Darkstone Code

"These are freshly harvested spices this year, hundred-flower herb seeds..." a local spice merchant was showcasing his proudest product to Lynch.

Only to see him lift a bag the size of an adult's fist and pour out some hexagonal greenish-yellow seeds. When the seeds scattered in his hand, a peculiar fragrance wafted out, and Lynch seemed to have smelled it somewhere before.

Of course, it certainly wasn't here, but in the Federation.

Hundred-flower herb seeds aren't too precious, but they're not ordinary goods either. They have very strict requirements for their growing environment, and only a few countries in the world have this spice.

It's primarily used for handling certain meat dishes, like roast meat and grilled meats. Lynch found this scent familiar because it was used in grilled fish fillets he'd eaten. Cooks also like to use it to enhance the flavor of fish.

Lynch fiddled with them a bit, and the fragrance started to change slightly. This was due to the strong scent. He backed away a bit, his nose itching. "Do you have a price list?"

His question obviously hit the local merchant's sore spot. A brief mix of confusion flashed in the merchant's eyes, and then he asked in a doubtful and uncertain voice, "What is that?"

This is why the native merchants have always been exploited and oppressed by another group of merchants. It actually relates to the level of societal development. The local indigenous merchants were invaded by foreign traders without having undergone fierce competition.

Many things that seem basic to most merchants, they're not familiar with.

Lynch rephrased, "A price list, a piece of paper with the prices of each item recorded on it, do you understand?" Lynch looked at Asir, who explained it to the spice merchant in the local indigenous language. Seeing the merchant have an epiphany relieved Lynch a bit.

Then, the merchant quickly wrote up a price list. