my wife is a consul

The tunnel was dark and damp like a spider web. Lu Ming had to bend down to walk inside. This was the Dwarf Hill.

Looking at the settlement residents who occasionally scurried to avoid the potholes on both sides of the corridor, about half of them were dwarves.

Living here is really more convenient for dwarves.

Lu Ming wandered around casually, and then came to the ground with Laphne and others.

Extremely high black mounds, with no grass growing around them for miles. The black liquid seeping out of the land is sticky and more like venom. It has nothing to do with the source of water.

The Dwarf Mound is probably also named after this huge black mound.

"From now on, I will come here once a month to trade coins and stones with you. You don't need to send them to my city-state."

After listening to Lu Ming's words, Ravni was stunned, and then said happily: "That's great, I was worried at first. We are short of manpower to transport so many coins and stones, and we are easily targeted by predators along the way. It's really Thank you very much, Lord City Lord!"

Her gratitude seemed to come from the bottom of her heart, with tears in her eyes. Of course, it was definitely not just gratitude to Mr. Third, but more importantly, joy. The ethnic group that was on the verge of extinction suddenly had a bright future. .

Lu Ming smiled slightly: "Okay, let's go. As mentioned in the preface, I invite you and Max to be guests in my city-state. It's also a way to find the way!"

Hellmax also boarded the airship, but he did not get off the airship at the dwarf hill, nor did he enter the tunnel. This was also to avoid the dwarves' secret, so as not to make things unclear in the future.

……

It was already late at night when the airship returned to Hedong Town.

In Hedong Town, the street lights are dotted, and they are very eye-catching when they are far away.

This can easily attract attacks from other aggressive settlements or groups of predatory adventurers.

There is no taboo at all, which also shows the city-state's absolute confidence in its own force.

The ferocious beasts do not have sensitive photoreceptors, which also makes it possible for the city-state to turn on lights at night.

Lu Ming is also preparing to take people to catch one or two live ferocious beasts. He will use the ultrasonic device of the Northern Territory to see the frequency of the sound waves heard by the ferocious beasts, and whether it is possible to use ultrasonic waves to disrupt their hearing, and whether there are any sound wave bands. It is invisible to humans, but it is extremely harsh to the ears of ferocious beasts and can drive them away.

During the battle in Hedong Town that day, more than a hundred corpses were sent to the Northern Territory by Lu Ming, and a specially established scientific research team was dissecting and studying their structures.

In particular, its secretions are highly acidic and corrosive, and how its internal functions coexist with these secretions are topics worthy of study.

Although human gastric juice is also corrosive to a certain extent, its properties are completely different from those of ferocious beast secretions.

While Lu Ming was thinking about this, he was not idle. He invited Laphne and Max to the courtyard of the city lord's official residence, and provided them with ice-cold beer, as well as dried meat, shrimp crackers and other side dishes to go with the wine.

Laphne and Max were in a state of complete shock. Then they ate and drank in a hurry, quickly clearing away the snacks and beers in front of them.

There were four snacks in total. Yaoyao and Nana each took out a bag of [-] grams each, and only one can of beer per person.

It's not that Lu Ming is stingy, it's because things are rare and valuable. For these surviving settlement people, this will make them feel extremely happy and have a pursuit, and will not subvert their world view and values.

"You guys will stay here tonight. Tomorrow I will lead people to pick up the leaders of Yaheng Settlement, Tom's House, and Ottoman Settlement. Then we will have a talk and try to reach a coexistence agreement."

Laphne and Max naturally nodded in agreement to Lu Ming's words.

……

The next morning, the madman Yaheng and the leader of the Ottoman settlement, Osman, the god of death, soon arrived.

Yaheng Settlement, Blackfire Settlement and Dwarf Hill are all located in the east, southeast and northeast of Hedong Town.

Ottoman is more than 200 miles west of Hedong Town.

More than three hundred miles west of the Ottoman settlement is the Terror Mountains, which are filled with all kinds of terrifying legends.

