Chapter 1500
Chapter 1500 - 1496 Small Business
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7 min read
The failure of the exploration stopped there, and Lu Ping’an received many complaints... He had played a bit too big, and the feedback from the frontline had become a bit too plentiful.
In his memory, he had just made a round trip, but in reality, the collapse of a space passage and the death of an Overlord Level life form were events significant enough to affect the entire war situation.
"Our spies are complaining," they say things have gotten a lot tenser on the frontline, especially the crackdown on espionage has become much fiercer."
"...Uh, are there problems on the frontline?"
"No, it’s just that sending back intelligence has become a lot more troublesome. Those Fishmen’s craftsmanship is very rough, so our Infiltrators are relatively safe, but there are indeed many of them, and the searches are annoyingly thorough."
Such minor issues didn’t trouble Lu Ping’an much.
He was just reading the latest war reports... As a Member (in an advisory role) of the Military Commission, he had access to various non-sensitive briefings and military intelligence, including many details of the frontlines and logistics.
In his eyes, nothing had really happened... after all, the war was still in a phase of mutual probing.
If there was any noticeable change, it was that the local food prices and the prices of daily necessities had plummeted, causing him significant losses.
This wasn’t because he had mishandled speculating on the market, but because the Rebirth Chamber of Commerce had been dealing with a large quantity of daily necessities and food, and a sudden price drop naturally led to substantial losses.
"It looks like we need to adjust the trade routes..."
After a bit of thought, Lu Ping’an understood what was behind this dramatic price drop.
Many more influential players and Big Shots were entering the fray, especially the Eastern Country, which had brought a vast number of light industrial products to the market to dump, and as for food, it was even more straightforward. Eastern experts developed fertilizers more suitable for the local environment and distributed improved Seeds for mass Planting. With the Gardener’s help, the first batch of products was shipped out.
Those scattered merchants, farmers, and even subsidiaries of Lin Nu’s Church couldn’t compete with the Eastern official enterprises and their state-owned enterprises, which swept them away with a single wave.
The market was now showing signs of panic and unease, as they failed to understand what the Easterners were doing. Isn’t it everyone’s game to raise prices and profit on normal days? The market on this world seemed nearly infinite, and even if you took a more substantial portion, there was no need to snatch the pot from someone else’s fire. Why would you smash the market and earn less?
However, having read the internal reports, Lu Ping’an knew this was not just about money.
It wasn’t about the Eastern Officials wanting to manipulate the market, quite the opposite. In times of War, they wanted the essential civil and food resources to be in relatively secure channels.
"This must be a lesson from past experiences..."
It was only after inquiring did Lu Ping’an learn that the Eastern Country had faced severe setbacks in these matters.
In the exploration of Otherworldly realms alongside Proper Gods, Evil Gods, and other countries, many places had their civilian commerce managed by local forces or the Proper God Church, with the Eastern Official side focusing more on resources and military areas.
But reality proved this to be impractical; too many problems arose from it. Regular occurrences such as food selling at the price of gold, and even worse, their reliability proved deficient, frequently breaking down at critical moments... It’s like a bad joke, the frontline is fighting well, and then you run out of food and logistics – too much like Hell.
Therefore, the Eastern Officials already had a systematic intervention plan; once they decided to intervene extensively in a world, they would make sure food channels were secured first.
The real driving force behind the local food prices was the vast quantities of "fertilizer" and "quality seeds." Although the types were limited, the factory cost was probably less than one-tenth of the original prices, and the retail prices, merely halved, were already an official gesture of giving the market time to adjust.
"...It looks like we need to adjust our strategy, give up on low-end, finished grain products, and switch to something higher up the industrial chain, like processing, prepared food, and non-essential goods like beverages."
Lu Ping’an had no intention of clashing with the Eastern Country over this small profit... and indeed, he couldn’t compete with them. Since they were willing to ensure a safety net, albeit thanklessly, Lu Ping’an naturally chose to let go.
And the reduction in food and daily necessities prices was sure to significantly lower the cost of survival and living, leading to another population boom.
Overall, this strengthened the world’s resistance, and Lu Ping’an was naturally willing to support this.
"Low-end arms prices have shot up by almost 40%, is this still the result of Official pricing?"
Lu Ping’an felt increasingly intrigued, noticing that common low-end weapon prices, including "Enchanted Spears," "Pressure Guns," and "Underwater Medical Kits," had increased even more sharply. This 40% was an average, with the best-selling Pressure Gun’s price more than doubling, and the market demand far exceeded the supply.
"Can’t just any Craftsman produce several hundred of these in a day?"
The Pressure Gun, structurally quite simple, was essentially a specially made "water gun" that used pressure to launch harpoons and Javelins.
On land, it was worthless, but for the newbies going underwater, a gun that could consistently shoot "ammo" was at least enough to ensure they weren’t mere bystanders on the battlefield.
As the Eastern Country got involved, it brought a large number of newbies still adapting to the aquatic wars and these inexpensive, effective weapons. Relying solely on the Eastern production was too low... if shipped from Earth, the freight cost was far too high compared to the manufacturing cost, and as they began to buy from the market, naturally, prices soared.
"...But this increase is rather outrageous; it looks like someone is taking the opportunity to make a profit."
Lu Ping’an sighed, not because he missed out on earning this money. His position was unique; he could access frontline, even sensitive intelligence, and had Eastern Officials consulting him frequently about their plans. Being an Informed-person about many of their strategies, making money from intelligence leaks would have been too easy.
"Too shortsighted."
Regardless, the Eastern Country was Mercury 42’s most significant "funder," and to become known in their eyes as a "profiteer" and "unstable element" over a small benefit would be foolish.
Lu Ping’an shook his head. Even as the largest arms dealer in the world, he did not plan to interfere with the surge in low-end products this time... He suspected he was already being watched. Any slight action on his part would likely lead to animosity.
"...Notify them to release more low-end goods to lower the prices. Forget it, I’ll talk to the Eastern Officials, sign a long-term Military Purchase contract."
This low-end merchandise initially had little profit margin and no technological barrier; in a couple of months, once the Eastern Officials had fully grasped the technology and set up production lines, they could produce these items at rock-bottom prices.
The order went through smoothly; even without using Lu Ping’an’s influence, the Eastern Officials’ first expeditionary forces were indeed in dire need of low-grade weapons and equipment... Lu Ping’an conveniently sold them lots of parts, support equipment, and while the weapons were provided at cost, he still made a tidy sum.
The Eastern Officials were also happy to see a "convert" like Lu Ping’an, offering very generous terms.
Lu Ping’an was also astonished at their determination... Food, daily necessities, military supplies; their actions might not appear big or obvious, but they were fundamentally changing the entire world.
And as one of the earliest supporters and trustworthy partners (as described by Official news), Lu Ping’an thus received a substantial and exclusive order.
— End of Chapter 1500 —