Franchise God - Chapter 1633
Only Krnovel
Franchise God Episode 1633
349. Divorce is a mess (2)
The swimming group has completely withdrawn from the United States!
At first, Americans did not believe this rumor.
No, why would you withdraw?
In America right now, grocery prices are just what they say they are worth.
If Ha Soo-young is known as the ‘money-crazy, evil capitalist kingpin’, then he would be trying to scrape together money at times like this.
Even when I heard that grain cargo ships had turned back, I thought it was a draconian measure to drive up prices further.
But the additional news coming in was equally ominous.
The cargo ship, which had changed course, did not return to Korea, but instead headed straight for Africa.
If they were planning to bluff the US and get a higher price, shouldn’t they be waiting in Korean territorial waters?
If the ship goes to Africa, it means there is no intention of selling it in America.
If I was going to waste time, I would have made the boat wait.
“They say that the US Treasury has withdrawn all of its $5.7 trillion deposits?”
Although there is still $1 trillion left, it is true that the entire amount has been withdrawn in New York.
“I heard that Goliath stopped construction of the vacuum tube train and withdrew from the entire place?”
Tens of thousands of kilometers of unfinished structures remained in ruins.
“They sold all their ranches! They sold off all the cattle, over 30 million, and left!”
“They even sold the Empire State Building!”
“They say all pesticide drones have been withdrawn!”
“Nanofood will also stop doing business if its stockpile of food materials runs out!”
As the facts began to come to light, American society began to panic.
“Is this because the federal government instigated the withdrawal of all nuclear fusion power plants?”
A diametrically opposed misunderstanding gained great strength from all sides.
To anyone who looked at it, it made no sense that Ha Su-young had set fire to the nuclear fusion power plant.
The electricity bill from a single power plant is enormous, so why would they do something like that?
The culprit must be the federal government (which controls Congress).
“Canned food! We need to buy more canned food!”
“Three years’ worth of stockpiling is not enough! We need to stockpile more canned goods!”
The already heated long-term preservation stockpiling fever has become even hotter.
All grocery stores, whether wholesale or retail, were closed.
It wasn’t because there was no food produced by Nanofood.
This was because there were deaths and, in severe cases, gunfights during fights over groceries.
Wholesalers and retailers, fearful of bloodshed, did not open their stores even when stock arrived.
No, rather, they took advantage of their position as wholesalers and retailers to take over the canned goods inventory.
In the midst of all this, the only grocery store that remained open was Fruit Foods.
Fruit Foods opened its doors and sold Tiny Meats as usual, regardless of how American society was doing.
Fruit Foods also sold canned food, but it did not have a long shelf life like Nanofoods.
“Theoretically, you can eat it after up to 7 years, but we strongly recommend consuming it within 3 years. That’s why the expiration date is set at 3 years.”
“Because after three years, the taste may deteriorate, and the surface of the can may become damaged or rusty.”
“We don’t can our products with the expectation that they will last for decades like other companies. We can our products the way we normally do.”
Fruit Foods, under Ha Soo-young’s direction, stockpiled enough grain to last five years.
In preparation for a time when trade between the two countries is completely cut off.
Stored grains are taken out when necessary and ground into powder without refining to make feed for ‘living organisms’.
Seeing the situation, I understood why Fruit Edwards had been told to store grain for five years.
In order for Ha Soo-young to show a hard-line stance toward the United States, he would have had to completely cut off the supply of Fruit Food grains.
Tiny Meats were already selling well, but now it was common to see long lines of people waiting before the opening.
Even the National Guard came out to stand guard, preventing looters from approaching.
State governments, feeling a serious sense of crisis, decided that they had to protect Fruit Foods stores.
* * *
Nanofoods acquired Suyeong Ranch.
To be exact, they bought all 30 million cows on the ranch.
Naturally, Nanofoods did not have the ability to do livestock farming.
Ha Su-yeong did not give the cattle to be raised as cattle ranchers, but meant to slaughter them all.
“Thirty million is the amount of cattle slaughtered in the United States alone last year. When will they all be slaughtered?”
Because feed is in short supply, we must slaughter the animals as soon as possible.
“Don’t worry. There’s a swimming ranch slaughterhouse operated by Calon Ranch. Calon Ranch said they’d take care of everything, so there shouldn’t be a problem.”
“Didn’t you say you were going to buy some cattle from the Calone Ranch? That would be tempting.”
“That may be true. But Mr. Callon also understands why all the cows at the swimming ranch are slaughtered. He won’t say anything like that.”
Balmer Steen smiled bitterly.
“Even if we add more cows, it’s difficult right now because of the lack of feed.”
Just transporting 30 million cattle to slaughterhouses was a monumental task.
There was a slaughterhouse near the swimming ranch, but even though it was a short distance, transporting the cattle one by one on trucks took a lot of time.
“Are all 30 million of them canned? It would be okay to process some into long-term frozen products and distribute some as refrigerated products.”
“I repeat, originally there would have been no need to slaughter everything like this. This is for show. There can be no exceptions.”
Canning is the most unpalatable way to eat beef.
