Wandao long distance

Chapter 443 The Way of Evolution
In the gloomy lair, it can almost be said that there is no sky and no sun, and you can't see your fingers.

If you use Li Qiyuan's eyes, you can't see anything, you can only distinguish the location by hearing the sound.

Presumably the mermaids did the same, using their eyes and voice at the same time, because Li Qi noticed that Lei Fang's hearing was very good, even better than Li Qi's.

Maybe this is racial talent?

Of course, now that there are pupil worms, Li Qi can clearly see these nests.

These lairs may have something to do with the occupations of the mermaids and the 'renter'.

Li Qi thought so, but saw that at this moment, a large group of mermaids were swimming towards him.

He counted the number, and there were more than [-] items, all of which were led by Lei Fang, and soon came to Li Qi.

"Sir, this is my home, they are all my family, these are my brothers and sisters, these two are my parents!" Lei Fang seemed to want to introduce his family, so in front of many sharks I swam around.

To be honest, it was very difficult for Li Qi to distinguish between male and female sharks.

They all look like charming girls, regardless of gender, their bodies are smooth and slender, and because they don't need to breastfeed, they don't have any secondary sexual characteristics, and their lower bodies are all fishtails, and they can't see any primary sexual characteristics sign.

Moreover, they are not a muscular race, and they don't need those in the water, so both men and women have the same body shape, even the long hair is the same.

It's really...it's hard to recognize.

Especially when introducing his parents, Li Qi didn't know which one was the father and which one was the mother.

Moreover, the mermaid's ability to reproduce seems to be very strong... This family has only one pair of parents, and there are about twenty children, so they can really have children.

Just, why are there no elderly people?
Is it because the mermaids have a long lifespan, so they haven't reached the "old" time yet?

It is very possible, Li Qi has read about this in books, that the lifespan of mermaids is quite long, about a thousand years, although it is not considered longevity, but compared to humans, it is very long.

It is said that their oil is extracted to make lamp oil, which can also keep the candle burning for thousands of years.

Li Qi has never used it, but there is a high probability that it is true. Someone really used sharks to refine oil.

"Uh, I'm very glad to meet you all. I'm just curious. I came to see the Merman's residence. I hope you will forgive me for disturbing you." Li Qi said immediately, cupping his hands.

But these sharks shook their heads and waved their hands quickly, saying no, some panicked, and even a few were about to swim back, but they were caught by other brothers and sisters.

Lei Fang hurriedly stepped forward: "Mr. made me laugh. Everyone just didn't expect someone to come to the house. After all...it's really a bit shabby. I hope you will forgive me, don't blame me."

"Really? Is this a shabby type? In other words... your financial situation is actually not very good?" Li Qi couldn't tell whether the Merman's home was shabby or luxurious, so he asked.

Leifang didn't seem to expect Li Qi's thoughts to jump so fast, so he froze for a moment.

However, she immediately reacted and replied: "It's really not very good. Our pearl farmers... are not very good. The rent is very heavy, and the tax on Dongyu is not light."

"Oh... That's why you all went to the outskirts of Dongyu to sell pearls. Those who are like you are the same as you?" Li Qi asked.

"Almost, they are all the same. The location in front of Dongyu is good, and there are many people coming and going. Everyone is there." Leifang replied with a nod.

Li Qi nodded thoughtfully: "So that's how it is...Then have you finished your work?"

"It's done, it's done, please tell me where to go next!" Lei Fang replied immediately.

Seeing this, the other sharks also wanted to resign. They came to pay respects to the nobleman, but they didn't seem as courageous as Leifang, so they hesitated, as if they didn't dare to speak.

Although his race is a mermaid, his temperament is no different from that of an old farmer in Baiyue.

Maybe...their social status is actually that of old peasants among the sharks?And he is still a tenant farmer, because he has to pay rent.

Li Qi watched these people leave, and did not communicate much from the beginning to the end, because Li Qi knew that if he spoke by himself, it might bring more unnecessary burdens to them.

After Lei Fang's family members had all left, Li Qi looked at Lei Fang floating beside him, and said, "Let's go, take me to the Sharkman's Land first, there should be more than your family here, right?"

