The Kingdom of Solbe was originally a poor kingdom with a serious aging population, and most of the national income every year had to be used to pay the heavenly gold.
The cost is high, but there is no other way. In this ocean, the safety factor of member states is still much higher than that of non-member states.
Unless you want to become a lawless place, collecting all the gold in the world is the best solution for ordinary people.
The Kingdom of Solbey underwent its first transformation eight years ago. The agreement between Oran and the then king opened up new production channels for the Kingdom of Solbey, but that did not bring about fundamental changes.
The biggest change began more than two years ago.
With Orlan's promotion, the first military sales order came here, and the enhanced prosthetic parts needed by the navy began to be produced in the Kingdom of Solby, which brought about a chain reaction.
Essentially, Orlan is helping this country build a metal processing plant that can process not only specialized items but also ordinary armor.
After the news of the navy custom-making certain things here spread, neighboring countries began to have more trust in this place and began to try to order more things.
In order to ensure that the factories here can produce products normally, the navy also asked the nearby naval branches to strengthen patrols of the nearby waters. For a time, the economy of the Solbe Kingdom began to rise, and the surrounding safety factor was greatly improved.
Residents of nearby islands were also attracted by this place and began to immigrate to the Kingdom of Solbe, which to some extent alleviated the aging problem here.
This situation lasted for two years until Bulldog announced his abdication not long ago.
"Why did King Bulldog abdicate so suddenly? I remember him being in good health."
Xiong had met Bulldog some time ago. Although he was old, he was still in good health. In Xiong's opinion, it was not time for him to abdicate.
Xiong did not realize what was happening here, nor did he understand the political struggles among the royal family. For the royal family, they had to gamble on luck if they wanted to complete the transfer of the throne safely.
At that position, the blood ties between father and son and brothers have long been diluted by power.
"I don't know either. That's not the point. The point is Becoli! He asked me to go to the palace to discuss the future of the factory. I thought it was just to extend the agreement, but he made all these demands."
Ginny took out a piece of parchment with Beckley's new requirements densely written on it.
"The profit is cut in half, but the taxes are increased? What is he thinking? How is this possible?"
The ownership of the factory belongs to the Kingdom of Solbey. Orlan invested in technology and let Xiong and Ginny manage it on his behalf. The funds for purchasing raw materials and maintaining the factory are all provided by the kingdom.
But Beckley's first step is to reduce the original share.
The situation with the navy's special products was a little different. The funds were directly delivered to Ginny and Bear, and the factory could only charge for processing. Bulldog thought it was nothing, but Beckley was a little jealous and finally decided to increase taxes.
"That bastard said that if we just pay the workers less, we can make back the money."
"At worst, we can just let those people live like they did a few years ago. They've persevered for decades. Can't they just go back to their old lives?"
Ginny repeated some of Beckley's previous words and felt her fists stiffen.
"He's thought a lot more than King Bulldog. He even figured out a way to cut our salaries, and he lets us do it. He makes the money, and we bear the infamy. That's a nice idea!"
There are still many projects that the royal family of the Solbe Kingdom is responsible for. The wage level of this factory has now become an industry benchmark, which makes it difficult for Beckley to lower the wage level there, so he plans to let the factory take the lead first.
"So what do we do?"
"I called Olan before, but I don't know what happened and I couldn't get through. I guess he was busy with something. He will definitely call us back when he's free.
If that Beckley really thinks he can control us like this, he is wrong."
The details of the factory were discussed personally by Bulldog and Orlan. Outsiders do not know the details. The focus has never been on the factory, but on Orlan himself.
This is true both in terms of technology and the source of orders.
"What about these materials?"
"No need to send it over. The factory has stopped production now. Go home and have dinner, Bear. Maybe you can relax for a while."
The factory shutdown was naturally caused by Beckley. Strictly speaking, the navy's order had nothing to do with the Kingdom of Solby, and Beckley knew this.
