Hokuma had a drug factory, where one-third of the villagers worked for the drug factory.
The meager income from the factory was their only source of livelihood.
Although producing drugs was an enormous crime, for them, it was a matter of having no other way out, no choice.
Either die under the drug dealers' guns or starve in the wilderness, or go inside obediently to work, even if the salary was only enough to buy inferior protein bars to survive.
At least working in the factory reduced the chance of being shot for fun by the soldiers.
Their circumstances weren't like workers; it was more like being long-term laborers under feudal landlords.
Skai replied,
"Afraid they would run off, they were locked in the warehouse with the goods, along with those farmers who escaped from the tobacco fields."
He was somewhat puzzled,
"Why bother with these guys? If it doesn't work, just kill them all before we leave."
