Lone Horse takes Applejack and Limo to their tribe's orchard.

It is said to be a fruit forest, but it is actually an area in the heart of the forest.

In the middle grew an extraordinarily tall straight tree, with broad, stretched leaves that curled slightly, like the claws of a giant bird. It not only resembles but also attracts birds, which is also the origin of the name of the bird's claw tree.

Between the leaves hang clusters of pale green fruits.

These fruits are finger-thick and clustered, like some kind of natural ornament.

The lone horse and his people began to flexibly climb the tree. They will come close and talk to the fruit.

"How? Ready to get started? Not yet? Alas, you guy, you are really gutsless. ”

"Such a sweet voice, you are really a rare treasure, let me take you off and start the next stage of reproduction."

"No, you're still too young, you're still growing your body, your voice is sour and slurred, let's talk about it in a few months."

……

To others, these ant-men seem to be talking to themselves.

They carefully removed the bunches of ripe fruit from the tree and put them in a basket behind them.

Li Mo asked through the safety suit: "These trees can't survive anywhere else, right?" ”

"Yes, before I came here, there were quite a few people from other civilizations who tried this."

Applejack reminded again: "Mo Shao, this clothing and protection must not be taken off, and no contact with the locals is allowed. ”

"Especially the women here can't touch it."

The locals of Vrut have a warm and bold style and develop very early. Many of the people who first came here easily got involved with the local women and indulged in lust, and as a result, they also contracted the plague of Furut.

Outsiders do not have the body and resistance of the natives, and they get the plague, and the time from the time of illness to death is basically within a week.

Even if you go back, you will be inspected by the Sedilian gods and believers. They are sensitive to symptoms and immediately lock up the sick person until they are buried and burned after death.

Li Mo said: "I have no interest in women, I am here to talk about business. ”

His gaze was firmly fixed on the bird's claw tree.

Applejack was relieved. Li Mo's appearance and age are easy to ignore, but it seems that he came to investigate the family behind him.

"Brother Jie."

The other party's title made Applejack a little scared, and if a young master was arrogant, he felt a little more relieved. But the other party's calm and polite attitude made him a little uncertain.

"Call me Applejack."

"Applejack." Li Mo said: "Why did the Sedidrians open this passage? ”

"This one. Originally, they wanted to bring back the [Sedilia's Statue] here. But the spectacle is made up of stone statues, each of which is at least the size of a two-story house, and it is difficult to excavate and carry it on a large scale. When touched, you will also hear the whispers of the old god, which will make people nervous and weak. ”

Applejack observed the locals picking the fruits and said, "They want to hire locals to carry them, but there is hunger and disease here, and there are poisons everywhere, so it is not easy to act, so they gradually cooperated with our [Wanli Chamber of Commerce]. ”

Most of the Sedilian followers are fanatics, and have mastered some strange rituals and spells from the ancient gods. Relatively speaking, negotiation and cooperation are their weak point.

After President Albi reached an agreement with Cautrian of the Sedilian Gods, many merchants in the Guild came here to test the waters, but until now, Applejack is the only one who has been running this trade route for a long time.

The reason for this is that the local ant-people in Vrut are very difficult to deal with.

Normal people don't get their approval at all.

Applejack is annoyed by the arrogant attitude and arrogance of the leader of the fire ant tribe when he talks about cooperation with Lone Horse, the leader of the fire ant tribe here.

It was as if he had begged them.

After a long time, I've come here to ask for food?

Applejack and Lone Pony fight after scolding.

The other party is also very martial arts, and he is single-handed.

In the end, Applejack never fought a lone horse with a tall horse, strong and endurance talents, but was looked down upon by the other party.

"Very good, very courageous. You're a lot like Ant-Man, and from today onwards, you're a friend of our fire ant tribe. ”

Lone Horse patted Applejack, who was wearing a protective suit, "You're a man, what are the other outsiders, what are you talking about?" Don't even dare to fight, what else do you dare to do? ”

"We ant-men are not afraid of death, and our friends must be bold enough."

In this way, the two sides established a bond and friendship.

It is difficult for normal businessmen to open up land here.

In retrospect, Applejack also finds it thrilling.

In case the lone horse punched himself seriously that day, or the protective clothing was damaged that day, or even the lone horse was unhappy, he cut himself down and threw it to make fertilizer for fruit trees...... Each is a dead end.

After going through the most difficult part, Applejack later exchanged the food he bought in the Mystic Kingdom for some local goods.

Local exports include a variety of leathers, home-made herbs, and fruits, with fruits such as "bird's claw fruit" being the most popular among buyers.

It can eliminate certain negative effects, has high practical value, and is sweet and delicious, it is a variety that Yao fruits have not had, and it has become an expensive food in the secret art country.

It's just that bird's claw fruit only bears fruit twice a year, and it is difficult to preserve it after picking, so it is difficult to further increase the yield.

Li Mo was puzzled: "Why don't you consider picking it off and preserving it by pickling?" ”

"Mo Shao, look."

Applejack motions for the other to look under the tree.

There were several women with jeweled pendants around their necks, spreading bunches of claw fruits on the claw leaves, concentrating the leaves on a large dustpan and carrying them together to a nearby clearing.

There were wooden crates stacked there.

Little fiery red ants crawled out of the beehive-like box, and they soon crawled all over the claws and stabbed into the birds' claws.

Li Mo pondered: "Are they processing fresh fruits?" ”

"You can say the same thing."

