9 Unlocked Store - First Step: Mastering Agribusiness

"For those who were in doubt about the previous chapter, finding it too random, I just didn't want to leave the week without an update and wanted to quickly reach the 15k words. There, it's just a draft of the story, although I may import some things, A LOT will be different. You can even disregard it if you want.

That said, good chapter!"

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Chapter 6: Unlocked Store - First Step: Mastering Agribusiness

The news of the freezing of savings accounts hit like a bomb, catching everyone off guard. In the early hours of the day, people crowded in front of bank branches across the country, trying to figure out what exactly was happening.

As the hours passed, news of the government's action gradually spread, sparking widespread panic. With the branches closed and no way to access money, many people found themselves in despair.

Although the government claimed it was only a temporary measure and that everyone would soon get their money back, chaos had already erupted. Those who had some money crowded supermarkets, buying everything they could out of fear of price increases. For those who had nothing... well, let's just say the situation wouldn't be pleasant for many people in the coming months.

Carlos sat in front of the television in silence as local news aired. He could also hear sounds of arguments coming from the street; the whole city was thrown into chaos, and his mother was also out of the house, worried about his grandmother alone at home.

Rio Verde was a wealthy city, but filled with simple people with little knowledge about investments. Although there were large producers and some entrepreneurs, most kept their money in savings, perhaps some had something in the stock market, but it was hard to be sure. The soybean harvest season had also passed a few days ago, and the soybeans had already been sold with payment deposited into the farmers' accounts, money they would never see again.

As a result, the agribusiness of the city and surrounding areas would be severely affected, leaving many landowners, especially the smaller ones, without capital to prepare for a new crop, which would soon lead to a shortage of agricultural products, especially soybeans... or at least that's what should have happened.

Agribusiness in Brazil is immense compared to other sectors, and in fact, this is one of the factors that has kept the country behind in various areas. Despite being considered a giant in agriculture and livestock sectors, generating billions every year, the country is still far behind in developing its own technologies, not providing support for new research or trying to develop new technologies, importing much of what is used.

This is also due to the fact that people involved in agribusiness have great influence in politics, making it difficult to develop new industries while maximizing their profitability. So messing with agribusiness is messing with a lot of powerful people; at the slightest sign of weakening of agribusiness, the congress would undoubtedly move to protect the interests of these major soybean barons.

However, this time it would be a little different. After the confiscation of savings, many producers were left without money to pay for machinery, maintenance, personnel, and of course the politicians. Seeing this, the politicians who were supported by these large producers saw an opportunity to profit greatly from the agribusiness crisis.

With few alternatives, these farmers would soon mortgage their lands as collateral to obtain very high loans from banks, especially Caixa and BB. Unfortunately for many, it would be impossible to repay these loans, leading them to lose a large portion of their lands, which would later be resold to much more powerful producers.

This event led to great profitability for the banks, which grew significantly with these loans and the sale of these lands. In addition, many politicians took advantage of the situation to profit by buying some of these lands.

It was a masterstroke; using their political influence, they could strike good deals and more and more lands were bought and put in the name of third parties to avoid unwanted attention.

In the end, those producers who had no capital or strong political contacts gradually lost their lands, ceasing to be major names in agribusiness and beginning to live on small farms. Meanwhile, new producers seized vast regions and with support in congress began to develop soybean planting even more, while the so-called ruralist bloc took on a new form, with new members, new alliances, and new interests, gaining more and more strength in the new political scenario.

Of course, this was a somewhat slow process that would occur over the next few years. Rio Verde was still standing for now, with some farmers starting to unite and think of ways to help each other. With this, they could hold out for at least 1 year before the bank started to reclaim their lands and new farmers began to arrive in the region.

Carlos didn't see himself as an 'Agroboy'; he didn't even know how to plant soybeans or anything else. However, this could be an opportunity to acquire a vast field full of fertile land and thus have a base to advance his goals.

"It could work," Carlos thought as he watched the end of the news. "I can use Agro support to facilitate my entry into the national market, with the help of the system I can get new technologies to improve planting and land productivity, and with that..."

Carlos turned off the television and began to plan how to enter the soybean industry.

