you!"

After reporting all that—mostly to claim credit—Dennison Henry couldn't help bringing up the exclusive rights he had been dreaming about.

In his mind, Governor, you told me to prove my loyalty. I did a good job this time, didn't I?

I went to every length to get you the supplies and equipment you wanted. I even paid out of my own pocket to bring you the people you wanted to attract.

Wasn't that enough to prove my loyalty?

You weren't willing to give me full rights to the Alloy Plasteel production line. But granting me exclusive rights to the bulletproof vests wouldn't be unreasonable, would it?

"Henry, oh Henry..." Gu Hang murmured his name. "Should I call you clever or foolish?"

"I... I don't understand."

"You're clever enough to show me that you've earned your merits and made your contributions. You're showing me your loyalty, telling me you'll do even more and do it better in the future, all in hopes of getting exclusive rights from me. You're worried that once you've opened up the market for materials and body armor, more merchants will come to me to do the same business, and you'll lose your chance to profit from it exclusively."

At this point, Gu Hang was supposedly praising his cleverness, but all Dennison Henry felt was awkward.

Everything Gu Hang said was exactly what he had been thinking. It hadn't been hard to figure out.

But...

Who said things so bluntly? What was he supposed to do with his dignity?

He said nothing, but Gu Hang continued, "And yet you're so foolish that you can't see the heart of the matter. Alloy Plasteel production is limited, and expanding it will take time. For now, and for the near future, you can handle all the goods we produce. So what are you worried about?"

"Are you worried that if you stop devoting yourself to working for me, I'll replace you with a better partner?"

"Are you worried that you won't be able to manipulate the price of the goods at will, and that I'll limit your profits in the future?"

"Are you worried that you won't be able to keep me dependent on you, and that you'll never become the power behind the governor?"

"Henry, oh Henry, tell me. Is that what you're worried about?"