Applejack said, "It seems that Mo Shao has studied these things. There are some fine toxin particles in the bird's claw fruit, all of which are concentrated in those small black thorns, evenly distributed in the fruit, and these fire ants are removing those poison sacs. At the same time, they will also remove some seeds so that the bird's claw fruit can have a chance to grow into a tree in the soil. ”

"Fire ants are very toxic. After they bite, they will make people feel as if they have been burned by fire, and the wound will continue to swell, and even bleed and numb the mouth and tongue, which can be fatal in severe cases. ”

Applejack looks at the small, busy insects, "That's why the ant-people got their name." In this place, different tribes will live in symbiosis with different ant colonies, which are mainly divided into two branches. ”

"One is to be with fire ants like the fire ant department here. Fire ants protect fruit trees and attack creatures such as birds, snakes and monkeys that eat the fruit. But they recognize the breath of their own ant-men, and they won't hurt the people here. ”

"There is also a branch of the species ant. Seed ants are usually active underground, where they store a wide variety of seeds and grow those seeds. Seed ants use toxins to identify suitable species, and many of the seeds they collect are valuable for planting. ”

"Some tribes live together with breeding ants and grow on a large scale for food...... Just because of the impact of hunger and disease, it is still far from enough. People here will eat more and more, and the more they eat, the weaker they will become, but they will also go hungry easily. ”

Li Mo's gaze swept between the ant colony and the fruit in the dustpan, and then set his gaze on the bird's claw tree.

"You're saying that after the poison sac is removed, the bird's claw fruit can be eaten?"

"That's right."

Applejack doesn't hide anything about it, his core business route is his friendship with Lone Horse, and other aspects are not worth mentioning.

At this moment, three men came out of the house carrying small dark brown wooden barrels, which were covered with lids. They cautiously walked to the other side of the forest.

Li Mo said: "Are they taking water? ”

"Nope. Inside the barrel is an antidote for sale. ”

"Oh? And this ability? Li Mo said casually: "Medicine itself is a necessity in many worlds, and you can exchange a lot of food for medicine, right?" ”

Applejack shook her head: "The amount of antidote is very small, and it can't fill the gap, this bottomless pit." ”

"Herbs are hard to find and grow?"

"This ...... Come with me, and you'll see. ”

Applejack follows him all the way to the other side of the forest ahead.

There were a few Fire Ant Division men over there, haggling with three outsiders.

The outsider was tall, dressed in a white robe, with a beak mask and a black hat, and holding a man-tall cane, like some kind of monk.

The masked man at the head said, "How much medicine weighs, how much food we give, this is the rule." ”

The man from the fire ant department is the boundary: "These are the freshest medicines, they are just made by men, and you don't suffer." The drug is strong, and the effect is the same as before. Give me a little more. ”

The other party didn't give an inch: "How much medicine, how much to give." ”

In the end, the man from the fire ant department was really a little cramped, and he wanted to say cruel words, but he couldn't say it. Finally, he took off the dagger wrapped in cowhide around his waist, gritted his teeth and handed it to the other party.

The person on the other side took it, looked at it, and put it away.

A masked man behind him took the barrel and placed it in a silver barrel behind him to cover it.

The staff in the other man's hand slammed into the ground, and suddenly the earth rose high, forming an earth elemental serpent. The serpent swallowed the silver bucket in one gulp, then lowered his head and let the two of them walk up their backs.

When he saw Applejack, the man in the lead bowed slightly.

Applejack nods back to the other party.

The other party left with the giant snake, and a wooden cart full of bags of wheat flowed from the giant snake's body.

"What world are these people from?" The smart Li Mo has already seen the clues.

"They are followers of the god of Greek mythology, the Staff of Chipper, and the one who leads them is the hero Fanel, who came here to buy the medicine."

Applejack sees that the man who used the dagger to make up the difference is already happy and is pushing the cart back.

He said: "The core ingredient of that special antidote is the blood of the Ant-Man, and it must be fresh blood, preferably for adult males. After some filtration and removal of impurities, it is the available antidote. ”

Li Mo was stunned: "Are they selling blood?" ”

"You have to live, you have to eat."

Applejack whispered, "This is the Ant-Man, but don't pity them, or they'll cut you off." When a person is penniless, dignity is his last treasure. ”

Ant-People are such a group of stinky and hard people.

Survive in the poison pool of Vrut.

Without this last bit of pride, they would have turned into humanoid beasts controlled by appetite.

In the evening, the men and women of the Fire Ant Division danced, beating drums and singing songs, and munching on the hot potatoes that filled the table.

Eating enough will make the ant-man forget all his worries, and never worry about what is yet to come.

Meanwhile, Applejack is finally able to get back into the car, take off her heavy helmet, and wipe the sweat from her face and neck with a towel. He relaxed his breathing a little and gulped down water.

In the passenger seat, Li Mo was still looking at the light in the forest and was silent.

Applejack poured a sip of wine into her mouth and said, "We can go back now, Mo Shao, you see it, right?" ”

"Wait a little longer."

"I want to find out how they live, as well as ...... There is no value worth helping them. ”

Really.

Applejack didn't care: "Mo Shao, I have to remind you that several gods have already inspected it here, including the [Staff of Cutting Slope] in Greek mythology, the [Virtuous Handmaiden] in Norse mythology, and the [Shennong] in Heavenly Court mythology...... They are all famous gods, and they have no way to solve the problems here. Don't expect too much. ”

"That's them."

Li Mo said lightly: "We are different. ”

Applejack was stunned.

The other party emphasized again: "Our Yao people are different. ”

Applejack saw the undisguised confidence and rightfulness in Li Mo's eyes, and was envious.

In the event of a disaster, normal people will stay away, but the Yao people like to find and tame disasters, and they even want to be locked up in the laboratory for dissection of natural disasters that destroy the world.

This is the Yao clan backed by the god Yao.

The superior of the Mystic Kingdom.

(End of chapter)