Love and passion, cutting up the wasteland.

Depression lagoon.

This originally refers to a very large area, which is no less than the grasslands of Shem in terms of area, and is second only to the vast wasteland of bones.

On this continent surrounded by barren sand, there is a rare area full of depressions and lakes. The small ones are just small pools, while the larger and deeper ones can be called lakes, large enough for boats.

However, unlike the vibrant swamps, the land here is desertified, such as the excavated river states, and the water level is changeable. Although the climate is relatively humid, it does not breed much vegetation - more importantly, in the sun, the surface of some lakes and pools is full of colorful colors and oil is flowing.

Although the crude oil reserves in the depression lagoon have long been dried up, the heavy industrial production in the past has left permanent marks on this area of ​​water.

There are thousands of pools.

Not all of them are naturally formed.

Shi Cha stood on the sand and looked out - deep in the thousand lakes, in the center of the land, was the former oil production and refining platform, which now belonged to the town base of the Southern Technology Hunters.

"It's a little different from the last time I came here." He set up the tent with his palms, not knowing where to start.

"How about finding some drifters to lead the way?" Su Cheng suggested.

Although the drifters depend on the Central Lake Town, most of them eventually have to go out to make a living. They go in and out quite frequently and should know the routes.

Shi Cha shook his head and pointed:
"look."

In the distance, there was a group of rafters wading through the water, but when Su Cheng looked closely, he saw that as the sunlight shone directly down, their skin had a metallic hue.

The light and shadows changed, and the colors were colorful, but it was a bit frightening in the eyes of several people.

"The drifters wanted to get back to the city as soon as possible, so they didn't bother to choose a route... This little bit of pollution is nothing to them, they've gotten used to it." Shi Cha said, "But there's no need for us to wade into this 'muddy water'."

What's more, there are guests.

At the edge of a pond, a gray-black bone wolf cautiously reached out for the water surface, but was immediately snorted by the stinging smell and almost slipped in.

The mountain dog's strong tracking ability and multiple amplified senses can also have inconveniences.

However, Xiaogu did not fall into the water. It just slid down two steps and was caught by the chain on its back. The other end was firmly held in the hand of the young man in long clothes.

The two teams have come together.

Beside Lu Meng, Bo was looking at the lake where she had played in the water when she was a child, and at the groups of rafters trekking in it. She remembered that when she was a child, the old workers had warned the children which pools were for swimming and which ones were not to be touched.

Some special pollutants do not float on the water surface, but sink deeply to the bottom of the central pool. They can only be clearly seen after going halfway and stirring them out in the water.

By this time, it was too late.

After a heavy rain, the secret passage broke its banks and changed its course... The original poisonous pool was replaced with clean water, and the original clear lake was filled with poison again. It was very common for the two to change into each other.

It can be said that how to distinguish them is a compulsory course for every technology hunter who later came from Lake Town. Even so, unless the best among them are very skilled, they will occasionally make mistakes, resulting in a high probability of various incurable skin diseases.

"It seems that we can only wait until the hunters in Lake Town come out to pick us up." Shi Cha sighed, "If I had known earlier, I would have stayed at the Skeleton Inn for a while longer, and there would be no need to rush so much..."

Caravans are gathering around.

With the presence of the technology hunter, the Depression Lagoon is indeed a relatively safe area nearby, attracting countless teams both for local trade and consumption and as a transit station.

Shi Cha and his men are not considered outliers.

After circling the water's edge, these teams did not easily go into the lake to wade in. It was obvious that they had the same idea.

However, we have to wait until the technology hunters take the initiative to come out of the lake and guide us together.

Then the time is not fixed.

If you are lucky, someone might come in the afternoon; if you are unlucky, the people in the city may not remember this matter for ten days or half a month.

Therefore, Su Cheng also knew that his master's words were just angry words. What should he do if he stayed at the post station for a few days and missed the person who came to pick him up?

What's more.

Now their progress is not entirely determined by themselves.

Just when the two of them had almost made up their minds not to discuss further, a guard suddenly stepped out from the caravan behind them and announced:
"The Grand Commander wants us to get into the water right now."

