Dozens of kilometers south of Greedy Town, there is a century-old desolate loess, countless ravines and ravines, and the sound of the "whistling" wind blows sharp dust day and night, outlining this already barren land more vicissitudes.

If one were to stand on the highest point and look down on its haggard countenance, one would suddenly hear a long trumpet sound in his ears. Listening to the tragic roar and looking at the black holes on the slope, it was like countless pairs of deep eyes were watching him

Once inside, there is no smooth way out, and in it, one can only feel that it is much more desperate than being lost in the desert.

However, just under this barren loess, there is a different "rich" scene.

A tall furnace was blazing, and countless laborers, shirtless, lined up, each pushing a cart with a painful expression. And on the minecart, there is a pile of transparent and crystalline, angular amethyst, which is the first energy substance in the greedy town.

Through the processing of special devices, amethyst can release a large amount of electricity, and the power generation rate is nearly 100 times higher than that of other methods such as oil and firepower. A finger-sized amethyst, only twenty or thirty grams, is enough to supply a family with electricity for two months; A palm-sized piece of amethyst can keep the factory running for nearly half a year.

Not only that, the discharge process of amethyst is extremely environmentally friendly, not only does not produce a little polluting gas or harmful substances, but emits recyclable hydrogen. The remaining residue is also full of nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium and other elements, which can be used to synthesize chemical fertilizers for reuse.

Due to its special nature, amethyst has not only become the town's number one energy source, but also one of the most important trade materials in Greedy Town.

The two towns from the east, Envy and Fury, were in great need of this amethyst. The former town is almost entirely filled with artificial intelligence robots, and their core power is provided by amethyst; The latter town is full of large factories, and in order to reduce emission pollution, they have to choose energy-saving and environmentally friendly amethyst.

Who would have thought that under this barren loess, there are almost everywhere amethyst ore, and the laborers dig from morning to night, and an average of tens of thousands of tons can be mined every day. But at this speed, it is still too slow, just because there is a sea of amethyst hidden underground, not to mention a hundred years, thousands of years, tens of thousands of years may not be able to dig it up. Therefore, amethyst should never be "scarce".

However, the so-called "no businessmen and no treachery", the merchants in Greedy Town are very shrewd and cunning, and there is only one word "profit" in their eyes. They knew that too many people needed this amethyst, and if the supply was too large, it would become worthless, even if it had characteristics superior to other energy sources. As a result, they hid most of the amethyst back into the ground, and the amount of amethyst that people saw on the market was only one-tenth of the production.

After some operation, amethyst was finally labeled as "scarce".

What does this mean? It means that the price of amethyst will rise a hundredfold and a thousand times as a result, and it will always be the people who need it who will suffer, while those merchants who hide behind it will make a lot of money.

But now, the wind in Greedy Town has changed, and amethyst is no longer the most lucrative commodity, and what has taken its place is actually an ordinary bottle of drinking water.

…………

The cold wind whistled, Qiu Qiong only felt that her lips and throat were extremely dry, she raised her head in a daze, and before she could open her eyes, she opened her mouth first and said a word silently.

"Water...... Water ......"

suddenly

, a cold piece of iron stuck to Qiu Qiong's lower lip.

Qiu Qiong was shocked, and suddenly opened her eyes, only to see a brown and black leather bag popping out of nowhere in front of her, she instinctively wanted to step back, but was surprised to find that there was a solid metal wall behind her, and the nano suit had been taken off, her hands and feet were tied with wire, and she couldn't move at all.

There was no way to retreat, Qiu Qiong was about to shout, thinking about retreating from the unknown person in front of her, but who expected that the moment she opened her mouth, a wisp of refreshing water poured into her mouth, which temporarily eliminated all her nervousness and panic.

Quenching her thirst slightly, the water bag was slowly lowered, and Qiu Qiong saw a young man with a mushroom head and a pair of inferior glasses in front of her, wearing a set of light-colored ordinary work clothes, but his whole body was dirty, especially the knees were almost all gray. And his appearance is average, his facial features are very plain, and the strange hairstyle and glasses with cracked corners make him feel frustrated.

He slowly put down the water bag and smiled toothily at Qiu Qiong, at a glance, the whole smile seemed very stiff, and even a little obscene.

Qiu Qiong choked up, and suddenly felt that he was not a good person, and her expression gradually became sad, and her mood of wanting to escape was extremely strong. But at this time, her hands and feet were tied, and in order to calm the emotions of the person in front of her, she could only smile back unusually embarrassedly and nod slightly.

"Thank you......"

The person in front of him sat down cross-legged and sighed, "No thanks, no thanks, seeing that your body is not used to lack of water, it shouldn't be from our greedy town." ”

"Look at my body? You...... What are you doing! Qiu Qiong was stunned and twisted her body violently, but she still couldn't break free from the unusually strong wire.

