"Actually, the two types of slaves mentioned above together only make up thirty percent of White Tree City's market. What truly moves volume for the slave masters are the young slaves who have lived in slave camps since childhood. Nearly every major slave master in White Tree City has their own slave camp, where slaves are raised like cattle and horses. These slaves won't awaken their Bloodline. Once they're born and reach the age of twelve, they can be sold off to do the simplest manual labor."
"Twelve years? Isn't that cycle far too long?" Landen found it hard to believe.
"Yes, twelve years is very long—especially with the enormous amount of food consumed during that time." Pete's eyes shifted. "So, in the south, where could they find so much food that also had to be extremely cheap?"
"Old southern grain? The kind they subsidize for destruction?" Landen finally understood.
"Yes, my lord, exactly that kind of grain. Once food costs practically nothing, the cost of keeping these slaves drops enormously." At this point, Pete began playing coy again. "But over the last two months, every bit of stored grain in the south has disappeared!"
"The wartime protection policy?" Landen had heard this at the secret meeting near the end of the month. At the time, the information was that someone had bought up all the old grain in the south and demanded that it all be shipped immediately to Night-Kirin City. It was precisely because of that grain that Landen had dared to station large numbers of troops in Iowa.
"Yes, my lord. As expected, you have seen through everything," Pete hurriedly flattered him.
Everything he had done these past few days had been laying the groundwork for tonight's report to Landen. Whether it was painstakingly buying slaves or