Chapter 928: Intra-City Trade, the Rules of the Mole Men!

The patrol team sent by the mole man was very vigilant, and the six people left almost no blind spots for monitoring.

Su Mo waited patiently for more than two hours before the first batch of personnel who changed shifts arrived at the sewer entrance.

A total of three people.

Not wearing exoskeletons, it seems that this equipment also needs to be replaced.

"Zero, record their conversation and give me real-time feedback."

"Okay, master, it's already in directional monitoring."

As long as there is enough power, Zero's detection function is extremely useful.

The other party is like a fighter plane exposed to radar monitoring, with no privacy at all.

However, these people are also careful. There is no communication during the process of putting on and taking off the mechanical exoskeleton. The whole process is terrifyingly calm.

Until the handover was completed, the man who came out first whispered.

"According to the usual agreed time, they should have come by now."

"The administrator asked us to wait here foolishly. If we run into the crazy mutants who didn't care about their lives the day before yesterday, we might lose a lot of ammunition again."

"There's nothing we can do." The man who spoke to him moved his stiff shoulders and comforted him, "This fog came so unexpectedly. We haven't seen it in Qinggang City for hundreds of years. We should understand that they were delayed."

"Besides, if they really can't come," the man looked around and continued to lower his voice, "The administrator said that if there are not enough supplies to hold on until the next merchant ship from the foundation arrives, some people will be thrown out of the base to fend for themselves. You don't want to throw out your women, do you?"

"Merchant ship? God, that will take at least two months, right?"

The man muttered a complaint, but finally resisted the urge to continue.

According to the previous patrol position, he walked over honestly and continued on duty.

The three people who were replaced disappeared on the ground through the sewer entrance.

From beginning to end, no one noticed that a stranger was looking at them not far away, and no one knew that their conversation had been exposed.

Standing in the dead corner of the building ruins, Su Mo was thoughtful and took out the small notebook on his chest to record the information.

"It seems that the intelligence of the wild wolf should not be mixed with water. There are indeed transactions between these mole men in Qinggang City, and they have some good things left over from before the war, and they can continuously produce valuable trading items."

The cockroaches of the wild wolf group can only wander in the corners of the city to find food. Naturally, they are not qualified to trade with the mole men, but this does not mean that they have never received good things produced in the bunker.

Those machines produced by intelligent drive in the pre-war era were well preserved by the mole men.

With the help of high-energy biological battery conversion devices, the moss that spread and grew recklessly is the best power generation material, which can continuously provide enough electricity for production.

And the favorite trading items among the predators are also the ones produced by the mole men.

It can be exchanged for food, supplies, weapons, slaves, women, and intelligence.

Su Mo has not yet figured out what the group of people in front of him are trading, but based on the information exposed, he can roughly guess what they have in their hands.

Cotton? Exoskeleton? Biomass battery?

If they really have the ability to produce these things, it is really hard currency in the wasteland.

As for the issue they just discussed

Let's temporarily name this underground fortress the West Suburb Bunker.

According to the information analysis just now, they should have reached an agreement with forces in other parts of Qinggang City. They will trade once every time at this time to exchange for supplies that are enough to support the arrival of the so-called "Foundation Merchant Ship".

This time, it may be due to the influence of fog, or it may be due to other factors.

Not to mention that the group of forces that should have arrived at the agreed time were late, the bloodstains left before should also be that they encountered mutants who survived radiation.

Facing these lunatics who are almost losing their minds wandering in the city, the West Suburb Bunker should have temporarily avoided the edge.

But the reason why they still appear here and patrol back and forth

The West Suburbs Bunker should be short of supplies? !

After coming to this conclusion, Su Mo suddenly had an idea.

"Since we can't get into their interior in a short time, is it feasible to trade?"

As long as we can find out what the transaction between them is, or simply the group that traded with the West Suburbs Bunker had an accident and couldn't come here as promised.

In this case, what if the territory can become their trading object?

The most important thing in the wasteland must be population, and only population. Any force that wants to operate must ensure that the internal personnel structure is stable and there will be no major changes.

Since the manager in their mouth said that when necessary, throw some people out to fend for themselves.

