While Randy was gone in the other world Liza got a call from Gabriel. Apparently he had started a website building company and was wondering if Liza wanted him to build her a custom website for her techniques. Liza and I talked about it and we decided to have him make a website for both of our products. This technically meant that we would need to start a business, but the paperwork was pretty easy and we could hire people to do the more complicated parts. And thus, Good and Taylor Cultivation, being named for the two founders, Elizabeth Good and Kevin Taylor, was born.
Once the website was up, we uploaded everything to it and modified the listings of all of our products on the other site to say that the techniques were owned by our company, with the website address. All of the techniques and formations were listed there for the same ‘pay what you want’ amount, but we also had set prices on things like the books of the techniques and cultivation techniques.
With Dave’s help we even decided to launch our first device, an air purifier, and had started to design it. I had been studying a few Poison path techniques, as they existed within every root and were therefore a good way to learn more hybrid techniques, so I provided them with many techniques which could draw different classes of toxins out of the air, then destroy those that could be destroyed safely, capturing most of the others. Liza converted those techniques to formations and, after being taught the basics of Formation board design by Dave, worked them all into a single board, including level indicators for some of the toxins, so that the levels could be tracked. Neither of them knew how to do this, but Gabriel was willing to work out that part of it for a flat amount per unit sold, and they agreed.
After a month Randy hadn’t returned yet, but we had released a new product and filed a patent. It even detected the levels of CO2 in the atmosphere and lowered them if they got above a programmable amount, defaulting to 1000 ppm, so that the air wouldn’t go stale if you were in a confined space. The adjustment was necessary, however, because we anticipated a market for use in greenhouses and other indoor farms, and most plants could benefit from CO2 levels over 1000. Perhaps, if we thought there was a demand, we would make a device to produce CO2 if it got under an adjustable amount, and maybe automated heating and cooling units, so that these things can be automated more.
This new product was quickly sold out and the small factory in town that we were paying to hand assemble them wasn’t able to keep up with demand. We would have to figure out a better way to do this in the future.
Two months earlier:
Randy pulled his truck into the base. He had purchased one of those light freight vehicles that package delivery companies use, and had filled the shelves in the back with thirty storage boxes, with one extra sitting in the floor. While the truck had been adjusted to work in the energy levels of the other side and given lower Foundation level barrier formations to prevent it from being damaged, Randy also had an extra battery added so that he could keep the barrier up for longer and recharge it faster when under attack.
Greg had expanded the convoy to include other merchants, asking for a 1% cut of their profits for seeing to their safety. Randy was technically there as a guard, but they had more serious guards as well, including two APCs filled with Condensation and Foundation fighters. Mike was also there, riding with Greg, who was at the front of the convoy, with an APC just behind him. Mike was still the only Core member of their group. Many of the roles were filled by as many Foundation ranked people as they could get, with the rest of the roles being filled by Condensation ranks. The one that would be riding with Randy was one of those Condensations, though he would have liked it if his cousin could have come along if he was going to get stuck with someone of the same rank. At least he had seen Kevin practice his fighting and knew he had gun skills. But he had wanted to stay behind and do research. Though Randy suspected his girlfriend was also a consideration. She was only a six in Randy’s eyes, having a nice backside but nothing else, but Kevin seemed to have a higher opinion of her looks.
After he parked a kid ran over and saluted. “You must be Randall Taylor.” he said.
“Randy.” he said. “And you are?”
“Oh, sorry, Ben Harlow. I’ll be your shotgun for the trip.”
Randy got up and reached above the back of his seat and pulled out a pump action twelve gauge. “This is my shotgun for the trip,” he said then smiled. “Used to bring an AR, but Core bullets for this thing are a lot cheaper, as they can use the Foundation material due to the increased size. I get what you mean, though. You’ll ride passenger and keep an eye out so I can keep my eyes on the road.”
Ben nodded and smiled. “Yes, sir.” he said.
