Jiu Jinshan said, "Mr. Zhou, although it sounds a bit strange, Mechanical City is also the first cooperative city of the Mechanical Knight Order and the organization that established a comprehensive partnership with them the earliest. You can verify this point."

Zhou Yi had Red Kestrel call 703.

The robotic dog provided definite confirmation: "Yes. Other organizations are not willing to cooperate with the Knights. Mechanical City is the first city to officially establish a formal relationship with the Knight Order and is also a core partner."

Zhou Yi was shocked.

A city that enslaves mechanical beings and semi-civilized entities, and the Mechanical Knight Order, which is instrumental in the progress of mechanical society, actually are significant partners.

This world's development is truly somewhat magical.

Jiu Jinshan slightly raised its long neck: "Mr. Zhou, the outside world has always greatly misunderstood Mechanical City, always looking at us through tinted glasses."

"According to the standards and common sense given by mechanical cities, slavery is an extremely backward social form, representing ignorance, savagery, and bloodshed."

"But the slavery in Mechanical City is due to the environment of this world."

"The trade of populations has always been an inextricable business. Whether it's humans, mechanical beings, semi-civilized entities, or Guangna Species, all can be captured and sold as slaves. To this day, I have never heard of any city solving the crime of population trafficking."

"We are merely bringing a phenomenon that already exists to the forefront, utilizing it and further formalizing it, yet we have faced various attacks and criticisms. Isn't this too harsh for us?"

"Since no city can solve this problem, then Mechanical City will take it on. We not only want to manage it but also want to do slavery the best!"

"We have raised the standards and value of slaves, forcing population traffickers and Slave Merchants to keep up with the times, providing better environments and conditions for slaves! Otherwise, they can't find buyers."

Proudly, Jiu Jinshan said, "In recent ten years, the mortality rate of slaves has been getting lower and lower. They receive more food, obtain medical aid, and even enjoy childbearing care and skill training... not because the world's human trafficking has developed a conscience, but because of our existence."

"Since its establishment, Mechanical City has only been around for a scant sixty years. But from nothing, we now have a population of 470,000 slaves, exporting various vehicles and commodities such as clothing, hats, metal tools, Light Imprint Components, and complete Light Imprint Devices."

"Our city's annual output value has reached 600,000 Light Seeds, with per capita income being 50,000 mushrooms. We are among the upper-middle tier in all cities, and our gap between the rich and poor is very small because slaves are all the same, needing to work to earn their pay."

"This is the report card we present, and slavery still has much room for growth!"

Its speech was well-reasoned and impassioned.

Zhou Yi listened with solemn respect.

Not to mention.

Jiu Jinshan's narration was quite persuasive.

Just the fact that per capita income reached 50,000 mushrooms, this alone was much stronger than Sand Port City.

Taking slavery to the extreme... At first listen, it seems outrageous, but in this Wasteland World of fragmented rule, Mechanical City has earnestly harnessed slavery for industry.

Indeed, it has carved out a unique track for itself.

Red Kestrel interjected a rebuttal: "You're overly beautifying slavery!"

"The rapid development of Mechanical City itself is based on the high exploitation of slaves. Among all cities, this city's working hours are among the highest. Also, due to the cramped living environment, local infectious diseases often break out, and the average lifespan of the residents is even lower than that of remote cities like Sand Port City."

"You're right."

Jiu Jinshan admitted, saying, "I have never described Mechanical City as a city of salvation, nor does such a place exist in this world."

"Hourly labor profit is still low, which is a huge challenge that Mechanical City faces. It is still a relatively poor city, only achieving a substantial output value through a large amount of dense labor."

"But even so, our birth rate in Mechanical City has reached 5.2. This is despite the influence of mechanical beings and semi-civilized entities that are not capable of reproduction. This number surpasses most cities because our local slave population is actively breeding the next generation, believing there is hope for the future."

"Even many descendants of slaves, upon choosing to leave the city to make a living outside, we support them. We also hope they can go out and change the world's erroneous view of our city."

"Many second and third generations, due to the harsh survival conditions outside, return and volunteer to become slaves of Mechanical City. These are facts that can easily be verified."

The Red-eyed Vulture looked towards the drone: "Our Mechanical City has always had fixed pricing. If a person is willing to sell their freedom to Mechanical City, we will quote a price based on the health and occupational skills of the slave. Our slaves are obtained through transactions."

"Apart from purchasing from Slave Merchants and traffickers, our population continues to reach new highs because of the large influx of migrants seeking refuge. They use various means to travel by boat to Mechanical City, selling themselves to survive in our city."

"Why do they come all this way? Why not seek those developed and advanced cities?"

"Because those cities do not accept them and even prohibit them from landing and disembarking. What about mechanical cities that critique and scrutinize us the most? They build high walls, set up cannons, monitor with drones, and forbid migrants from approaching."

"The dirty, backward, and savage Mechanical City in everyone's eyes is actually the sanctuary these people seek refuge in. Why is that so? I too hope someone can provide an answer."

Red Kestrel fell silent.

Zhou Yi was a little curious: "Are you a slave too?"

"Yes, I am an envoy appointed by the city, but I too am a slave."

Jiu Jinshan said, "I was captured by a hunting team and sold to Mechanical City."

"Then who is the slave owner of Mechanical City?"

The bird had no intention of hiding anything: "There is only one slave owner, and that is the city lord of Mechanical City, Lord Dominator. However, Lord Dominator usually does not directly intervene. The slavery system itself operates and restrains each slave."