It is said that the terrain of the Terror Mountain Range is strange, with plants and mosquitoes present, and all the ferocious beasts that entered the mountain range have died violently.

There are currently two airships in the city-state. While Lu Ming is exploring the eastern region, the other airship is led by Zhuge to explore the western region.

In this way, I came into contact with the Ottoman settlement, which was also a small settlement of dozens of people and had the custom of wrapping their heads with thick soil.

The leader Osman had black clay dried in the sun on his head, forming a decoration that was integrated with his head like an upside-down black clay pot. It looked a little ridiculous, but also eerie.

Every time Lu Ming saw the weird clay pot on his head, he had the urge to smash it with his fists. Maybe human cubs who grew up in a normal environment would have this kind of thinking. It looked too uncomfortable, so he smashed it. It can be very healing.

But at this moment, Lu Ming could only try not to look at Osman's head.

I thought the green-turbaned mercenaries in the Western Regions were very distinctive, but this Ottoman tribe was even better.

Ravni, Max, Yaheng and Osman, after enjoying the city black bread and city water that were served to them, all looked at each other with big eyes and small eyes. They didn't know how to greet each other. They didn't have that kind of diplomatic etiquette. If If the opponent's settlement is weak and the losses incurred by one's side are less than the gains, then the opponent's settlement will be destroyed immediately. This is their original way of getting along.

Although the Laphni settlement lives underground, it is obvious that the ancestors had already deeply analyzed the way to survive in this world before they fled underground.

"Master Zhuge is back!" Yaoyao quickly came to Lu Ming's side and whispered.

Zhuge strode in, but seeing that he came on his own, no one from Tom's House was introduced. When he reached Lu Ming's side, he hesitated to speak. Lu Ming made a gesture, "Speak."

A bitter smile appeared on Zhuge's face, and he whispered: "Your Majesty, there is civil strife in Tom's House, and it probably has something to do with us. Led by a woman named Genuo, the women of Tom's House launched a riot, and some men were killed, and the rest were expelled.”

"I heard that Genuo is the illegitimate daughter of the previous head of the family. It was the first time that the previous head of the house raped a female prostitute who was a reproductive machine. Born in this way, she has been extremely strong since she was a child. She led all the women in Tom's House this morning. A war was launched against the men of the family, and it was successfully won.”

"She said she just took office as the leader, so she won't come today, but she will definitely come to visit you in a few days, and..."

Zhuge scratched his face in embarrassment.

"Keep talking!" Lu Ming smiled.

"She said that any male from our city-state is welcome to go to her new Camellia House. The best women in the family will receive you at that time. If you..., if you go, she will receive you personally. Moreover, she said that she She has never chosen a mate to reproduce her children. If you are strong enough, she hopes that her first child will be yours." The more Zhuge said, the more helpless he became, but this information must be told to the king, so, Your Majesty can have a more comprehensive understanding of this emerging settlement in which women are the main body.

"Black Camellia House..." Lu Ming whispered.

"Yes, the Gernona women said that they welcome all women to settle there. The Red Camellia House will be a paradise and haven for women in the desert continent, a refuge for women who have been tortured and live in miserable hell. In addition, , if there are women in her family who need to reproduce, strong men will be welcome to leave seeds, but there will be no more men in the family. If the child born is a boy, he will be expelled from the settlement before the age of ten, but , she told me that we can discuss these with us later, and the new boys born in her family can be sold to the city-state at a low price as slaves."

The more Lu Ming listened, the more strange he felt. He suddenly thought, isn't this the way lions survive?

Male lions are just mating tools, but if they are no longer strong, they will be replaced with stronger genes. The main body of the lion group is actually the female lions.

It's just that "Black Camellia House" has done it more thoroughly.

Gurnot?

Lu Ming shook his head. No wonder it seemed familiar. A famous lioness statue in his previous life was called Lioness Genuo.

