Love and passion, cutting up the wasteland

No matter how there is groundwater in the Stan Desert, there is no condition for growing rice.

As a former submarine landform, its degree of salinization is alarmingly high. Even in ancient civilizations with advanced science and technology, there were still many difficulties in developing and promoting salt-alkali-tolerant "sea rice", let alone now.

Lu Meng opened the rice husk and found a fat white rice inside, not the red color of sea rice.

"It's rice from the swamp." He thought for a moment.

The swamp is hot and humid all year round and flooded with water, making it a good place for growing rice.

The residents there are chaotic and scattered, but they rely on the dangerous and mysterious rainforest terrain, making it impossible for a large kingdom like Shaq to send troops deep into it. They have only opened a few fixed trade routes to the outside world. Outsiders have no way of knowing what the swamps outside the trade routes look like.

Lu Meng threw the rice grains into his mouth casually, slurped a hint of rice fragrance, and got up on the road.

On the next journey, they encountered the grain transport troops of the Kingdom of Shake several times.

From the fallen grains, we can guess whether they just went to collect land taxes or made a deal with the swamp. The two were mixed together, and there was no difference in appearance.

Lu Meng can understand - most of the food collected from the fields is rough grains, while the food purchased from the swamps is pure white rice. In the case of food shortage, the value of the latter is much higher than the former. , This is also to avoid being coveted by others.

He twisted the grains and showed it to Calvin, and found that this ordinary low-level hornless person had never had much contact with rice.

Firstly, the place of origin is not in the Kingdom of Shake, and secondly, it is considered a relatively high-end, nutritious food.

Ordinary people cannot afford it.

"It seems that the finances of the Shark Kingdom are still abundant. In the short term, relying solely on external food imports will not cause a crisis... although it is not a long-term solution."

Lu Meng looked at the road ahead.

"and……"

The sky is getting darker and night is about to cover it.

"Although these Shaq soldiers deliberately want to downplay and hide their traces, they still cannot stop those who are interested."

…

Huge sandstone with jagged edges.

A group of Shaks wearing worn-out leather armor hid behind them, also waiting quietly for nightfall.

They held various weapons in their hands, and were equipped with many bows and crossbows. Their eyes revealed greed and cruelty.

The leader is tall, has thick horns, wears an eyepatch on his left eye, and carries a huge mace on his shoulder.

Unlike his younger brothers, who were eager to move, this leader was very meditative, leaning against the rock wall and closing his eyes to rest.

Beneath the sandstone, the last grain transport teams passed by.

Seeing that the Shaq grain transport team was about to leave, but the leader had not yet given the order for a sneak attack, the robbers were a little anxious.

"Boss Wu, if you don't take action, they will run away!" someone couldn't help but remind.

"Why are you so anxious?" Wu He still half-squinted his eyes, "Let me ask you, can you defeat those soldiers?"

The younger brothers looked at each other, unable to figure out what their leader was thinking.

"As long as Boss Wu is here, we can beat no matter how many people come!" A younger brother bravely replied.

The Sharks are most afraid of being timid before fighting, and since they brag about a group of bosses by the way, I think there is nothing wrong with this answer.

Bang!

"Stupid!" Wuhe punched him directly on the head, "I can't beat him!"

The younger brother's brain was buzzing and he was dizzy.

"After all, they are all regular troops. Even if we can capture a food transport team, what will happen if the troops in front react? Can you still run away with the food?"

"Besides, what's the grain of a grain transport team? How many days can we eat after snatching it back?" Wu He sneered, "If you want to do it, just do it in a big way..."

"We're going to steal all the food!"

The robbers were all confused when they heard this.

——Boss Wu He said in the first sentence that he could not defeat the Shaq soldiers, but in the next sentence he said that he would steal all the food. Isn't this contradictory?

"Do you think I am ambushing here to attack the grain transport team?" Wuhe was quite proud, "I just want to know when their deal will be completed."

"How can we provide so much food just by relying on the refugees who are reclaiming wasteland? Looking at their battles, they must have bought food from outside.

"Those who sell grain must wait until the kingdom inspects the goods and transports the grain away, and then they are willing to go back after they get the money.

"Our target is those who sell food, not those who buy food - instead of grabbing food, why not just grab the coins!"

All the younger brothers expressed their admiration.

Indeed, if you take away all the money from selling the grain, wouldn't it be equivalent to taking away all the grain, and it will be easier to carry it with you.

"Now is the time, do it!" Wu He ordered, "The last group of grain trucks has just set off. Those selling grain must not have gone far yet, so catch up now!"

…

"Boy, are you saying someone is targeting us?" A middle-aged man wearing a bamboo hat and linen clothes frowned.

Behind him, a dozen young men and women in similar attire approached, their faces full of wariness.

However, the people they were wary of were none other than the two strangers in front of them who suddenly informed them of the news.

"You missed the first half of what I said." Lu Meng helplessly spread his hands to indicate that he had no weapons. "What I really mean is, it's either later or earlier. Can you please not take the same road as me..."

"—To put it simply, don't follow me."

These in front of him are all human beings. And judging from the attire, there are no gang tattoos, and he is just an ordinary resident of the swamp.

These swamp residents have always been wary of xenophobia and will not allow outsiders to enter and leave their villages at will. After all, their biggest reliance is the maze-like hidden terrain. Therefore, even if the swamp residents wanted to do business with the outside world, they would select smart and capable people in the village, take the goods to the outside world for trading, and wait for confirmation that they were completely free of tracking before returning to the village.

These swamp dwellers must have just delivered rice to the Shaker Kingdom, and were on their way back when they happened to be bumped into by Lu Meng.

It seemed that their direction back to the village overlapped with Lu Meng's route to the relay station.

Lu Meng had expected to encounter swamp dwellers ahead, but as we met in the wilderness, it was fine as long as the well water did not interfere with the river water.

I had no idea that these residents might have lived in humid swamps all year round and were not used to the drought in the Stan Desert. Seeing that there were only two of them, Lu Meng and Cavin, I did not regard them as a threat from the bottom of my heart. The swamp residents discussed it and actually kept a distance and followed them from a distance, hoping to gain some traveling experience...

This is a bit helpless.

For Lu Meng, he could guess the traces of the swamp residents, but there was no guarantee that others could as well.

Then wouldn't it be obvious that this group of people following behind were just bait?

He had no ill feelings toward these swamp dwellers who just wanted to do business, so he stepped forward to remind them.

——Maybe I can eat the rice they grow when I return to Scone Town in the future.

But right now, people obviously don’t believe it.

Several strong young men looked at each other and gathered around.