Randy looked him over. He barely looked old enough to be on this trip. Randy was only thirty seven, appearing in his early thirties, but compared to Ben he looked middle aged. Ben had a 9 mm pistol strapped to his hip and an AK47 slung on his back. Randy could see that he was wearing a US military surplus Condensation level barrier vest and an Australian military surplus gathering belt. He also appeared to have various other devices on him, including two magic storage bags on his waist that looked like a typical side pouch a soldier might have, and at his level could probably hold as much as a hiking backpack. In short, he looked like he got the cheapest good gear he could find.
“I take it this is your first time through the gate?” Randy asked and Ben nodded. “How old are you anyway? You look a bit too young for this job.” You needed to be at least eighteen to legally go through the gate and he looked sixteen or seventeen to Randy.
“I’m twenty two, sir. I just broke through to Gathering in middle school, and it stunted my growth.”
Randy nodded. “Fine. Well, let me double check your supplies, then I’ll familiarize you with the goods you’ll be protecting.”
Randy went through Ben’s side bags, checking for everything he might need, including a cell phone. The kid had brought his old one, and Randy warned him that doing so would give the government access to everything on the device when they searched it. He pulled a cell phone from one of the crates and gave it to the kid. “Here.” he said, tossing it to him. “They come preloaded with the Language and communication apps, plus a PDF reader. Doesn’t have a SIM card, so it can’t make calls, but reception through the gate isn’t good anyway. If you want to be able to make calls, though, you can swap the card over from your old phone. Your actual phone should be sent back home. Mail it if you want.”
“Why do you have cell phones?” Ben asked.
“So I can sell them as Communications relics. They can get a signal to another phone a few kilometers away through the app, which is pretty good, and if the person has one we can send them techniques electronically instead of needing to sell them a book. I also have a crate of barrier bracelets, a crate of gathering bracelets, a crate of military surplus gathering vests, five crates of scrap steel, a crate of OTC medicines, and a case of Levitation bracelets. Plus the crate of books my cousin sent and asked me to sell for him. Did you bring anything?”
Ben shook his head. “Only the quartz tiles that Greg suggested. As many as my bags could hold with all of the other stuff.” You could buy 2cm x 2cm x 0.5 cm quartz tiles at any home improvement store. Once they were fully charged in the other world they would contain 1.4 or more stones worth of qi, and therefore be valid currency, and because of their size and shape could be used like coins.
“Well, it will be at least a week before those charge, but that’s not bad. You should be able to buy some nice stuff there if nothing else.” He then pointed to the rifle. “Any Foundation rounds?”
Ben shrugged and pulled a five round magazine from his left side pouch, the right being most of his survival supplies. “Only five, sir. Couldn’t afford more. The rest are Condensation.”
Randy nodded. Spending $1000 for five bullets was a major purchase to most people, but if they came up against a level 3 fighter the young man would need them. “Good. I think I brought one thirty round magazine for my AR15 the first time I came through, with the rest being Condensation. How many Condensation you got?”
“Uh, two hundred, I think, between the pistol and the rifle.”
“Might be enough. That’s about what I burned through taking out a bandit camp my first time. Hopefully you won’t need to do that, though.”
Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.
Randy quickly went over what he had brought with him. Most of his goods this time weren’t actually goods. Twenty of the crates were full of blocks of quartz, twenty cubic meters per crate. This seemed strange to Ben before he explained. “You know how those quartz tiles you brought will be worth about 1.4 stones after charging?” Ben nodded. “Well, each of these blocks will be worth 720,000 stones once they charge, though they will probably take around two months to do so. Greg dropped some off during the second trip, though, so we will be picking up those twenty or so and dropping off all of these, plus any the other merchants have. And two months from now I can go through the gate, pick up my four hundred blocks of charged quartz, and use them to buy a few businesses in the cities. Maybe just some really nice techniques. Either way, I’ll be rich. Of course, it cost me $400 thousand to buy all of those, but it’s a good investment with massive returns.”
