Chapter 715.2: Only The Xilande Empire Suffers!

In truth, if they only intended to manufacture light industrial goods for Triumphant City, there was no need to mobilize plantation slaves at all. The people already living in the slums around West Sail Harbor were more than enough.

However, Hue had his own plans for the future of the port. He was not satisfied with merely making small profits exporting clothes and canned goods.

He wanted to help the bureaucratic faction behind him, and the people of Triumphant City, make much bigger profits. Without military power of their own, that was the only way for them to increase their influence within the Army.

“... The New Alliance is producing steel and cement in Port Gallon. We’re going to produce those too, and in even greater quantities.”

McClennan casually asked, “And what will you use them for?”

Hue smiled. “Mining, road building... there’ll always be uses for them. And if we really can’t use them all, we can always sell them to the Xilande Empire.”

McClennan shrugged. He did not understand business very well, but somehow doubted the emperor living in his floating Heavenly Palace would need such things.

Aaron lightly coughed in reminder. “Respected General, allow me to remind you that Mr. Wutuo Xilande is only interested in guns and artillery. We merely need to sell them weapons.”

His wording was already fairly tactful. The steel and cement required to build factories in West Sail Harbor could easily be transported from ports on the western coast of the Central Continent, just like the manufacturing equipment itself.

If they built steel and cement factories in the port, the products would most likely remain unsold. The locals already had more than enough shacks, and unless those docile livestock started complaining, there was no need to replace animal pens with steel and concrete structures.

But clearly, Governor-General Hue had his own ideas. He chuckled, “How much money can guns and artillery make? Besides, they’re about to sign a ceasefire with the New Alliance. The arms business can’t go on forever.”

Aaron gave a helpless expression and gave up trying to persuade him. After all, their labor costs were effectively nonexistent. Producing those things might waste some resources, but losses were unlikely.

McClennan continued the topic. “There’s just one thing I don’t understand, and no offense intended, but if you don’t have the ability to seize them, why not simply buy the slaves?”

Hue chuckled, “That would be too inefficient. And if we bought them, wouldn’t they become our slaves? Living space, three meals a day, healthy enough to live to 50... I would even have to provide retirement for these lowlifes! Better to let the nobles here handle them. 50 Dinars per month can count as management fees.”

If they refused to work properly, he would simply return them. Once the other slaves saw what happened to those returned, naturally they would work themselves to death.

McClennan looked at him in surprise. Of course he knew about the laws about slaves in the Army personally drafted by the Marshal. However, were there actually people enforcing it outside Triumphant City?

Unbothered by McClennan’s astonishment, Hue continued smiling. “Of course, besides relying on the nobles to manage them, I’ll also give them a little hope in life. Encourage them to work harder while remaining diligent. For example, we’ll give them monthly bonuses deposited into personal accounts. Once they save up 1,000 Dinars, they can use that money to buy their freedom.”

Anyone capable of working for two years straight will already count as skilled labor. Sending them back to plantations afterward would hardly be suitable.

Yet Aaron shook his head. “A slave capable of earning 600 Dinars a year would never be sold to you by the nobles for just 1,000 Dinars.”

“Then we’ll write it into contracts, or pay them a bit more,” Hue replied indifferently. “This isn’t a negotiation. It’s an order.”

“And after they buy their freedom?” McClennan pressed. “Then they become free citizens. The nobles won’t be managing them for you anymore.”

“Free citizens who possess professional skills and no land,” Hue corrected him with a smile unchanged. “You think I’m giving them freedom? There’s no such good thing. They’re simply moving from one cage into another. There aren’t any screws for them to tighten back on the plantations. With nowhere else to go, they’ll become even more dependent on us than slaves ever were. They’ll work even harder than slaves. All we need to do is pay them just enough wages to stay alive.”

Only then did a thoughtful expression finally appear on Aaron’s face. At last, he understood why the important figures in Triumphant City had sent this man here.

McClennan looked at him with equal surprise, his original impression completely overturned.

This guy is actually talented.

Just as McClennan was marveling to himself, the governor-general suddenly turned around and approached him with a smile, patting his arm. “General McClennan, you are the only officer here who graduated from a proper military academy. Unlike bureaucrats like us who wear ranks without ever seeing battle. More importantly, you’ve actually fought the New Alliance before. No offense intended. I know that battle involved some unfortunate accidents, but that wasn’t your fault.”

McClennan’s brow twitched involuntarily. With a dark expression, he squeezed out a reply. “What exactly are you trying to say?”

Seeing the change in his expression, Hue quickly smiled and explained, “No, no! You are precisely the kind of talent we need most right now, I would like to trouble you with helping our friends train a few officers who at least look somewhat competent. After all, as you know... we’re complete amateurs in this area, and our friends only just learned how to fire guns.”

