"First, give me two cups of 'Fiery Blaze' and a plate of 'deep-fried bamboo worms,' then introduce Mr. Bai to the specialties of your place." Wang Tiefeng pointed to Jiang Wu, then found a seat near the stove and sat down.
He then took out two level-one zombie crystal cores and handed them to the beautiful waitress.
The waiter took the crystal core with a beaming smile and said, "Yes, Colonel Wang!"
Jiang Wu happened to notice Wang Tiefeng handing the crystal core to the waiter and was slightly taken aback.
Then, Jiang Wu seemed to understand something and asked curiously, "Do you use these crystal cores as currency?"
Wang Tiefeng took out two small banknote-like objects from his pocket and handed them to Jiang Wu. He then took out two level-one energy crystal cores and explained with a smile, "We have two kinds of currency here. One is these rice coupons, which come in denominations of one tael, two taels, five taels, and one jin."
"The other type is this crystal core. The white one is equivalent to a 10-jin rice coupon, while the light gray one is equivalent to a 100-jin rice coupon."
"If it is a dark blue-green crystal core, it is equivalent to a 1,000-jin rice coupon."
Jiang Wu wasn't interested in the rice coupons that looked like banknotes in his hand. He looked at the level-one energy crystal core in Wang Tiefeng's hand and asked curiously, "Isn't this kind of crystal core taken from the brains of zombies? Is it used directly as currency? Does it have some other use?"
Wang Tiefeng shook his head, his tone tinged with helplessness: "To be honest, we've been researching this for over a year, but we haven't found any other uses for the crystal core. It can't be ignited, it can't be used in medicine, it's harder than a diamond, you can't break it at all, and it doesn't seem to have anything special about it."
"But it has one major advantage—scarcity. After all, you can only get it by killing special zombies, and you can only get higher-level crystal cores by killing those very powerful mutated zombies."
He paused, then continued, "Currency itself has no value; the key is that the government assigns it value. We designated crystal cores as currency for two reasons: first, because they are scarce and cannot be counterfeited; and second, because others who want crystal cores must kill zombies."
"Our most important purpose in doing this is to encourage the hunting of zombies. Think about it, if there aren't enough benefits, who would be willing to risk their life to fight those monsters?"
"Our official designation of it as hard currency is equivalent to giving everyone a clear incentive: killing zombies will earn you money and allow you to live a better life!"
"That would greatly increase everyone's desire to kill zombies. Only when more people are willing to kill zombies can the soft power of the entire base be enhanced, and the number of zombies in the surrounding area will also decrease."
"After all, the total number of zombies is fixed. As long as we keep killing them, we will eventually be able to clear them out."
Jiang Wu nodded thoughtfully.
In Fuxing City, people are incentivized to kill zombies through contributions, while here, crystal cores are directly linked to survival resources. Essentially, both encourage people to fight against zombies.
Wang Tiefeng said with a hint of pride, "Mr. Bai, do you know? Our base currently has tens of thousands of registered 'zombie hunters'! They are not soldiers, but for the sake of crystal cores, they rack their brains every day, forming teams to go out of the city, setting traps, and researching various hunting techniques."
"The number of zombies they cleared out often exceeded the number of bandit suppression operations our regular army had achieved! Over time, the zombie density outside the city has indeed been slowly decreasing, and the safe zone is gradually expanding. This is the power of economic means."
"Tens of thousands of people?" Jiang Wu was slightly surprised. "Aren't they afraid of danger? It's very risky for ordinary residents to fight against zombies, isn't it?"
"There are definitely risks, but the rewards are also high!"
The beautiful waitress, who had been waiting to ask Jiang Wu about his needs, chimed in with a hint of longing on her face, "I have a friend who organized a hunter team. They've already accumulated enough crystal cores to exchange for more than 10,000 catties of rice. They often go to the base to exchange for cured meat. They live a very carefree life!"
Wang Tiefeng also smiled and said, "Mr. Bai, we have another rule here. The base has a lot of cured meat or other meat products, but they can only be exchanged with crystal cores. Rice coupons cannot be used to exchange for these meat products, which motivates many people to obtain crystal cores!"
Jiang Wu's heart stirred, and he suddenly thought of a key issue: "Even if it can be exchanged for meat products such as cured meat, the quantity of these things is limited. However, the number of crystal cores circulating in the market will increase. Won't the value system collapse then?"
"Furthermore, if crystal cores can only be exchanged for daily necessities, it probably wouldn't be enough to motivate so many people to risk their lives. After all, killing zombies is too risky; if they lose their lives, no amount of crystal cores will be of any use. Is there... something else more important that can only be exchanged for crystal cores?"
A hint of appreciation flashed in Wang Tiefeng's eyes, and he nodded: "Mr. Bai is indeed insightful. You are right. If we rely solely on meat products like cured meat and rice to consume the crystal cores on the market, problems will definitely arise over time."
"Moreover, relying solely on daily supplies is indeed not enough to retain those skilled hunters. What truly drives them to fight desperately is our base's auctions."
Jiang Wu asked with some curiosity, "An auction?"
“Yes, an auction,” Wang Tiefeng explained. “We organize a large-scale hunting operation every now and then, specifically to hunt mutated beasts and large mutated insects. From their bodies, we can obtain a mysterious gelatinous substance.”
"That gelatinous substance can turn ordinary people into evolved beings if they eat it, and can enhance the strength of evolved beings if they eat it. We call it the 'Source of Evolution'."
"In addition, there are the fur, bones, and claws of mutated beasts, which can be used to make weapons and armor that are stronger than ordinary steel."
He paused, his tone becoming serious: "These things are very scarce. For example, the 'Source of Evolution' can only be obtained in five or six portions at most during each hunt, and sometimes we get nothing at all, which is not enough to go around. So we decided to distribute them through an auction."
"The only qualification to participate in the auction is to possess a sufficient number of crystal cores! The highest bidder wins!"
At this point, Wang Tiefeng let out a long sigh, "So, for that sliver of a chance to become a superior person, for the sake of becoming stronger and surviving better in the apocalypse, countless people are willing to go bankrupt, even risk their lives to hunt zombies and accumulate crystal cores, just to gamble on a future at the auction."
Jiang Wu was slightly taken aback after hearing this.
The model of Huaxia Dragon Base does indeed have similarities to that of Huaxia Revival.
They all utilize crystal cores and energy essence, which is the 'source of evolution' here, and use it as the core resource to motivate and enhance their strength.
However, the two methods of allocation are completely different!
The Huaxia Rejuvenation project adopts a relatively fair "contribution-for-returns" system.
Prices are clearly marked; as long as you contribute to the base and accumulate enough contribution points, you will have the opportunity to exchange them for various good things.
Although it requires effort and risk, at least there is a clear and relatively stable path to advancement.
The Huaxia Dragon Base, on the other hand, adopted a blatant "auction system"!
This is undoubtedly more brutal, and also more "efficient" in recovering the crystal cores back to the base.
This is to suppress the proliferation of crystal nuclei.
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