Chapter Forty-Five: Distribution

After breakfast, Fan Bei began a thorough inspection of the areas recently cleaned: the agricultural zone, the generator room, and the main control room. Chef He, after reminding him of something, took the initiative to help. Fan Bei also called Da Bai over to sniff around; together they checked for any overlooked issues. Compared to before, the process was now much easier.

The newly cleaned sections were sealed off again, and the connecting points received the necessary maintenance—gold-plated where gold was needed, silver-plated where silver was required... Though the attacks of the evil tide had become routine for him, he treated every occurrence as if it were the first, never letting his guard down.

As for the steward system, whether it was distributed a bit earlier or later, it wouldn't make a difference. With the help of both man and dog, Fan Bei finished all these tasks in just half a day, still in time for lunch. Previously, if he tried to handle it alone, it would take him a full day—often starting a day early just to be safe.

After lunch, at two in the afternoon, he went to the main control room. He told Da Bai and Xiao Bai to handle their daily exercises on their own and gave Chef He the day off.

Upon entering the main control room, the gleaming copper floor, spotless desks, and meticulously polished screens all bore witness to Chef He’s recent hard work. Chef He hadn’t just cleaned Fan Bei’s own quarters, but also tidied up everywhere else he was allowed to enter, whenever he found a spare moment.

Fan Bei didn’t turn on the radio straight away. Instead, he opened the recording module of the control room’s management software to record the upcoming conversation. Then, using a previously noted radio frequency, he got in touch with Bronze Fortress. The operator on the other end quickly patched him through.

This time, it wasn’t Chairman Lang Sheng on the line, but someone named Feng Erjin. After exchanging names, Fan Bei politely asked, “Hello, Mr. Feng. Will you be coming to Shelter 364 for trade again next time?”

“Uh, apart from scavenging—no, I mean, when we’re out salvaging, we sometimes go to smaller settlements, but generally, we only conduct regular trade with larger, more populous settlements. Unless we’ve agreed in advance on a sizeable transaction, we don’t make a special trip to small settlements,” Feng Erjin replied courteously, though his words were a direct refusal.

Fan Bei considered this. He didn’t actually have much worth trading; perhaps the eighty kilograms of gold reserves might tempt them, but those couldn’t be squandered carelessly.

What he needed most were all sorts of materials—particularly the latest computer technology in this world. If he could secure a high-level AI for handling tasks, his life would become much easier.

So he said, “All right, but if you do come to trade next time, please bring some of the latest books on computers, especially those related to AI.”

“Uh, Mr. Fan, please wait a moment—could you repeat that? I’d like to have someone note it down.” Feng Erjin seemed a bit flustered. AI? What was that? He knew about computers, of course—used them often enough for games or to check the usual management pages—but as for AI, he only knew the term meant artificial intelligence; he had no idea what it truly entailed and had no interest in learning more.

No wonder his older brother always said, “Being tough is good, but you’ve got to read more books too”—without reading, you wouldn’t even recognize an opportunity when it came.

Fan Bei repeated his request, and after a friendly exchange, the radio call ended. Shaking his head, he concluded that Bronze Fortress was simply too small to waste resources on low-value trade—especially given the straight-line distance of 143 kilometers, and the overland route likely stretching to three or four hundred. For such a long journey, unless the trade was worthwhile, they wouldn’t come. The last time they visited was to “open up wild lands”—if their leader hadn’t been caught up in Fan Bei’s good person system, Fan Bei himself would have become their loot.

Next, he looked up the frequency for Silver City and tried to get through. About ten minutes later, he succeeded.

“Hello, this is Shelter 364. Last time, we hired a servant from your location,” Fan Bei greeted.

This time, the person who took the call was extremely professional. “Hello, sir, please give me a moment to check.”

Fan Bei waited patiently, and soon the reply came: “Found it—on July 11th, Deputy Manager Xie Bo from the third merchant caravan completed this transaction with your shelter. How can we help you today?”

“Oh, I’d like to buy out the servant’s contract in full, in advance. Also, when will your next visit to my shelter be? I’d like to pre-order some new goods,” Fan Bei replied directly.

“Please hold, I’ll forward your request to the relevant personnel,” the operator said courteously.

About ten minutes later, a familiar voice came on the radio. “Oh, is that Village Chief Fan? It’s a real pleasure to hear your voice again,” Xie Bo’s tone was warm and sincere.

Fan Bei found “Mr. Fan” a more pleasant title than “village chief,” so he replied, “Uh, there’s no need to call me village chief; that was just a joke at the time. I just put two requests to your operator—can you help me with them, Manager Xie?”

“Of course. First, there’s no issue with buying out the servant’s contract. We’ll prepare a formal document for you, including his original lifetime contract with us and all related paperwork. From that point on, the servant will belong entirely to you, with no further ties to us,” Xie Bo answered patiently.

“Second, since your shelter is now a certain size, we’ll use a combination of scheduled and regular trade with you. As long as a single trade exceeds thirty thousand standard silver coins, we’ll send a caravan specifically to trade with you. Also, your settlement is now part of the Silver City—Bronze Fortress—Champion Mountain route, serviced by regular caravans passing through twice a month. Since we already visited your settlement earlier this month, you only need to wait for our next outbound journey from Silver City. You may pre-order goods and sign a verbal contract; we’ll try to have your order ready for the next caravan. If the agreement is broken, a penalty will be charged.”

Fan Bei listened and compared the service to that of Bronze Fortress—what a difference! One was like a street vendor, the other a major company in a prime office building.

One couldn’t afford to support obviously unprofitable routes; the other had already built up steady, profitable long-term trade and could absorb a few money-losing stops along the way.

He quickly arranged a pre-order contract. The other side readily agreed: when the next caravan set out later in the month, they would bring him the latest computer books available, with emphasis on AI. The price would be standard retail plus shipping and a ten percent handling fee.

As Lang Sheng had said, their business practices left nothing open to criticism. Although Fan Bei disapproved of their ruthless creation of puppet servants, he had to admit that, as a customer, their service—especially in these post-apocalyptic times—was hard to fault, even outperforming many of the big companies from his previous life.

“Mr. Fan, is there anything else you need? We offer many other services—would you like someone to explain them in detail?” Xie Bo asked patiently.

“Hm, why didn’t you give me a service list during our last trade?” Fan Bei asked out of curiosity.

“Oh, until a client is satisfied with our first service, we don’t trouble them with anything extra,” Xie Bo replied, full of confidence.

“I see. Then I’ll trouble you for an introduction.”

Fan Bei had another purpose in mind, so he agreed readily. Soon, a receptionist with a sweet voice replaced Xie Bo and began to explain all the services Silver Commerce could provide.

Since the recording was already running, Fan Bei didn’t pay close attention. Instead, he planned to use the current communications channel to propagate the new “Steward” system to Silver City.

That’s right—he had no intention of releasing the system through Bronze Fortress; after all, they already had one.

Focusing his will, he formed the thought: “Release Steward system, target Silver City.”

The virtual white book, open to page five, flashed with a white light that shot into the working radio on the desk.

Immediately, he heard static from the radio, interspersed with faint calls from the receptionist on the other end.

“Mr. Fan, can you hear us? If you can, please respond. Sorry for the interference—please don’t worry, this is normal.”

About three minutes later, the static cleared and the receptionist’s voice returned, much clearer.

“I hear you. Please continue your explanation—I’m especially interested in your shelter upgrading service.”

“Very well. I’ll focus on that for you.”