Online: I Can See Health Bars

Chapter 1499: Chapter 666: Return

The two of them came to the roadside, looking at the rows of clustered refugees, Fang Yu spoke.

"Captain Song, regarding the food issue, I have a few thoughts, could you help me strategize?"

"Mr. Diao, please go ahead."

"First of all, naturally we should seize the refugees’ food and redistribute it..."

"Sir, this method I have already..."

"Don’t rush, let me finish."

Fang Yu smiled.

Forcible collection, there are naturally some problems, but what if we change the phrasing?

"Captain Song should know about taxation, right? If they want to follow us, to gain our protection, it requires a price to pay. The rich pay more, the poor pay less. And the collected food, supplies, would be freely distributed by us, providing the thinnest portion of food at least to ensure no one starves to death, what do you think of this way?"

Song Zhenrong frowned.

In fact, among these fleeing refugees, not all are incapable people; some are wealthy, bringing families along with guest elders, protectors, and servants fleeing together, following the convoy, just that having these stronger leaders makes the road safer.

To collect fees from such people might be very difficult.

But conversely, there are also some people who simply have supplies but lack enough force protection. Just following the convoy, such people might feel that the leaders are insufficiently attentive. Paying money might make them feel different.

Thinking it over carefully, Song Zhenrong felt this way was feasible, but there were also some obstacles.

"Mr. Diao, what if someone refuses to pay taxes?"

"Then we exile them."

"..."

Song Zhenrong shook his head slightly, seeming to find it inappropriate.

This method, if it is to succeed, might require some sacrificial examples as warnings to proceed smoothly.

Fang Yu thought of some details, saying: "Moreover, the current team structure is entirely chaotic, I can sell positions externally. The closer they are to our tent, the higher the selling price, getting the highest level of protection treatment. I believe many people would be willing to spend money and supplies. How we utilize these supplies afterward becomes our own matter."

First be a black merchant, then a good person, it’s not without reason.

Song Zhenrong looked at Fang Yu.

"Could Mr. Diao share other thoughts?"

He didn’t deny the feasibility of this way, just wanted to see if there were any better ways to solve this problem.

Song Zhenrong didn’t know that this was already the best method Fang Yu could think of at the moment.

Other methods would be rather simple and crude.

"Then let us figure out a way by ourselves, without disturbing any current staff and materials, to solve this loophole. After all, it’s just a lack of food. With so many of us, demons will surely be attracted on the road; when the time comes, we kill the demons and distribute the demon meat, which can also alleviate the problem. Demon meat is a good thing, maybe there are people in the convoy willing to buy it at a high price."

Demon meat is a good method, yet too unstable, and demons vary in size, shape, and meat quality. What kind of demon meat can be hunted and how many portions of demon meat can be hunted are all unknowns.

One cannot have people starving today and then bring demon meat to feed them back to life tomorrow. Feeding children after they die is useless.

However, selling demon meat and demon materials is a way to exchange supplies from those wealthy in the team to distribute to others.

Fang Yu seemed to have noticed Song Zhenrong’s dissatisfaction with this method and continued.

"Then let us centralize power. After all, everyone in the team is following us, which means whatever we say, goes, and whoever disagrees gets out of the team and is left to fend for themselves. Though we’re on the highway, we’re still outside; anyone with a bit of intelligence should know how dangerous the wild truly is. The result of being exiled from the team is self-evident. Once power is centralized, and everyone listens, the matter of distributing supplies naturally becomes simple."

Song Zhenrong sighed.

If things were that simple, he wouldn’t be troubled.

This team is mixed with both fish and dragons; it would not be solved by one-sided words like this; such decisions could likely create many conflicts.

But truthfully, choosing any method doesn’t really affect these core members.

It is only that Song Zhenrong cannot bear the people’s suffering and wants to try his best to save each follower. Even if the people they follow are Fang Yu, not him, it doesn’t matter.

This is a form of kindness, and it’s also why Captain Song has moved Fang Yu many times.

Fang Yu sighed.

"This doesn’t work either, then how about I lure a few demons over to scare these guys a bit; after a few scares, they’ll all behave, and all their supplies and wealth are external compared to their lives. Wouldn’t they just hand everything over in a panic, falling over themselves? And since everything is self-directed, we can precisely control injuries, solving the problem without risk."

Though it’s deception, the intent is good, so it could be a viable method.

However, demons are uncontrollable, too weak and they’ll raise suspicions since there are experts in the team who can handle it themselves.

Too strong could mean loss of control, causing real injuries.

So, there’s a bit of risk involved.

Fang Yu actually proposed several solutions, and Song Zhenrong had to admit that some methods carried a fair amount of feasibility.

But after much thought, he chose the most stable method to first advance and see, at most to bear some infamy, that’s all.