My Post-Apocalyptic Shelter Levels Up Infinitely!

Chapter 509: Regulatory Power, First Night in Freedom City

The sun set over the horizon.

As the evening neared in the underdeveloped New World, even the demon race’s main city—Freedom City—whose fame spread far and wide and gathered the whole world’s wealth for its own, could not prevent “the curtain call” that marked the end of the day.

At 6pm, on the various streets, exchanges began their final transactions for the day, and people started rushing in to clear their accounts.

Some special “entertainment venues” also took this opportunity to open their doors, which were usually closed in the day, allowing access to the “colorful” scenes within.

However, even the cityfolk could barely afford to patronize these places, let alone the ordinary members who were still working hard to strengthen themselves.

As the day came to a close, there were nearly 40% of the Demon race that were Level 3 and below who could only count their profits for the day as they hurriedly walked out of the city gates, keeping their heads low as they set up camp outside the city walls.

It was also here that the entrepreneurial spirit of the demon race was showcased.

Not only did they set up tents as temporary accommodation, they even provided one-stop services such as food, recreation and entertainment. It could be said that the services on offer were extremely comprehensive.

For a trade city like Demon City, which had a high degree of freedom and no restrictions on free speech, as long as it was not something that happened in a shady corner, it would only take half a day for it to reach the ears of the general public.

If it was something that was a little more exciting, it would be known to everyone within a few hours.

At this moment, seated in a restaurant outside the city, everyone who had been busy throughout the day removed their disguises and began to chat and relax.

However, today was unlike any other day.

There were three topics of discussion that could be heard from almost everyone’s mouths.

The comparison of strength between Alec and Harl.

The handover and transformation of the Venom Resources Exchange, which was now the newly-established Fire Exchange.

As well as…

The second conflict mediation that was due to begin in three days.

“A level 3 dwarven craftsman can’t beat a mountain giant even if the mountain giant doesn’t move. How is this even fair? Those creatures aren’t on the same level at all.”

“Exactly. If you wanted to fight on equal terms with a higher level template, you would have to use a rare template that fits you, and you would have to have abundant combat experience in order to pull it off.”

“That’s not completely true. I heard people say that, among the humans, Su Mo can slaughter a god with the body of a mortal.”

“F*ck me, did you say Su Mo? That guy’s a monster that emerged from the human race after thousands of years and an anomaly among their billions of people. Comparing Harl to Su Mo—are you crazy?”

“If only we could get our hands on the templates of the humans living in Su Mo’s territory. The wolf-bear template of mine eats too much every day. All my money is being eaten away.”

“Has anyone been to the Fire Exchange? I hear that they do all sorts of business. They accept anything and they sell anything. That’s a first.”

“Forget it. What kind of goods would a level three user have? He won’t be able to accomplish much in the end. It’d be better for him to just continue Alec’s previous resource business.”

“…”

There was a lot of discussion going on in the various small stalls.

The subject of their discussion was unable to hear them, and was busying himself far away in the middle of the city.

Unlike those people, who had to leave because of the curfew, in the city, as long as one owned property, one would be protected by the city guards even if they stayed overnight, as long as they stayed within their own courtyard. There would be no punishment at all.

“Harl, we want to do all kinds of business, but we don’t have any goods or money on hand. When people come to buy or sell things, we have nothing to offer them!”

“What are we supposed to do?!”

Turner looked at Su Mo, who was standing at the door giving instructions to the Level 2 Ents while simultaneously scrubbing the Fire Exchange plaque above the door diligently with a rag.

He glanced at the mercenaries, who were cleaning every corner of the shop’s interior and rearranging the facilities.

Although he had already recovered their inherited property, Turner was still worried.

“Relax. We still have many templates with us. Besides, we’re not the only exchange in the city.”

“Did you really think that everyone would come knocking on our door just because we set up shop here? Look over there!”

After he handed a broom to an Ent and instructed it to sweep the dust off the roof, Su Mo pointed at the corner of the street and said casually.

Looking in the direction that Su Mo had pointed toward, Turner froze for a moment before nodding slowly.

There were many exchanges in Freedom City. Based on a rough calculation, there were around 400 exchanges.

Every day, there were new exchanges being established and established exchanges being closed down.

Among the 400, there were about 350 which conducted single-category businesses, focusing their trading in an area that they were good at.

Of the remaining 50 exchanges, 40 of them conducted two-category businesses, which were usually resources and templates.

The last ten exchanges were like the current Fire Exchange, conducting businesses that encompassed every category.

These ten exchanges were extremely powerful. Even the smallest among them had a Level 6 template user in charge.

Of these exchanges, the number one demon race exchange was even endorsed by a Level 7 rare template user.

For the current Fire Exchange, which only had a Level 3 dwarven craftsman in charge, none of those on the list were opponents that they could deal with at this stage.

On the corner of the street, the people who seemed to be wandering about were actually watching the people inside the exchange. These were the spies that the other exchanges had sent.

“These large exchanges have enough manpower to collect information, and even possess the power to set prices. The small single-category exchanges under them have no choice but to act in accordance with their rules and whims.”