Although Beckley didn't know the details, he knew that an order must have a delivery deadline. If the factory could not start production, then Xiong and Ginny would not be able to provide the goods to the navy within the specified time.
If the factory stops operating, the Solbe Kingdom will also suffer losses, but Beckley feels that Ginny and the others will not be able to hold on. After reaching new conditions, he will be able to make back the losses of the past few days quickly, which is why the current situation has occurred.
The factory's "holiday" has not caused any unrest for the time being.
The factories here had never entered the stage where people had to stop machines and work overtime. After Beckley took office, he found excuses to cancel many holidays. Most people thought that Beckley had a change of heart and planned to give the holidays back.
The next day, at the bear's home.
"Xiongzai, I'll leave it to you. I've been coming here often since your father was still alive. We were really scared when your family suddenly disappeared."
At the door of the church, an old lady stood in front of the bear and talked about something that happened a long time ago.
"Your son has become such an outstanding pastor and has opened such a large factory. Your parents, who are nowhere in the world, would definitely be very happy if they knew. You are very outstanding."
The locals didn't know what had happened to the Xiong family, and Xiong never mentioned those things, but just casually brushed them off.
"Okay, old lady, hold on tight, it's time to start."
The bear's paw slapped the old woman's back, and a light red bear paw bubble was also slapped out of her body.
"Thank you very much. I feel much better now. You can keep this money."
"That's too much! Isn't this your salary from last month? What are you going to give it all to us for?"
Ginny, who was standing by, glanced at the money in the bag and stuffed it back into her bag while scolding her.
"Oh, cheapskate Ginny is really hard to deal with. You were unhappy when we had no money before, and now you're still unhappy even though we've given you more money. You can't be so irritable."
"Even though she's so hot-tempered, she's still a great beauty. I heard that all the young men in the city are confessing their love to her. No one can stop them. Just take it. We old guys can't spend so much money. We still have some money left from our previous wages.
If it weren't for you, we wouldn't have this opportunity to make money."
Other elderly people in the church began to make a fuss. These people were also beneficiaries of the factory. They could not do the blacksmith work, but they could do simple sorting and cleaning.
This is also the current situation in the Kingdom of Solbe. Even when you are old, you have to be self-reliant.
"If Xiongzi is willing to open every day, we can pay a little more."
"Yes, yes, the new King Bekoli is a cold-blooded man. If he gets sick and can't work, it will be a big trouble."
"No! This is a church, not a hospital! Once a week is enough! Well, it's time for you to go home and stop gathering here!"
Driven away by Ginny, a group of people left the church with smiles on their faces, and left various foods and some money bags at the church door. They all knew that Ginny was not really angry.
They are all quite old, and every week they come to see the ever-smiling Bear and the grumpy Ginny, which makes them feel much more relaxed.
After the group of elderly people left, Ginny did not return to the church, but sat alone outside the church with her knees hugged. Xiong looked at the accumulated bubbles of pain and rushed in resolutely.
Ginny tried to persuade Bear not to do this, but it was no use. Bear felt it was worth it to be able to heal the pain of others, even if the price was that he himself would suffer.
"Miss, could you tell me if this is the bear's home?"
Accompanied by the sound of footsteps, several figures appeared in front of Ginny.
"We're closed today. Come back next week if you need anything! Eh? Oran?!"
"It's been a long time since I last saw you, Ginny. You've grown up so much, I almost didn't recognize you."
In the past 8 years, both Xiong and Ginny have changed a lot, but time has not left many traces on Orlan. Apart from growing taller, his facial features have not changed much.
"Long time no see! You haven't changed much from before, Kate, you're still so small."
Ginny responded with a warm hug, then caught her first glimpse of Kate, a familiar figure.
Although Orlan's current lineup is a strange combination that includes many species, Kate, the white-haired cat girl, is still very eye-catching.
"Meow, I need to correct you. Meow has grown 12 centimeters taller, and meow is the same age as you, so don't sound so weird."
