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nChapter 1386: Taxation is Worse Than a Tiger

nWhen Lin Sanjiu slowly opened her eyes, she saw a person right in her face, staring at her without blinking.

nThat person’s face had many white, shining eyeballs, each with a speck of black. They seemed to rise and fall with her breath.

nShe was shocked at first, but then she realized that they couldn’t possibly belong to one person. Before the surprise could spread across her face, she quickly suppressed her expression, stopping just short of gasping.

nShe had actually fallen asleep by accident.

nLin Sanjiu slowly stood up, trying her best to keep her face expressionless. She watched as the elephant’s trunk swept back and forth a few times before finally backing away. She had always thought that elephants had a gentle and stable appearance, but now, looking at the huge grey face full of human eyes, she felt her stomach contracting.

nLooking around, she found the grand prize leaning next to her, also asleep due to fatigue. Not far behind the elephant, a few others were also awake, now looking at her with tired faces. They had watched the elephant getting so close to her, unable to say anything. Fortunately, after several hours, they found a rule: as long as they didn’t acknowledge the elephant’s existence, the elephant wouldn’t harm them.

nShe glanced at the time. Only four hours had passed since they started farming and searching. However, no one had expected that, after the game started, they would be so tired. The farmers had felt the heavy burden of tilling the fields by hand, while those searching for the exit felt like they had been on a long journey, consuming a large amount of physical strength. Even Han Suiping, who had been lying down and resting, seemed to have suffered from the physical depletion brought about by the passage of time. Under the endless severe pain in his chest, he finally fell asleep.

nThe three people sent to search were resting at the other end of the room. Louisa was leaning against a cement trough, nodding as if she was about to fall asleep. Silvan was sitting under a wall, slightly panting. A few strands of golden hair hanging from his forehead were darkened by sweat. He and the other two had walked the same distance, yet their exhaustion seemed to be the same. It appeared that the room wouldn’t go easy on him despite his superior combat power.

n“No exit?” Lin Sanjiu asked, though she knew they wouldn’t be so lucky. The evidence of their search was all around them. A third of the floor and a wall marked with white scratches from their desperate attempts to find a way out.

nSilvan, too exhausted to engage in much conversation, shook his head. After a moment’s pause, he managed to say hoarsely, “As long as I’m here, we’ll get out.”

nLin Sanjiu sighed and nodded. She turned around and called out to the grand prize, but Ji Shanqing remained fast asleep. She didn’t have the heart to call out again; she wished she could let him sleep a bit longer since he wasn’t used to such exertion. But if a farmer didn’t work, the fields would have no production.

nLin Sanjiu decided it was time to rouse the other two farmers. “Horst, Nu Yue, wake up. It’s time to work.”

nEven though it was already 1 PM, the actual farming time was less than four hours, so each person had only received three food balls. After paying an unknown amount of taxes, they couldn’t even ensure their basic survival for the next day, so there really was no luxury to continue dozing.

nWhen Lin Sanjiu finally coaxed the grand prize awake with soft and gentle words, he rubbed his eyes and picked up his small hoe again. Everyone had just taken a break and wasted quite a bit of time. After a few words of conversation, they all returned to their own tasks.

nAround two in the afternoon, the grand prize’s farming tools were the first to break.

nLouisa avoided the elephant, moving halfway across the room; her face was pale from exhaustion. It seemed impossible for her to go back and continue searching within the day. Despite her fatigue, however, her expression was not heavy when she took over the farming tools, but rather, a bit cheerful. While repairing the tools with what looked like a toy, she said, “You haven’t paid taxes yet, so you can’t pay me, right?”

n“We can agree on a price, and I’ll pay you after the taxes. How much do you charge?” Ji Shanqing replied.

nLouisa pondered before saying hesitantly, “200 calories, I guess.”

nUpon hearing the proposed rate, even the usually unfazed Veda grand prize seemed taken aback. “Half?” he said, reluctant.

nQuick to clarify, Louisa said, “That’s what I was thinking. You worked for four hours before the tools broke down. Considering a breakdown rate of once every four hours, and assuming you work eight hours a day, I can only repair the tools twice. The minimum charge would be 300 calories, and I have to pay taxes too. When you add it all up, four balls a day barely cover the bare minimum. So, each repair should cost at least two balls.”

n“Or you could simply not charge us, and we could provide you with food balls directly every day, avoiding taxes,” Horst interjected from the side.

n“No, that would be tax evasion,” said a figure beyond the elephant, waving at them. “I still have to deduct it from you.”

nNu Yue, joining the discussion, said to Silvan, “You could also collect less tax intentionally, and we’ll share the saved food balls. I know you have to conduct inspections, but if the inspector could cut the tax collector some slack, we’d only need to pay the minimum in food balls—what’s wrong?”