Ben started doing the math. “But the bank sells charged quartz for $2000 per stone. At 720 thousand per, that’s…” he pulled out his phone and used the calculator. “Fifty seven point six billion?” he almost collapsed from the shock. “That can’t be right.”
Randy nodded, then clarified. “While technically it will be worth that much, there isn’t really anywhere you can spend that kind of money, so it’s all tied up at the bank. Sure, I can withdraw up to one hundred thousand stones per month from my account there, or take out full blocks I have in storage but haven’t deposited into my account, but the quartz is worthless if I take it back to Earth, so I have to spend it there. Which means that all of those billions will eventually be spent in the other world, with the vast majority of it going back through the gate and into the GDP of the USA. With all of the merchants coming through, this one base probably adds another half a trillion to the GDP, with all of the derived technology adding at least another half a trillion.”
Ben nodded. “Then you’ll be one of the world’s richest men, but only if you stay there or bring it all back to the US in the form of trade goods, where it boosts the economy.”
Randy nodded. “Now you’re catching on.”
Just as they finished and Ben had transferred the SIM card and all of the data he wanted to, a Sargent came over. “Inspection.” he said.
“Yep, I’m ready.” The man came onboard and spent the next hour going over all of their possessions and cargo. The only thing he had a complaint about was that Randy had cultivation techniques on his phone. They were password protected, and therefore encrypted, but he was warned not to provide them to the locals without express permission of the base commander. “That would be Colonel, no, wait, he got a promotion for protecting the city. That would be Brigadier General Jacob Adams, correct?” The Sargent nodded.
“I saw it on the news.” said Ben. “The president gave him a medal and promoted him on national television.” The Sargent nodded.
“In that case, I have one more question. Say I came across a level five breakthrough or development technique. Would I be allowed to bring it back with me?”
The Sargent scratched his head. “You know, I’m not sure how they would handle that. We’ve had people bring back level fours, but those aren’t restricted on Earth. My advise would be to check with General Adams. The worst that will happen is that the military makes you sell it the them for millions, but you might just have to keep it here in the bank until he can figure out if you are allowed to return with it.” Once the conversation was finished, he left.
Ben ran off to the base’s post office to mail his phone to his mom so that he wouldn’t have to carry it with him, and returned to the truck. After discussing the cultivation of spiritual roots with Ben and finding that he had a Wood root, Randy sent him a Wood martial arts style and a copy of Kevin’s Wood cultivation technique for first level, so that he could work on improving his base once they got in the other world.
By noon the military had finished inspecting all of the vehicles and people, put the cameras on all of them, necklaces with enough give to wash under the strap but not enough to remove, and turned all of the cameras on. They were then given the go ahead to go through the gate, and the convoy of thirty vehicles including APCs set off.
The first thing Randy noticed when he drove through the gate was a large sign that said “Welcome to Fort Lindstrom, Ilarya.” Apparently they had figured out the name of the planet, though Randy suspected that the anthropologists had known it for a while, but it just wasn’t widely known. Underneath the sign were signs pointing to the different points of interest around the base.
The base on the other side was much better developed than it had been the first time they had come through. There were over one hundred buildings on the inside area, most of them dedicated to military use, though there were supply stores and restaurants in case you were hungry or needed to buy things after you got here. There was also the Bank, where the people from the convoy immediately went after parking next to it. Randy had too many to carry at once, so he put one over his shoulder and had Ben stay behind to guard the rest. While the crates might not be worth much on Earth, even if they found a way to return with them, each one would have enough value in two months to let a person live luxuriously for the rest of their cultivation-extended life.
After Randy proved that he had one crate of quartz, the bank sent out workers to carry the other nineteen in with them. These men were locals who had been taught a basic cultivation technique by the military and now did most of the menial labor on the base, being only at level one. Soon all 400 blocks had been stored and the crates returned. Randy put nineteen of them into the twentieth and put it into his truck before moving Kevin’s crate up to the shelf. “Well, that’s it. I have now made my investment. In two months or so I will be able to make Elon Musk jealous with my buying power. Well, if I do that a few more times, I can. His space investments are doing oddly well, even though the lunar colony is struggling. Probably military contracts causing that. Next trip, I think you should do the same. Even if you just want to live comfortably, bringing back materials from here can make you a millionaire off of one block.”