"...? What's so good about these places, sir... There are many shops on Dongyu Island, and many things from the depths of the East China Sea will be shipped from there and sold in the East China Sea. There are more good things there, ah... sorry." In the middle of speaking, Lei Fang realized that he shouldn't be the one to decide, so he slapped himself, and then immediately changed his words: "I'll take you to look around, shall we start from the pearl field here?"

"Don't be so cautious, let's talk as we walk." Li Qi shook his head.

The ups and downs in the East China Sea seem to be very serious.

Like Leispin, who is actually more courageous?

While sketching the situation in the East China Sea in his mind, Li Qi and Lei Fang left the lair and went to a pearl plantation not far away.

He was swimming, and asked seemingly casually: "By the way, how do you collect your rent?"

"Rent? The rent is... These years, the rent is [-]%, which is slightly heavier than in previous years. It is said that there is a war, but it feels like there is no war. It seems that the people above have found an excuse to increase the rent... ..." Lei Fang said next to him, and he couldn't help complaining.

But she immediately realized that she shouldn't say these things, so she stopped in time.

"Seventy percent... Regardless of the harvest, seventy percent?" Li Qi asked again.

"No, there is a fixed amount of land rent to be paid first, and then [-]% after the harvest. It is said that this will prevent us from being lazy and not planting after renting the land." Lei Fang said so.

"Such a heavy rent, don't you protest?" Li Qi asked.

"Protest? Hmm... is it necessary? After all, the land is indeed his family's, and the pearl oysters we grow are all rented from them. If there are no pearl oysters cultivated by oyster mothers, we can't do this, so in fact It's quite normal, right?" After Lei Fang changed his mind, he began to defend the landlord again.

"Pearl oysters are cultivated by oyster mothers?" Li Qi was stunned.

"Otherwise? I heard that in my grandfather's generation, he grew mussels by himself, but it is no longer possible. The mussels we grow are not good, the rate of pearl production is low, the production is slow, and the quality of the pearls produced is not good, so everyone uses them. The mussels produced by the clam mother have grown, and although the rent is much higher, overall, the income has increased a lot compared to before." Leifang explained.

Li Qi nodded.

Landlord and sharecropper style production, then monopolized seed...

The strange thing about this is, what is a 'clam mother'.

Looking at it now, if it is a literal meaning, these pearl oysters are all the offspring of the oyster mother, so is this what the oyster mother is willing to see?You must know that the breeding environment of pearl oysters is completely different from the natural environment. If you want to get pearls, you must first pry open the pearl oysters, which will directly lead to the death of the pearl oysters.

If not...

That clam mother, could it be some kind of biological production factory?
Then, this method reminded Li Qi of humanity.

Not long ago, Li Qi saw that Lidao people registered their visitors on it, and they needed to record their breath when entering the city...

Is this from the erosion of humanity?

Not necessarily, let's observe and observe.

Thinking of this, Li Qi began to observe the living place of the mermaids.

As he observed this lower area, Li Qi also began to gradually understand this giant institution according to Lei Fang's introduction.

It turns out that Dongyu is also divided into upper and lower urban areas.

"The upper level is where you guys go, sir. The lower level is generally where our aborigines live. This is where the mermaid clan lives in the lower level." Lei Fang said.

This upper and lower is the upper and lower in the literal sense. The upper layer is the Dongyu Island that ordinary people are familiar with. It is mainly used as a resting place for tourists, businessmen, and people who come to the East China Sea from afar.

This is also the role of Dongyu that Li Qi first understood. It is used as a safe haven for those who are not good at water in the East China Sea. They will not have to settle everything at sea. It can also facilitate the management of these people, so that there are so few of them Gathering and distributing at fixed locations, communicating with each other, and bringing things from the outside world to the East China Sea can generate many variables for this area of ​​the East China Sea, so as not to turn into a pool of stagnant water.

But a giant institution like Dongyu also needs to be maintained.

A huge mechanism must also rely on every small part to operate, and it cannot be created out of thin air. Li Qi already understood this truth when he understood the theory of boundaries.

Difficult things in the world must be done with ease.

Major events in the world must be done in detail.

Therefore, the sage does not become great in the end, so he can become great.

