Chapter 714.1: The Light That Shines On The Harbor

On the Wasteland Online’s official website, as always, the forums were bustling with activity.

By then, the place had practically become the wasteland’s most well-informed information hub. Although its scale could not compare to the Ideal City’s endpoint cloud, the territory it spanned across two worlds was something even a starship could never catch up to.

No Family: BIG NEWS! A new ‘shadow port’ has appeared between Port Gallon and the southern border of the Xilande Empire! Their key landmark is a tavern called the Land of Abandoned Ships. It’s the stranded cargo ship sitting on the beach! Talking to the bartender can trigger smuggling quests! All your unused Xilande Coins can finally be spent there!

Flying Pig: 666 Hell yeah!

Spicy Strips: Boss! Any level requirements? (˵ ¬ᴗ¬˵)

No Family: None! Just watch your kidneys! If you’re worried, bring along a couple strength type beasts. Of course, one of us iron cans from the Burning Corps is enough! <(˘ ˘ ˘)>

- Ah! Right, one more thing. People from the empire go there at night, so if you’re interested in smuggling, try going during the day! Or raise a few NPC agents to go for you!

Not long after the thread was posted, Lifestyle Profession players active around Port Gallon flooded into the discussion. Within barely 10 minutes, the thread had already climbed past 100 replies.

Old White, who had been confused for half the day by Ample Time’s cryptic hints, finally saw the post too and could not help complaining in the Bull and Horse Group’s chat

Old White: ... Damn, so that’s what this was about.

Ample Time: You finally figured it out? (˵ ¬ᴗ¬˵)

Old White: But wait, aren’t we supposed to manage the smuggling?

Ample Time: Depends on the goods. Port Gallon mainly produces cash crops, and those things can’t fill stomachs. At this stage, the imports coming in are goods the locals need, and also goods we need. Losing a little tax revenue in exchange for exporting accumulated inflation into the Xilande Empire is acceptable for the new Port Gallon authorities.

...

In classical-era market models, inflation flowed in the same direction as money, and opposite the direction of goods. A major reason the New Alliance could spread inflation across its allies was because silver flowed from the administrator’s hands into everyone else’s pockets. The New Alliance’s allies were willing to bear that tiny cost in pursuit of greater benefits.

In fact, even outside the game, the same thing existed.

Participants in the Silver Exchange were not only players, but also cloud gamers following the trend. The exchange rate between silver and other currencies reflected similar supply-and-demand relationships. The way prices fluctuated dramatically after every auction made it obvious that the underlying supply-demand dynamic came directly from the auction items themselves.

Port Gallon was no different.

It was not only the money sitting inside the Xilande Emperor’s treasury. Large numbers of nobles and private banks were also eager to dump the Xilande currency they held. Places like Banana Head Bay provided them with the perfect outlet.

People across the border accepted Xilande currency and could supply mountains of goods piled up on the Imperial side but desperately needed in Port Gallon.

Using those goods, merchants could then exchange for the new currency pegged to silver from laborers, factories, shopkeepers, and other groups.

The Xilande Empire’s emperor believed an embargo would collapse Port Gallon, but he had probably forgotten that force worked both ways. Too many villages, settlements, and noble estates around Port Gallon depended on the city to absorb their huge surpluses of highly uniform products!

Port Gallon merely faced inflation of the Xilande currency but those surrounding territories, however, faced something far more severe, deflation.

If they could not sell their mountains of stockpiles, they would have no choice but to dump them into the Everflowing River. To avoid that outcome, local nobles would inevitably do everything possible to reopen border trade routes, whether through bribing border troops or exerting pressure with their authority.

Declaring an embargo at a time when royal authority had already been damaged by the Gray Wolf Army’s defeat was essentially a case of suicide.

Once new interest groups formed locally, the armies stationed at the border might even evolve into warlords who no longer obeyed imperial orders.

Well, that was assuming the game was really that realistic!

...

Ample Time: ... The Banana Head Bay thing probably just appeared recently. Actually, people were already doing this kind of business right after the ceasefire. From what I’ve observed, the busiest smuggling crossings are mainly along the northwestern banks of the Everflowing River. That area is basically under the Black Panther Army’s control. At night, the river is packed with smuggling boats.