Once all of the other blocks had been exchanged they set out from the base. They drove through a decent sized town outside the core area. All of the signs were in the native language, and it reminded Randy of the village they had first sold their wares in near the Eastern Gate sect. He wasn’t even sure if it had a name. This village, however, was much larger, holding about four thousand people, and judging by all of the construction that was happening it was expanding quickly. There were even a few shops selling devices from Earth, multiple cultivation centers if one wanted to learn, and three Inns, for visitors to stay in.
They passed many people when they were near the town, many of them workers from the base, but others coming as travelers, refugees, or traveling merchants. The stores here carried all of the basic low grade stuff that Greg’s group had sold the first time here, much like the stuff Randy still carried, so many merchants came here to purchase them at the ‘bargain’ price of only two stones each, then resell them in other sects or towns for five to ten stones. This made the base almost four thousand dollars per device while spreading their influence and getting the locals used to buying Earth goods.
By the time the sun set the convoy was only half way to the Eastern Gate sect, so the convoy pulled off of the road into an area set aside for traveling merchants and parked the cars in a way to block off a central area, creating a protected place for the civilians in case the caravan came under attack from another sect or bandits.
While they didn’t come under attack, they had left guards on duty just in case. After all, they couldn’t know that they wouldn’t be attacked. The next morning everyone ate and they set off, the watch guards sleeping while other guards watched the roads. Around noon they made it to the gate of the Eastern Gate sect.
“We aren’t expecting merchants today, so you will have to return later.” the guard said.
Greg got out and walked up to the gate. “Please inform Green Butterfly that the merchant Greg wishes to speak with her.”
“Why would she want to talk with you?” the guard asked.
Greg pulled a quartz ‘coin’ from his bag, one that he had withdrawn from the bank and was therefore fully charged, and flipped it to the guard that hadn’t said that. “Can you please inform Elder Green Butterfly that the merchant Greg wishes to speak with her.”
The guard looked at the stone in surprise, then nodded. “Yes, sir. I shall send a runner for her at once.” he put the tile in his belt and went inside to do that, returning a minute later. “I have sent a runner, but don’t know when or if she will respond.”
Greg nodded. “That’s fine. I’ll wait.” They had met with her to arrange sales to the apprentices all three times they had come here, though Greg had simply flown high enough that she could see him the last two times. This time he wanted to make it more official.
Five minutes later she flew over the gate and landed beside Greg. “So, you sent a runner this time? I’m surprised the guards were willing to do that.” she looked at one of the guards in a disapproving manner.
Greg pulled a stone from his pouch and showed it to her. “I bribed them.” he said, and she nodded.
“Well, having the guards send me a message is one thing. But I don’t think you can bribe them into letting you enter without the sect leader’s permission.”
“That is why I wish to present the Sect Leader with a gift that will persuade him to let us enter.”
“Some first rate technique? A high grade relic or pill?” She knew what they sold after all.
“No, spirit stones.” He motioned at his bag and a one cubic meter block of quartz flew out. While it wasn’t the purest, it almost contained as much qi as a person in early core formation.
She stared at the stone for a few seconds. “Yes, I believe he will greatly appreciate such a gift, as it will greatly aid his cultivation. I take it you wish a closer relationship between our sect and your merchant group?”
Greg nodded. “Yes. In fact, I have another matter I wish to discuss with him, if he is willing to speak with me, which concerns the war between my people and three sects.”
Green Butterfly nodded. “Yes, I have heard about this. While we turned down a request to aid the sects against you, as the risk to us was too high for the possible rewards, I am not certain that even this is enough to secure an alliance. I can, however, set up the meeting.” With that she waved her hand at the stone, storing it, then flew into the air and back over the wall. Randy realized that she wasn’t using a sword this time after watching her go. She must have mastered one of the flight techniques they sold.