“We don’t have the manpower to collect information. If we offer a low price and nobody sells it to us, that would still be fine, but if we offer a high price for goods, we’ll end up eating a huge loss!”

As Turner stared at them openly, the people on the street corner not only met his gaze, but displayed a slight grin as well.

It was almost as if they had not actually come to monitor the exchange situation and were just visiting instead.

The reality was exactly as Turner described as well.

The main reason most people could not open an exchange that encompassed all categories was because the price of each item fluctuated every day. It was very likely for something that was valuable today to become worthless tomorrow.

If they held onto their stock for too long and could not increase their sales turnover, then they would inevitably lose such a large amount that it would make their hair fall off their scalps.

If some templates could not be sold today, it was possible that there would be better alternatives on sale the very next day.

Given such fierce competition, single-category exchanges could still get by, but four or six categories? That was pure fantasy.

The second they did not pay attention, they would go bankrupt!

“They will trade their goods, and we will trade ours. Besides, the things I want to buy and the things I want to sell don’t conflict with theirs.”

“Turner, do you know what’s the most profitable business?”

Sitting behind the brand new counter and feeling like a shopkeeper from the historical era, Su Mo spoke up with some interest.

“Most profitable? Let me think…”

“Valuable rare templates?”

Su Mo shook his head.

“Then is it materials or drugs that can increase power? After all, these things are the most scarce.”

Su Mo shook his head again.

“It isn’t that either? Then… Selling small, mass-produced goods with a small profit ratio, and relying on the accumulation of profit from bulk sales?”

Su Mo still shook his head. “It’s too limiting. If you want to be a successful businessman, your perspective cannot be limited to the stereotypes.”

Regarding successful business models and profitable businesses, perhaps the ordinary members of the demon race were still searching for the right approach and perspective, but on Earth, the art of business had long been mastered and enshrined within society.

Truly successful businesses made money by exploiting systems and rules.

Looking at Turner’s confused face, Su rapped his knuckles lightly on the table. “Are the ten big exchanges earning money?”

Turner nodded. “They are. They’re earning like crazy. The reason why their strength can increase so quickly has a lot to do with their huge profits.”

“And what do they rely on to earn money?”

Turner made an uncertain guess. “The right to set prices?”

The ability to manipulate the market as they pleased and modify the price of an item daily made them very much like the major players in the stock market on Earth.

The fact that Turner could even think of this gave Su Mo a little satisfaction.

“Then is there anything more profitable than the right to set prices?”

This time, Turner was no longer stunned. He suddenly understood Su Mo’s thoughts, and his heart lurched violently.

“If we want to challenge them in their own territory, it’s definitely not something we can do with our current strength.”

“Even if we really do clash in the future, we would have to pay a pretty large price in order to win.”

“So, from now on, we have to distinguish ourselves from them. We’ll let them do their own thing as usual, while we will open up new markets.”

“If we want to earn money, we’ll have to monopolize the market. We need to own it and make sure others never grab a foothold!”

“It won’t take long. Within three months, I want to make the Fire Exchange part of the top ten exchanges in Freedom City and, in half a year, I will make all the exchanges reliant on us!”

As a pioneer who had once ruled over hundreds of thousands of people on White Sand Island, and single-handedly overthrew the Church of the God of the Ocean, Su Mo laid out his plan for a “monopoly” in front of these “primitive” people who were still fumbling with basic business concepts. His eyes blazing with the flames of ambition.

There were only two ways that were more profitable than the power to set prices.

Regulatory power and monopoly!

Before this, he had still been worried about how to link the basin area with the outside world, which would allow its products to circulate. The market would then determine the corresponding value of the basin area’s products and inventions.

As things stood, the Fire Exchange was the best avenue to implement this idea.

At the moment, the distance between the two locations was only five hundred kilometers.

Once the trade route was opened in the future, it would become an unimaginable road to wealth.

In the later stages of development, as the basin area’s potential and territory expanded, it might even replace this city and become the real “Freedom City”.

“How interesting. The demon race actually wants to take advantage of the conflict between me and Alec to set an example to advance their reforms for the trading market.”

“They want to stick their hands into the business of the exchanges and obtain the right to intervene and oversee their activities from a legal standpoint, and perhaps even get their hands on the pricing power of items and materials, as well as their taxation.”

“If Turner and the real Harl really established the eleventh exchange under their jurisdiction, then my plan to disrupt the market would undoubtedly lead to a dead end…”

“However, because I’m in Harl’s shoes instead, it’d be the best opportunity for me to stir up more chaos!”

He thought about what Xing Wen had conveyed through the mark before leaving earlier in the day…

As long as they performed a series of actions as per their instructions, and then surrendered at the critical moment, while they would not obtain the ownership of their inheritance, they would obtain the permanent right to use it.

Su Mo started to laugh silently.

On Earth, the reason financial regulators could operate was due to the fact that they were endorsed and authorized by the law.

This was something engraved in the law of the land and, as such, everyone who entered that particular country had to abide by its rules.

