Steel steam and flame

After speaking, Cassia observed the expressions of the two people and said no more. Moving her hands, she showed her watch to the two of them. Cassia then walked to the window and opened it. The breeze brought a faint smell of gunpowder smoke, and some unnoticeable dust began to slowly fall down after a few hours.

"Ten minutes, I'll give you time to think about it. If you want to leave, you can leave at any time. I won't do anything to you." The tone was very gentle, and Cassia didn't want the two of them to take this as a threat.

It couldn't be said that it was hesitation. Fenia and Geers seemed to be unsure about something. Such an opportunity is tantamount to being very exciting for them, but they know too little information. It can also be seen that the two of them are not people who only value immediate benefits, but will think about the stakes.

"Mr. Soriato, can we ask a few simple questions?" Gers didn't know whether Cassia was interested in Finia. The only thing he was sure of was that he would have such an opportunity, and these Cassia was willing to help them over time, mostly because of her sister Finia. So he touched Finia lightly with his hand, and Gers motioned to his sister to ask, which might make the atmosphere in the room much better.

Both of them are under Cassia's surveillance, and of course they can't escape this little move.

"Okay, you can tell me if you have any doubts." Cassia tilted her head and said.

"We want to know your true identity, Mr. Soriato, and I don't know if it's possible." Finia thought for a while before saying, "In the past, we always thought that Mr. Soriato was a powerful mercenary, and We all came here because of the bounty commission from Mr. Weimer. But now..."

Cassia turned around, looked at the two of them and replied: "I'm all lying to you. I think I told you that I was a hired person, when I first met you and rescued you from the rebel forces. "

After getting a nod, Cassia continued: "In terms of specific identities, how should I say, there seem to be many, but the most important thing... you can think of me as a weapons dealer. A weapons dealer can also do it. The current products and business are the same as Those arms and ammunition dealers are no different, the only difference is that I have a little more."

Finia and the two of them automatically magnified "that little bit" many, many times.

"Just being an arms dealer is enough. If you join in the future, your main work, or affairs, will mostly be related to the business of these weapons and ammunition."

"Mr. Soriato, since you are an arms dealer, as for Mr. Wimmer... In other words, Mr. Soriato, do you still have the identity of a bounty hunter or a mercenary?"

Cassia shook her head, thought for a while and then asked: "Do you really want to know? Then let me remind you, although it is not an important reason, but after knowing it, please make sure that this matter will only exist in your heads forever. .”

Seeing the two people hesitating, Cassia smiled: "Don't worry, it's not that serious. You can just listen." She comforted the two, "I don't know if you have grown your own food or know something about it. Basic agricultural production matters.”

After receiving a negative answer, Cassia smacked her lips and thought again for a few seconds. He thought of this passage in a book he had read, and felt that it was a very suitable metaphor at this time: "Actually, it's okay if you don't know. You will understand it easily. Although it is not very appropriate, there are some essential differences in nature. Among the empires In some areas of China, there is a vegetable whose scientific name is 'leek'. A plant with strong vitality, as long as it is given enough nutrients, it can be harvested many times in the right season. Compared with other edible vegetables, this characteristic It provides good returns. And then, soon after I started in the arms business, I had this idea. But at that time, it was to help our buyers."

"To put it simply, I'm not very good at business, but I still know that sometimes, many buyers will not pay all the money at once. With luck, as long as there is enough time, these arrears can be recovered. But then We encountered many of the same problems - people who buy weapons and ammunition are definitely not doing serious business. If they become corpses in some things, that is, the buyer dies, the debt can still be recovered. ?"

"No." Gers replied, seeming to understand something.

"This is the situation. If it is a small business involving only a few boxes of bullets and twenty or thirty weapons, these losses can be accepted. Because this kind of thing does not happen often. But if it is a powerful black market in a certain area, When a merchant comes to pick up the goods and meets someone who is easy to talk to, for the first payment, we usually ask for an amount slightly higher than the actual cost price, so as to ensure that at least we will not suffer a big loss. But some middlemen, or Buyers won’t be happy.”

"Perhaps you may just think, then simply don't do their business. In short, there are definitely more than just a few buyers or middlemen, and there are many, many more in a region. But there are many aspects involved. The most important point is that the arms and ammunition business is not that easy to do. Let’s not mention it in small countries. Let’s use the empire as an example. There are too many inferior workshops. If you want to seize business in a certain area, you must have your own status and cultivate It is not easy to develop your own black market middleman supply network. Neither quantity nor quality seems to play a big role in the early stage. In the end, it all comes down to price. In order to retain middlemen who can develop and Buyers, it is very important to divide the payment for the transaction into several payments, and how many levels are paid each time. This seems to have become an established rule, and it cannot be changed by individuals alone."

"Thinking about it this way, when it comes to business - here it refers to orders with huge amounts. After such orders appear, in order to ensure that we can get back our own interests, at least the lowest cost price. So sometimes, we will send ourselves People have to help these middlemen and buyers deal with something that is very dangerous for them and may lead to their death.”

"Finally, after a period of time, the situation will slowly move towards a good cycle. Because of our help, they will not die due to danger, and they will gradually develop better because of our help, and we can get the money back. , and because of our help to them, after they developed, their demand for our products increased at the same time, and a deeper buying and selling relationship was established. Such a circle-like model does not necessarily tie them to themselves. Although they are together, it may be more appropriate to think of them as regular regular customers in a restaurant."

"It looks more like mutual cooperation and help, right?"

"I know you will think so." Cassia nodded. "It sounds like mutual cooperation and help, but the actual situation is that we have raised them stronger and stronger. One thing is very clear, their growth is not because of themselves. , but us, and our factors still account for a large part. In summary, if we withdraw the necessary help, the next time, and the next danger, they will most likely end up dead. So , it is not an exaggeration to regard these buyers and middlemen as 'leeks' cultivated in a semi-open manner, because once they leave the nutrients we inject, it will be difficult for them to survive as usual. So at a given time, we can slightly improve We will raise the price and slowly start to reap more benefits from them. Because at that time, the possibility of them leaving us is already very small.”

"Then...the king's power..." Finia was surprised. She suddenly felt that her magnification of "that little bit" just now seemed to be too low.

Cassia immediately shook her head, not wanting the two to misunderstand anything: "I also hope that this is the actual situation, but it is absolutely impossible to reach this level at the moment."