Merchant. A profession that will never disappear in the history of mankind. From the first day when human beings had the concept of commodities and began commodity trading, merchants existed in human society as an important indicator of social development. They allow the flow of goods that exist in different regions.

It is undeniable that most businessmen engage in the trade industry for their own benefit, however, there are exceptions.

For example, the merchants in each settlement are responsible for communicating with the outside world.

In the underground country, there are actually very few settlements that can be self-sufficient, and most of the settlements exist because they meet the basic conditions for human survival, but they are more or less lacking some of the necessary conditions for human development, or minerals, or resources, or technological products - for example, in the southwest border, where there are iron mines, such as the town of Bruno, there is a lack of enough fresh water resources and food other than calorie synthetic food, and where there is fresh water, such as Spice, there is a lack of iron ore and scientific and technological products. In this way, the purpose of the merchant is to exchange the superior products of their own settlements for the resources we need but lack with the other settlement.

The same is true of the existence of Spice's caravan.

Because of the lack of iron ore and technology, household technology and smelting products, from household hand-cranked generators to delicate metal products, all depend on the travels and returns of merchants every two months.

"Jingle Bell ~ Jingle Bell ~"

The sound of bells, as the caravan marched rhythmically, came a slightly dull sound of bells from the entrance of the town, and the sound of the bells should be loud and rusty.

The walkway is a stone tunnel that can be walked hand in hand by ten people. The road is in the easternmost part of the town, behind a one-and-a-half-man high cave in the stone wall that connects the dome. The cave is a large semicircle that looks like it is natural, but in the oral history of Spices, this cave was dug by the first generation of Spices when they migrated from a distant and prosperous area, and all of Spice's present is built on the basis of this cave that was dug at that time.

The name of the cave is called Return, which means that everyone who steps into this cave can return safely.

Every two months, the Spice merchant embarks on a long journey from the entrance of the Stone Cave to the far reaches of the world, carrying the town's specialties to the distant world, as well as the blessings of the townspeople. The communication between the border town and other border towns, and the rich life and development of the border town, have all depended on this team for more than 100 years.

The sound of the bells, though rusty, travels far and wide. The vigilantes patrolling the east heard the bell first, then the residents of the east. I don't know who shouted first. "The caravan is back!" The sound of words rang out in the streets and alleys.

The word quickly reached Spice's clock box, waking up little Dust, who was napping in the clock box's control room.

"The caravan is back!"

Little Daxter laughed, then ran to the bell box and struck the twelve times that the Spice Clock only struck once every two months.

So the whole Spice woke up.

……

"The caravan is back." Raymond stood in front of his door, his palms clenched expressionlessly.

After seven days of training, Raymond has a smaller belly and face, and he is still a little bigger at this time. But it's very different from the past.

There were more and more people outside the box, and everyone walked towards the east, Raymond looked at the direction of the crowd in a daze, and silently pinched a trace of sweat in his palms.

"What's the fuss, let's go." Suddenly, the little fat man was pushed from behind, and Raymond, who was in a daze, stumbled to the front, frowning and looking behind, only to find his bosses standing behind him who had been training with him for seven days.

"Garcia, Mountain, Blair......"

"Tsk, you put Blair at the end and say that Blair is very unhappy." Garcia's smile was still pure, "yes, Blair." ”

"Don't listen to this unscrupulous nonsense!" Blair stepped forward and hooked Raymond's shoulder, "What do you think, come with me to pick up the caravan." ”

"I can't go, there are more and more people, and I can't do it without the security team watching." Shan's expression was a little serious, "If you don't leave, I'll drag you away from the fat man." ”

"Let's go!" Raymond laughed when he heard this, and his round face showed two trademark dimples, "But you don't necessarily have to drag me now." ”

……

"Crowd, evacuate! Retreat behind the yellow line! ”

"Leave room for the caravan, don't block the hole!"