However, on the doomsday wasteland, achieving this end result was pretty much a pipe dream.

The demon race had established a very strict social hierarchy of superiority and inferiority, which relied on the gap in power, and the ability of superior mark users to oppress inferior mark users.

However, just like the basin area’s previous reformation, this kind of change was not targeted at the profits of the ordinary people, nor the profits of these lower-level exchanges.

Rather, the share they were really trying to devour was that of the top ten major exchanges, which firmly controlled the prices of the market.

While the main city of the demon race seemed large and impervious, if it was forced to undergo a prolonged period of market upheaval, its societal structure could in fact collapse into pieces.

All it would take was consistent and comprehensive price undercutting, and the entire market would eventually collapse completely. At that point, the established order that had been so painstakingly created would also undergo massive upheavals.

The only way to prevent this from happening, to preserve the structure and order of the city, was to control the prices and transform Freedom City, which currently had no rules or regulations, into a trading hub with set restrictions.

As for whether or not this method would be successful, in the course of history, the era of the Three Kingdoms provided a great example.

Even the powerful Cao Cao, who had hundreds of thousands of elite soldiers under his command, could only take over one group at a time when he faced the aristocratic families who controlled the “market”. He focused on differentiation, not daring to devour their profits directly as it would lead to a large-scale backlash.

Given the current state of things, unless the true lord of the demon race used absolute strength to kill all the leaders of the top ten exchanges, there was absolutely no chance of implementing the system reform.

However, even if the true lord did, the trust that the city officials had built up thus far would collapse and be lost forever. The entire market would enter a state of recession, and the efficiency and sales turnovers of the exchanges would decline rapidly.

“Hmm? Harl, what did you say? I drifted off for a little bit and didn’t hear you clearly.”

Life had to be lived and the days would continue moving forward.

After Se Mo had been acknowledged by the city guards, Turner no longer held any suspicions regarding the identity of this older brother of his.

Seeing the contemplative look in Su Mo’s eyes, Turner rubbed the back of his head, looking embarrassed.

“Nothing. I was just saying that we are about to have guests over.”

Turner froze. “Guests? We don’t have anything here, how could there be anyone…”

“Don’t worry. Amateur hunters often fail to obtain prey when they set out, but veteran hunters would set traps in advance and wait patiently for their prey to come obediently to their doorstep.”

“Just wait… wait until they can’t take it anymore.”

Touching the dust that had fallen onto the counter that had just been wiped clean, and looking at the third wave of people appearing from the street corner, the corners of Su Mo’s mouth lifted slightly as he displayed a professional smile.

Then, after instructing the mercenaries to close the door, Su Mo jumped off the stool and walked towards the rear hall.

The fact that Harl had been able to take out a loan for 50 thousand contribution points, with this house as a collateral, spoke volumes of the value of the property left behind by Harl’s parents, which was located in the second main street Freedom City.

Although the place was small, it had everything.

The size of the entire courtyard was more than 300 square meters, not including the front hall. There were four spacious rooms for living in the back, as well as a standard kitchen and thatched hut.

After filling his stomach with the goo made by the mercenaries, Su Mo randomly selected a room and laid down.

While he was at the dining table, he could clearly sense that the attitude of the mercenaries today had changed a lot from yesterday.

In just one day, their previous memory of Harl, over the past ten days, was shattered and wiped away.

Crazy.

Unafraid of death.

Extremely audacious.

A gambler!

These were the four new labels stuck to Su Mo—four labels that everyone was convinced of.

When Su Mo lay on the bed inside, the sounds outside quickly became a little quieter.

Without a word, everyone, including Turner, subconsciously realized who the real boss of this place was!

However, lying on the bed, Su Mo had no intention of ruminating on these changes.

It had been almost a day since he left the basin area and the Underground Shelter.

While inside Freedom City, before he was certain that he could avoid their monitoring, Su Mo did not dare to switch out to his primary identity to open his storage space to take out the communication device to send a message back.

As he focused mentally, the pale blue system panel flashed open.

Tapping directly on the daily system announcements button that he had received this morning, Su Mo started to read through the notification prompts in detail.

Compared to yesterday, the basin area’s potential did not change significantly today, only increasing by 0.12 to reach 14.81.

However, the territory with the highest potential value in the entire New World at 1502 had dropped to 1468.

As for the average value across the New World, it also showed a downward trend today, dropping by 0.03. It seemed that the basin area was the only territory to buck the trend.

He focused once again, and with a flash of blue light, the daily announcements popped out.

“Oho, there are 1.4 territory points and 3700 survival points today. Amazing!”

Territory points were the cornerstone of the basin area’s development and represented its foundation to eventually become the top power in the New World.

Survival points was Su Mo’s trump card, the ace in the hole that could turn the tide at critical moments.

After seeing that he received a decent number of both, he sighed in relief. With a tap, the interface switched again to the panel that recorded the Voices of the Wind.

Unlike yesterday, the number of voice recordings had reduced by two today, leaving only one left.

However, with just one look at it, Su Mo’s eyes narrowed sharply as he lay on the bed.