Zhou Yi exclaimed in realization.

He remembered, Lord Dominator was the previous employer of the St. Petersburg.

He didn't expect him to be the ruler of Mechanical City.

"Isn't Lord Dominator a sea lord?"

"Yes."

"Lord Dominator controls a region where Mechanical City is only a part, operating completely independently, specifically dedicated to the path of slavery."

"The core area under the lord includes Hundred Schools Plateau, which adopts a completely different system, the opposite of our Mechanical City area."

"Over there, computer-based mechanical life forms serve as the central hub for administrative processing. The residents there face few restrictions, experience a high degree of freedom and welfare, high taxation, and they produce various Alchemists and scholars. However, it's very difficult to obtain residency."

Zhou Yi pondered in his mind.

The management approach of Lord Dominator's two regions was vastly different.

He raised a concern: "High welfare, high taxes, few restrictions... then how does Hundred Schools Plateau profit?"

"Education and schools."

Red-eyed Vulture explained: "The name of Hundred Schools Plateau comes from the many schools found there, which cultivate all kinds of talents."

"From tailors, carpenters, blacksmiths, smelters, and chefs to Alchemists, doctors, engineers, mathematicians... there are schools and teachers there that provide specialized training."

"Of course, Hundred Schools Plateau can't compare with those top-tier research institutions. Such as Wisdom Cloud in Snow County, Water Moon Mirror Flower in Mirror City, and Holy Alliance on Holy Mountain..."

"But Hundred Schools Plateau is definitely the place with the lowest threshold and the fairest access among regions with educational knowledge resources."

It continued: "The five Great Centers have high barriers to entry, but in Hundred Schools Plateau, one simply needs to pass the entrance exam to attend the corresponding school. There are strong and weak schools, providing options for all kinds on the education seekers."

"Just relying on the tuition fees collected by running schools, the income is quite substantial. And this revenue core of knowledge monetization doesn't make high environmental demands."

"In addition, the sale of knowledge books compiled by various schools also brings in significant profits."

Now Zhou Yi understood.

Lord Dominator strengthened the slavery system with a highly centralized super factory in one city.

On the other hand, he fostered an enlightened atmosphere, greatly supporting and expanding education, incubating talents in various industries, and exporting knowledge and influence.

The advantage of this is that, no matter how the external environment changes, he is well-prepared.

In a conservative environment, he is a slave owner, sitting securely.

When everyone is looking for change and seeking solutions, he can export various talents and control the power of knowledge.

He has hedged all his bets perfectly.

This Lord Dominator is no simple character.

"It seems we've gone off-topic, Mr. Zhou, let's focus back on Mechanical City."

Red-eyed Vulture flapped its wings and blinked its red eyes: "We hope to take over the basic manufacturing of your company's latest product, the glider from Jade City."

Zhou Yi smiled: "You are well informed."

"Ever since your company created the Jade City trio – Jade Soup, Flame Cup, and Mushroom House, in fact, many cities have been paying attention to your company's latest movements."

The giant bird said: "Taking advantage of the fact that the glider has not yet officially been released for sale, we sincerely hope to undertake part of the manufacturing and assembly."

"Based on our understanding, the glider requires basic components such as dragon bones, scaffolding, Wing Cloth, and safety ropes. Mechanical City can mass-produce these with a production speed that is second to none among Mechanical Cities."

At first, Zhou Yi intended to refuse.

But now, he thought differently.

If he could use the unique super factory features of Mechanical City to send a large number of components to Sand Port for final core assembly and test flights, considerable time could be saved, and the products could be quickly distributed.

Relying solely on the workforce of Lord Sand Sea was highly limited, not even enough to supply internally within the Development Alliance. Duke Destructive from the Shuanghe Region had already ordered 1,000 units, and this delay might mean that delivery couldn't be completed before the end of next year.

Having multiple external processing plants could also spread the risk.

After weighing his options, Zhou Yi made up his mind.

"Since you know about our gliders, then what can you do in terms of cost? Our current base cost for the glider structure is 20,000 mushrooms, and we have already replaced the scaffolding with wood and bamboo, which is lighter and cheaper."

Red-eyed Vulture immediately became excited: "Mr. Zhou, please rest assured! We can definitely meet your existing costs, including transportation expenses."

"However, we have one request–we hope to be allotted a larger quantity, as greater volume will allow us to reduce costs and bring considerable profits to Mechanical City."

Zhou Yi immediately summoned Yuan Tong and began discussing the manufacturing details with Red-eyed Vulture.

After mutual understanding.

Red-eyed Vulture said: "If it's the framework and external component assembly of a vehicle of this scale, we can guarantee a daily output of 20 units and ship them here every half month."

Yuan Tong nodded to Zhou Yi.

It seemed there was no problem in the negotiations.

So Zhou Yi immediately said: "We will give our first order of 1,000 single-person glider components entirely to you for manufacturing, and have this batch delivered."

"Good! 1,000 units, we will deliver all of them to the designated location within two months."

"Mr. Yuan Tong, please give me a paper blueprint that records the parameters of the various components. If possible, I hope you can also send technical personnel to guide us, to ensure we meet your company's requirements."

Yuan Tong said: "No problem, I can arrange for two people to go there; they are both experienced hands that have been involved in internal testing for a long time."

Thus, the company's preliminary cooperation with Mechanical City was established.

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