Chapter 201 - Combat Rations

The rolling acres of planted Poair Trees stretched as far as the eye could see to the horizon, the undulating hills filled to the brim with workers tending and harvesting leaves. Kyle leaned against his velvet armrest while the wagon rattled slightly.

Kyle noticed that the refugees that had previously flocked to Desham had been fully integrated into the economy, with thousands of menial jobs created. The wagon drove past clusters of workers stripping the trees clean and preparing their trunks for transportation to the construction factory, used as building material.

The calm scenary of the vast plantations reminded Kyle of farm planets – entire planets dedicated purely to agriculture with the intermittent mass drivers to accelerate shipments to space. The memory dampened the satisfaction he felt from seeing the successful Poair plantation, knowing that it was just a start of his empire.

“Progress of white gold?” Kyle asked Yona, who sat opposite him in the four-seater wagon.

“It’s spreading like wildfire. Most of my contacts are grabbing at every chance to have the right to spread it in Tenar as well. Do we have any plans to spread it here as well?”

“No, we won’t personally be the one producing or spreading it here. We limit supply to Raktor.”

“Maybe we could talk to President Dekar on potentially regulating it.”

Kyle glared at Yona. “Regulation is by far the worst thing that could happen to the white gold. Under no circumstances should we ever tend towards that. It is better to keep the entire thing completely illegal. For now, we play ball with Dekar.”

Yona nodded, understanding that Kyle was not even considering bribing. President Dekar might be malleable, but had strong morals on the Versian people. Kyle would much prefer having a far more compliant puppet, but the circumstances necessitated Dekar take the presidency. Better than Johan, that’s for sure. At least Dekar is open.

“Sir, even if we do not supply the white gold directly, thousands of gangs and smugglers would still spread it in Versia. When the alchemists finally reverse engineer the drug, production would eventually become present in Versia as well.” Yona pointed out.

“That is good for us. Contact President Dekar and Hayden, explain that we are more than willing to contract ADCON soldiers out on the cheap to protect the border and restrict smuggling.”

Yona was slightly confused, but soon understood what Kyle was attempting to do. “Selling the solution to a self-made problem.”

“Indeed.” Kyle barely smiled, the ploy a standard practice for any criminal organization with governmental ties. By creating a drug epidemic in a single state, they could then earn money through military and security contracts to protect the borders of neighboring states and raid up and coming production areas by nascent gangs.

This further entrenched Kyle’s position as the temporary sole supplier of the drug for the short-term, and it did not need to be said what would be done with the confiscated drugs that the ADCON had captured.

Furthermore, Kyle could ramp up the cost of the drug in Raktor due to the high buying price in other countries, exploiting the price difference due to different regulations, supply and demand. Indeed, it was selling the solution to the problem created.

This was far from the only plan that Kyle had of a similar fashion – such a ploy could be executed for everything from medicine, food, water and so on.  “Any updates on the increased taxes on Euria Seeds?”

“Nothing yet, sir.”

“Good, keep me updated.” Kyle turned his attention towards the outside of the wagon again, the wagon now entering the outer districts of Desham, brand new apartments and houses built over the last four months rapidly in response to the surge in refugees. A roadside stall filled with people eating and smoking Euria Seeds freely was a stark difference from the previous food-strained Desham during the war.

Euria Seed smoking had taken the local population by storm, thanks to the cheaper supply from the Culdao Peaks depressing the prices. Kyle had yet to initiate any transplant of Euria Trees to the Keru Forest, but already Versians were slowly becoming addicted to it.

As of now, the Euria Seeds were not additionally taxed, treated the same as a fruit. Kyle had already previously negotiated a potential economic source with Baron Cain on taxing Euria Seeds.

The taxation on Euria Seeds would serve multiple objectives : the main being a way to prevent Baron Namor from overwhelming the South Sector.

Despite all the economic recovery that Kyle was spearheading, the time advantage that the East Sector had from an earlier peace compromise was too hard to overcome immediately. Taxing Euria Seeds would result in an additional source of income for Baron Cain, and put him in a good light with the Duke.

Baron Cain right now was doing everything he could to stall the coronation of Baron Namor by directly petitioning the Duke for the implementation of the Euria Seeds taxes. Kyle and Baron Cain both saw this as a way to get into the good graces of the Duke and subvert Baron Namor’s influence over Raktor.

While taxation of the Euria Seeds would reduce consumption, it also created a potential for smuggling due to difference in taxes with neighbouring Versia. With both governing bodies on both sides in his pocket, Kyle could generate as much as profits as he wanted from the combined population, barring intervention from the other major gangs such as the Violet Demons and Veiled Angels, who were beginning to spread their tendrils into Versia as well.

“Sir, we’re approaching Desham.” Yona interrupted.

ADCON Central now boasted a direct road connection to Desham, effectively linking the two areas and forming a sort of megacity. The gaps between the two central points were beginning to be filled up with merchants and traders taking advantage of the high foot traffic between.

Desham’s fortunes had surged ever since the war, the industrialisation process that Kyle put into place taking on a spirit of its own. More daring entrepreneurs who were former workers in the steel, weapons and potions factory struck out on their own, aiming to bring mass production to other industries like groceries, food products, textiles, furniture and so on.

Refugees from the war had already flocked to Desham before, and a never-ending stream still continued to make their way over, attracted by the reputation of ADCON as a top-tier mercenary company. This all meant that Desham and ADCON central would be the safest and best place in all of Versia right now as the entire country underwent a rebuilding phase.