Hearing the self-deprecating remark, McClennan’s expression relaxed slightly, though he still could not help letting out a mocking snort. “So you people finally remembered what my job actually is?”

He had been bored out of his mind for nearly two months already, spending every day watching those pigs play with sand in the palace. At that rate, they might as well learn how to swim instead. Still, only remembering him after suffering a defeat was far too late.

Hearing his response, Hue froze briefly before laughing awkwardly. “You... may have misunderstood something, General McClennan. We never meant to slight you. You’ve always been one of the most important parts of our plan. In fact, from the moment you set foot on this land, you were already playing a very important role. And the reason I’m standing here today is actually thanks to your contributions... For that matter, I should thank you.”

As he spoke, the flamboyant man placed a hand over his chest and gave a slight bow.

McClennan stared blankly at him, suddenly feeling like he had been kept completely in the dark. He hurriedly turned toward Aaron.

What he saw was a slight nod as Aaron explained, “Just as the Governor-General said... If we didn’t appear sufficiently close to the Xilande Empire, they would never have been overjoyed enough to actively teach the New Alliance a lesson in order to curry favor with us.”

After a pause, Aaron continued, “As for the Grey Wolf Army’s defeat, it was entirely within our expectations. The only thing that exceeded our estimates was the speed of their collapse... We never expected Wutuo Xilande to be stupid enough to send a prince to supervise the front lines, much less that the prince would directly seize command authority from General Alyang, resulting in a division being captured.”

“But the final outcome made no real difference,” Governor Hue continued with a smile, taking over where Aaron left off. “We still obtained the part we wanted.”

McClennan narrowed his eyes, glaring at the people who had used him. A surge of anger welled up in his chest, yet he found himself unable to justify losing his temper. Just as they said, the result had been favorable. They had formulated a strategy based on the Army’s interests and achieved the expected outcome at minimal cost...

He ought to have been pleased by that.

However, he failed to find any joy in that

“... No wonder East General Saren dislikes people like you,” McClennan snorted with a fake smile.

A troubled expression appeared on Hue’s face. Somewhat regretfully, he spoke. “Is that so? Even so, I’m still grateful to him for conquering such a vast territory for the Army and planting our banner in the Sunset Province. If you have the chance, please convey my respect to him.”

“I will,” McClennan replied meaningfully as he glanced at Hue. After a pause, he added, “Also, I hope this is the last time.”

Watching McClennan turn and head toward the ship’s cabin, Hue nodded cheerfully. “You have my word.”

...

Meanwhile, in the distant Port Gallon.

After spending an entire month on the task, and under the supervision of Chief Bihari, the guard stations throughout the settlement had finally completed identity registration for all residents within their jurisdictions.

And the final statistics left Ample Time utterly stunned.

If even newborn infants who had not yet learned to speak and half-dead invalids lying on bedboards were counted, the settlement’s actual population had reached an astonishing 1.7 million people!

When he first heard the place housed a million people, he had already been shocked enough. He never imagined the real number would exceed the rumors by such a margin!

“I originally thought a settlement with absolutely no industrial foundation having 900,000 people was already incredible. I didn’t expect the actual population to exceed estimates by nearly 70%!” Pinching the bridge of his sore nose, Ample Time gazed out the window at the dust-filled construction sites while muttering thoughtfully to himself. “... Could it actually be the red soil?”

Suddenly, he recalled Han Mingyue research.

When studying the ecological civilization systems of settlements across the wasteland, technologies left behind from the Prosperity Era were undoubtedly variables that could not be ignored.

Take the Baiyue Continent, for example. Though vast and sparsely populated, and seemingly devoid of relics of the Prosperity Era, it actually contained ecological contamination caused by singularity-level technology, making industrialization almost impossible to develop cheaply and forcing survivors to migrate toward the sea.

As for the Poro Province, while the red soil itself was not especially advanced technology and had likely come into existence largely by accident, it was in fact the most easily overlooked, yet impossible to ignore variable on this land.

It was like a natural nutritional paste.

Though not as effective as the nutrient paste developed by Boulder Town, which could sustain people all year round, even if the soil only replaced 50% of food sources, it would still create an enormous impact on the local ecosystem and social structure.

Many survivors who could never have survived elsewhere in the wasteland not only endured here, but rapidly eliminated the first-generation survivors unable to adapt to the Wasteland Era with astonishing environmental adaptability, eventually creating a unique civilization ecology of their own.

And that red soil born from Rowell Camp was both a blessing left behind by their ancestors...and a curse.

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