Love and passion, cutting up the wasteland

"Where are you from..." The boss asked knowingly, but his eyes were quickly scanning the team in front of him.

He was secretly shocked.

He had been doing this business for many years, and he had received many caravans from the north, including the White Eyebrow Clan, a large tribe in the Land of Flash.

But a team like this one, whose camels alone could stir up a sky full of yellow sand...

It was indeed rare.

"So many people..." The waiter behind the boss caught up, and before he could take a closer look, he whispered, "I'm afraid our store can't accommodate them?"

"I'm Konet, a trainer from the Wanderer Clan in the west of the Land of Flash." At this time, a man came out of the crowd, dressed in a herdsman's outfit, with a felt hat and fur coat, and greeted the boss: "Is this Tang Darui from Lake Town? Don't worry, we are animal dealers. It looks like a lot, but it's actually goods. There are not many people in the caravan, so please arrange it."

As for the animals.

It's enough to tie them outside.

Some small chambers of commerce only have one or two pack animals in their entire team, and they are willing to use them when they are traveling far away. If one pack animal is a bit exaggerated, six or seven people may even be assigned to take care of it.

So the guy thought it was such a great chamber of commerce just by looking at the number of pack animals.

The boss nodded, and when he got closer, he noticed that the hundreds of pack animals were not carrying heavy goods like ordinary chambers of commerce, but at most some supplies and fodder.

The backpacks were empty.

Generally speaking, even animal merchants would ask pack animals to carry some local specialties when doing business and sell them at the destination.

Save transportation capacity.

But the boss knew that the teams coming from the Flash Land were either going to the Depression Lagoon or going to the South United City from the Depression Lagoon.

One is the base of the technology hunters, and the other is the powerful South Empire. The people there really don't think much of you little things.

The most valuable thing is the pack animal itself.

Therefore, some caravans from large tribes simply do not bring other miscellaneous goods, so as not to crush the pack animals, lose weight and become unsaleable.

The caravan in front of me.

It is obviously capable.

"That's good, that's good..." The boss Tang Darui stepped forward to shake hands, but he was still confused in his heart, "I didn't expect you to know my name."

Leading such a large caravan means that he is from a large tribe, and the sound of summoning the beast bones just now shows that he must be a very talented animal trainer. It is an honor for me to be remembered by him.

And it means.

I may have entertained him before.

But why such a person, and the so-called Far Traveler Clan... Why haven't I heard of it?

Of course, I think so.

Tang Darui's EQ is not low enough to say this doubt directly, but just pretends to be very familiar.

"Hehe..." Cone laughed awkwardly twice, but he knew that the other party had misunderstood.

When he went south before, he did lead the tribe's caravan to rest at this skeleton post, but he only had seven or eight pack animals as commodities at that time.

The quality of the livestock was not as good as others.

In the eyes of the other party, they were no different from ordinary drifters.

How could they remember it specially?

But he resisted the subconscious urge to turn around and continued to chat with the boss.

Bargaining.

The guys already knew that this deal would be successful, and some had already passed through the skull of the giant beast and went to clean the guest rooms under the spine.

A guy yawned and counted the number of people, and suddenly felt a chill in his heart.

Like a thorn in his back.

He hurriedly looked over, but saw that the bodyguards of the merchants in front of him were slightly agitated, but nothing was wrong.

"Woo woof~" Just as he was wondering where the feeling like a venomous snake came from, he heard a dog barking again.

A large black and gray dog ​​ran back from outside and drove the pack animals inside.

If it weren't for the difference in appearance, he would have thought it was a bone-burying wolf just by looking at its size and agile figure.

Finally, it leaned on a man's waist - it should be his master.

The man was happy to see the prey, and he was just about to count the head of this man, so he stepped forward and said: "Is this your mountain dog?"

He had done some research on this.

"Good eyes." The man, wearing a bamboo hat and a long coat, just smiled.

"I used to be a northerner." The man wanted to go forward and take a closer look at this dog from his hometown, but was scared away by Xiaogu's size.

Even in his hometown, the most elite cannibal hunters, equipped with domesticated mountain dogs, were not as agile as this... Could it be a hybrid of a bone-burying wolf and a mountain dog?

But this would lose the intelligence of the mountain dog and increase its wildness.

