Chapter 296: Chapter 2: Water Merchants Group (Part 2)

“I still have a few connections here.”

The convoy drove straight in.

As soon as Su Ziyu got out of the car, he was slightly stunned because he saw a paper dragon made of leaves and a rather ugly lion head of sorts. Some places were clearly pasted with the Chinese character for fortune, forcibly reminding him of the feeling of celebrating the New Year.

“Oh, right.” Jie Se patted his head and said, “I got muddled.”

“I forgot it’s almost New Year.”

“If you’re not busy, come to my place for New Year’s Eve dinner tomorrow night. There will be quite a few people.”

At this moment, someone nearby laughed and said, “Not even the end of the world can stop you Chinese from celebrating the New Year…”

“Absolutely!” Jie Se laughed heartily as he jumped out and headed directly towards the tavern.

It really is almost New Year.

Su Ziyu saw two elderly Chinese fiddling with some Spring Festival couplets. There really were quite a few Chinese here. Su Ziyu felt slightly dazed; he didn’t even know how long he had been wandering outside.

“Want some roasted rat?” an Indian vendor shouted at Su Ziyu from a nearby stall.

Have they monopolized the roasted rat business?

Su Ziyu shook his head with a smile and turned towards the weapons shop, though he was indeed a bit hungry. Walking down the street, he could smell the rich aroma of roasted meat. It wasn’t the kind from street stalls but rather seemed like seriously cooked roast, likely the roast venison they had mentioned.

He took out the mechanical wristwatch from those years and put it on his wrist.

The radiation pollution in the Wasteland World was severe; this mechanical wristwatch could detect most radiation pollution. Before returning to this world, Su Ziyu had prepared quite a bit of food, though certainly not enough to last until he left.

Sizzle sizzle.

A sharp metallic friction sound came through.

Su Ziyu turned a few corners along the street and soon saw a large weapons workshop. A middle-aged man was machining something on a lathe, while someone nearby was hammering away with an iron hammer. Many of the firearms in the Wasteland World were self-modified. Some of the old ones were utterly unusable when found, but in this era, many people had some experience with modifying firearms.

“What do you need?” The middle-aged man casually put down a dagger and greeted, “Old Bob’s weapon shop has everything!”

Su Ziyu glanced at the various firearms on display in the cabinets along the walls and casually asked, “Do you have a little fat one?”

The middle-aged man was taken aback upon hearing this, then laughed heartily, “If I could make those, why would I even be running a weapon shop?”

Indeed.

While nuclear weapons were somewhat rampant in the Wasteland Era, most were controlled by local financial groups and other large factions, and ordinary people simply had no access to nuclear weapons.

“I need some bullets,” Su Ziyu thought for a moment and asked, “What do you use for payment here?”

“I just arrived.”

Old Bob sized up Su Ziyu with a slightly perplexed look and asked, “Are you a Wilderness Hunter?”

“Yes.” Su Ziyu nodded.

Old Bob appeared thoughtful and said, “Supplies, medicine, I also accept those.”

“However, the currency used in this area is Nuclear Bottle Caps.”

Bottle caps?

Su Ziyu was perplexed upon hearing this, then questioned, “Can bottle caps actually be used as currency?”

“Of course.” Old Bob nodded, “After all, they’re just tokens. Primitive people used shells as currency! I heard some places in California use paper currency issued by the Water Merchants’ Consortium, but I feel bottle caps are better.”

“At least they aren’t easily damaged.”

In outdoor adventures subject to the elements, paper money is easily damaged. Modern people find paper money convenient because they don’t have to fight and kill outside. A little water, a little blood, a few showers, and paper money becomes worthless.

Using Nuclear Bottle Caps as currency in this world has been going on for quite a few years.

Initially, there weren’t many places using it.

But its use gradually expanded. However, medicines, supplies, and ammunition remained hard currency with purchasing power higher than currency as survival materials.

Using these like tiny steel coins as currency.

Su Ziyu’s available trade supplies were limited. Gold wasn’t as valuable in the Wasteland Era, and food had to be kept for himself, so it couldn’t be used for trade. Other things weren’t convenient to take out, so he might as well use the next couple of days to gather information and find an opportunity to earn some bottle caps. The bullets given by Paul were few and appeared to be homemade bullets, far inferior to those Pasha had given Su Ziyu, and even the bullets in the weapon shop here were of average quality, far below military-grade.

If he wanted to replenish a relatively adequate supply of ammunition, Su Ziyu would probably need to earn around three hundred bottle caps.

“Is there anything that Wilderness Hunters can be commissioned to do here?” Su Ziyu asked.

In many parts of the Wasteland World, there are horrific mutant creatures.

Ordinary people can’t deal with these mutant creatures, but some hunters would hunt them, provided the reward is substantial enough. The commissions usually hung out are formidable monsters, either occupying valuable areas or threatening the residents of a settlement.

Su Ziyu had expended a full 10 points of Source Power Value to return to this world, so he naturally had to find a way to earn it back, hunting monsters for bottle caps while harvesting some Source Power Value.

Two birds with one stone.

“Of course, there are.” Old Bob pointed over there, “In the tavern, they’re posted up there. There aren’t many willing to take risks in this settlement, so many commissions have been posted for several years.”

Even if you have money, you need a life to spend it.

In the Wasteland Era, risking your life to pay for bottle caps is not worth it. Many are willing to live a more frugal life rather than risk their lives.

Bang bang bang.

Just as Su Ziyu thanked him and prepared to head to the tavern, a heavy knocking sound came from not far away, and he saw a man with two armed subordinates going door-to-door collecting money.

“It’s those vampires again!” Old Bob spat on the ground, observing Su Ziyu’s puzzled expression, and explained, “People from the Water Merchants Group.”

“Today’s the day they collect water fees.”

It turns out there wasn’t a relatively clean water source nearby, and daily drinking water required multiple filtrations. In the Wasteland Era, selling water is an extremely lucrative business. Those who could run a purified water plant had considerable assets and considerable backgrounds. The water supply of the Elk Gathering Place was monopolized by some people who, in conjunction with the Water Merchants Group, collected exorbitant water fees. The daily expenditure of residents in the settlement regarding water fees accounted for nearly one-fifth.

In other words, one-fifth of their income had to be given to these Water Merchants Group.

The cost of purifying water wasn’t high.

Energy was still relatively abundant in the Wasteland Era, and using nuclear energy could produce large amounts of pure water, but the technology was monopolized by the Financial Group. Ordinary people didn’t have the technology to do that.

It’s like earning a monthly salary of three thousand and having to pay a full six hundred for water.

The residents here had a poor attitude towards the Water Merchants Group, but there was nothing they could do because there was no other source of clean water besides them, and the Financial Group’s forces were also formidable, maintaining a large number of enforcers, virtually at the level of a regular army.

Monopolizing water is indeed a highly profitable business.

Because it’s a necessity for survival, the top Financial Groups controlled businesses involving medicines, arms, and so on, while water merchants were these groups just below the top, united together.

They weren’t too exploitative, but they dramatically increased the living costs for everyone.

Su Ziyu didn’t plan to meddle.

Such things were common in the Wasteland Era. After a few glances, he turned towards the bar.

First, earn some money.

And collect some intelligence; see how much the Wasteland World has changed over the years.

Who knows if the Brotherhood still exists?

Back then, Su Ziyu handed them bionic technology, but now it seems ordinary people still used mechanical prostheses, and bionic technology hadn’t become widespread, although many had heard of it.

………

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