"Brother Chen, don't worry. This survivor base in front of us belongs to a peripheral force controlled by Kahn Company. Although they don't directly obey Kahn Company, they are guarding the eastern trade route for Kahn Company.
Basically, caravans heading east for business would choose to rest in this stronghold before returning to Kahn Company, and at the same time do some business with this stronghold, completing their final trade before returning to Kahn Company."
Zhu Benren walked at the front of the caravan, leading the way while pointing at the building complex that had appeared in sight and introducing it to Chen Yan who was walking beside him.
"A peripheral force controlled by Kahn Company? In other words... not a direct force under Kahn Company?"
Chen Yan glanced at the large, messy camp that was blocked outside by the tall walls surrounding the building complex and asked casually.
Zhu Benren nodded and said, "That's right. Kahn Company does not allow any forces larger than a micro-sized one to appear within its controlled area. Unless the force itself is a peripheral force of Kahn Company, enforcing the order established by Kahn Company and assisting Kahn Company by doing some tedious tasks that Kahn Company is too lazy to do itself.
Although Kahn's control over the western part of the company was relatively weak, it had complete control over the eastern part of the company, which encompassed the area of Ludong Province before the Cataclysm. Any survivor group in the east that wanted to produce an Awakener above Level 5 required Kahn's approval.
For example, the faction we're about to stay in is a very ordinary micro-force. However, its ruler, Hao Hongsheng, is a Level 6 Awakener. Because Hao Hongsheng relies on a senior executive of the Kahn Company, he is able to obtain the support of the Level 6 genetic drug and act as the eyes of the Kahn Company in such a place.
However, they are not directly under the Kahn Company, and nominally do not have a superior-subordinate relationship with the company. Therefore, the company does not provide substantial supplies here. To obtain daily necessities here, they still have to rely on trading with merchants.
Chen Yan continued to ask, "Did you arrange for people to arrive here early to inform us that a caravan was arriving?"
Zhu Benren replied with a smile, "That's right. Any caravan that resides in Kahn Company can obtain a pass issued by Kahn Company. Caravans holding a pass can receive preferential treatment from external forces recognized by Kahn Company within the company's sphere of influence.
Aside from a monthly commercial tax, the pass brings almost all benefits. Therefore, anyone trading within the Kahn Company's sphere of influence must obtain this pass. "Brother Chen, remember this when we get there tomorrow."
Chen Yan raised his eyebrows and said, "I still have to pay taxes? What if I don't get a pass? Will I not be allowed to trade?"
Zhu Benren shook his head and said, "That's not the case, but caravans without passes are not protected by the Kahn Company. All peripheral forces of the Kahn Company can directly seize such caravans by force.
Generally speaking, ordinary merchants certainly couldn't afford to hire awakened people above level 5 as bodyguards. So, the merchants' military force was no problem against those minor forces, but it was nothing when facing small forces.
In this case, buying a pass would avoid most of the hassles, requiring only a reasonable monthly tax. Then, when trading, one would only have to worry about minor powers. It was a very cost-effective deal.
Chen Yan suddenly realized, "I understand. This is how Kahn Company maintains relatively smooth trade routes between all the survivor camps within its sphere of influence, ensuring the normal flow of supplies. At the same time, it can also generate sufficient profits without incurring any costs.
Anyway, as long as a piece of the pie is cut out, there will always be people who are not afraid of death and willing to engage in business, taking all the risks, but only taking a small part of the actual profits. Because Kahn Company is making the rules, it can naturally take away most of the profits by restricting them.
Zhu Benren agreed deeply and said, "Brother Chen, you really hit the nail on the head. Since Brother Chen is also going to be a merchant in the future, then we are actually natural allies! When we are away from home, helping each other can make us more resilient to risks.
Although many merchants competed with each other, the Kahn Company's sphere of influence was vast enough that it could not be conquered by a dozen or even a few dozen merchants. The total number of merchants who regularly held Kahn Company passes exceeded a thousand.
These merchants swarmed throughout Kahn's territory, searching for any opportunity they thought would earn them crystals. The root cause of this malicious competition was actually disorder and chaos. If only some merchants could trust each other..."
Before Zhu Benren could finish his words, the survivors' camp in front of him suddenly became a commotion!
Chen Yan subconsciously looked in the direction of the commotion and found that the gate of the city wall facing them was pushed open from the inside.
Although no survivors were allowed to live at the city gate, as soon as the gate was opened, many survivors excitedly rushed forward, as if hoping to gain attention and get a chance to live in the city, even if it was only theoretical.
However, there were too many survivors who were in an uproar.
The excitement on the faces of the survivors who squeezed to the front at the beginning did not even have time to fully bloom before it was immediately replaced by horror.
Because of the shoving and pushing of the other survivors behind them, the survivors in the front could not stop at all. They could not stand outside the gate and beg for mercy from the bigwigs coming out as they had originally expected.
As the door was pushed open completely, someone walked out from inside.
The survivors' commotion reached its peak at this moment, and the scene looked increasingly chaotic.
At this moment, crisp gunshots suddenly rang out.
"Da da da da da..."
The survivors who were at the front fell down in an instant.
As for the survivors who were originally agitated at the back, they regained consciousness at the sound of gunfire and immediately turned around and fled with their heads in their hands.
An inexplicable riot that resulted in nothing except dozens of corpses.
"They're still using old-fashioned, reloaded guns? Why don't they use energy guns? Aren't bullets a bit weaker than energy guns?"
Chen Yan asked in surprise.
Zhu Benren shrugged and said, "Energy guns make little noise when used, so it's hard to immediately intimidate the idiots outside. So when dealing with idiots outside, old-fashioned guns are more effective than energy weapons."
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