Looking at the people who came out of the gate and walked straight towards the caravan after clearing the congestion outside the gate, Chen Yan whispered: "To be honest, this place is different from the survivor camps I have been to before.
The survivor camps in the east that I had visited before, although they did not care about human lives, at least had basic respect for the living conditions of the survivors under their command, because they knew that was the basis for their exploitation.
Scenes like this, where someone simply opened fire without hesitation and easily killed dozens of people just to scare them, would never happen in the survivor camps I've visited. Population is also wealth.
Zhu Benren nodded and said, "That's right. The vast majority of minor survivor forces or micro-forces attach great importance to population. This is mainly because their method of acquiring survivors is not stable. Relying solely on the free reproduction of survivors to increase the population is also very difficult.
When the population base doesn't reach a sufficient level, free reproduction is unlikely to lead to a qualitative leap in population growth. Furthermore, the wasteland's living environment results in a very high infant mortality rate for babies born to ordinary survivors. In this situation, to maintain a stable rule, one must treat the survivors well.
But this place was different. This was considered the eastern gate of the Kahn Company, the easternmost periphery of the Kahn Company's controlled territory. Leaving here and continuing eastward, it was considered the Kahn Company's sphere of influence. However, compared to the order within the controlled territory, the sphere of influence was far more chaotic and dangerous.
There are always survivors trying to enter the Kahn Company's controlled area and embrace a new life. However, Kahn Company doesn't accept all survivors. Many unqualified survivors are forced to stay in peripheral camps like this one, so there is never a shortage of people here.
As soon as Zhu Benren finished speaking, the people who came out of the gate had already arrived in front of the caravan.
Following behind them were the caravan members that Zhu Benren had just arranged to come and notify them.
The man returned to Zhu Benren with the pass in his hand.
Their attitude was quite polite. They simply verified the identity of the caravan. Although they were a little confused about the size of the caravan and Chen Yan and his group, they did not ask any further questions.
Zhu Benren made it clear that Chen Yan and his group were also members of the caravan. As for why there was a discrepancy between the information described and that recorded on the pass, it was mainly because Chen Yan and his group were temporarily recruited by the caravan during its previous trading journey.
This situation is not uncommon. The caravan pass issued by Kahn Company contains a description and record of the caravan's basic situation.
Caravans of different sizes naturally have different tax standards, so almost all caravans will not honestly register all the details of the caravan.
Even the caravans directly under the Kahn Company would still make similar small moves.
The evaded taxes can be pocketed, which is very attractive to some middle and lower-level employees of Kahn's company.
As long as it is not too excessive, this behavior will be regarded as an unspoken rule, and Kahn Company will not investigate it too strictly.
The caravans are also aware of this. They will never miss out on paying taxes. Being a little clever within the scope allowed by Kahn Company is not a big deal, but if they want to evade all the taxes they should pay, then they are simply seeking their own death.
No one likes this kind of idiot who breaks the rules.
Because everyone is eating from the same pot, but someone wants to pick out all the meat first!
Under the guidance of several other people, all members of the caravan entered the city smoothly.
The cement-poured city wall is very strong. Even after fifty years, it still shows little signs of weathering.
Of course, it is also possible that because this place is already inland, the rainfall of the "black rain" is not that heavy, so the buildings here do not need to bear too much corrosion from the "black rain".
The caravan was not taken directly to a building in the complex. Instead, the other party led the caravan to a large square inside the city wall and then stopped it.
At the same time, he humbly said to Zhu Benren, "Boss Zhu, you know that according to our rules here, all caravans that come to stay overnight can only camp on their own in the big square. They are not allowed to run around or enter any building here without permission.
Therefore, I'm sorry to bother you tonight, and I hope you'll bear with me. Also, my master has invited you, Mr. Zhu, to breakfast. Of course, for you, Mr. Zhu, this should be dinner. The master said he has something very important to discuss with you in person.
Zhu Benren was quite surprised.
He has been doing business for nearly three years. In the beginning, he had to risk his life alone, secretly carrying some cheap goods to earn a meager living. Now he actually owns a caravan and can even hire more than a dozen bodyguards to protect his safety when he makes a business trip. He has almost traveled all over this area of the former Ludong Province!
Although the fact that he was able to develop to such a large scale has a lot to do with the fact that he was valued by noble people, it is undeniable that his own abilities are also indispensable.
He had a vague understanding of the background of this place. It seemed that he had a bad relationship with the adult behind him?
Although Zhu Benren did not think that the other party would dare to do anything within the area under the actual control of Kahn Company, he had never received such an invitation when passing by here before.
Something must be wrong when things are out of the ordinary, so Zhu Benren smiled calmly and agreed. Then, taking the opportunity to turn around and remind the caravan members to pay attention to discipline, he whispered to the bodyguard leader and Chen Yan, "Be careful tonight, stay alert! Try not to rest. Anyway, we can return to the base tomorrow, so there will be time to rest then."
After saying that, Zhu Benren turned around with a smile and left with those people.
"Brother Xu, what do you think?"
Chen Yan watched as Zhu Benren's caravan began to set up tents one after another, and couldn't help but ask Xu Qinghe who was standing beside him.
Although they also have portable multi-functional tents prepared for use in the wild, there is little need to use tents in the current environment.
Since we have to stay alert all night long, isn't setting up a tent just asking for trouble?
"I'll use the drone to investigate first, but at least for now, the situation around us doesn't seem friendly. There are too many high ground positions on the surrounding buildings, and they appear to be just guards. But if those guards attack us..."
Xu Qinghe said with a serious expression.
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