Love and passion, cutting up the wasteland

"Don't you want to meet him?" Lu Meng said, "After all, we are from the same hometown."

He was standing on the high wall, with his hands on the arrow slits, looking into the distance.

The team in the distance had shrunk to the size of an ant on the horizon, slowly crawling and marching - although with his current eyesight, he could still see the armor on everyone's body if he wanted, but there was no need to do so.

The wall under Lu Meng's feet was no longer the earthen fortress before. It was towering, thick and the road was enough for horses to run - behind him, there were indeed tall and strong beasts of burden passing by.

This Great Wall was built in a long line, flattening the terrain and mountains below. The brick and stone structure was less affected by the weather and would not become muddy due to rain and snow mixed with green grass and yellow soil. It looked like a highway built in the air.

There is no war in Shan right now, so the guards on the city walls don't need to be so dense. The Great Wall is connected to the Rotten Town in the swamp. If there are any valuable goods or important documents there, they can just climb the Great Wall and send them all the way. Communication is also quite convenient.

As for the Great Wall itself, if there is anything that can show the original style of the past, it is the strange adhesive between the gaps of bricks and stones. They are glowing with a strange red color, and they are connected to each other along the line, like a living blood network.

The craftsmanship of the Beehive Clan.

It can still stand the test.

If only a section of the Great Wall is pulled out now, it is naturally not as good as the military town of Scone, but from the overall point of view, it runs through Shandi and closes the mouth, which is also a wonder that has never appeared on this grassland.

On the north side of the Land of Light, there are still projects going on. Without the restriction of rebuilding on the basis of the Red Wall, its scale will be even more magnificent. When this delegation completely leaves the grassland border, it will see how the soldiers under the Red King are. It is a pity that it is impossible to know what kind of surprises those technology hunters and other new members will make.

We can only guess a little in our imagination.

Lu Meng stood on the wall. Although he did not deliberately repel the guards, he kept a certain distance from them. From a distance, he looked like a lone person.

But as he asked, a petite figure suddenly appeared beside him - or maybe she had always been there, but even if ordinary people saw it, they would subconsciously ignore it.

Anti-slaver Bo.

Mr. Gray stayed to give technical guidance to the Shadow Department. She and Lu Meng had contact and cooperation in Shark Village as early as Jage.

Now the latter left early because he had to assist Hamut. The remaining Bo was the anti-slaver in the Land of Light that Lu Meng was most familiar with.

At the same time, she also had another identity.

A former tech hunter.

Born in the Lagoon - her water skills were developed in her hometown.

It is even frank to say that when Bo was still a tech hunter, she was doing well. She was a bit of a star rookie in the Lagoon, and even the local organizations were very optimistic about her - but for some reason, after experiencing certain events, this hunter suddenly announced that she would withdraw from the organization.

It stands to reason that the tech hunter organization is loose, and it is relatively free to leave without any interference. However, in the face of Bo's decision, the higher-ups actually sent someone to ask the reason and persuade her, which shows that they valued her. It's a pity that they returned in vain, and it was a pity that she directly ruined her future of being trained.

Of course, Lu Meng already knew her true destination, but the world didn't know.

Afterwards, Bo did not cut off contact with the Tech Hunters. She often appeared at the Black Scratch headquarters, taking on some insignificant peripheral work and being a "mercenary of mercenaries" - and because of this relationship, even the United City officials did not associate a certain dangerous assassin who suddenly appeared with this once popular female hunter, and covered it up perfectly.

As the saying goes, great people hide in the city.

In this respect, Bo is worthy of being a master of stealth.

But even though she cooperated with the Tech Hunters on the surface and provided convenience for anti-slavers in secret... she never returned to her real hometown, the Depression Lagoon.

However, Lu Meng estimated that if Bo appeared in public, even a scholar-type Lake Town hunter like Liu Si might still recognize her. After all, she is a role model of a senior in the circle, and the legendary "other people's children" used for comparison.

