Chapter 551: Chapter 551
551: Chapter 531: Boarding the Ship 551: Chapter 531: Boarding the Ship In just three days, time flew by, and it was time to board the ship.
For Lu Ping’an, things were relatively simple.
He sorted out the personnel, those who went into the yard, those who had to report, and those who couldn’t and had to be smuggled…
compared to other passengers who were bustling about, Lu Ping’an seemed quite relaxed.
The most direct issue was many “goods” that were not easy to declare to the customs.
An explorer could bring 10 companions, and each companion could bring three people on and off the ship (including themselves) and 100KG of goods.
The former was easy to handle, but for the latter…
those people brought onto the ship from the start had no share of the cargo.
This was actually quite excessive, if everything was done according to these rules, most outsiders would have to go through a Divine Kingdom scan the moment they got “on the ship”, then change into simple clothes provided locally and start a new life from scratch.
But there are always ways around policies, and obviously, this policy went too far…
mainly because many ticket holders were already strongmen, so this vaguely insulting rule could easily lead to a second wave of disputes.
The policy was constantly adjusted and revised according to the situation, giving each additional ticket 10KG of treatment, which was roughly the equivalent of one bag’s carrying capacity.
As for his greater wealth?
He would have to work hard to persuade the ticket holder to share some of their “100KG” cargo…
There really wasn’t much to share, a good weapon alone would weigh over ten KGs, not to mention carrying some supplies would already mean exceeding the limit.
However, if it was an explorer team, it would be a different story.
Since many people were destined to come back empty-handed, a team with one captain and nine team members would have a total of 1000KG of cargo capacity, which was basically enough.
“Can you spare me some cargo space…
I don’t have your currency right now, but I can exchange goods or work on the other side.”
Lu Ping’an saw that this was an emergency transaction going on in front of the “Customs” gate.
He never expected that after selling tickets at a high price, they could continue to sell cargo tickets at a high price…
the only trouble was the old problem of lacking a general equivalent.
The transaction was quite troublesome due to the large number of uncontrollable variables in promises and offers.
This was just the easiest gate inspection to pass when boarding.
“These flammable, explosive, and biohazardous items need to be checked in…”
Alright, you can bring them, but you cannot carry them with you.
Why are dangerous items allowed on the ship?
Perhaps most professionals would prioritize “dangerous items” as treasures.
Lu Ping’an knew that this was not a simple check-in, and that those highly polluting and dangerous items were likely to be inspected to avoid causing big trouble to the earth.
But he also knew that the implementation cost of this policy was too high.
It is estimated that in a short time, it would become a null and void story unless there were huge benefits…
A tax declaration form?
You must be kidding, I haven’t even earned anything yet, and now I’m millions in debt?!”
“…You can choose not to pay, and we’ll hold onto your goods for half a year, and you can pick them up.
Of course, you can also choose to abandon them here directly.”
The explorers had just entered the Divine Kingdom Ark and hadn’t had time to relax when they received their customs tax declaration forms one after another.
And the tax was quite heavy.
You might as well just rob us!”
“…This is a preferential tax rate.
After the preferential period of the fourth exploration, it starts at 20%, averages 30%, and has no upper limit.”
The terrifying tax rate loomed before everyone, making the explorers who had thought they’d made a fortune turn pale with fright.
After some consideration, they could understand that not only was this tax necessary, but it was also a mandatory expense.
On top of that, the “God of Travelers” service they all received was incredibly luxurious and was provided as a “welfare” to every Eastern Country explorer.
The long-term local layout of the Eastern Country, with its infrastructure and divine investment, was astronomical, not to mention the “ship tickets”…
you had gods working for you, and the cost of planar travel had to be compensated.
At the same time, the only reason you low-level and mid-level professionals could survive here without being crushed and trampled on by the local big shots was because the Holy City always had big shots of the same level stationed there.
Those big shots from the beginning already gave up their “exploration work” to restrain and deter each other while serving the collective interests of the entire earth’s forces.
Just the long-standing battle over the Moon God’s membership was in their collective interests, wasn’t it?
Everyone theoretically could benefit from collective interests, but when it came down to paying taxes, things felt a little delicate.
After a rough calculation, these huge expenses were indeed astronomical…
If the Eastern Country government couldn’t achieve financial balance in their otherworldly exploration, its implementation of the explorer system would be under great pressure, and the interests of all explorers would naturally suffer.
To put it simply, if it couldn’t balance the income, it would be unable to spend money and resources to lay down stakes in other worlds.
As a result, the difficulty for earth explorers entering other worlds would rise sharply.
Not to mention, without a big shot stationed there, they would easily be treated as “pests” and directly stepped on by the local big shots.
Most people could see and guess that these expenses were necessary, but the faces of those submitting tax declarations were filled with pain and despair.
“A Truth-level item valued at one million, with taxes of one hundred and fifty thousand…
Lu Ping’an sighed helplessly.
In fact, his gains this time were far more than one Truth-level item, but the rest were “smuggled.”
However, the “income” itself was the achievement of the explorers, which would improve their overall treatment.
Considering various developments in the future, it was still necessary to make some achievements.
Lu Ping’an took out the “Bane’s Bird Fork Bone”, which made it onto the tax declaration form, adding a debt of one hundred and fifty thousand to his balance.
This casual reveal of a Rule-Level item by his team caught the attention and astonishment of other teams…
Lu Ping’an thought that his income was not enough, but in reality, just this single “Quasi-rule level” item had already far exceeded the income level of 99% of the teams.
Most teams actually just went to the safe zone/Holy City and returned with little to show for it.
Even if the “ship tickets” at the border could be sold at sky-high prices, they still had to go there, survive, and find someone to trade with.
Rule-level and Truth-level items were always rare, but lower-tier items were quite common.
Lu Ping’an could foresee a crazy avalanche of the average price of “Silver-tier items” on earth.
Although the valuation of one million seemed high, if it were on earth, many people would take as many Rule-level items as they could get, as they were priceless treasures.
“…It’s not too bad; the policy isn’t too fatal.
As long as you pay your taxes within a year, and if you’re overdue, the only penalty is the suspension of your explorer’s license…”
The tax policy in this area was probably unavoidable, but the methods of tax collection were quite humane.
It knew that most explorers were destitute, so as long as you paid your taxes within a year…
once you bring these things back, it would be easy to pay off your taxes.
Lu Ping’an didn’t have to submit much on his form, but between the Rule-level item and an assortment of other odds and ends (to avoid too much attention), the group still managed to accrue more than three hundred thousand in high taxes.
The actual amount of tax payable?
Lu Ping’an made a rough estimate, and that would probably make him an instant millionaire in debt.
“…Wow, it seems smuggling is a serious crime…
Not bad, we made a fortune!
Let’s continue next time and try to get our own ‘smuggling ship’ as soon as possible.”