Darkstone Code-Chapter 695 - 0692 Bargaining [This - is sponsored by: Ren Zai Wutong Xia with a sponsorship price-8/9]
Lynch knew the horror of hunger, he had fasted before.
At that time, he was still young and did not understand the meaning and value of life. He simply naïvely considered fasting as a last resort, and the feeling even now makes one shudder upon recalling.
Mark was unaware of these things, he had not experienced them, and perhaps he still naïvely believed that people traded dignity for food simply because they did not want to work, whereas in truth, they just wanted to survive.
The convoy quickly disappeared at the end of the deserted street.
After lunch, Lynch didn’t give Mark much time for a break and went straight to a factory at the edge of Zhulis City to inspect the property.
There were food factories or vacant factories within the city, but Lynch didn’t like those places. Governor Sedel had mentioned to him during a chat the plans to reorganize all of Zhulis City, with the Empire Zone as the core expanding outward for several kilometers, gradually dismantling and relocating.
Amelia is a Special Zone of the Gafura Empire, and a window facing the world. Whether Gafura people are brutal, foolish, or arrogant will be showcased here.
The Emperor developed an inexplicable idea that is hard to grasp, possibly related to his increasing pressure, given many constantly accusing him of the Federation’s rise being his fault.
Well, this is a joke, but significant changes in Zhulis are real.
At that time, there was no compensation for relocation or anything like that, as this isn’t the Federation, nor another world. At most, they offer a little extra, yet waste a lot of time for demolition, relocation, rebuilding, resettlement, and restarting, all of which require time.
Directly arranging it in the suburbs is best, simple, convenient, and unaffected by future planning.
The property Lynch looked at wasn’t small. It was said that before the outbreak of war, it was a hat factory with many production lines. Later, when war broke out, the factory shifted to producing munitions.
After defeat, everything here was packed and taken away, leaving only the empty factory building. The Factory Owner wasn’t sure what to do as his homeland left him nothing but this shell.
"The entire factory has three workshops and two warehouses, which can accommodate four to five hundred people working here simultaneously."
The Factory Owner was introducing Lynch and Mark to the glorious history the site once had, "At most, we could produce two thousand hats a day, and even at the minimum, over a hundred hats daily. We also did contract manufacturing for other leather goods..."
In the Factory Owner’s description, this place represented three generations achieving their dreams and pursuing a better life: him, his father, and his grandfather.
You could see from his nostalgic yet proud face that he was very proud of all this.
"...Until the war broke out, everything was over." His tone gradually diminished, "They forced us to produce steel helmets, canteens, and various waterproof boxes, dismantled and removed my machinery, and even made me pay the workers upfront."
"In the end, they took everything away, leaving me with just this empty space. Mr. Lynch, Mr. Mark, can you understand how I felt?"
The Factory Owner spoke emotionally, his smile slightly twisted, his eyes reddening; "I went bankrupt, and the ridiculous part is that it wasn’t due to Gafura invading that I went bankrupt, but because my own homeland abandoned me, taking everything from me."
"That’s why I didn’t leave like others did, even if I had left for other places, I wouldn’t know what to do. If I spoke of it, they might think I’m a Gafura spy and hang me!"
He took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and after a while, he opened them as he exhaled the air he’d held for quite some time, "Sorry, I got a bit emotional."
"I can understand!" Lynch was amiable, pointing at the buildings, "How much are you planning to sell these places for?"
The Factory Owner looked at the buildings that carried three generations’ dreams, gazed at the faded slogans on the factory walls, and snorted with a shake of his head, not looking at them anymore, "This place is about twenty thousand square meters, very convenient for both station and dock access, at least... fifty thousand Fla."
After Gafura occupied this area, they enforced the use of Fla via the Concession Currency Act. Now, after the initial phase of compulsion, nearly everyone uses Fla as the circulating currency. No one resisted on this matter.
"Too much!" Lynch shook his head, "Nearly ninety thousand Sol, too much. It’s not worth that."
The Factory Owner discreetly kicked a stone on the ground, "Mr. Lynch, then what is your offer?"
"I can offer you nine thousand Federation Sol, which is five thousand Fla."