For this reason, he also considered whether to ask Bo to accompany him when he first met with the Tech Hunters, which might have a miraculous effect... But in the end, Bo herself rejected it, and it was not necessary, so Lu Meng naturally would not force it.

Now, the tech hunters have left Flash, and the only hunter from Lake Town left is Liu Si, and Bo has no intention of showing up until the end.

That’s why Lu Meng asked this question.

The former female hunter was silent for a while, and then shook her head: "That’s enough."

"Besides, don’t you know better than me? The current Lagoon is no longer as simple as it was more than a decade ago."

Because they knew each other early, they had many contacts since then, and Lu Meng didn’t have any airs in private. Now when communicating with him, Bo spoke without scruples: "It’s like... pus flowing."

She also read the autopsy reports of the Lake Town hunters. Excluding Wen Jin, who was planted in the United City from the beginning, most of them were locals of Lagoon.

She noticed another detail.

Two of them had more or less nerve damage, brain stem atrophy, heart valve thickening and other lesions... but they were not caused by biochemical transformation.

It was drug addiction.

Symptoms of long-term inhalation of black extract.

Dr. Zhong's subsequent blood test directly extracted the corresponding ingredients.

Black extract is a specialty of the swamp, extracted from hemp leaves that have been improved by bone craftsmen using ancient scientific books.

It is often regarded as a magical folk medicine by the local swamp people. One dose can relieve a hundred pains and cure a thousand worries... It was not until Lu Meng unified the swamp, opened up the medical resources of the Double Blade Group and established the Medical Department that the swamp people's dependence on it was reduced. In addition, with administrative orders, the phenomenon of large-scale refining was eliminated.

However, black extract does have a strong analgesic and anesthetic effect. Many treatment surgeries can use it, but it should be used in a standardized manner, just like a cough syrup that Lu Meng knows, and the production and dosage of use need to be strictly controlled.

Before that, the technology hunters who often perform dangerous tasks inevitably have some illnesses. Due to practical needs, the headquarters also included it in the list of normal purchased drugs.

This work was naturally handed over to the depression lagoon, which is relatively closer to the swamp.

However, from the data that Bo investigated at Black Scratches, compared with her own personal experience... there is a huge difference between the amount of black extract that circulated into the lagoon in the depression and the amount that they reported to Black Scratches for normal use.

Behind this, there is undoubtedly a shady industry chain, in which countless Kai coins flow.

"The purchase price given by Black Scratches is quite restrained, and there is almost no premium. They are worried that if they open up the market, it will in turn stimulate the ecology of the swamp and prompt a large number of villagers to invest in related industries..." Bo whispered, "Before I went to Shark Village, I heard a story that there was a noble who practiced bloodletting therapy and was afraid of bleeding from wounds, so he bought leeches at a high price... In order to catch them quickly, the swamp people used themselves as bait and jumped into the mud pond naked... Countless people fainted from blood loss and died of illness afterwards, but every household still continued to do so."

Lu Meng nodded lightly.

He understood the metaphor that Bo used when he told this story, because to some extent, as the king of the swamp, he had personally experienced this.

One of the reasons why Lu Meng entered the swamp was that Bayan found that the grain route for trade with the Shak Kingdom was cut off one after another, so he commissioned him to investigate.

The truth he found out was that under the coordination of the black converters, the villagers in the swamp overturned farmland in large quantities and planted hemp leaves and refined black extract... This involved a series of conspiracies such as the Merchant Guild.

Even the temporary huge profits of leeches can make people sacrifice their lives, not to mention the impact of the demand for black extract on the entire swamp industry.

If the Iron Dome had not changed its owner and changed the world, I am afraid that this dense forest would eventually become a pure production site for drug raw materials.

The reason why the black converters targeted this business must be profitable... In this process, even the Merchant Guild is just an intermediate link, and there are bigger buyers behind it.

The merchant guild intervened, and the first market they targeted was undoubtedly the United City where they themselves parasitized - but according to the official laws of the empire, at least on the surface, this was absolutely prohibited.

