Unknown Knight

After more than a week, the "invitation team" led by Bolcha stopped field operations because they were no longer needed.

Most of the people living in the settlements in the river bends or oases within a radius of more than 100 miles, as well as the Bedouins scattered in the desert as families, have tasted the sweetness. Even those who have never been here have heard some news about it. Some people who have been here are afraid of missing the opportunity and have even come two or three times.

In the first few days, some goods were out of stock at the outpost, but all the camel caravans that came to trade, no matter what goods they were, would be bought by Aix at a discount of at least 10% higher than that in Zion City, and then stored in the warehouse.

Now the first and second floors of the mound have been dug out, and the first floor is filled with all kinds of goods. All personnel have to squeeze into the second floor to live. Some items that are not afraid of the sun, such as pottery jars, weathered wood, reed stalks, iron ore and other materials, were even piled by Aix in the open space inside the wall.

From the enthusiasm of the people around to come and trade, it can be seen that the surrounding people have suffered from Zion City for a long time. Although the profit of the stronghold by reselling goods is less than half of that of Zion City, the hedging of the high value-added goods produced by the stronghold has made the funds on hand of Aix rapidly abundant, and brought in new wealth continuously.

The main products of the stronghold, such as snow salt, bread that is several times more delicious than naan, and "Ganlu" brand beer, are all sold out and have to be sold in limited quantities. One even needs to make a reservation in order to have a chance of buying them. Now all members are very motivated and have to work more than ten hours a day to curb the daily increase in orders.

What? Yes, you heard it right, that "Nectar" beer is the newest revenue-generating product of the stronghold.

Now Aix had so much food that it could not be eaten up. People from the surrounding settlements brought their food here to trade. Who wouldn't want to get a good price? So Aix no longer had to buy expensive food from Rogge, and no longer had to worry about the high price. At the same time, he no longer had to worry about food shortages, because all the food warehouses were full. He had to use the food that could not be stored to brew beer. After all, there was a lot of market demand with people coming and going every day.

Under the leadership of James, the brewery used high-quality river wheat and pure dew water for steaming, and then naturally fermented it. With the addition of mint, licorice and other secret ingredients, it created a unique local beer that customers called "nectar".

This kind of beer tastes fresh and refreshing, with a sweet aftertaste. It is many times better than the beer brewed with bitter water in Zion City. And the price is even lower than that of Zion City's beer. It simply leaves no room for the Zion City brewery to survive.

The stronghold was thriving, but in Zion City, all businesses were in recession. At first, the masters there did not react, thinking that it was just because the weather was too hot and the nearby residents just came to the city less frequently temporarily, so they did not take it too seriously.

By the time they discovered something was wrong, it had been nearly a month. When the gentlemen in the city wanted to eat some fresh food, vegetables and fruits, they found that they were not available on the market. The various income brought by the daily flow of hundreds of people into the city was almost gone. At this time, the city of Zion was in complete depression.

Those conservative, lower-class outsiders, who were confident of their advantageous technical skills, initially insisted on staying in the city. However, they later found it difficult to find work to make a living in Zion City, and had to sneak out of the city under the guidance of "familiar and interested people" to seek a way out in the stronghold of the Secret Bay. Almost all the outsiders who could move around and had no property had left.

It was not until this time that the pampered masters reacted. They sent people along the main road out of the city. At the fork in the road five or six miles away, they followed a newly trodden road and walked for another five miles. Finally, they found a large-scale trading fortress built around a mound.

Upon hearing the news, they initially sent people to sneak into the city to investigate, but they were recognized at a glance by the outsiders on guard at the gate, who beat these hateful local dogs out. It was obvious that people from Zion were not welcome here.

After hearing the report from the spies who were beaten black and blue, they had no choice but to leave the city in a hurry and return to Zion before making any plans.

The clan hall of the Harisi family, the first of the five major families in the city, was crowded with people. Sitting in the main seat in the middle was the current head of the Harisi family, Ivant Harisi.

The Harisi family is a local family that was born and raised in the city of Zion. Due to the large temperature difference between day and night, it was found to be very suitable for the growth of spice crops such as cloves and nutmeg. Their family, which occupied the most land, benefited the most and made a fortune by planting and processing spices.

Growing spices made their family rich and prosperous. There were four to five hundred direct relatives alone, and with other blood-related family members, there were almost seven to eight hundred people. This large family was also the confidence of Ivant Harisi, allowing him and his family to be elected as the leading role in various affairs in the city, and today was no exception.

Looking at the three patriarchs of the other three families sitting below, Ivante cleared his throat and said:

"Did Ogbai Rog say he was unwell and couldn't attend?"

"Yes, Brother Ivante, that's what this guy said. But there are rumors in the city that his family secretly supports that guy called Aix. After all, his family is the only one in the city with an independent dock that can quietly sell grain to Aix. It's possible that the two families are in cahoots with each other."

Fahad, the price setter and patriarch of the Fahad family who always followed Ivant's lead, said with dissatisfaction towards Rogge in his tone. After all, when Axe first came into the city, he announced to the public that he came into the city mainly to buy horses and camels, which meant that he would get the biggest piece of the pie. Now not only has the pie been lost, but even his original interests have suffered a great loss. How can he not be angry?

But Ivante knew his little thoughts. To be honest, he was ashamed of this behavior which was almost blatant robbery from outsiders. He and his family had their own industries and spice fields in the city. The rent and spices collected every year were enough for their family to live a rich life.

He was more inclined to use his own property to exploit these outsiders openly, making them pay rent to him and grow spices for him, and then have them take the few copper coins that slipped from his hands as wages like grateful benefactors, or look at him with earnest pleading eyes, hoping that he could reduce some of the rent and water bills if he was happy.

In his eyes, making others feel grateful and contribute profits to him without any complaints is a brilliant ability and means. Therefore, he is arrogant in his attitude towards the patriarchs of other families. He thinks he is superior to them, not only because of the strength and power of his own family, but more because of this kind of psychological superiority that comes from his heart. He even feels that he has both prestige and wealth, and he is the uncrowned king of the city of Zion.

Don't think that Fahad is the one who flatters him the most, but he is the patriarch whom he despises the most in his heart. In his eyes, Fahad, who made his fortune by extortion, is a complete shameless person, a pest and a cancer in the city of Zion, although he respects and fears him. Little does he know that it is Fahad, whom he despises the most, who knows him the best, and is planning a vicious plot against him to sacrifice him.