Love and passion, cutting up the wasteland

The town of Scone is the border gateway of the Shark Kingdom, and the Stan Desert is the home of the Shark people, and the capital of the kingdom is also located in it.

Between Scone Town and Stan Desert, there is a relay station opened by a technology hunter, which is the goal of Lu Meng's trip.

The weapon he wanted to build next was rather special, and ordinary weapon shops did not have its drawings. Only organizations like the Technology Hunters, which are dedicated to collecting various science and technologies, can possibly preserve some of them for collection purposes.

Kavin was carrying a wooden backpack and followed closely behind Lu Meng.

To be honest, apart from transporting corpses, he had almost never left Scone Town. Even if they were entrusted with dumping corpses, they would just be thrown into the Gobi Desert not far away, and various animals would quickly clean them up.

He was quite worried about traveling far away now, but as Lu Meng's apprentice, there was nothing he could do about it.

When the two passed by the city gate, Calvin noticed that a city gate guard suddenly looked at them with strange eyes.

That look is complicated.

There are cautions, warnings, doubts and ‘why is it you again’.

The other guard's reaction was even stranger.

He first came over like a zombie and mechanically checked the documents. After seeing his master's face clearly, he was startled again, as if he suddenly woke up.

"It's you, Flatskin." Buck recognized the human he had tried to provoke but was ignored.

He puffed up his chest and said rather majestically: "You can leave the city if you want, but without our protection, you have to be careful not to die like this."

"It's me, sir." Lu Meng smiled, "Long time no see. Sir, why have you been transferred to another position?"

Buck languished again in an instant.

The two passed smoothly.

Kavin somehow felt that there were quite a few people who knew his master.

Or maybe it's not because there are so many people who know him, but because anyone who has ever interacted with him is inevitably left with a deep impression.

When he passed the city gate, he suddenly remembered: Wasn't it because of what Sha Cheng said that he had touched a rich man at the south gate, and then was coerced into breaking through the empty gate, and ended up falling into the clutches of the devil... Well, he was saved.

"Master, can it be just the two of us... I mean, why don't we bring Little Brother Huo and our Dog Brother with us?"

Needless to say, Huo Buyang's strength is definitely stronger than him; as for Xiao Gu, he can at least help carry bags.

"We are all within the Kingdom along the way. It is safe. There is no need to call Xiao Huo."

And you need someone to look after the house.

"Little bones..."

Lu Meng pointed at Kavin's backpack and said casually: "Aren't you still here?"

His own hands were empty, not even a weapon.

Kavin suddenly felt sad and happy.

Sadly, I have fallen into the ecological niche of a ‘pack beast’.

Fortunately, I am at least somewhat useful, so I don't have to worry about being abandoned halfway.

The Stan Desert is called a desert, but a more accurate term would be the Gobi.

There was no soft gravel underfoot, instead there were flaky gravels with edges so sharp they could be used as knives.

Along the two banks along the way are stacked red boulders, which are as rugged as waves and have no edges.

Lu Meng approached a piece of fallen gravel that was as tall as a person, and placed his palm on it, feeling the lines of wind erosion.

‘Sedimentary rocks. ’ He used his fingers hard and pulled out a shellfish fossil.

Not far away, there is a giant spiked ball buried in the gravel. The spikes are like wanton spears, making people afraid to approach.

Mechanics have studied this strange phenomenon.

They guessed that this was some kind of extinct creature, and the spikes on its back were protective shells like tortoises, and they also drew a restoration diagram.

The mechanics added thick limbs to these spiked balls. After all, in their imagination, to be able to live in an arid land like the Stan Desert, one must have a body as strong as a camel.

Lu Meng could recognize it at a glance. It was just some kind of sea urchin, but it was a little scary.

I don’t know how many years ago, this Gobi Desert was still a vast ocean, and they were walking on the dry seabed.

Along the way, they gradually encountered more and more small settlements, which were abandoned villages cultivated by various types of refugees. They were attracted by the New Deal and settled here. Some of them have formed villages.

Although there is no rain all year round in the Stan Desert, groundwater can still maintain a stable supply because of its proximity to swamps.

The refugees dug karez-like water channels and planted cacti first. Once the soil fertility was accumulated, they could plant other more productive crops, including wheat, a staple food.

Even though the natural conditions of the Stan Desert are far inferior to the green plains of the Holy Kingdom, with the wisdom and extra diligence of these refugees, they have begun to glow with some vitality.

"Someone is coming in front." Kavin covered the sun with one hand and pointed with the other.

"Yes." Lu Meng nodded, and took Kavin to the side to get out of the way, while being careful not to step on the newly reclaimed wasteland.

He had already seen the oncoming team clearly.

The horns of the beasts of burden were raised, their faces were covered with bone helmets, and their fangs were exposed at the corners of their mouths. They were obviously mutants from the wasteland.

Behind them they pulled a full trailer, surrounded by heavily armed Shaq soldiers leading the escort.

It should be the food collection team of the Shaq Kingdom.

Due to the extreme lack of food, the Shark Kingdom still maintains a direct physical tax on food; if it is in the United City, it should be changed to a coin tax.

The food collection team quickly approached, but the leader just glanced at them and continued walking down the driveway without stopping to question them, leaving behind dust and a smell of cattle.

Lu Meng watched them go away, but in his mind he was estimating how many households of farmers would be needed to provide the food for this convoy.

From the perspective of stability, establishing a stronghold in the Kingdom of Shake is actually a good choice. As long as you have the ability, there is a large amount of wasteland here that you can demarcate for you, and with the patrols of Shaq soldiers, the probability of being looted by bandits is always lower than in the Borderlands outside.

However, from another perspective, the Shaq Kingdom itself may be the biggest pressure you have to face.

These Shaq people have actually been on the verge of a food crisis.

The reason why Lu Meng and the others didn't have much personal experience before was because they had been staying in Scone Town. As long as there is food in the kingdom, priority will be given to large cities like Scone and Admark.

Like this group of Shaq soldiers, they also want to transport food to Scone Town.

When famine strikes, most city dwellers will be fine until all the farmers who can farm starve to death.

Although the New Deal is now stable, and after paying the food tax, these refugees who reclaim wasteland can still have extra rations left over, no one can guarantee future harvests and policy changes.

"Huh?"

Just as Lu Meng was assessing the risks and beckoning Calvin to go on the road, a fallen grain caught his eye.

He picked it up and saw that it was very familiar.

It's rice, the husks haven't been broken yet.

"Rice?"