"Blitzcrank is back too! Have you taken good care of yourself? Have you stayed rusty after all these years?"
Before Kate could finish her words, Ginny had already arrived in front of Blitzcrank and was taking a look at his physical condition. She and the bear had also contributed to the creation of Blitzcrank, and these were the only three she knew.
"Thanks for your concern. Blitzcrank is in good condition. The systems and materials have been upgraded. It has a new body and will not rust."
"Wow, that sounds great, Orlan, are they your new companions?"
Behind Blitzcrank was a stranger Ginny had never seen before. Since he was brought here by Orlan, he must be a very close person.
"It's my family. Let me introduce you. This is Frankenstein, this is Leliana, and these are my lovely daughters."
"well?!"
Ginny seemed to have heard something unbelievable, and her eyes kept switching between Leliana and Frankenstein, and finally fell back on Orlan.
"No way, you've only been gone for eight years."
"Yeah, I'm five years old, and Sister Fran is technically the same age as me. Is there anything wrong with that?"
"Yes, that's very reasonable."
Leliana's words made Ginny feel that her mind was a little overloaded. Although Leliana was very big, at least her face was relatively delicate. But Frankenstein looked different. No matter how you looked at him, he looked like he was sixteen or seventeen years old.
"My experiences over the past few years have been quite complicated. I'll tell you about them slowly. There are two others here too. You should get to know them too."
"Roar~"
"Hello, little girl."
Terra poked his head out from Leliana's shoulder. Leliana's growth rate far exceeded that of a sub-dragon. If Terra didn't make any noise, he could even pretend to be a dragon-shaped backpack on Leliana's back.
What appeared over Orlan's shoulder was Zach's head and arms, greeting him happily.
Due to the different reasons for their birth, their cognition is also different. For example, even after Blitzcrank upgraded his core module, he still called Orlan his master, and Zac is in a similar situation.
Frankenstein is the creature with the richest emotional module, and is also the one who is more obsessed with being called father. This is also the randomness brought about by creation.
So far, Ginny has successfully met all of Orlan's "family", all kinds of "creatures" that appeared in this world because of him.
"Why, you won't let us in? Speaking of which, where is Xiong? Is he still busy at this hour?"
"Bear him. Forget it, Brother Oran, you are not an outsider either, come and take a look."
Ginny opened the church door and walked into the house with Orlan and others. At this time, Xiong had already walked over while holding the wall.
"I'm sorry, Brother Oran, for making you look so embarrassed."
"So, you cure those old people's pain once a week, and then use your own body to bear it."
"It's just some minor injuries. I can't handle serious illnesses. As for bearing it... there's nothing I can do. This fruit is like this. The aggregation of pain and suffering will not disappear until someone comes to bear it.
If left alone, they will return to their original owner's body.
As long as everyone is happy, I will be happy too. Once I get stronger, I won't have to worry about this problem anymore."
The bear didn't complain, but simply stated the facts of what happened.
"You, I told you before I left, you're too gentle. There must have been pirates trying to plunder this place over the years, right? Why don't you let them suffer the pain? That way, they can pay for their sins."
"Yeah, yeah, I've tried to persuade him many times, but Xiongzai insists on doing this. Did you hear that? Brother Oran also thinks you're being too gentle!"
Ginny echoed Orlan's words, hoping that the bear could change. She also tried to share the pain with the bear, but the bear didn't give her that chance.
"That's not good. Besides, if this gets out, those old men and women might not come. I can bear it alone."
Character determines a person's actions. Even after experiencing countless darkness, Xiong is still willing to repay those around him with tenderness and endure the pain silently.
"Take your time. Anyway, I'm ready to take action. Ginny, Bear, come and help me. I need your strength."
"Brother Orlan, your action means..."
"It's just as you think. The preparations are almost done. I need a stable base to accumulate strength. I don't want to have to sweat in a corner when I encounter any trouble in the future.
I have already chosen the specific location, and I am here this time to take you all with me to move there."
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