Rogue Trader Reck·Vance had just the right amount of concern on his face.
Behind him were four fully armed bodyguards, carrying two boxes of Throne Coin.
"Your Excellency, Governor, you are well." Reck strode up to Fu Haoran, like an old friend, "I heard that the coalition forces have been aggressively attacking recently, are you having a hard time?"
Fu Haoran didn't answer the call, mainly because he didn't know how to answer.
The coalition forces are here, and they have indeed caused a lot of trouble.
But now their ground troops were blocked by the second largest Hive City Sijiaer Hive City and dared not come out, but the coalition forces were ruthless enough and directly took a Cobra-class Destroyer from the expedition fleet and blocked it at the door of Fu Haoran's house.
All Alpha Hive City's routes to the hinterland of the star region were blocked, and all interstellar trade of Fu Haoran was cut off.
Of course, this cost is not small.
The fuel and energy the other party burns every day is a huge expense.
Fu Haoran was annoyed, but not to the point of life and death.
The two sides were in a stalemate, and neither could do anything to the other.
However, friendship is friendship and business is business.
Fu Haoran knows that when negotiating business, you have to sell hard.
You Xin is in the world of Warhammer, a world of cows, ghosts, snakes, gods, and dogs. She must be careful to sail the ship of ten thousand years.
"Reck, this profiteer, has often teamed up with the old aristocrats to deceive me in the past. If I don't take the opportunity to deceive him now, my conscience will feel bad." Fu Haoran cursed in his heart.
"But I am a good student who has followed the rules since I was a child. My skills in telling lies are not fully developed. Will my secret be exposed in front of this old fox?"
Fu Haoran was torn between "telling the truth" and "making it up" for a few seconds.
Tell the truth, if you are not surrounded, the other party may lower the price.
I'm sorry to say that I'm not the kind of person who can make up jokes just by opening my mouth.
"Hey, I'm still too kind."
Fu Haoran decided not to tell lies----nor the truth.
"Ahem, it's just like that. It's not as good as the top, but it's more than the bottom."
"I won't starve to death for the time being, and nothing will happen in a short time."
Fu Haoran These ambiguous words fell into the ears of Reck, and they were automatically translated as "Eating is almost at the bottom, the factory can barely start operations, and it can be sustained in a short period of time."
"Humph, you're such a tough talker, I don't think you can hold on any longer." Reck sneered in his heart.
How much wealth can a Lower Hive governor have? The siege of the city has taken so long and he is still holding on - it must be very hard to hold on.
Thinking of this, Reck felt very happy.
After greetings, Fu Haoran took the other party to the container area. "The goods are over there, check them yourself."
Reck waved his hand, and two men immediately stepped forward to pry open the sealing plate of the first container.
A faint smell of formalin hit my face. Wetware were neatly stacked in the container. They were all humans with dark skin. 0
Reck noticed that these talents have rough skin and thick finger joints. They look like low-level coolies doing heavy work.
"That's right. We have been besieged by the old nobles and the coalition forces for almost half a year. Without external supplies, we probably won't be able to hold on for much longer."
"At this rate, within half a year, the Under-hivers population will be drastically reduced."
"If there is another famine or prices are raised, the Lower Hive guys will definitely go on strike, and then the entire Alpha Hive City will become a hell on earth."
"And I, Reck·Vance, will be the one to clean up the mess.
Thinking of this, Reck didn't care about the meager profit at the moment. He didn't wait for his subordinates to finish inspecting the goods and directly announced, "Your Majesty the Governor, I will not inspect the goods this time. I can rest assured that you will do the work." Reck said very generously.
He took out Data Pad and signed. "Fifty million pieces. According to the previously agreed price, the total is three million Throne Coin. Please check."
Reck paused, and then added in a pretentious manner, "Sir, for the sake of everyone being friends, I will give you a five percent increase next time the goods are available. It's not easy for you either, so I can help you a lot."
Is there such a good thing?!
This is indeed a good person.
Someone took the initiative to give me money, but Fu Haoran couldn't find a reason to refuse.
"Okay."
Looking at the upturned corners of Fu Haoran's mouth, Reck smiled even more happily.
"I'll give you a five percent increase, which will be considered as your funeral expenses."
"When you Hive City collapses, I will even remove the screws from your arsenal."
After returning to his station, Reck told the housekeeper, "Just be patient and accept as much as you have. I want to see how long this guy can last."
"Baron," the steward hesitated, "We don't have much liquidity anymore, and we also spent a lot of money on food storage."
"What are you afraid of?" Reck waved his hand disdainfully, "The coalition will settle the balance in a few months, and it will be fully repaid by then."
Reck leaned on the shuttle seat, closed his eyes and rested, thinking about the scene where Fu Haoran died and he took over Hive City.
"The food stockpiled is enough to feed the entire Lower Hive for three years. Now when Lower Hive starts to riot, I will push you and I will be the biggest winner."
