Mythology: Ragnarok

Chapter 307 Commercial Domination

Xuanyuan Muze finally realized what was happening, and his eyes gradually filled with fear as he said, "If food and mineral resources are controlled..."

"Then the entity that controls these things will itself become the most terrifying form of capital!" Slot continued, picking up where Xuan Yuan Mu Ze left off. "And at this point, money will be meaningless. Whatever currency the Kingdom of Ten Thousand Races decides to use, we can only use. This is why finance doesn't exist in this country, because without so-called hard currency, a credit system cannot be established. After all, no resource can win against food and energy, which are absolute 'hard currencies' related to the stability of the entire race. With just a word from the Kingdom of Ten Thousand Races, all industries will follow agriculture and mining, because all commercial activities are inseparable from these two industries."

The Kingdom of Ten Thousand Races completely controlled commerce through commercial and capital means. Now, whenever I think back, I only feel the terror and horror of that emperor. He used the simplest of methods to firmly control all of us merchants. To this day, I still can't believe that I, a merchant, was defeated by someone else through commercial means.

In the end, we merchants were forced to become pigs serving the entire society. We had to work hard until death to ensure the prosperity of our races, in accordance with the laws of the Kingdom of All Races, because the 'pigs' who only eat feed but do not grow meat would be the first to be killed!

We can only engage in frantic involution, where only businessmen who contribute the most value to development can live the longest. Honorary businessmen like myself can even obtain the special right of immortality. This forces all businessmen into endless internal competition, racking their brains every day to figure out how to improve the lives of ordinary people through their business activities.

You probably never imagined that merchants would one day join forces with officials to make society more prosperous. The class that should have been most easily corrupted by power and wealth has completely transformed into loyal servants of the common people. To be honest, I never expected this day either, but damn it, the Kingdom of Ten Thousand Races did it, and that emperor did it!

After saying this, Slott leaned weakly against the wall, as if an invisible hand was pressing on his shoulders, constantly urging him, 'Fight, fight, fight! Until the moment you want to die!'

Slot's eyes were lifeless, but he still forced himself to sit up and said, "This is the business model of the Kingdom of Ten Thousand Races. This is why children from the commoner class are trained entirely by state-owned factories and enterprises when they first enter society and participate in labor. The Kingdom of Ten Thousand Races is also trying to allocate some high-quality resources to us as much as possible. This measure directly solves the employment problem. His Majesty the Emperor makes our lives as prosperous as possible, to the point that people think that merchants are a high class second only to magicians, thereby luring more greedy people into the bottomless pit of commerce that devours people."

But in fact, both legally and morally, our trial and execution were justified. No one sympathized with us; in fact, they applauded us because, from the perspective of the interests of the nation of all races, we were meant to pave the way for our people.

"To be honest, I really envy your civilization. In your world, a businessman like me can thrive and live better than anyone else, and I can do whatever I want, committing heinous acts with impunity. It's a pity I was born into a proper civilization, a civilization that is absolutely invincible and absolutely rational in the universe! Therefore, someone like me is destined to be nothing more than a 'pig'." Slote sat helplessly on the ground. The most tormented people in this world are often those like him, seeing everything too clearly yet unable to change anything, ultimately only experiencing boundless pain and anger.

Xuanyuan Muze watched him vent his emotions until he calmed down and slowly said, "I have one last question: why don't you develop the food industry?"

Slot stood up, his face full of helplessness and confusion, and asked in return, "Your question is like asking me why this country doesn't have drugs. The food industry is strictly controlled by the Kingdom of All Races. How could you ask such an ignorant question? Didn't your compulsory education teach you this knowledge? Or... damn it! You haven't already gotten involved in the food processing industry, have you?!"

Slot's shocked expression puzzled Xuan Yuan Muze once again. With a thirst for knowledge, Xuan Yuan Muze asked, "Is there a problem?"

Slot said, half-laughing and half-crying, "What's the problem? This is a big problem, my friend! Getting involved in processed food means your entire race is on a slow drug addiction, do you understand?"

"It's not as serious as you make it out to be. Food processing has made people's lives more prosperous."

"Let me put it this way, let's discuss this from a biological perspective. Your body is controlled by your brain. In other words, your eating has a kind of 'satiety switch' that prevents you from putting food in your mouth. That is to say, you will only stop eating when you are full, right? Do you know what kind of drawbacks refined foods have?"

Most processed foods are high in calories and easily absorbed, which is why they require large amounts of preservatives and special packaging methods to preserve them for a long time. This is what you call 'technology and ruthless work.' To be honest, you may not realize that the real threat to your health is not those additives, but the foods themselves.

So why is that? Actually, it's for a very simple reason: overnutrition! This is the most terrible disaster brought about by food processing. What does that mean? It means that the calories and nutrients in the same volume of these processed foods far exceed those of normal crops.

But you usually eat until you feel full before you stop, right? Let's make a simple assumption: if you need 1,000 calories a day, eating normal food until you're 80% full is just enough to provide you with the energy and vitamins you need for the day.

However, if you eat highly processed foods and only eat until you are 80% full, your body may consume far more than 1,000 calories and nutrients for the same amount of food. Your digestive system will not listen to you and will absorb all of these extra nutrients without hesitation. So what will be the result?

Your digestive systems will be overwhelmed by excess nutrition! Obesity, high blood pressure, heart disease, fatty liver, diabetes, vascular disease, digestive dysfunction, and a whole host of other diseases—dozens of them, as far as I know—will proliferate throughout the entire race in very common forms!