Mark was initially thinking of cutting the fifty thousand Fla to around thirty-five thousand, then settling at forty thousand, which would be a reasonable price, a straightforward twenty percent slash.
But he never imagined Lynch would directly zero out the figure.
The Factory Owner was taken aback, looking at Lynch as if not understanding the international language, his hair blown by a warm breeze into several question marks.
"Sorry, did you just say... five thousand Fla?" The Factory Owner still couldn’t believe it until Lynch nodded. His emotions stirred again, "That’s impossible, Mr. Lynch. Five thousand Fla can’t even cover these buildings’ renovation costs, let alone such a large plot of land under our feet!"
"I’ve heard the Governor has new plans for the city, once it expands, the land price here will increase rapidly. I’ve offered this price out of goodwill!" He glanced at the friend who had joined the Federation standing some distance away.
Suddenly, he thought this wasn’t a good deal since these Federation people were greedier and scarier; he had never encountered such bargaining in his life.
Lynch let the Factory Owner finish and then stomped on the ground, "The land isn’t valuable..." Seeing the Factory Owner wanting to argue, he extended a finger and waved it twice, "Listen to me, friend."
"For you, for Gafura people, the two least valuable things are."
"One is human life, a bullet worth about forty cents of Fla can take a life."
"The second is land."
"Once people die, land becomes ownerless."
The Factory Owner’s expression turned grim. Lynch casually spoke this sentence; he wasn’t sure if it was a warning or a threat, but he knew regardless of Lynch’s intention, he succeeded in delivering it.
Lynch continued, not pausing after speaking, "Currently, many people in Amelia don’t have jobs. If I hire a thousand people to build these houses, paying each a dollar, maybe it would take only three thousand dollars to complete construction."
"As for materials... they’re everywhere!"
"So, I believe five thousand Fla is a reasonable price. You can not only sell this place, which isn’t very valuable, for some rare cash but also gain my friendship, Sir."
"You can think it over, call me when you decide, I’ll be over there..."
He spoke and led Mark aside. Mark followed behind Lynch as if realizing for the first time who Lynch was, staring at his back.
In the Federation, Lynch seemed like a good guy, it was rare to see such frightening aggression on his face, but now he did.
Lynch would at times threaten others with some terrible consequences; Mark didn’t know whether it was just a threat or he would really do it!
"I’ve entrusted someone to look around; we don’t need to buy new machinery, they’re nearby, the machines will be brought over tomorrow, the workers I’ve also recruited for you, you just need to quickly produce what we need."
Mark then had sweat on his palms, his expression somewhat contorted, as if constipated for a long time, "The situation here is a bit complicated, I might not be able to handle it."
Lynch smiled and patted his arm, "You have experience, and I trust you can certainly handle it, right?"
Mark hesitated for a while before nodding, "I’ll do my best."
"That’s right, there’s nothing effort cannot solve; if you can’t, it only proves you aren’t trying hard enough..."
While Lynch was recommending a nutritious soup, the Factory Owner seemed to have made a decision. He voluntarily came over, looked at Lynch, sighed, and extended his hand, "It’s yours!"
"You won’t be disappointed by your decision, I can assure you!"
Then, the driver handed five thousand Fla to the Factory Owner, who looked at the money in his hand, as his lips moved.
He wanted to curse.
If his homeland and the Gafura people shattered the dreams of three generations of his family, then Lynch was the one who smashed that shattered dream to the ground and stomped on it several times.
Three generations’ dreams, just worth five thousand!
Dreams, in turbulent times, indeed seem quite worthless!
After arranging matters there, Lynch came again early the next day.
Because he was early, he unexpectedly met the young man he’d seen several times—a driver from Nagariel.
Akumal had been thinking during this time; the changes in Amelia made him realize that violence cannot bring lasting peace; he began continuing to study the Federation’s society.
He found out that the Federation’s society can be this stable, not due to any extreme violence; on the contrary, their people love freedom, love peace, and advocate equality more than anyone else.
He was eager to learn about the Federation, to understand it in-depth. Upon seeing Lynch, he suddenly wanted to have a conversation with him.
Looking at the truck driver not far away who seemed hesitant to approach, Lynch waved to him.
Most times Lynch was benevolent, approachable, mild-mannered, kind, and compassionate.
Like now.