Su Cheng and Shi Cha looked at each other - the Grand Commander the other party mentioned was the code name of the mysterious leader. The merchants who joined the Merchant Guild had all kinds of strange organizational forms, so there was nothing strange about such a title.

But, is he so anxious?
Or maybe you don’t understand the dangers of pool water pollution.

Su Cheng personally is fine. With their level of strength, they have already developed immunity to most of the pollutants and poisons on this continent, so it won't cause any harm.

However, the team leader Shi Cha's face turned pale... He was just an ordinary person.

He used to be a nobleman.

Although he has been traveling for business several times, he still stays away from such injuries that will leave permanent lesions, after all, it is life-threatening.

"Do you want to talk to the adults again about this lagoon in the depression..." Seeing the guard turning around to leave, he hurriedly stepped forward and grabbed the other's clothes, ready to explain the pros and cons, but was gently thrown away.

The other party's movements were not big.

But it seemed to be slippery and could not be caught. It was obvious that he used his strength skillfully and had considerable strength.

"We'll go in the water whenever the captain says." The guard paused, then consoled him, "It'll be fine. Look, I can't even swim, but I dared to go in the water. What do you have to worry about..."

Then left.

Shi Cha's face turned even paler.

It's a bit of an exaggeration to say that they can't swim at all, but these modified warriors of the Order of Ashes do have difficulty paddling due to their prosthetic limbs.

If it were skeletons, they would be able to dive directly into the water and walk on the bottom of the pool like Soto did in the past... but they still need to breathe.

The body is such an inconvenient thing.

"Fix your body to your pack animal," Lu Meng ordered, "Don't leave your companions more than two meters away to prevent them from getting separated; but don't get too close, otherwise you will interfere with their movements..."

Everyone may have different abilities in swimming, but these animals are born with the ability to swim.

Even if they were raised in a deserted place since childhood.

The ability to swim is also engraved in our DNA.

The pastoral merchants of the Shan land tribes were equipped with simpler equipment in all aspects than other merchants, but they were able to travel far and wide because of the livestock they raised and their ability to tame animals. With such a large number of high-quality pack animals, they could not only carry loads but also serve as a means of transportation, so there were few terrains on the continent that could become an obstacle.

Nowadays, every Ashen Warrior has at least two camels that take turns towing them, and if they can't float themselves, they have empty water bladders.

As for Lu Meng.

He didn't need to drag Xiaogu with him. As the king of the swamp, it would be really humorous if he drowned in the water.

His current swimming skills, because he had no deliberate training, were only second to those of the leaders of the water tribe like Yingren, or anti-slavery activists like Bo who grew up by the water and were good at swimming.

After Lu Meng finished the arrangements, he looked at Bo beside him and said, "Is it okay to set off at this time?"

"Yes." The woman nodded. "Since we have seen it, we can't just ignore it..." "You lead the way, you have the final say." Lu Meng interrupted her explanation and looked up at the sky. In his vision comparable to that of a military eyepiece, he saw dark clouds approaching in the distance. "Besides, it's good for us to set off early."

"Okay, then I'm welcome."

Aside.

"Oh." Someone sucked his teeth, looked up at the lake inadvertently, and then laughed, "Is there anyone so anxious?"

In the eyes of these traveling merchants.

A well-organized caravan had just arrived here. Without any careful consideration or waiting like them, they just lined up and walked into the water one after another.

"He's new here, right?"

"It looks like a noble caravan..."

"You're just pretending. You're so reckless like a drifter."

Indeed, dozens of caravans of all sizes had been stationed along this long stretch of lake beach, but except for those desperate drifters, no one had dared to wade in the water before.

Now, this caravan, which is already the largest among them, suddenly launched into the water, naturally attracting everyone's attention.

However, in addition to the spectators, some traveling merchant leaders also had some ideas.

——Such a caravan should have its own rules and regulations, or have found some path.

You know, some of them have been waiting on this shore for the technology hunters to lead the way for half a month, and even the dry supplies they originally brought with them are almost finished.

The depression lagoon was originally a supply point on the planned route. Now they are stuck in the middle, unable to move forward or return... If the hunters from the lake town don't come, they will probably have to wade through the complex terrain and sewage.