"The coalition forces will also record a military merit for me in the merit book!"
The next day, Reck was rubbing the two girls to sleep when the housekeeper sent a message: "Lord Baron, the Governor has informed us to collect the goods."
"This time there are one hundred thousand."
"Hmm, you take responsibility. Don't bother me with such trivial matters."
Reck hung up the communication and continued to sleep with the girl in his arms.
The third day.
"Sir, the other party sent another hundred thousand Wetware."
"I know, I know."
Day four.
"My lord----"
"It's up to you."
Finally, the tenth day came.
"Sir, you'd better take a look at this." The butler handed over the data plate uneasily.
Reck just glanced at it, and then----
"What's going on? Why are there so many?!"
On the data board, the transaction volume between him and Fu Haoran, Wetware, reached 4 million!
Coupled with the grain purchased at a premium from the grain hoarding place, the working capital on hand was gone.
You know, the coalition forces didn't advance him money.
Reck Originally thought that the money would be enough to last until the end of the year, but it ended up being burned out in just over a month.
"Go and borrow it from old Jack." He threw the report on the table, "The interest is tripled, and Marauder" is used as collateral."
The butler was stunned. "Baron, Marauder is your flagship."
"What are you afraid of? Once the settlement money from the coalition arrives, all accounts can be settled.
"Now is the critical moment. He took out more than 4 million young adults from me in one go. Lower Hive must be almost empty.
"If I stop now, all the chips I have accumulated will be in vain."
Reck sneered, "He has gone crazy, I have to help him work harder. Tell old Jack to borrow as much as you want, and we can negotiate the interest later."
Reck Now it is no longer a matter of greed or not, but it has been trapped.
Fleet operating expenses, grain storage balance, loan shark interest----
"Within three months, Fu Haoran and his Hive City will definitely collapse. As long as you hold on, I will be the final winner."
However, another week passed, and Fu Haoran was unstoppable, sending more than 100,000 talents every day.
But Lower Hive let alone riots, there is not even news of a strike.
The spies Reck sent to Lower Hive to find out the news have all lost contact.
Reck couldn't sit still anymore.
"In just over a month, Fu Haoran has sold me more than five million Wetware."
"I spent all the liquidity on hand! I even mortgaged Marauder."
"There are still about four months until the payment is settled. At this rate, I can't hold on anymore!"
"If I hadn't purchased food, I might have been able to survive - no, it's definitely not me being greedy, someone must be secretly helping Fu Haoran!"
Reck also asked the coalition commander Octavius Earl for payment, but the old fox on the other side was a master who never let go of rabbits before he saw the rabbit. No matter how hard he tried, the other party would not give him a penny.
On one side, funds have bottomed out, and on the other side, the situation is calm.
There is even news that Lower Hive's factory has not only not stopped working, but is still recruiting more workers, and its output is higher than before the war.
"Fu Haoran There must be a source of corpses elsewhere, otherwise the explanation will not make sense!"
"Either there is a population reserve hidden outside Lower Hive, or----he was killed outside Lower Hive at all."
Reck leaned back in his chair, his eyes falling on the gray planet outside the porthole window.
Just then, the communication rang.
It's Fu Haoran.
"Baron Reck, there is a batch of new goods today, one million pieces. You can come over and inspect the goods."
Reck's heart skipped a beat.
One million tools.
Including the previous ones, the number is six million.
Reck gritted his teeth. "Okay, I'll be there soon."
The moment he opened the container, he was stunned.
Wetware in the container has skin as black as charcoal, skinny and skinny, ribs are clearly defined, and arms are as thin as dry wood.
This skin color is much darker than the previous race, and the figure is also shriveled.
"What race is this?" Reck had a big question mark in his head.
In his impression, there are not many people with dark skin on Si-Sai IV Planet.
"Could it be that a large number of mutations and famine occurred in Lower Hive? That led to such large numbers of people starving to death?"
"Has it reached a breaking point?"
Thinking of this, Reck's heartbeat suddenly accelerated, like a gambler who had bet all his money on finally seeing the roulette wheel begin to slow down.
All the details that were wrong before were forced into the same logical framework at this moment: it was not that his judgment was wrong, but that the famine broke out a little later than he expected, and now it has finally arrived.
Reck stepped away from the container, took out Data Pad and signed it.
"Okay, the quality is no problem, I'll accept it." Reck suppressed the ecstasy in his heart, paused, and added, "Your Majesty the Governor, I heard that your Lower Hive Industrial Zone has been extremely prosperous recently. Can you take me to visit it? I want to strengthen cooperation with you."
Reck's reason was far-fetched, and Fu Haoran was in a good mood and didn't notice anything wrong.
"Okay, I'll take you for a walk."
The two men immediately took the manpower and headed to Lower Hive.
Reck stood in the elevator, listening to the gears and cables creaking under their feet. The bulkheads were stained with rust, and the air was filled with the smell of engine oil and sweat.
