A heavy rain fell intermittently all night.

Early the next morning, the residents of the city opened their windows and were pleasantly surprised to find that the outdoor world had already rained and the sky was clear.

Sitting in the semi-enclosed carriage, listening to the sound of the wheels of the carriage crushing over the water, Joe, the monk in charge of the population registration of Twilight City, quickly glanced at Huggins, who was sitting opposite, and then exchanged glances with Elijah, who was sitting next to him in charge of civil engineering.

Huggins looked out the window, but his voice was directed toward the two opposite.

"I know you have a question for you. ”

Compared with Elijah, who was born as a scholar and acted more steadily, Joe, an old official in Twilight City, spoke more bluntly.

"Huggins, you didn't say anything when you left, I thought you were exiled by Your Majesty, where have you been all these years?"

Huggins looked at Old Friar Joe with some embarrassment: "I thought you were asking about refugees from the sea." ”

The gray-haired Qiao smiled and opened his big mouth, and his rotten teeth were particularly conspicuous: "Since Your Majesty has made a decision, the affairs of the sea refugees are fine." ”

Huggins smiled helplessly: "I'm afraid the refugee matter is not as simple as you think......

Joe patted the car seat: "Don't divert the topic, let me ask you, why have you been going for the past few years?"

"I own a hotel in Silver Ring. ”

"Hmm...... Gone?"

"No, that's it. ”

The old monk Joe touched his head dissatisfiedly, and just wanted to reason with Huggins, but was pulled by Elijah who was sitting next to him.

Elijah nodded lightly at Huggins, "Anyway, just come back." ”

The latter also nodded and smiled: "Yes, it's good to come back." ”

The carriage drove through the city centre, through the shopping streets, and then boarded a barge in the port area, arriving at Waiheke Island in the middle of noon.

Under the scorching sun, when the group of three people got off the boat, they were all startled by the scene in front of them.

What was once a deserted, barren island has now become a bustling and lively town.

Taverns, stables, carriage shops, blacksmiths, bakeries, ...... As long as you can think of buildings in an ordinary city, you can find them here.

Merchants and sailors with different accents, looks and costumes fill Waiheke Island's barge docks.

Hundreds of huge wooden boxes are sorted and stacked in the storage area, and officials of the Kingdom Customs are inspecting and counting the goods in batches, and the pulley crane developed by the University of Twilight is placing them in turn in the open space of the warehouse temporarily leased by the owner.

Monk Jo rubbed his old eyes, then put on his glasses and said to Elijah, "Is it my delusion, or is it something else?

Elijah sighed, "I was here once last month, and I didn't expect this place to change so quickly. ”

Huggins took out the folding cane from the storage compartment of the carriage, knocked on the stone path under his feet, and said, "It's still early, the carriage is left here, and we can walk over to check the situation on the island." ”

The group walked along the road and watched, all the way to the center of the island.

Along the street, a dazzling array of seafood, a large market full of people, and a bustling entertainment street left a deep impression on the three of them.

After about an hour of walking, the three of them finally came to the center of the island, a place known as the Waiheke Trading Post.

Speaking of a trading post, it actually looks more like the center of town.

Rows of buildings, well-built roads, military barracks stationed on the flanks, and well-guarded castles.

When the three of them approached the trading post, they found that at the gate, the crowd waiting to enter had already formed a long queue.

Huggins, on crutches, walked past the line and toward the gate.

Someone in the team immediately raised a dissatisfied voice: "Alas, alas, what about you, don't cut in line! Don't cut in line! Don't think you're lame, I can't pull my face to beat you!"

Huggins pulled the dragon-shaped badge pendant from his chest, and the group was silent for a moment.

At the gate were two Holy Cult soldiers, one Minotaur and one Rat Man.

The rat-headed man was still doing the inspection work diligently, and the minotaur stood impatiently gouging his hooves.

Huggins' appearance made the Minotaur's eyes light up, and the latter separated the crowd with both hands, walked quickly to the front, and said to the former, "You were sent by the city to find those fishmen?"

Receiving a positive answer, the minotaur kicked the rat-headed man away, led the three directly into the barracks, and found the orc Carol.

Carroll was busy preparing his armament when he saw Huggins and his party stunned for a moment, and asked, "Where are your guards?"

"We didn't have any guards. Huggins wondered, "Is that group of refugees from the ocean dangerous?"

"It's not dangerous yet, but those people are more vigilant and don't want to come into contact with us. ”

Huggins thought for a moment and said to Carol, "Your Majesty's will is for me to contact the Salamo Mermaid Patriarch......"

Before Huggins could finish speaking, Carroll said in a deep voice, "I know that mermaid you are talking about, she is indeed relatively easy to communicate with compared to those sea refugees. Now, then, I will call a few men and go with you. ”

Carol walked into the back of the barracks, and soon walked out with Aldenan and two other orcs.

In this way, a small team of three Kingdom officials and four Holy Religious Army members headed towards the gathering place of sea refugees on the west coast of Waiheke Island.

On the way, Huggins was secretly frightened by the endless flow of motorcades.

"What do these people do?"

Aldenan took a stick of grass in his mouth, looked at the respectful humans on the road, and said, "These people are there to do business with the refugees of the sea. ”

Monk Joe was curious: "Doing business with refugees." ”

Aldenan: "Don't think that those refugees are a bunch of poor people, with a whole bunch of trinkets hanging on their wrists and necks, such as coral, pearls, and precious stones, which are worthless in the sea, but are invaluable treasures on land. ”

Carroll explains: "In addition to the treasures of the sea, the sea races can also dive into the deep sea to collect some extremely rare minerals and plants, and they also have special methods to breed some delicious but rare fish, shrimp and crabs. ”

Huggins nodded and said, "It sounds like these sea refugees are doing pretty well in the kingdom. ”

Aldenan pouted: "It's not bad, those mermaid girls live a good life, and it is not an exaggeration to describe it as extremely luxurious, even the ...... they use when they bathe"

"Ahem, ahem. Carol hurriedly interrupted Aldenan's words: "But then again, there are many people in Twilight City who have a big opinion, even hostile to these sea refugees. ”

"Hostomous?

"There are many reasons for this, one is that these sea refugees have plundered the wealth of the kingdom and lowered the standard of living of the citizens of the kingdom. ”

Carol paused, then continued, "There are also those who say that these refugees are heretics who believe in the ancient gods of the sea and deserve to be expelled from the land of the dragon gods. ”