Strange to say.

Although the wetland area of ​​the depression lagoon is vast, most of the waters are not connected together and are scattered and messy. This makes it impossible for ships in the lake town to sail continuously. Only in the area close to the core are there platform pontoons connecting them - this is also the reason why technology hunters do not frequently go out to pick up people.

In essence, they were just forced to go out when they were on a mission, and then point out the path they had taken to the waiting caravan.

But here's the thing.

Recently, it seems that there are very few Lake Town Hunter teams coming out to carry out missions.

This resulted in a backlog of caravans here.

Now that they saw a caravan of nobles taking the lead in launching themselves into the water, although they would not follow immediately, they were happy to see it happen and were watching cautiously.

If the other party steps into the poison pool.

At least one wrong answer can be ruled out.

"Grandpa... I want to vomit." A skinny little girl, lying on the back of a white-haired old man, said weakly.

That being said.

She couldn't stop dry-heaving a few times, but only a few drops of water came out.

"It's okay, kid... hold your breath." The old man underneath said distressedly, and then tried his best to lift the little girl a little higher to get her out of the water. "It will be over soon."

This group of people were the drifters that Shi Cha had seen trudging through the water on the shore before.

Drifters are a large group on this continent. They are not refugees who have just lost their homes, nor are they nomads who live by following water and grass, nor are they adventurers with clear goals like technology hunters and bounty hunters... Their way of life is to drift on the earth from generation to generation, occasionally relying on a stronghold or a regime, but soon disperse again.

Because the duration of each place may not be as long as one's own life.

Hamut was once among them.

Drifters like Tang Darui, who have sharp vision, good luck and own some small businesses of their own, are already considered to be the best off among them - even so, this boss does not expect to run the Skeleton Inn business for a lifetime, but only to make money from each season.

As for everyone else.

Life is even more difficult.

Unlike the caravans that came to trade, these drifters had no savings and could not wait for the arrival of the technology hunters, so they could only swim across the river on their own.

The old woman treaded water and tried hard to lift her granddaughter out of the water, but her little feet were still immersed in the newly emerged oil and covered with a black layer.

Just smelling the pungent chemical odor.

Then I realized it was not a good thing.

The old man also blamed himself: he had been going to the depression lagoon for many years, but after all, he was old and his eyesight was blurry and he was bound to make mistakes. As the leader, he actually led a group of people into this hidden poison pool.

This granddaughter also had a miserable life. They drifted and depended on the lagoon in the depression. Her father, who was also his son, met a local female drifter and gave birth to her. However, the good times did not last long. His son died in a disaster of animals in the wasteland of bones. When his daughter-in-law entrusted his granddaughter to him, her body below the neck was corroded and ulcerated, and the pollution penetrated into her bones. In the end, she could not even feed her mother's first mouthful of milk...

The old man also thought about taking his granddaughter away from the depression lagoon.

But he knew that if he left here, the world outside would be even more dangerous, and he might not survive this year.

Now there are some lesions.

As long as you are lucky, no attack.

That's still an acceptable price.

The old man's hands were suddenly empty.

Behind him, a man with an equally haggard face swam to him, took the little girl from his hands, and lifted her higher.

Lift it completely out of the water.

"Uncle Li, don't blame yourself." The man said as he swam, "The important thing is to swim over as quickly as possible."

The old man glanced behind him.

There was another group of people following, dark filth floating around them.

"Yeah." He nodded vigorously.

The old man quickened his limbs underwater and swam with all his might, overtaking the man holding his granddaughter and swimming towards the shore as hard as he could.

This time, there was much less dirt.

Finally, the group of drifters successfully reached the shore, but they did not look relaxed - right in front of them, in the distance, there were countless large and small pools and lakes with calm and clear surfaces, blocking their way.

If they were to follow the winding temporary sand embankment, not to mention that it was not stable enough, the route itself was like a maze. After going around in a circle, they might not even be able to survive until the next high tide broke the embankment.

A drifter looked around for a while, chose the direction of a lake, and was about to step down carefully.

laugh!
A long arrow fell from the sky and suddenly pierced in front of them.

(End of this chapter)