Huge interests conflicted with restrictions.

Someone must have taken risks.

Or taken an unconventional approach.

For example... if the black extract flowed into the United City in the name of medicine... endorsed its transportation, and waved the banner of absolute neutrality?

When Bo sneaked into Shark Village with Jager, she was not only responsible for the task of anti-slavery, but she also wanted to find out the truth of this industrial chain... Now that all the information is gathered together, a dark underground network has been formed in the mind of this former hunter.

Her hometown, the depression lagoon where she was born and raised... It is even very likely to play a key role.

"These transformed hunters have amazing recovery ability, and their original physique is not bad... Even so, they left traces." Bo's tone was complicated, "What if it was ordinary people in Lake Town?"

As a once big city.

Most of the people there are not technology hunters.

Even if the lagoon plays the role of a transit distributor rather than a final consumer, it is impossible for people in it to be completely unaffected.

How can you expect to keep your hands clean when you dig for gold in the mud?

The poison is deep.

As the Red King and the executor of the plan, Lu Meng needs to be involved in the game - but as a native of Lake Town and now an anti-slavery activist, Bo knows that there is something fishy, ​​and the disgust that arises in her heart makes her unable to even pretend to be hypocritical.

If the flaw is revealed at that time, it will damage the overall situation, so she directly rejected the proposal to meet together, not because she doesn't want to help.

Bo glanced at the white-haired young man beside her... Not everyone can act like this person... She has seen this before.

"As for Liu Si... I heard about him when I was still in Lake Town. He was still in school at that time. It is said that he had good grades and was a little genius that was favored by teachers... Unfortunately, he was a little naive after all." Bo said, "Perhaps, what really suits him is not a technology hunter, but an ordinary mechanic."

You can read books, but you may not be able to see through people's hearts.

Although he will inevitably change to some extent after this battle, in Bo's opinion, the other party's simplicity and ignorance are a kind of protection, so there is no need to get involved in these things.

As for why Bo used the word "ordinary" mechanic...

It was because Mr. Gray once mentioned that most mechanics were indeed pure and even fanatical scholars... but for some of the senior executives, and even the original founders... even he could not fully see through them and did not dare to trust them.

When it came to this, Bo looked at Lu Meng, his eyes rarely solemn: "You want to intervene in the project of transferring the Sorrow Mine, which is also Mr. Gray's decision. I am an anti-slaver and naturally will not object... But as a former Lake Town Hunter, I have to remind you..."

In addition to being wary of the seller of the Sorrow Mine Town, Kaiton City, there is also a buyer who should be careful -

Depression Lagoon.

Bo hid her identity and was responsible for reviewing the background of the remaining technology hunters. During the conversation, those Sorrow Mine Hunters showed their true feelings, and their love and obsession to save their hometown moved her.

But she was not the same?

Although she left the organization, left her hometown, joined the anti-slavers, and never went back since then... But Bo never forgot.

She was always concerned about it.

However, Mr. Gray also knew about this, but the urgency was not that high. The enemies of the anti-slavery were too powerful. The continent was full of corruption and injustice. The situation under the Red King was rare, and it was even enough to surprise him, so he spared no effort to give due support... In other places, if they took on everything, they would be crushed by the burden sooner or later.

Reality cannot accommodate a savior.

This was the first sentence the bee prince said when he saw the machine.

After recognizing the reality, they began to grow and develop... Now Bo also accepts the same concept.

"Be careful..."

However, when she, a Lake Town person, said in person that she wanted the other party to be careful of her hometown, she found it so difficult and bitter that she hesitated for a while.

"I know." Lu Meng interrupted her with a smile on her lips. This behavior, which was supposed to be a little impolite, seemed a little gentle and considerate in the current situation.

How could she not know?

Bo breathed a sigh of relief, but heard the other party continue to speak: "It's just that this time, I came to invite you to go south together..."

"Go back and get back to the source."