At this time, Tianyuan Territory happened to appear and provided some of the things they needed.

"The population of the Western Suburbs Bunker should be quite large, and the demand for materials in various aspects is relatively high. It must be replenished with trade materials on a regular basis to meet the needs. And according to the so-called manager's words and analysis, since some people have to be thrown out to reduce expenses, then what they lack should be related to food materials."

"With an exoskeleton, they basically crush the surrounding areas, but under the pressure of materials, they still do not participate in external plunder, which is in line with the character characteristics of the mole man."

"If you rashly show up and propose a food material transaction, it will easily arouse their vigilance."

"Maybe we can start from another direction."

Writing down this information on the notebook, Su Mo put it in his arms and put it away.

The mole men of the Free State tend to be lawful and neutral in character, and their reputation among the wanderers like the Wild Wolf is not bad. They belong to a force that will not be targeted as long as they are not provoked.

They don't trust anyone, and only act according to the rules set in the bunker, and never cross the line.

And this is the biggest reason why this group of people can form a force before the war.

If you decide to contact or even trade with them, simply asking them must be the stupidest choice.

The best way is to let the other party come to you and try to cooperate, so that there is room for maneuver.

"How can I get them to come to me?"

Just as Su Mo was thinking and analyzing this most important issue, a group of people finally hurried over not far away.

This group of people wore close-fitting black armor, even their heads were covered inside, and only a pair of eyes were exposed.

On the outside of the black armor, there were lines like blood vessels, and at this time, the breathing was looming in the mist.

Behind them were two creatures that looked like yellow cattle.

However, just like the two armored black dogs seen on the fifth floor, these two cattle had also changed. Not only did they become taller and more sturdy, their four legs were as thick as pillars, and even their tails were like whips, dragging more than three meters on the ground.

"The trader is here?"

Based on the information provided by the wild wolf, Su Mo quickly found the general information of the cattle.

Whip cattle.

With a gentle personality and strong carrying capacity, it is one of the best tools for short-distance transportation after the war.

At the same time, its whip also has a certain power, and it can rush out as a pioneer in a critical moment and forcibly destroy the opponent's encirclement.

The two whip cattle were carrying full cargo boxes, and it seemed that the supplies they delivered should be quite a lot.

"Why did you come now? It's a day behind the agreed time!"

The leading person on duty breathed a sigh of relief, and while sending someone to notify the information, he walked up with a slightly complaining tone.

"Haha, Captain Liu Lu, just be thankful that we can still abide by the agreement." The leading black-armored man took off his mask, revealing a face full of scars.

His voice was like two pieces of iron rubbing against each other, hoarse and harsh, and the listeners frowned.

But the next sentence made Liu Lu's face change drastically.

"After this transaction, the agreement between us will be invalidated. Everything will wait until the fog dissipates."

"Voided? Captain Garu, your harbor shelter has received the deposit for materials from our Pingtan shelter in advance, and there is a witness from the Qinggang shelter. If you unilaterally cancel it, you will have to pay the penalty!"

"Of course, didn't I bring it?" Patting the whip bull behind him, watching Liu Lu's face getting uglier, the black-armored man Garu laughed.

"Pingtan Shelter is really too far from the harbor. It seems that we still don't know what happened in Qinggang City for so long."

"What happened?"

Liu Lu asked subconsciously, but the next second, he regretted it.

In the eyes of outsiders, there are more than a dozen Free State shelters in the huge Qinggang City. They are in a more reliable alliance than any other cooperation, and the relationship between them is very good.

But only the people in the bunker know that this relationship depends on "trading".

In Qinggang City, everything is marked with a price.

The cooperation between them can only be achieved because of the price that both parties are satisfied with.

Now he is so eager for intelligence, which shows that the shelter really doesn't know what happened.

If the manager knows about it later.

Inevitably, he will lose a lot of the next distribution of supplies.

"You say it, name a price."

After a pause, Liu Lu glanced at the back, and finally gritted his teeth.

"Frank!"

"I need this." Pointing to a grenade hanging on Liu Lu's waist, Garu raised his eyebrows.

The value of intelligence depends on its scarcity and urgency.

It is just a grenade, of course, it can't be exchanged.

