Perhaps the appearance of the other party's humanoid form no longer has the oppressive power of the dragon form, and Rita, who slowly lowered her guard, gradually spoke more.

"The Old Gods have shown us the book of Revelation many times in the Sanctuary, and the human race has always been a group of moody people who can ignore the worst consequences for the sake of immediate gain. Rita looked back at the citizens on the shore: "Staying away from them is the best way." ”

Todd asked, "Why did you let you come to me, that old god of yours, did he tell me who I am?"

"The Old God once told my mother in the Sanctuary that the patron of the Dragon Kingdom was a wise and intelligent deity who had no interracial prejudices or vulgar desires. If we come to you, we will definitely get help. ”

Todd touched his forehead, feeling in his heart that Leviathan had dug a hole for himself.

"Let's get back to the Old God, did he mention any clues related to the pollution of the seabed?"

Rita looked confused: "The ancient god Krakosh has said more than once that this black pollution is a catastrophe and a cleansing. The great He seems to have known that this will happen, but the Old God tells us that he cannot stop or interfere with all this. ”

Todd secretly wondered in his heart, is it because of the agreement between the Precursor and Jingsu?

"The Old Gods told us to escape from this black plague and go to the shores of the East, where there is a sage king who can provide protection to the mermaids. ”

At this point, Rita paused for a moment, then continued, "The Old God said something strange at the end. ”

"Strange words?"

Rita nodded: "He said: Today, you should be grateful for the protection, and on another day, you must come forward." ”

Todd's brows furrowed.

On other days, the merfolk must step up?

What does this phrase mean?

Could it be that it is a hint that the future of the Dragon Kingdom needs the help of these mermaids?

Todd, who was puzzled, cast his eyes into the distance, and he had no clue how to think about things, and slowly, it was no longer attractive to him.

Not far away, a ship laden with cargo slowly approached the harbor, and boxes of cargo were transported out of the hold.

Todd, who had shifted his attention, looked at the mermaids who were carefully picking up the goods, and asked strangely, "I have a question, why do I only see women among your people?"

Rita flicked the fishtail slightly: "In my tribe, women are responsible for handling the major affairs of the tribe, and men are not qualified or able to deal with such occasions, and most of the places suitable for them are grazing, reef mining or guarding. ”

Todd raised his eyebrows and said with some surprise, "So, your tribe is a matriarchal society?"

Evie, who was standing on the side, suddenly said, "I think it's normal, it's not a strange thing. ”

A merfolk slowly swam to Rita's side in the water, watching Todd and Evie warily as she held a small bag of things to her chest.

Watching the two merfolk converse in a strange language, Todd waited for them to finish before asking, "What's going on?"

Rita opened the bag, pointed to the pale white powder inside, and said a little confused, "They say it's food, but how should it be eaten?"

Todd stared at it and smiled.

Evie, who was standing on the side, said to Rita, "This is wheat flour, which can be fermented with water and baked into bread...... Oh, I almost forgot, you guys live in the middle of the sea......"

Todd looked at the bag of wheat flour and asked softly, "Rita, what do you eat in the sea?"

"Raw fish, seashells, fish roe......" Rita said, holding her chin in her hand and licking her lips, "There is a mollusk called a mollusk, which bites like kelp, but the meat is juicy and rich. ”

Evie kept her mouth shut, her face turned pale, and her stomach began to churn.

Todd smiled and asked, "Can you eat cooked food, will you not be able to adapt to condiments and spices?"

Rita thought for a moment, shook her head and said, "In my impression, merfolk are not picky eaters. ”

Todd nodded, and said to Evie beside him, "Did you bring anything to eat?"

"I've got some sweet cookies from Beverly's Bakery left. Evie covered her chest and said with some pain: "But the goods in that store need to be queued up early in the morning, and they are available in limited quantities." ”

Todd was a little strange: "You like sweet cookies so much, why don't you just buy that store?"

Evie took out a small paper bag containing biscuits from her arms and handed it to Rita, muttering, "The food you buy in line is not the same as the food made by the next person, you don't understand it......"

Taking the cookies from Evie, Rita looked at these small, cute, delicate snacks of various shapes and asked in amazement, "These are all made from this bag of wheat flour?!"

"It's pretty much the same, but there are some complicated processes in between. ”

Rita picked up a cookie and wanted to put it in her mouth.

The mermaid who had been guarding her side hurriedly shouted loudly.

Rita looked first at her companion, then at Todd, said something to the other merfolk, and finally put the cookie in her mouth without hesitation.

Rita's expression was nervous at first, then surprised, and finally a flushed explosion of happiness.

She chewed on her cheeks as if she were eating the most delicious delicacy in the world.

"I've never eaten anything so good!" Rita grabbed another handful of biscuits, stuffed them into her mouth, and said vaguely, "Good times, good times." ”

Todd smiled and said, "It seems that the merfolk are also acceptable to food on land. ”

Gobbling up a pack of biscuits, Rita licked her lips unsatisfactorily: "Anything else?"

Evie said angrily: "Yes, there are many in the city, as long as you are willing to bring money and go to the queue early in the morning." ”

Rita looked down at her fishtail and said in frustration, "We can't get into the city. ”

Todd reminded her, "And the food, once it gets in the water, gets soaked and can't be put in your mouth again." ”

Rita thought for a long time, and suddenly her eyes lit up: "We can trade with the people in the city!"

"In the ocean, eyeball-sized pearls, colorful corals, and gold buried in the seabed. These things, for us, are just dispensable decorations in the home, but people on land should like it!"

As she spoke, Rita untied a string of pearl bracelets the size of pigeon's eggs from her wrist and asked Evie and Todd, "Can such a string of pearls be exchanged for a bag of cookies?"

Evie smiled wryly, "With this, you can buy a whole boatload of cookies." ”

Eventually, Todd decided to upgrade the trading post on Waiheke Island into a trading town, dedicated to trading between Twilight City and the Merfolk Clan.

In the early stage, Waiheke Island will be home to a number of food-related shops, such as dessert shops, pastry shops, bakeries, pubs, etc.

The merfolk can exchange the products of the ocean for a corresponding amount of coins in the town's royal bank, and then spend them themselves.