Southern Glory's bus sped through the Safe Zone at an unbelievable pace.
After two days on the road, it finally arrived in Zone 5.
[Earth Era, October 23, 2010] [Western Calendar, Saturday] [Xia Calendar, Gengyin Year, ninth month, sixteenth day. Auspicious for marriage, betrothal gifts, travel, and opening a business. Inauspicious for installing doors.]
Zone 5 lay at the foot of the Origin God Mountain Range. Its terrain was rugged, and the rolling mountains in the distance were always in view.
This zone held the largest deposits of iron ore, coal, and other minerals discovered in the Safe Zone to date, accounting for ninety percent of all its mineral resources.
The vast majority of Zone 5's mineral resources were firmly controlled by the four great families: Wang, Xie, Yu, and Huan. Labor was their only extraction cost, yet their sales figures were enormous, leaving all four families filthy rich.
Even though the four great families retained most of the profits in their enormous hands, plenty still trickled through their fingers to nourish the land.
Zone 5 was, without question, the Safe Zone's most sought-after destination for relocation.
Countless residents of other zones fought tooth and nail to settle in Zone 5. Even housing prices in the neighboring zones climbed month after month.
Everyone knew that Zone 5 was stable and offered excellent benefits.
But the United Government's regional population controls allowed only a tiny number of people to move into Zone 5 each month.
All of this stemmed from the four great families' approach to dealing with the world.
The four great families-Wang, Xie, Yu, and Huan-knew full well that others constantly coveted their immense wealth, so they had never been stingy with their money. Not only did they reward their subordinates generously, but they also frequently performed