- Some Port Gallon nobles are sending Xilande Coins there in exchange for two-headed oxen, white sugar, gravel, flax, spices, and similar goods. But inland ports have limited transport capacity. If Banana Head Bay develops properly, it might let us dump Xilande Coins even faster.

Gale: What happens when you run out of Xilande Coins? O.O

Ample Time: By then, reconstruction of Port Gallon should be mostly complete. Survivors of the Xilande Empire will become interested in things other than worthless paper.

Night Ten: God damn, I should’ve joined you guys earlier. (ᗒᗣᗕ)

Old White: Wait, you’re still in Dawn City?

Night Ten: Left ages ago. As soon as Ice Sea City’s save point opened, Gale and I headed over.

Gale: To be precise, along with that Academy NPC called Jiang Xuezhou. Oh right, Jiujiu went with us too. (¬ω¬)

Ample Time: Damn, we’re practically worlds apart now. ( ≧ᗜ≦)

Night Ten: Minor problem. At least we’re still on the same planet. ( ≧ᗜ≦)

Gale: +1.

...

The reign of order could become vacant, but there was one thing that never disappeared and that was power.

The moment a power vacuum appeared, something new would rush in to fill it.

Whether good or bad, or if the gap lasted only an instant...

The very next day after Port Gallon’s first investment attraction banquet ended, crowds had already packed the entrance of the city hall.

A man in an exoskeleton walked to the doorway, switched on the loudspeaker on his helmet, and shouted toward the packed crowd. “Everyone calm down! Don’t shove! Our rules here are simple! Bids are not first-come-first-served! Entry qualifications, review standards, procedures, and everything else have already been posted on the bulletin board. Read them first, then collect a number at the entrance and wait to be called. Any interested individual or group can participate!”

At that moment, someone from the edge of the crowd yelled, “Sir! Do Pigeonfolk count too?”

“I said anyone can sign up!” Half Wasted shouted at the surging crowd. “And stop calling us ‘sir’! The New Alliance doesn’t have that nonsense!”

The crowd outside city hall instantly erupted into applause and cheers.

Some people looked displeased, but for the sake of money, they could only swallow their unease.

Watching the youth bowing repeatedly in gratitude, Half Wasted smiled and waved his hand before suddenly freezing.

Wait. That guy’s a Pigeonfolk?

...

In only a single day, the 37 infrastructure projects had received nearly 200 bidding proposals.

More than half came from merchants in Silvermoon Bay and Lifestyle Profession players active around Port Gallon.

Background checks and asset verification alone consumed three full days. During those three days, Ample Time recruited over a dozen players from the Burning Corps and nearby player groups who had previously worked in municipal departments or large corporations.

While training the 200 newly recruited civil servants of Port Gallon City Hall, they also reviewed the bidding documents that were rising day by day.

After eliminating more than 100 companies and individuals due to inadequate qualifications or severe falsification, 22 infrastructure projects finally found responsible contractors. The remaining 15 were mostly heavy-asset projects like major highway reconstruction, freight railways, civilian railways, and so on.

Without sufficient capital, nobody could get those projects no matter how attractive the long-term returns looked.

Although the Port Gallon Bank did not strictly operate under a 100% reserve system, and issuing 10 Gallons did not require one silver in reserve, the amount of printed currency still could not deviate too far from actual silver reserves, otherwise systemic financial risks would emerge.

Simply printing money and throwing loans at contractors to forcibly fatten a starving man into a giant overnight was impossible since the local economy was far too fragile.

The survivors already eating dirt literally could not suffer any further.

Thus, Ample Time, the CEO of Baiyue Strait Development Company created a discussion group on the forums and gathered the shareholders for what essentially became a shareholders’ meeting.

After explaining the situation, they voted and ultimately decided that Baiyue Strait Development Company itself would take on all 15 heavy-asset projects.

Their approach was almost identical to the strategy once used during Dawn City’s own infrastructure boom.

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