Since getting used to Sun Quan’s presence, Su Mo’s resistance toward this chatterbox follower had vanished without a trace. Just as now, listening to Sun Quan relay one piece of gossip after another about Oreo and the territory,

Su Mo truly felt how convenient he was.

Anyone with a duller mind could never have gathered such complete information.

Only Sun Quan, who made himself at home with anyone, could go around thick-skinned, chatting with people, pumping them for talk and collecting information.

And relying on that information, on the second day of the pouring rain the two of them had decisively bought up a large batch of cheap raincoats, and on the afternoon of the third day they had sold them all, making a quite considerable profit.

Su Mo had invested four hundred points and earned back nearly six hundred and eighty, a profit of as much as 70 percent!

Sun Quan had invested ninety points and borrowed another hundred from Su Mo, and after deducting the interest he earned three hundred and ten, also a profit of as much as 65 percent!

Su Mo was impressed by how well-informed Sun Quan was, and Sun Quan was impressed by how decisive Su Mo was.

Having made money together, the friendship between the two warmed up quickly.

“Brother Su, do you think we should make another move and stock up on another batch? Grain prices in the territory are really low right now. If we move now, we could probably...”

They were nearly at the front gate of the lane. The recruitment desk that usually nobody visited now had more than twenty people gathered around it, waiting to sign contracts.

Su Mo clicked his tongue in wonder, and at the same time another plan stirred in his mind.

But.

“Do you think the territory’s Summer Harvest won’t come in this year?” Su Mo’s calm voice came.

Sun Quan was startled, then said in a low voice, “It’s possible. The rain is too heavy now, and nobody knows how many days it will last. If it goes on long, the Summer Harvest will definitely be ruined, and the price of grain will rise for sure.”

“And even if it does come in, grain won’t be as cheap as before, since the cost is right there...”

Before he finished, he saw the meaningful look in Su Mo’s eyes, turned his head to look, and felt his legs go weak at once.

If Su Mo had not caught him in time, he might even have dropped to his knees.

At the entrance of Zizai Liang Lane, a few attendants usually sat idly, receiving customers who came to ask about prices and workers who came to apply for jobs.

It was rare to see an outsider allowed through the outer hall to sit in the inner hall.

But today the situation was somewhat different.

In the inner hall sat several men in black uniforms, their feet in purplish-red high rain boots.

Beside them, Zhang Min, the proprietress of Zizai Liang Lane, was smiling in deference without a break, and from her mouth one could faintly make out words like “I guarantee it,” “It will definitely come in,” “bear the consequences,” and “disaster profiteering.”

“Even the Inspectorate has come. The lane is about to enter... wartime management.”

Seeing the cold pistols hanging at the men’s waists and the inspector badges pinned to their chests, Sun Quan, who had been walking slowly, immediately sped up and nearly dragged Su Mo toward the back.

Only when the men could no longer be seen did he say guiltily, in a rush:

“Brother Su, this is bad. With the Inspectorate here, they mean to ensure one hundred percent that there will be no problem with this year’s Summer Harvest.”

“But with our level and this damned weather, even Qiankun Grain Store may not manage to bring in every grain. Should we...”

He opened his mouth and silently formed the words “run away.” Sun Quan’s legs were trembling a little, clearly because he had experienced the Inspectorate’s power long ago.

As for the earlier idea of profiting from the territory’s disaster, not a trace of it could be seen now.

All that was left was fear and trembling.

“Forget it. A monk can run but his temple can’t. If the lane pushes the blame onto you, think about the consequences.”

Su Mo handed the lunch box to Sun Quan, and seeing his face turn even paler, hung his umbrella on the wall, opened the door of his workroom and walked in.

People newly arrived in the territory might not know the power of the Inspectorate, but Su Mo, as the one who had started it all, knew it perfectly well.

After all, the Inspectorate had been founded by his own hand, with Pei Shao, the chief steward, serving as its first captain.

Now, eight years into the wasteland, even the early rules were being followed at more than ninety percent, completely stamping out any possibility of a resident trying to steal “the territory’s interests.”

Just like now, with Zizai Liang Lane under the Inspectorate’s eye, if it could not hand over the grain on time, there would naturally be only one outcome waiting.

“Luckily, the development of the first-generation tool is about to be completed.”

“By the time it is, even if it doesn’t go far beyond Qiankun Grain Store’s, it won’t be much worse.”

He looked at the nearly finished energy stone sickle on Zhang Bowen’s worktable.

Su Mo twisted his neck, and a sense of accomplishment rose in his heart.

Of course, that sense of accomplishment did not come entirely from having coached Zhang Bowen over four days into making the energy stone sickle.

More of it came from the huge blueprint that Su Mo bent down and pulled out of the big drawer under the development table!

On this pieced-together blueprint, already nearly three meters long, were recorded manufacturing steps that only Su Mo himself could understand. It had almost touched the limit of the knowledge Su Mo could reach at this stage!

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