Zombie Apocalypse: Creation

When Xiaoyun arrived at the Luoping Daily's office, he was instantly brought inside by the front desk.

"Governor, you're looking for me?" Shen Wen asked, standing up, before Xiaoyun signaled him to sit back down.

"I was looking for Liuqian, but since you both are here, I have a little request for the two of you."

As Xiaoyun grabbed a nearby chair to sit on the right side of the desk, Liuqian sat in silence, opposite Shen Wen's reaction.

"What's the request, Governor? I'll fulfill it to the best of my ability." Shen Wen asked in excitement.

"It's nothing big. I just need you to make a news report on Zhaoqing and Dongguan."

"Just a news report? We already covered the two cities several times." Shen Wen questioned, his voice sounding a little disappointed.

"Not exactly. I need you to pick a team of journalists. They are going to travel to those two cities and report the battlefield——"

"Yes, sir! I mean, thank you, Governor!"

As Shen Wen stood up and bowed down in gratitude, Xiaoyun was a little surprised by his big reaction. But still, his face remained calm.

"But I want your journalist to emphasize the valuable items in the two cities. Like, describe the two cities as untapped riches that can make someone a billionaire."

"Of course, Mr.Governor. I understand."

"Great."

Turning his attention over to Liuqian, Xiaoyun sat in silence for a few seconds, thinking of what to say before speaking up.

"Liuqian, I need you to be prepared to give loans to all the salvage groups as soon as they request it. Any sizes. Big or small."

"Salvage groups?" Liuqian murmured in confusion.

"Yeah. Is there a problem with that?"

"No, sir... It's just that the salvage group usually doesn't borrow money at all. I can only recall them borrowing once a few months back."

"They will borrow a lot of money. I need you to get ready to grasp that opportunity, do you understand me?"

Liuqian nodded, but his face still looked a little confused by the vagueness of Xiaoyun's request.

"Should I charge normal or lower interest on those loans?"

"Charge it as high as you can. Jack up the price so high that they might not even be able to pay it back."

"Sir... You sure this is a good idea?" Liuqian questioned, his eyes filled with doubts about Xiaoyun's plan.

"Just trust me. I have a setup for this. They should be coming to you by the start of next month."

Liuqian nodded one last time as he accepted Xiaoyun's request, not pressing any further for more details.

"Great... Shen Wen, do you want a prize for this?"

Xiaoyun asked, looking over as he realized he hadn't really given a benefit to the only private enterprise in the room.

"No, Governor. Your choice of picking us as the representative for this trip is the biggest prize we could have gotten."

"Okay then. You can send that group of journalists over to the logistics office, and Houqin should be able to handle them.

---

A week later...

As Xiaoyun entered the administrative building in Guangzhou, the front desk lady quickly led him to the meeting room.

"Good morning, Houqin."

"Good morning, Governor."

There were ten different people all seated at the meeting table, with Houqin sitting right next to an empty seat.

"Houqin, can you introduce each of the salvage groups to me?"

Houqin nodded as she handed Xiaoyun a piece of paper that contained the financial statement of each salvage group at the table.

"The lady right next to us is Miss Liu, the co-owner of Fei Fei's salvage group based in Guangzhou."

"Morning, Governor."

"Morning."

As Xiaoyun gave a small nod as a show of respect to the young lady, he suddenly felt a sense of familiarity. But for some reason, he couldn't recall from his memories.

"The gentleman next to him is Mr.Pan, he's the owner of Haoyun Salvage Group, who's also based in Guangzhou."

Seeing a man who seemed to be in his late thirties with a scar on his face, it matched exactly what he imagined a salvage group leader would look like.

"Morning, nice to meet you, Governor."

"Nice to meet you, too."

"Next is the... majority owner of Qing Pang incorporated, Mr.Tian, who owns three different salvage groups operating in Foshan."

"Morning, Governor."

"Morning."

After Houqin introduced the big three, the rest of the other seven were brushed over as she didn't give them any time to talk to Xiaoyun.

"Commander, that's all ten of the biggest representatives of vehicle owners. They roughly make up 80% of the total damages."

"Thank you."

As Xiaoyun flipped over several pages of the report in hand, it still matched perfectly with what he had already read in advance three days ago.

"I'm going to be straightforward with you right off the bat, most of those vehicles we borrow are not coming back."

All ten of the representatives remained silent, waiting for Xiaoyun to reveal the next part of his announcement.

"Based on the evaluation of those cars before we borrowed them, my government cannot afford them."

Although all ten of the representatives remained silent, the smaller salvage group's representative started to look a little nervous.

"To compensate for the damages, I had set forth an offer that allows you all to gain an equivalent value of the item that matches the values lost.

After you all have finished reading it, you can ask me if you have any questions regarding this offer."

The room fell into silence as Houqin began passing a several-page-long paper to each of the representatives.

He could see several of the representatives' faces flinching, with the smaller ones looking to be in complete shock by the deal being offered.

However, no one had as big of a reaction as Mr.Tian, who stood up and instantly closed the paper after just reading the first few pages.

"Mr.Governor, I respect the work you have done for all of humankind, but I cannot accept this deal.

This is daylight robbery if I have ever seen one. This deal is straight-up gambling more than anything."

"Mr.Tian, please have a seat."

As soon as two fully armed soldiers walked inside the room, the sole representative quickly sat back down into his seat.

"If you do not like this deal, I can offer you direct cash payment. However, it's going to be an installment plan over a year."

"I'll need to make a call to discuss with my other partners first."

"Go for it."

Two soldiers quickly escorted Mr.Tian out of the room as all the other representatives had finally finished reading the paper.

"Mr.Governor, how soon would we be allowed to begin operation in these two cities?" One of the smaller salvage group representatives asked.

"By the end of next month, if all things go as planned. No later than August is the promise I can give."

"Will the import duties be lowered?" Another smaller salvage group representative asked.

"Sorry, that will remain the same."

Xiaoyun could see that all nine of the representatives instantly looked disappointed. But he remained firm as he waited for their next question.

"Mr.Governor, if we sell the item in the same city where we found them, there shouldn't be any import duties, right?" Miss Liu curiously asked.

"Yes, that is correct."

"Governor, I don't think this evaluation is correct. It's way over-evaluated beyond what a normal zone of area would contain.

And the bundles area is so much different than the one in the past. Why can't we pick the areas we want to clear?" Mr.Pan argued.

"The evaluation is nonnegotiable."

As everyone in the room fell into silence, two of the soldiers from outside came back with Mr.Tian, putting his phone away.

"Mr.Governor, I'll take the installment plan."

"Great."

Houqin quickly handed Mr.Tian a stack of paper alongside a pen before turning over to Xiaoyun, awaiting his next order.

"Ahem, if you guys need to make a phone call, you can do so too."

Almost all of the representative of the smaller salvage groups got off their seat. But they quickly returned after just a two-minute phone call.

The majority of them requested the direct cash plan, which Xiaoyun accepted as Houqin handed them their installation paper.

"Miss Liu, you aren't going to make any phone calls?"

"My husband has already granted me the full authority to make the decision... Mr.Governor, can I ask a little question?"

"Sure, go for it."

"Will these areas be for sale in the future?"

"No. This is the only opportunity... At least for these two cities. The other city will be following through with the normal procedure with the civilian government."

Every representative let out a small sigh of relief as soon as he added the last part of his sentence at the very last second.

"Thank you."

Seeing the two biggest salvage groups reading his city sale back and forth with no request for an installment plan, Xiaoyun knew he had them on the hook.

All he now has to do is add one more chip to the bargaining table.

"You all read the Luoping Daily, right?"