But if this man can really tame it, then he can only admire it extremely.

Look at his attire and sword.

He should be a caravan guard or something like that.

"It would be great if Brother Robben and his men could also have such a dog... Oh, sorry, next one." The guy couldn't help but say what he was thinking, but he quickly reacted and continued his work.

Lu Meng touched Xiao Gu's dog's head, but made a gesture to the side.

"Yes." A low voice, and then someone in front of him bowed slightly to apologize.

These priests from the Embers Cult are still a little unaccustomed to their current identities.

When they saw someone approaching their Grand Master, they couldn't help but be alert, bursting out with hidden murderous intent and intimidation.

Even an ordinary drifter guy noticed it.

If it were a real master.

Why don't you draw your sword?

Loyalty is commendable, but he is still a bit upright... Lu Meng shook his head slightly, but he didn't agree with him on this point.

In addition to those used to maintain decent operations, the personnel in the southbound team, except for experts such as Bo and Chad, are all elite soldiers and generals.

The purpose of reducing the scale is not to attract attention - these hundreds of strong beasts of burden have other uses, and there is really no way to streamline them, so it is just right to disguise them as an animal caravan selling livestock.

"There are two ways to go south for this trip." Before setting off, Lu Meng had told everyone, "One is to go directly through the Skeleton Wasteland to Aikang Town. The straight-line distance will be much faster... but there are no supplies and supplies along the way. Rest place.”

There are still possible dangers in the middle.

The key is that even after arriving at Aikang Town, the situation will not get better.

Because there is an extreme shortage of supplies there now, and coupled with the exhaustion of the journey, when this group of people arrive in Aikang Town, they will probably be no better than the refugees begging along the street.

"The second way is to take the road to the Depression Lagoon." Seeing that no one had any objection, Lu Meng knew that they knew the key and directly stated the actual planned route, "Although it requires crossing the river to enter the Depression Lagoon from Shandi, The water can be passed directly on a trail leading to the Aikang Town area... "

He circled a mark on the map.

At the time when late autumn and early winter were approaching, the water was gradually drying up, and the water level of the originally narrow trail had receded, enough to accommodate their group of people.

Chad nodded silently on the side. In the past, hunters like them who were born in the town of Mine Mine would swim across the water when they wanted to leave the ruins and go north to the depression lagoon.

In midsummer, the hydrology of the depression lagoon is complex, making it easy to drown; when the weather turns colder, the water is freezing cold, making it easy to suffer from hypothermia and exhaustion...

Along the way, you can see rotten corpses floating on the water at any time. Some of them are as swollen as balls, and even explode suddenly, which is too horrible to look at.

What supported them was the vague hope that they could successfully join the Tech Hunters and change their destiny after swimming... When Chad was working in the depression lagoon, he also thought that with the strength of the Tech Hunters, a floating bridge could be built between the two places. , to help people who want to leave Aikang Town and improve their survival rate.

It was Lu Jin, whom he met later, who woke him up with a few words.

"Hunger, cold, threats in the water... Those who can successfully swim across the lagoon are the young men in Aikang Town, and they are very strong." The young man said, "As for the others, what do the technology hunters want them to do? "

Chad had no objection to the Red King's route arrangement. On the other hand, having lived in both Ai Mine Town and the Depression Lagoon, he knew where to start from which would be easier. If he was not forced to perform a mission, he would rarely find a lake. It can be seen that the town technology hunters want to go to Aikang Town.

He was just a little surprised that the other party did not come to ask him, but pointed out the existence of this trail so accurately - this is almost an urban legend among the people of Aikang Town, and he only found out that it was true after he joined the Technology Hunter. .

It's just that on weekdays, there are technology hunters holding the handle to prevent the refugees from the Mourning Mine from flooding in. They can only pass through the depression lagoon in one direction.

Chad looked at Bo on the other side. It was said that the other person was born in Lagoon Town of Lowland and grew up. It should be the Red King who asked her.

Got the information.

Unexpectedly, at the same time, Bo also glanced in Chad's direction.

It's like I found the answer.

They both nodded at the same time.

There is a tacit understanding between the two.

Therefore, the route to the Depression Lagoon and then to Aikang Town was decided.

For Lu Meng, another important thing is to solve the problem of Depression Lagoon Town itself to prevent them from interfering with his strategy in Aikang Town.

From this, he came into contact with the inn established by the drifters who were attached to Lake Town.

It is also a very natural situation.

Lu Meng took off the steel hat and brushed off the sand and dust on it. The surface was smooth and clean.

Reflecting the cracked texture of the ceiling.

Above is the fossilized back plate of an ancient behemoth. This dead behemoth should have looked like a turtle when it was alive. Although more than half of it has collapsed, the remaining shell, combined with thatch rags, is enough to protect it from wind and rain.

It is very easy to accommodate the boss and his party plus his dozens of people, and everyone can be allocated a very spacious space.

"The group of technology hunters who came to destroy the intelligent core were not sent by Depression Lagoon, but Lake Town itself also has problems and harbors evil and evil. Otherwise, it would not be possible for Union City's spies to be embedded in it so easily and perform key tasks. "

Lu Meng thought.

"After this matter is reported to the headquarters, Black Scratch will definitely impose a punishment, and it may even be quite severe. If Bodu can find something, Black Scratch cannot be completely blind, but he just has his own concerns. Maybe it will happen this time Take the opportunity to rectify.”

"But...will the Depression Lagoon sit still and wait for death?"

He remembered that there was also a watchman from the inner circle in this base.

Holding silver card.

Just like the watchman of Mineral Town and Mr. Gray's friend, since the inner circle is composed of people, it is bound to have its own faction.

Represented by Sword Master Arc, it is the will of the Black Scratch Fang, or the entire Tech Hunter headquarters... So what about here?

The factors involved are too complex.

During this sensitive period, if Lu Meng entered the depression lagoon in his original identity.

It is still unknown how big a storm it would cause.

But just as the people on the way south had settled in, a melodious bell sounded again from outside the skeleton of the giant beast.

Unlike the faceless custom-made bone flute that Lu Meng had blown before, this sound was just an ordinary bell sound - such as the camel bell hanging on the pack animal.

There are two types of camel bells: one is hung on the camel at the end, with strong penetrating power, so that as long as the leader walking in the front can still hear the camel bell ringing, he knows that the rear has not fallen behind.

The other is hung on valuable goods, with a dull sound, and only the nearby people who take care of the pack animals can hear it. If the sound suddenly stops, it means that the valuables have been accidentally lost, and they can be found by stopping and looking immediately.

Ordinary people can only hear the clear bell sound at this distance, but Lu Meng's ear tip moved slightly, but he took in all the sounds.

- There are two types.

The pack animals in his team did not wear camel bells. First, they had their own animal training module to control them, so they did not need to worry about falling behind.

Second, he was afraid that the sound in the endless yellow sand would expose his position much faster than the sight.

For example, now.

This is another caravan. Lu Meng can even calculate how many valuables the other party is carrying... To be honest, the number is amazing.

However, those who can do business on the mainland often have their own confidence.

For example, the strength that the bandits dare not provoke.

Or background.

"It's the merchant guild." On the top of the skull of the giant beast, a petite figure grabbed the bone seam and lay on it, with the hem of the windbreaker floating in the yellow sand.

At some point, Bo had climbed on top of their heads without the inn owner and the clerk not noticing.

Taking off the night clothes and putting on this old beige uniform, in the daytime skeleton wasteland, the concealment is better.

Bo frowned.

It happened to meet in this place... It's actually normal.

The reason why the network of merchant guilds is spread all over the world and is constantly destroyed is because the force behind it provides protection for the merchants.

Not every member of the guild is a close confidant of Long En, and the leader may not have his own inclinations or know the so-called inside story - for them, they only need to understand that by joining the guild, they can get the protection of the president and do business honestly.

To some extent, it is the same as paying gang protection fees, the difference is that there is a biggest gang.

"It's not a stalking, it's probably just a coincidence." Bo quietly dived from the skull, her figure slid down like a squirrel, and she was responsible for the counter-detection along the way.

She has the most say in this judgment.

"Oh..." Boss Tang Darui sighed again after noticing the movement, but this time it was mixed with joy and sorrow.

Business opened one after another.

This is a good thing.

But for this post station, it's already first come first served... Looking at the posture, both sides are not easy to mess with.