But Liu Lu didn't mean to exchange now, just to prevent him from "accidentally" revealing the details of the conversation between the two.

"What a greedy thing."

Muttering softly, Liu Lu took off the grenade from his waist and threw it over with pain.

Among all the shelters in the Free State, the Harbor Shelter is the one with the shallowest foundation, and basically has little industrial production capacity.

But they chose an excellent location, which led to each shelter having to trade with them regularly for the fish caught from the harbor to meet the material needs.

These greedy things are always trying to find ways to squeeze money from the trading objects.

If there is no choice, the merchant ship of the foundation will only come once every six months, and who would want to trade with these damn jackals.

However, seeing the other party hurriedly taking it, Liu Lu felt a little more comfortable.

He carefully sorted out the words, and then cautiously stretched out his hand: "Take it, this time's cargo list."

"Go, take the cargo list to our Captain Liu."

Patting the bull's head, Garu's smile became even stronger.

Combined with the scars on his face, he looked like a mushroom corroded by mold, with creepy little tumors everywhere.

Liu Lu stared at it suspiciously for a few seconds, then looked away as if nothing had happened.

Soon, two yellow papers that seemed to be soaked with sweat were handed over.

"Don't you want to take a look?"

"I won't." Liu Lu shook his head quickly, turned around and wanted to take the list to the wellhead.

He just said one more word, and paid the price of a grenade.

Even though he was curious about the price changes on the cargo list, he decided to stop his impulse.

However

"Take a look, the price this time is very different from before."

"And I promise that I will not use this to blackmail you."

A devilish whisper of temptation sounded behind him.

Liu Lu walked forward two steps with a steely head, and finally couldn't help but glance at the top line of the list.

According to the usual transactions between the two sides, the record here must be the largest catch.

The price is not high

"Fuck, are you crazy at the port?"

Seeing the number that was ten times higher than usual, Liu Lu was stunned.

"You want to exchange a commercial voucher for five catties of fish, why don't you go and rob it?"

Commercial voucher

The currency issued by the Foundation is universal in the entire post-war world.

Only by holding this thing can you buy goods from merchant ships that come once every six months, or from itinerant merchants who come from time to time.

Its face value is divided into 1, 5, 10, 50, and 100.

In the past, a commercial note with a face value of "1" could buy more than 50 kilograms of fish.

Now the purchasing power has plummeted, and it is less than one-tenth left?

Is the manager of this harbor shelter crazy? Does he think that anyone will still trade at this price?

"No hurry, just look down slowly."

Garu still kept smiling, as if he didn't hear the question just now.

Following his words, Liu Lu looked down.

This time, his face became even more gloomy.

Sure enough, among these basic materials on the first sheet, not only the price of fish has increased tenfold, but the prices of other things produced by the harbor shelter have also increased to a certain extent, and on average it is at least five times higher than before.

And in the second thing they collected and made from outside

At the first time, Liu Lu saw the signature and seal at the bottom.

Is that the logo of the Giant City Shelter?

"Hey, how do you do things, kid? I asked you to take the bill of goods for the transaction with Pingtan Shelter, why did you take out the delivery bill of goods from the Giant City Shelter?" Seeing Liu Lu's face changing constantly, Garu hurriedly slapped the head of the younger brother behind him.

"Go, why don't you take out a new one quickly."

"Yes." The black-armored younger brother was beaten, and his facial expression could not be seen, but his tone was quite cheerful.

This performance did not show any awareness of doing something wrong, it was obviously intentional.

"Brother Liu Lu, you also saw that it is not me and your Pingtan Shelter that are asking for such a high price now, but because of the great changes in our Qinggang City, the price has risen uniformly."

"Don't forget to tell the manager when you report it."

Taking out the grenade that was not even warmed up just now, Garu smiled and threw it forward.

Liu Lu received it, and nodded silently without saying anything.

He lost the previous battle completely.

The opponent lifted him up without paying any price.

Taking off his exoskeleton, Liu Lu quickly went down the ladder at the wellhead.

When he stood on the flat ground at the bottom and looked at the heavy iron gate, he sighed in his heart:

"I hope the administrator will not be angry."