After thinking about it, Lu Ming said: "Let's do this. I hope to sign a multi-party agreement. It's good for everyone to be here, and there are only a few of us, so we can't cover the extreme south, so the more settlements that can sign the agreement as initial members, the better." Let’s wait for a day today, okay?”

As he spoke, Lu Ming looked at Zhuge, "You will go there again tomorrow morning, and be sure to ask Ms. Genuo to attend the appointment."

"Yes!" Zhuge stood at attention.

Yaheng, Max, Laphne, and Osman all had no objections. They all smiled and said that they wanted to visit the city-state and wondered if they would have the honor.

For them, staying one more day means living one more day in paradise.

While some servants led a few people to visit the city, Osman stayed behind.

"Distinguished Lord of the City, do you have time to listen to Osman's suffering?" Osman bowed respectfully. His eyes were deep and his skin color was not pure white. He looked a bit like an Arab.

Lu Ming nodded slightly, although he felt a little weird in his heart. Do this ethnic group in this world also like to pour out their misery?

Seeing Lu Ming's approval, Osman's face immediately lit up with joy. Seeing the maid Yaoyao bring a chair, he slightly leaned over to thank him, but did not sit down. Instead, he stood respectfully in front of Lu Ming and said, "Sir, listen. Did you mention the Fly Mountain?"

"I heard something." Lu Ming nodded.

I heard Wheelrunner Jack mention that there seem to be multiple settlements living in the Terror Mountains, but they all seem to believe in a very aggressive religion. They are extremely exclusive and cruel, and most adventurers dare not approach them.

There are already many terrifying legends in the Terror Mountains, and there are rumors that groups of ferocious beasts died suddenly in the mountains, making it even more mysterious.

And that religion worships mosquitoes and regards flies and mosquitoes as sacred objects. The fly-shaped peaks in the Terror Mountains are regarded as holy mountains, which is what Osman calls the Fly God Mountain.

"Sir, I see that there are still many vacant houses in the city. Of course, I would never be so shameless as to think that my tribe could live in them. If children under the age of ten in my tribe are willing to become your slaves, can you take them in? Or, sir, Choose the one you like to be your slave? They will definitely dedicate their lives to you." There was inexplicable sadness in Osman's eyes.

Lu Ming glanced at him and said calmly: "Is your settlement being oppressed by the believers in the Terror Mountains? It is almost to the point of being unable to survive?"

Osman was startled, then smiled bitterly and said: "Your Excellency is indeed a wise man. The Lord of the city-state has a vision as bright as a torch..."

"In the Fearful Mountains, are there really mosquitoes and green plants like the legend says?" Lu Ming asked.

Osman sighed: "I don't know this, villain, because as long as the pagans enter the Terror Mountains, they will be killed and eaten by the followers of the Fly God. They think this is the food summoned by the Fly God for them." His tone gradually became sad. , "And every two years, our tribe has to enshrine a boy and girl aged nine or ten. I originally thought that this was luck favoring them. These poor children have encountered good luck and can live in the sacred mountain from now on. Listen to It is said that there is much more water and food in the mountains than outside."

His tone became even more sad and angry, "But, but I just found out recently that after our children were sent away, they just became their food and were served on the table!" He punched his chest hard, looking at him depressed. I almost want to die.

I feel very regretful and powerless.

Lu Ming nodded slightly.

In fact, not to mention the life and death of the tributes, a small settlement of dozens of people must send out two new members every two years, which is also fatal to it. Especially in the desert, conditions are difficult, and the death rate of newborn babies is extremely high. Those who are eight or nine years old are all lucky. Giving away two people every two years is equivalent to giving away one person every year. The population must gradually decline.

"More than 20 years ago, our tribe had a population of more than a hundred people..." Osman's face was filled with sadness.

"There should be more than one settlement within the radiation range of the Terror Mountains..." Lu Ming pondered for a while, then raised his head and said, "I understand."

Osman couldn't see anything from his face, but he had already issued an eviction order. He was worried about gain and loss, and Osman didn't know how to leave the hall.

(End of this chapter)