"Get out of the way of those who are returning to the cave! Let the caravan in! ”

There are two kinds of people who are called heroes, those who are Guardians and those who are Harbingers. The vigilantes belong to the former, and Spice's caravan belongs to the latter. However, there is more of a visceral affinity for the Guardians, and a fervent reverence and even worship for the Pioneers. The town's first radio, the first generator, the first weigher, and even Mr. Hyde, who had established the vigilante, were all transported from outside the town by the Spice caravan as a pioneer. Guardians make people's lives secure, however, pioneers make people's lives better.

The bell had been ringing for a short time, less than three minutes since the first bell, but a small half of the town had gathered before returning to the cave. Everyone gathered in front of the Return Stone Cave, huddling around and waiting for the caravan to return. The vigilantes kept order, drove the people who were standing too close to the entrance of the cave, planted clay stakes on both sides of the cave, pulled up yellow lines, made way for the returning caravans, and waited with the townspeople.

"Are you here?"

The late mountain pulled the team member who had set up the yellow line and asked.

"Not yet. You know, the bells of caravans always travel far away. ”

The sound of bells fluttered from the mouth of the cave, and the sound bent in the tunnel. Sounds very erratic.

The tunnel was very long, and according to the caravan, it took a full ten minutes to walk through the entire tunnel to reach the fork. The caravan's bells could travel far as the caravan went, and when the first bell rang, they reached the end of the tunnel.

Ten minutes is a long time, but it's also fast. The sound of bells slowly became clear from far and near, and the caravan slowly approached. Finally, the eyed man saw a blur of sound and shadow in the tunnel.

"It's coming!" The people in the front row began to cheer.

"See!" The people who were standing a little further back also shouted.

Garcia, who was standing at the back of the yellow line, also laughed, and he saw his familiar figure in the caravan. An old man, an old man who is twenty years older than Mr. Hyde, and who brought Mr. Hyde back then.

An old man who often bullies when he is not sensible.

One, an old man who is often bullied by all the kids in town.

One, a man who deserves to be called a hero by all.

A person who does not admit that he is a hero.

"I'm not a hero, I'm just a veteran. One, a veteran like my father. ”

"Security team, stand still!" Garcia took a deep breath, suppressed the smile on his face, and shouted.

"Yes!" Suddenly, the two rows of security team members who looked at the yellow line, including Shan and Blair, all had serious expressions. The team members stepped up in unison, and the rhythmic footsteps gradually suppressed the noise of all onlookers, and only for a moment, before returning to the cave entrance, only the footsteps of the security team and the incomparably clear bell sound came from the cave entrance.

"Stand~Determine!" Brushing, with two loud footsteps striking the ground, the whole of Spice fell silent. All that remains is the rhythmic sound of bells.

"Jingle - Jingle - Jingle - Jingle - "

The slow sound of the bell, approaching with great determination. For some reason, the whole Spice was solemn.

The blurred silhouette in the cave gradually became clear, and finally, the team that everyone had been waiting for for a long time appeared in everyone's eyes. The eyes of the people waiting in front of the cave were blurred.

Our caravan is back again.

An old man, an old man with white hair, came back with four carts and twelve middle-aged men dragging carts, loaded with four carts of goods.

And the bell hung on the old man's crutch, and with every step the old man took, the bell made a dull rusty sound. Just like the old man's age.

The old man is 70 years old.

He had been on his way with the Spayers caravan for fifty-four years.

From the age of sixteen, when he took over the class of his father, who died young.

The old man's father died in an accident with a caravan fifty-four years ago, and the old man's son died fifteen years ago in the defense of the large-scale invasion of bigtooth ants.

However, the old man did not die.

The old man has a crazy wife, she is sixty-eight years old.

The old man's wife's name is Sophia.

The old man's name was Sean.

"Veteran Sean is back again."

The old man laughed. On crutches, but with his head held high. He said with a smile to everyone.

Directly opposite the stone cave, on the other side of the road, the memorial statue of the veteran Sean Square from his youth on the standing side also laughed. Grandma Sophia, who was standing under the memorial statue, also laughed.

"I'm back." The old man was lip syncing into the distance.

"Welcome home." The old woman was lip syncing to this side.

Just like fifty-four years ago.

"I'm back."

"Welcome home."