The Farming Saint in the Starry Wasteland (Elizabeth Schofield) novel Chapter 491

Chapter 491 Price Hike

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Chapter 491 Price Hike

Black Panther Squad didn’teeme cheap. Their specialty was close protection, security work, and tracking down rare mineral deposits. What were they doing all the way out here?

Felix and Olivia looked at each other, then both sighed at the same moment.

“We were contracted by Seafarm Group,” Felix said. “We came to catch Cluckoo Chickens and Redhogs.”

At the mention of Seafarm Group, Elizabeth looked up and exchanged a glance with Desmond and the others.

“Seafarm Group hired you to catch Cluckoo Chickens?” A thread of dry amusement wound through Tyson’s voice. “Black Panther’s really been reduced to that?”

Olivia’s face went a little pink. “After you left, we lost more people, one after another,” she said quietly. “Barely any of the old crew is left. We hadn’t landed a decent contract in a long time. The pay from Seafarm Group was good, and a lot of squads took the job.”

“How much?” Elizabeth asked, curious. Olivia held up one hand and showed a number with her fingers. Elizabeth’s eyes went wide. “That’s practically the price of a whole Cluckoo Chicken!”

Clara spoke up from beside her. “It’s actually more than that. Meat, eggs, and dairy, the prices on everything have skyrocketed. And not by a little. We’re talking double, sometimes triple.”

Elizabeth blinked. “Double? Triple?”

Clara nodded.

“I checked Seafarm Group’s listings before we shipped out. Cluckoo Chicken is up almost two hundred percent. Redhog is even worse, three hundred. Eggs are up. Milk is up. Everything’s up.”

Elizabeth frowned and turned to Melton. “Pull up your device and check.” Melton already had it open.

He navigated to the pricing page on Starnet and projected it flat across the tabletop.

A column of figures blinked into view, and everyone leaned in close.

Cluckoo Chicken. The price was 3,000 stellar coins per pound one week ago. The current price was 7,000 stellar coins per pound.

Redhog. Price was 4,000 stellar coins per pound one week ago. The current price was 9,000 stellar coins per pound.

Eggs. Price was 200 stellar coins each one week ago. The current price was 450 stellar coins each.

Milk. Price was 500 stellar coins per quart one week ago. The current price was 1,000 stellar coins per quart.

Elizabeth read down the list one line at a time, and her expression drifted from startled to something slow and quietly calculating.

Desmond’s face darkened. “This is outrageous. Prices doubling and tripling in a single week? How is any ordinary person supposed

to eat?”

Melton scrolled further down and landed on the Starnet comments section.

One post read, “Has Seafarm Group completely lost it?! This is straight-up robbery!”

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Chapter 491 Price Hike

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Another one fullowed, “It’s not that they’ve lost it. They’re running a shakedown. Has nobody noticed? If you want meat, eggs, or dairy froni them now, you’re forced to bundle it with their produce. Their fruits and vegetables are overpriced and taste like wet cardboard. Nobody was buying them, so they made it mandatory.”

A third chimed in, “I went to the grocery store last week to pick up a few eggs, and they told me I had to buy a full case of tomatoes with them. Those tomatoes looked half dead akgady, cost three times what Tycoon Farm charges, and tasted nowhere near as good.”

Then came. “Seafarm Group’s using their meat and dairy monopoly to unload produce nobody wants onto the rest of us.”

Another one added, “Tycoon Farm’s produce is actually good, and Seafarm Group can’t compete with it, so they take it out on consumers instead. If you want a fight, go fight Tycoon Farm. Punishing us for your own failures isn’t strength.”

The next read, “Holding strong and not buying a single thing from Seafarm Group, Liquid supplements taste terrible, but at least I’m not getting robbed.”

And the last one said, “Same. I’d rather live on liquid supplements than let Seafarm Group walk all over us.”

Desmond finished reading and brought his open palm down on the table with a resounding crack.

“Damn those bastards!”

Tyson’s voice came sharp and hot. “Absolute nerve. They can’t sell their own produce, so they force it on everyone else. That’s extortion.”

Melton pushed his glasses up. His voice stayed calm, but there was anger underneath it. “This is what a monopoly looks like when it rots. No competition means they set whatever prices they want and bundle whatever they want. Consumers have nothing left to do but accept it.”

Elizabeth hadn’t said a single word through any of it.

She sat there staring at the prices, staring at the comments, and with every passing second, her eyes grew brighter and more alive.

Desmond caught her expression and paused. “Boss?”

Elizabeth looked up and smiled.

It was not an angry smile, not a helpless one. It was the smile of someone who had just seen an opportunity.

“This is great,” she said.

The entire table glared at her.

Great?

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