nSilvan was shaking his head, barely keeping his eyes open. “No.”

n“Why not?”

n“A tax collector oversees you,” Silvan said in a low voice, “and I oversee the tax collector. It’s a chain of oversight. Don’t you see?”

nEveryone fell silent. If the elephant itself was overseeing the inspector, this method became impossible.

nLouisa’s request was fair and reasonable; it was the only way for now. Fortunately, the time required to repair the farming tools was very short, and it didn’t delay Ji Shanqing’s return to farming. After working for a while, he asked the tax collector, “When are you coming to collect the taxes?”

nThe sooner they finished paying taxes, the sooner they could eat the food balls to regain their strength. Each food ball was produced in wrapping paper, marked with 100 large calories. Because they hadn’t paid any taxes, they couldn’t even open the wrapping, eliminating the idea of eating before paying taxes or resisting payment.

nThe tax collector, having learned a lesson from Louisa, gradually moved toward the field while searching. After collecting the taxes, the tax collector would have to walk to the other end of the room to pay the taxes, which was extremely challenging for his physical strength. At Ji Shanqing’s question, he looked up and smiled wryly. “I think I should wait until after five o’clock to collect.”

n‘Seems like he gets to decide the tax collection time,’ Lin Sanjiu thought.

nJi Shanqing suddenly took a sharp breath and asked, “It wouldn’t be twenty-five percent, would it?”

nWhile she was still mulling over the significance of the twenty-five percent, Jian Sheng nodded awkwardly. Squeezing out from a small gap next to the elephant’s leg, he said while panting, “You… you caught on quick.”

nShe turned around. “What’s going on?”

n“Sis, we started farming around nine, so by the time it’s past five, we’ll each have produced eight food balls,” Ji Shanqing replied seriously. “Of course, we’ll want to pay taxes as soon as there’s output to replenish our energy immediately. However, given the tax collector’s physical constraints, he cannot run to the tax point frequently. He must determine an appropriate time to collect taxes, taking both parties’ situations into account.”

nHe paused and let out a sigh.

n“Eight people each need three balls per day to survive, so the four farmers need to produce at least 24 food balls daily. It should take them six hours. However, the tax collector won’t come to deduct the taxes when they’ve only produced the bare minimum, or the farmers would starve before his next tax collection. In other words, after the first six hours, anything produced until the tax collection time he decides is all tax. Once they’ve produced 32 balls, he’ll come to collect the extra food balls as tax. With eight food balls, that sets the tax at 25% for each person.”

nThe farmers silently did the math in their heads, and Horst then exclaimed, “Is this taxation, or exploitation of slaves?”

nToo exhausted to argue, Jian Sheng said between pants, “I don’t have a choice either.”

n“But it’s like that only because, being companions, we agreed to divide the food balls,” Ji Shanqing said, frowning. “If it were a group of strangers, the tax collector couldn’t expect the farmers to provide him with food balls. So, where does the tax collector’s daily income come from? A portion of the taxes?”

nJian Sheng’s expression suggested that Ji Shanqing’s quick thinking impressed him. “The instructions don’t allow me to divulge information,” he said weakly with a smile, “but it seems you already guessed most of it.”

nJi Shanqing sighed. “You and the inspector likely both receive a share of the taxes, which is preferable to depending entirely on the farmers to provide for you after taxes.”

nThe rest of the farmers looked at each other and had nothing to say. After each of them had taken out two food balls, Ji Shanqing gave them to Louisa. Jian Sheng immediately took out the tax collector’s tool and cut one of Louisa’s food balls in half, then slowly made his way back with the taxes.

nIn addition to sustenance, they also needed to ensure that everyone had enough calories to work. Calculating the number of food balls everyone needed to consume, the farmers knew there was still a long way to go in their day’s work.

nDuring this time, Silvan had been clanging around at the other end of the room, looking for an exit. It wasn’t until Jian Sheng was about to approach the cement trough that he briskly walked over, opened Jian Sheng’s backpack to check it, and poured all eight and a half food balls into the cement trough.

nAs Lin Sanjiu had vaguely anticipated, the elephant turned around and slowly headed towards the cement trough as if it had heard a signal, eager to eat.

nEveryone stopped what they were doing and watched it. Amidst the elephant’s heavy footsteps, Ji Shanqing quietly approached her and said softly, “Sis.”

n“What’s wrong?”

nExhaustion fell on his face like dust, even obscuring his clear eyes.

n“I think this game is about to turn very ugly.”

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nEditor’s note: I spent too long trying to figure out what the heck Ji Shanqing’s explanation was and then even longer trying to reword it to my own understanding so that it made sense to everyone else. Please comment if you’re still confused.

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