After selling another batch of ingots to Foreman Davey Randidly abruptly realized that he wasn’t sure what the man did with the ingots Was he one of the oft discussed drone creators If he was he didn’t spend much time actually making drones as most of it was spent here gathering materials from the workers
These past two weeks had seen an increase in the number of workers at the factory and almost ? of the workrooms were now full Luckily most people stayed in the smaller workrooms but there were others that had moved up to the larger volume ones as Randidly had He was keeping careful tabs of their production and used that to determine how many bars he could release without causing undue note
It honestly rankled Besides giving Randidly a more personal way to gather information this party would also stop him from producing more ingots that he would inevitably need to save for another day before he gave to Inspector Davey Holding himself back like this was tiresome Hopefully the oversight would be less when he had Probationary Citizenship
There was also a growing black market for metals and also different men who whispered of cheaper raw materials from unofficial sources It was almost fascinating enough to pay very close attention to the shift in culture because the changes were so strange
Because right now there were a lot of desperate talented determined people who wanted something and there were unscrupulous people willing to profit off of them As it became increasingly clear that they were getting exploited there was a growing surliness to the workers Their Skills were increasing and as they were doing that their sense of entitlement also grew
Not that it mattered much to Randidly There were several ringleaders emerging amongst the steelworkers who would take a reduced payment to give the same benefits of Skill and recipe knowledge from the factory This was explicitly banned but it was almost impossible to enforce so it happened quite frequently
The new batch of young ish metalworkers looked to these ringleaders and these ringleaders were some of the first people there who recognized Randidly as one of the more successful of them When the ring leaders passed Randidly and nodded a curt greeting they learned to do the same
Several had come to Randidly asking to be his apprentice and learn from him but the whole thing felt unnecessary considering his goals But at the same time there was another part of him that remembered his role in Donnyton as a guiding force and missed that experience But again there was only so much he could feasibly do without at least hinting that he was more than just an average guy with a knack for steel working
There was no harm in waiting so wait he did Opportunities would continue to come he had no doubt
Right as Randidly was walking back to the meeting spot the greasy man had indicated he froze Should he have worn something different
He looked down at himself leather shorts bare feet and a scuffed and burned t shirt Randidly scratched the back of his head It wasn’t like he didn’t have better clothes but This was a very serviceable outfit He had three pairs of the same thing and took it to the washers every couple days to be washed for a few dollars It made him look like a working man
After a bit of thought Randidly produced a pair of darker leather pants that he had received from some nice old man in Donnyton and a forest green shirt It wasn’t so fancy that it was uncomfortable but it also wasn’t just a workman’s shirt All in all Randidly was quite proud of himself
It wasn’t the finery that he had seen Donny strutting around in but he also didn’t seem like he was an Alana type that spent all his time working without a thought to aesthetics Even though he knew in his heart that Alana learned those habits because she was so furiously chasing his Level of strength
Randidly shook his head and then slapped his cheeks No point in dwelling on that now
Now was time to be charming
There was a squirming feeling in his gut
Ricky Stain smiled pleased with his small kingdom
Although he had struggled for a year just to obtain his Tier 1 Citizenship in this small steel working community it was like a king’s crown Everyone treated him with respect and those who didn’t were thoroughly taught a lesson by those who did and wanted to earn a few extra points with him
Because of his citizenship he had access to raw materials and areas that the others didn’t and with the information he had he began leveraging his already respectable savings Within a month Ricky had become a local Hegemon and was now spreading his fingers more actively into the darker side of the business boom
The truth was that Ghost wanted drones and he wanted people working to make them and improve their own Skills Because the directive came from Ghost a lot of the military was very hands off in their handling of the metalworking community Ricky dubbed Stein In fact aside from the wandering sheriff or ranger there were only two police officers who were regularly within Stein’s limits
And those visits were weekly at best
As such a rough sort of hierarchy was already starting to form Ricky intended to be on top of it Which was why he was throwing this party hoping to rope some of the influential workers in more fully and to pry others away from the influence of the staff at the factory
Because aside from Ricky and the military there was a third faction here the so called Analytics Team This was headed by an annoyingly present man Foreman Davey Ricky had some thoughts about striking against the man teaching him a lesson but the rumor was that he was above Level 30
Ricky shivered He didn’t mind offending some citizenshipless individuals but a Tier 1 citizen that was Level 30 Ricky wasn’t so far gone to think his influence could intimidate that man And who knows what forces Ghost had put at his disposal
No better to attempt the soft method and go for the workers
There were 5 that he was interested in specifically Tooya and Diego a pair of tan skinned brothers who had been particularly recalcitrant to his advances but were both known to be womanizers A tall grey haired woman named Sonya who had a dozen or so female assistants offering them shelter from the harassment of the male dominated factory
There was a suspicious old man named Gregory who would only smile in the presence of money And finally there was the intense pudgy man Baloo Erickson Each individual had their own benefits associated with them being pulled into Ricky’s sphere of influence but Baloo’s was the most compelling The man had been selling his unique Erickson Steel for a few days and already some outside sources queried whether they could get it for cheaper than the exorbitant 20 an ingot that Foreman Davey was selling it for
Around Ricky were tables of food some musicians a few of his preferred cronies who looked the right mixture of intimidating and enjoyable for a party and several women hired from an escort service run out of West Providence The guests would be arriving soon so Ricky snapped his fingers and the girls moved out talking with some of the men while others began dancing to the music
It had to be fun it had to be enjoyable
It had to be alluring
Smiling dreamily Ricky imagined that tonight would be a night he wouldn’t forget The night that Ricky became the Steel Baron of Stein and everything finally fell into place for him He couldn’t imagine what could go wrong
Chapter 509
Alan Howard believed in this remnant country and also believed that he was the man most fit to lead it Although it hadn’t been a close election he still felt some lingering shreds of worry over the outlook for his second election That of course wouldn’t be for two and a half years but Alan was never a man to let go of the small details He planned for problems well in advance
Which was part of the reason why the System was such a great frustration to Alan The threats it threw his way were unpredictable Those strange beings that descended and warned the countries of Earth before the System’s arrival did not stay they gave their warning some hints for how to proceed and then departed