The person in front of him was startled, and hurriedly waved his hand a little innocently, explaining: "I don't want to do anything, don't wronged me!" It was only when I saw that you were thirsty that I took pity on you, and I gave you my own water to drink! That's a ...... bought with a month's salary from me."

Qiu Qiong was stunned for a moment, only to see that the water bag in his hand had dried up, and there were only one or two mouthfuls of water left. Suddenly, Qiu Qiong lowered her head in embarrassment, thinking that her mouth must have been too dry just now, and she couldn't help but drink two more sips when she was in a hurry.

"You...... What is your name? As for me, my name is Xu Tian, Xu who comes with a breeze, and the sky that stands up to the sky. ”

"My name is ...... Xu Nana ...... Promised, Nana, Nana......" said, Qiu Qiong raised her head in surprise and shouted, "Where am I?!" ”

Qiu Qiong glanced around intently, only to find that she was trapped in the cabin of some kind of small vehicle, surrounded by silver metal, and the surface was embedded with vinyl-wrapped wires. On a clean wall hung all sorts of shackles, chains, and other objects that seemed to be used to control prisoners.

Not far away, there was an open hatch with the cockpit behind it, the display lights on the consoles were off, and the two seats were empty.

In the entire cabin, there are only Qiu Qiong and Xu Tian.

"Nobody cares?!" Qiu Qiong thought to herself, "Then I have to take this opportunity to slip away!" ”

Qiu Qiong hurriedly moved her body, gritted her teeth, and tried to pull out her hands with all her might, but in vain, no matter how hard she tried, the wire still didn't move.

Seeing that Qiu Qiong wanted to escape, Xu Tian couldn't help but sigh and persuaded: "Don't bother, you can't escape." Although I don't know what you have done, it has provoked Nangong Siyuan to dispatch! But I still have to advise you, save some energy, and work later. ”

"Work? What to do

？ Qiu Qiong looked at Xu Tian in surprise and found that he was not tied with wires and could move freely, "Why aren't you tied?" ”

Xu Tian sighed and said with a sour face: "I was arrested, it was all an accident!" It's not a big deal, just work for a few days and sweat, I've tried it several times, and I'll be able to put it back soon! And you, Miss Xu, your situation is not very clear! ”

Qiu Qiong was stunned, quickly stretched her neck, and glanced out of the cabin through the windshield of the cockpit.

"I ...... Where the hell am I? ”

Xu Tian pulled his collar, coughed twice, and made a serious appearance.

"This is the flying machine that the guard officers used to escort the offender, and we're in the Amethyst Mine just outside of Greedy Town! The people of the town, no matter what they have committed, will be brought here to work as laborers, and until a certain amount of purple lazuli is dug up, his crimes will be forgiven! Those who have committed small things will dig up 2,000 kilograms and put them back, but those who have committed big things will not be able to go back even if they dig ten or twenty tons. ”

Qiu Qiong blinked slowly, her expression was suddenly a little nervous, and she couldn't help but take a breath of cool air.

"What's a small thing, what's a big thing?"

"Small things are some uncivilized mistakes such as running red lights, littering, and so on. If it's a big deal, it's much more serious, like entering the town illegally, not bringing an ID card, or having a conflict with a security officer. Miss Xu, I'm really curious, what did you do? ”

Qiu Qiong's eyes suddenly became much more hollow, and she smiled bitterly.

Xu Tian said that she won all the big things.

"I ...... It's just that I was deceived by a guy with a beast's heart! If it weren't for him looking like a good person, how could I ......"

At this time, after the cabin "hissed", it suddenly opened wide, and the silver-trimmed long clothes were thrown off, Nangong Siyuan raised his right foot lightly, stepped into the cabin in one step, and led the members of the temporary team to stand in front of Qiu Qiong.

Each of them looked annoyed, as if Qiu Qiong owed them hundreds of gold bars.

Qiu Qiong was stunned for a moment, and her eyes suddenly burst into flames.

"Nangong Siyuan! It's you guy with a knife in your smile! Where did you take Lao Xu and Ah Fu! ”

Nangong Siyuan glanced at Qiu Qiong with an unusually domineering expression, and snorted coldly, "A gentleman's word, the horses are difficult to chase, I have already sent someone to send them to the hospital, at this time, they should also wake up." ”

"That'...... That's good...... Wrong!! Why did you arrest me here! ”

Nangong Siyuan took out a small notebook and read it out indifferently: "Miss Xu, you are suspected of two major crimes: first, fabricating your identity, entering the town without application, and even breaking into the silver ring; Second, carry a strong offensive intelligent weapon, as well as a ban weapon and a long sword. ”

"Damn, what's wrong with your sword!"

"Don't worry, we're only temporarily detained, and when you're done with your labor, we'll naturally return it to you and escort you back to Lazy Town."

Nangong Siyuan frowned, took a deep breath, and stared at Qiu Qiong with cold eyes.

"Take them both and put them together."

Xu Tian was stunned and shouted urgently: "What? Together? Sir, are you mistaken, I didn't do anything serious! ”

"Let's go!"