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The days passed, and little by little, panic in the country increased. News of suicides happening in various places no longer shocked people. At home, Carlos was doing some push-ups while listening to the news on an old radio. The same old nonsense. The government was doing its best, inflation was under control, blah, blah, blah.

After finishing the push-ups, he stretched a bit and took a shower before dressing and going to his room. Opening a small travel bag, he counted the money saved and took out directly 100 thousand cruzeiros.

Originally, Carlos wanted to continue using only the exchange hall while unlocking the store later, but as the days went by, he saw that this would be a foolish decision. Depending on luck and the goodwill of people from other worlds once a month when he could acquire things more quickly and easily was stupid.

"System."

[STATUS]

HOST - Carlos Dias de Andrade Correia Neto

AGE - 13 years

SKILLS - None

POWERS - None

TITLES - Friend of Death

EXCHANGE HALL LVL1 - Allows encounters with personalities from other worlds for trading goods and knowledge from different worlds once a month. Waiting time {0 days, 19 hours, 31 minutes, 14 seconds}

STORE - Locked until payment - 100 thousand cruzeiros

ARENA - Locked until payment - 500 thousand cruzeiros

UNIVERSAL HR - Locked until payment - 1 million cruzeiros

"Unlock store."

[Do you want to unlock the store? Y/N]

Carlos touched yes and saw once again the money in front of him disappear before a new screen appeared in front of him.

[Store unlocked. Current level - 1]

Operation:

The host will have access to different knowledge, items, abilities, and powers from different worlds through the store.

The host will have access to a special slot machine that can be used once a day for free. If you want to use it more than once, a fee of 10 thousand cruzeiros must be used as a token.

Updating the store level will increase the level of the available worlds.

Each month it is possible to obtain a discount coupon of up to 20%. This coupon can only be used to purchase one item.

Not always an item from an available world can be purchased. If you wish to obtain it, increase the store level.

Unique items cannot be purchased twice: e.g., Devil Fruits or unique weapons.

WARNING: THE STORE HAS NO WARRANTY AND IS EXEMPT FROM ANY LIABILITY IN CASE OF LOSS, BREAKAGE, OR THEFT OF ITEMS OBTAINED.

LOST UNIQUE ITEMS WILL NOT BE REPLACED ON THE STORE SHELVES.

[Search for...] [filters]

Carlos read everything as carefully as possible. Seeing the store specifications, he smiled a little before starting to explore the store's items.

"Let's see, if I want to become a great producer, I need knowledge in the field of agriculture, so...

[Sustainable planting]

An immense list of items related to the subject appeared in front of Carlos, so he began to filter out items that were too expensive or had little to do with his needs.

It was a lengthy search, but after almost 1 hour, he finally had what he was looking for.

[Knowledge about planting (LVL 1 to 5)] - 1.5 million cruzeiros

[Soybean seeds resistant to pests - 1 hectare] - 300 thousand cruzeiros

[Formula - Non-harmful fumigants] - 200 thousand cruzeiros

[Knowledge of chemistry (LVL 1 to 3)] - 600 thousand cruzeiros

Looking at the prices, Carlos suddenly felt that the exchange hall wasn't so bad anymore. At the moment, he only had 1.8 million cruzeiros, and although it seemed like a lot, it was as good as nothing. In a year, this amount would be negligible; soon, a liter of milk would cost 30 thousand cruzeiros, a box of 400g chocolates would cost 99 thousand.

"Oh well, the seeds and knowledge about planting are unnecessary for now, but the chemical knowledge and formulas for non-harmful fumigants are extremely important."

In a country where almost 1/4 of the national GDP depends on agriculture and livestock, how valuable would a non-harmful fumigant be? Of course, it was very risky because undoubtedly big companies would hunt Carlos, but as the saying goes: 'nothing ventured, nothing gained.'

[Formula - Non-harmful fumigants and Knowledge of chemistry (LVL 1 to 3). Total value 800 thousand cruzeiros. Confirm purchase - Y/N]

"Yes, now it's just-"

Suddenly, Carlos felt something trickle down his face, and when he touched it, he saw a bit of blood on his fingers. Before he could react, his vision began to blur, and then darkness.