The elevator door opened.
There are no corpses lying around.
The ground is not filled with hunger.
There were no thugs who were beating, smashing, looting or burning.
What comes into view is a clean and tidy street, with assembly buildings on both sides neatly arranged, and the roar of machines coming from the factory buildings.
People wearing uniform gray overalls lined up in a neat queue, walking from the dormitory area to the factory.
Everyone's face was filled with something Reck had never seen before in Lower Hive. It was not fatigue, not numbness, but fanaticism.
"Long live Four-Armed Emperor!"
"Long live Lord Intercessor!"
"Dedicate everything to the holy war!"
The sound of trumpets came and went, making Reck's ears buzz.
He rubbed his eyes, thinking he had seen it wrong.
Is this Lower Hive? What the hell is this Lower Hive?
Fu Haoran ignored him and walked forward.
Reck followed like a fool.
In the factory, the assembly line is running rapidly, and the workers are skillfully assembling.
No one spoke, no one stopped to rest, and even meals were served on the assembly line.
There are no chairs, so resting means squatting in the corner, chewing an energy bar, then standing up and returning to the workstation.
No one complained.
No one is lazy.
Reck's brain got stuck at this moment.
When a tall man in black overalls saw Fu Haoran, he immediately ran over and knelt down on one knee with a thud, his head almost touching the ground.
"Lord Intercessor!" His voice was loud and full of religious excitement, "The workers all said that for Four-Armed Emperor and for Lord Intercessor, they are willing to work twenty-two hours a day without wages or rest, and are willing to dedicate everything they have!"
Fu Haoran nodded. "Very good. Keep it up."
"Yes! Master Intercessor!" The man kowtowed respectfully, got up and ran back to the assembly line.
Reck stood there with his mouth open, speechless for a long time.
Twenty-two hours.
He has seen people robbing other people's things, robbing resources and territory, and then having to make up for it after robbing them. This is normal.
But he has never seen anyone take the initiative to take out their belongings and do so willingly.
It took him more than a month to spend all the funds on hand, including all the advance payment from the coalition and his own savings, plus loan sharking.
He bet that these people's lives would be exhausted.
It is true that there are fewer lives, but it seems that there are more lives than before.
At this moment, several workers stood up from the assembly line and stopped what they were doing.
Reck turned his head subconsciously, thinking that they were finally going to rest.
They did not go to the rest area. They stood in a row, raised their heads, and began to sing a low and long hymn.
Everyone's voices were intertwined and echoed throughout the factory.
Four-Armed Emperor The end of the hymn has not yet dissipated. They have sat down again and picked up the tools with their hands again, as if the singing of those few minutes never happened.
Reck Suddenly remembered something.
The grains he collected from all over the planet at high prices are piled in his rented warehouse.
The price of food has been pushed up by nearly 40% due to his order. However, the food rations of the Lower Hive guys in front of him seem to have not been reduced.
Wait, why do they still have canned meat?
Is this fish meat?
What the hell kind of meat is that?
Wait, they still have meat to eat, so who do they sell their grain to?
All previous judgments, all calculations, and all self-confidence collapsed at this moment.
Reck thought that Fu Haoran was plundering Lower Hive, but it turned out that Fu Haoran was engaged in a mass production movement.
He thought Lower Hive was about to riot, but it turned out that Lower Hive was more orderly than Upper Hive.
He thought Fu Haoran was digging his own grave, but Fu Haoran turned Lower Hive into a never-ending war machine.
Those Under-hivers that he thought were about to starve to death were frantically producing weapons to defend the Hive City that he thought was about to collapse.
He spent all his savings, borrowed a bunch of loan sharks, mortgaged his spaceship, and bet that Fu Haoran would die.
Result----As a result, people are living well, even better than before the war.
A chill shot from the soles of my feet to the top of my head.
He suddenly remembered the loan sharking of old Jack, the mortgaged "Marauder", and the pile of grain he had hoarded that could not be sold at all.
He suddenly realized that he was the biggest fool.
Fu Haoran patted his shoulder and said lightly, "Baron Reck, shall we go back?"
Reck nodded mechanically.
He followed Fu Haoran out of Lower Hive in despair.
The elevator door slowly closed, blocking out the deafening roar of machines and slogans inside.
Reck looked up at the ceiling and suddenly laughed, which was uglier than crying.
At this moment, the butler's communication call came over with a cry in his voice, "Baron! It's not good! Alpha Hive City's official granary has just been opened to release grain, and the price of grain has dropped to one-third of our purchase price! All the 30,000 tons of grain in our warehouse have been lost!"
The Data Pad in Reck's hand fell to the ground with a "clack" sound.
The life-saving food he hoarded at three times the premium and prepared to sell at a high price during a famine has now become a pile of garbage that no one wants.
"Fuck----it's really￥%----%￥&￥."