Desham was mostly untouched by the war save for the civil revolution – this allowed them to retain most of the necessary infrastructure while expanding far beyond their original walls with brand new utilities under the guidance of Kyle.

Kyle glanced out of the window, noticing the suburbs beyond the walls to be expansive, stretching all over like a fan towards the Keru Forest. High streets, markets and factories appeared where necessary, exploiting the improved infrastructure and utilities while providing jobs to the locals.

As they approached the main gate, Kyle could still see marks of the civil revolution on the walls, signs left behind even after they had rebuilt the gates anew. A long queue of traders and merchants applying for entrance and residency in the heart of Desham extended, but Kyle’s wagon simply drove past all of them, an express route right through the opening gate. Guards saluted the wagon as Kyle passed, all of them recognizing the sign on the front of the wagon.

The old slums that Kyle and Makoa once hid in were long gone, razed to the ground and replaced with new temporary housing apartments. Not many stayed in them, all of them having been shifted either to ADCON Central or to one of the numerous suburbs just outside the city.

He noticed some temporary apartments already in the process of being torn down by construction crews. The construction crews were clearly not as efficient nor as experienced as the Golden Snakes Construction Crew, but Kyle had no current plans to improve them, at least not until the reconstruction of the South Sector was completed thoroughly.

The blood and gore that Kyle recalled from the bloody revolution had been long swept up, the cobblestones street sparkling clean. There were hardly any homeless beggars nor squatters around, and business was clearly booming within, with more trade than ever before thanks to the new industries established in Desham. The market was still not on par with the size of Tenar’s, but could very well become a competitor in the long run.

The former council building that once housed the incumbents of old had a complete makeover, Kyle barely being able to recognise it with its new colours. A unique crest seemed to have taken root, representing Diya’s rule over the burgeoning town of Desham. The main feature of the crest was shaped exactly like a Desham Tuff, though three ornate spears ran vertically through it, the white emblazoned lines accentuated by the purple background.

At the foot of the building, Diya and a contingent of honor guards were already waiting for Kyle’s arrival, saluting as soon as the wagon arrived. “Welcome back, sir.” Diya led the welcome, bowing deeply to Kyle while he stepped out of the wagon.

Many of the honor guards stiffened up upon seeing Kyle in person, recognizing that it was due to this man that Desham had even succeeded in the revolution. It would be not egregious to state that Kyle was the father of current Desham, with Diya as his representative. However, that was an unspoken position.

Kyle smiled slightly as he walked up to Diya, examining her new regal outfit, clad in purple tones with white frills much like a noble would. “You’re doing very well for yourself. I would have assumed I would be meeting with you in your throne room.”

“I have not forgotten my roots.” Diya kept her bow.  “I have prepared for you a room if necessary.”

“No matter, let us have the meeting immediately. I want to hear an update on how Desham is faring.”

“Of course.”

The former black market trader led Kyle to the conference room where they had previously planned the reconstruction of Desham. The broken glass shards of the windows and damaged council seats were all replaced with brand new furniture, the chaotic result of the revolution completely gone. Diya, Yona and Kyle sat in the conference room, while clerks handed out documents in front of Yona and Kyle.

“In front of you is the current economic report of Desham, four months after the revolution. The largest industry still remains manufacturing, with hovercraft production being our highest export.” Diya explained, pointing to a series of numbers.

ADCON remained Desham’s largest customer – hovercrafts, weapons, armour and everything necessary for the mercernary company to function. While the exclusivity meant that Kyle had complete price control on the cost, it was not good for long term growth. “This isn’t good – have we been unable to sell weapons and armour to the Versian military?”

“We have, but due to the reconstruction, the budget for the military has dropped significantly and shifted into construction and social services. In fact, a large portion of the budget is spent on contracting ADCON.”

“How’s our progress on agricultural?”

“Poair Leaves, Desham Tuffs and grains are our primary production focus now. However, it pales in comparison to the revenue earned from ADCON. We do have startups, but it would take time before they scale up to the same size. For now, Desham is entirely reliant on ADCON existing.”

At this point, Desham was almost like a company city, built around ADCON. However, that only served to discourage business owners from migrating to Desham, unwilling to compete with the monopoly. “We will have to set up a business development program to support new businesses. Diversification of the economy will help us to grow larger than ever.”

Kyle was not planning on being stagnant in place – he did not fear other owners or other gangs entering Desham: he was more than confident of being able to keep everything in control, especially with the amount of power that he had now accumulated in terms of finance and military. It would not be wrong to say Kyle could go toe to toe with an entire city if he could deploy all troops under him.

“Any particular industry you want to focus on for the business development program?”

“I’m looking at food production – specifically food processing for the expedition for combat rations. I’m looking for businesses competent in this field.”

“We do have a few startups that you can talk to regarding this. Though I was under the impression you would want to focus on the military industry. Yona has informed me of the plans to prepare a standardized armour set.” Diya asked confusedly.

“The expedition needs more than just armour – we require preserved rations in the event of a long duration stay at the forward operating base.” It was like preparing for an overseas expedition – preparing for three thousand meals a day required logistics on a large scale. “I’m looking to use Desham Tuffs to preserve the food for long term storage where possible.”

“Desham Tuffs do preserve food, but the food still won’t last longer than a week.”

“Indeed. This is why whichever business takes up this contract would have to be extremely competent.”

Diya nodded, motioning for a clerk to retrieve a list of companies that had recently started in Desham. “We do have three companies who matches what you need – perhaps an open tender contract would be a good solution?”