A processing method that focuses solely on the goal of long-term preservation.
“It’s to show Washington that the swimming group is completely withdrawing from the United States, but it can’t be processed into anything other than canned food.”
“Since they are live animals, they are at least slaughtered. If it were a wheat field or something, they would have burned it all down without even harvesting it.”
“Maybe so.”
And so the endless slaughter began.
When the council heard this news, they tried to stop the killings by any means possible.
This was because preserving as many cattle as possible and allowing them to raise calves was the only way to solve the food crisis.
But Nanofood flatly rejected it.
“There’s no feed to feed them anyway. It’s better to just slaughter them all and make canned food. Do you know how much canned food costs now?”
“Even for the same weight of beef, it is much more cost-effective to can it than to distribute it refrigerated. Are you trying to suppress corporate profit-making activities now? In this capitalist country?”
“Anyway, we’re going to can the sprouts. Don’t interfere.”
Beef Callon, who was in charge of the slaughter, ended up slaughtering all of those cattle.
The slaughtered cattle were processed at the Nanofood canning factory and placed into aluminum cans.
The Congress was extremely saddened by this incident.
“If we had not slaughtered 30 million animals right away but continued to raise them, we would have been able to secure a steady supply of meat.”
“What kind of nonsense is that when it’s hard to get feed?”
The few small farms that used to cater to the wealthy have disappeared.
Farmed fish fed beef feed used to sell for thousands of dollars apiece, but now beef itself is hard to come by.
And after all the cattle were slaughtered, bulldozers and other heavy equipment stormed the ranch.
They began to mercilessly destroy all the facilities that made up the ranch, including the barracks, staff quarters, automatic feeders, temperature control systems, and fences.
As if he was roaring that he would never return here again.
The sight shocked American society.
“I know you withdrew, but… … ”
“How can you destroy all that good ranch so mercilessly……”
“Now you’re showing a performance that definitely shows that you won’t be coming back again.”
Those who opposed the Ha Soo-young antagonism were saddened, and those who only shouted, “Only a strong America!” were incensed and ran wild.
“We don’t need Ha Soo-young.”
“Kick Ha Soo-young out.”
“I don’t need beef raised by Ha Su-young.”
“America is great. America is great.”
* * *
“I don’t know what’s going on with the country.”
In the quiet study, more than a dozen middle-aged and elderly people were gathered.
These were former politicians who had once served in the House and Senate and signed the American Treaty.
Although he lost the power to raise his voice due to being pushed out by the hardliners, his concern for the country remained the same.
“I really can’t understand it. The swimming group has finally withdrawn from the United States. Why did it have to be like this?”
“You guys are stupid. Did you go out so forcefully just to see this happen?”
“It wasn’t because we were stupid that we signed the America Treaty.”
“I was worried about the growing right-wing shift around the world, but who would have thought that even Congress would be swept up in it?”
The eldest man gave a hazy expression and let out a hollow laugh.
“After looking into it, I found out that the only thing on the minds of the hardliners in Congress right now is war.”
“War… … . It’s horrifying that they really thought they could subdue the Federation through war alone.”
“Because the Federation didn’t invest much of its scientific resources into weapons development. They probably thought that if not now, there would never be a time when the United States would have the upper hand militarily.”
“There is only one difference. During the Drowen administration, regardless of their differences in superiority, they just wanted to be friends, while the current hardliners are obsessed with maintaining America’s superiority at all costs.”
“That’s right. That difference created the current situation.”
“These days, they say that no matter what you do, kids get scratched, have sudden reactions, and have no follow-up… … .”
What can we do for America’s future?
We’ve been meeting quietly to discuss it, but there’s no hope in sight.
“President Drowen has left for Nevada.”
“There is a swimming casino hotel there. It is the only remaining swimming group asset in the current situation.”
“We should also leave for Nevada. There are no answers in the East. At least if we stay near a casino hotel, we can contact the swimming group.”
“Whew, I guess I’ll have to prepare for the future there. What a struggle this will be in my later years… … “
Former politicians who signed the America Treaty for the benefit of the United States left for Nevada.
Young hardliners in Washington, intent on America’s national interest, were busy plotting war.
Wall Street took notice and began to slowly move capital to the western United States.
A regional structure was gradually taking shape, with hardliners in the east and moderates in the west.
* * *
Early autumn.
At that time, a massive snowstorm covered the American continent, which no one had expected.
The city center saw an increase in traffic accidents due to black ice, but there was no major damage beyond the inconvenience to citizens.
However, the damage to livestock farms was significant.
It was completely unexpected that a cold front from the Arctic would suddenly hit just as summer was coming to an end.
It was definitely 26 degrees right before I went to bed, but who would have thought that it would suddenly drop to -30 degrees in the morning?
More than 20 percent of poultry, pigs and all livestock died.
By weight, it was 20%, but by number, it was over 70%. This is because large livestock such as cows survived relatively well.
Two weeks after a midsummer night’s cold snap, public employee unions in Los Angeles are on a massive strike.
It was a protest demanding that one third of the monthly salary be paid in the form of one month’s worth of canned food for a family of four.