And the lower level of Dongyu is the maintainer and producer of these small parts.

Lei Fang continued: "Most of our pearls are sent to the oven. The nobles will buy all our pearls, so we just grow them and don't worry about sales. This is also a better place than before. .”

"Your Excellency? Oven?" Li Qi noticed two words.

As for the snail people, he knows that they are also a race of the East China Sea.

"Your Excellency, they are the people who leased the land to us. They are also mermaids, but their cultivation base is much, much higher, but we don't know the exact rank. Maybe you can find out about the existence of such a sir..."

Li Qi nodded slightly, no wonder...

When I went to see Leifang's family earlier, they looked trembling and trembling, thinking they were afraid of something, but it turned out that it was because of the title of 'noble person' at that time.

That is to say, at that time, I was regarded as a 'noble person', no... Looking at Leifang's attitude towards me now, I also regarded myself as a 'noble person'.

That is to say, "noble person" is not limited to race, and not only mermaids are "noble person".

At this time, I heard Lei Fang continue to speak.

"As for the oven, it is the place of the snail people. The pearls will be sent to the oven. The snail people are good at making magic weapons, so they have always maintained the oven. The pearl is their energy source. The nobles let us Plant pearls, then buy our pearls and sell them to the snail people." Leifang said.

"It seems that the snail people and the shark people are not engaged in food production, so what do you eat?" Li Qi was curious.

"There is a shepherd, sir, haven't you met a shepherd before?" Lei Fang said.

Li Qi recalled it, indeed, he had seen the herdsman in the sea before, raising fish.

"So it's like this. Does every ethnic group occupy a part of Dongyu's area and social functions? This is a bit like Baiyue. By the way, have the nobles said why this is so?" Li Qi said while thinking .

Leifang didn't know what Baiyue was, but... from the tone of this nobleman, it shouldn't be a good place, but she also answered the question immediately: "Well, the nobles seem to have said that what is it called... an ecological niche? "

After saying this, Li Qi suddenly widened his eyes.

His previous meditation was directly awakened by this noun!

Ecological niche!

Yes, this is it!
It is so, it is so!
It was so!
Li Qi immediately understood why there was such a severe oppression, such a huge gap between the rich and the poor, and such a hierarchical social composition.

The Way of Evolution, is this the "Way of Evolution" of the true dragons?

Completely free competition.

Completely unfettered predators of the jungle.

Unscrupulous expansion, arbitrary occupation of ecological niches, extreme freedom without any constraints and supervision, but also extreme freedom!

Survival of the fittest, only by finding a suitable position and surviving the brutal competition, can you be qualified to gain a foothold in the East China Sea.

You don't need to be strong, because the weak are allowed to exist in the food chain, but you have to bear the responsibility of 'food'.

You may be very strong, but even if you are as strong as the Dragon Lord, you will die without burial, and no one will avenge him. The corpse is like a whale falling, and it has become the food of countless weak and weak, just because he lost in the 'contest of the strong'.

Unlimited deathmatch!
Every link must do its best, either die, or try to adapt itself to this arena, whether it is to adapt as food and nourishment, or to become an existence at the top of the food chain to adapt.

This is the way of heaven?
So...the one standing at the top of the Dao of Evolution is the real dragon?
Now Li Qi understood.

Why all things in the East China Sea target the real dragon, and understand why the real dragon is so powerful and why it has such a terrifying talent.

If Li Qi's conjecture is correct, then... the real dragon is a perfect creature, the ultimate product of the way of evolution.

No weakness, adapts to all conditions.

No wonder the 'Dragon Lord' was able to adapt to the divine position, the human official position, and refine the East China Sea at the same time, but it was not subject to any backlash. Is this the foundation of a perfect creature in effect?

Is the background of a perfect creature enough for him to adapt to the conflicts of various paths?

Li Qi suddenly realized the great help that the Way of Evolution might bring to him.

Can this adaptability, coupled with the "ultimate way" of Taoism, completely solve the problem of conflicts in the inner body?

Li Qi took a deep breath.

However, at this moment, the shark beside him saw Li Qifa stunned, and asked, "Sir? Sir? Someone is coming towards us."

(End of this chapter)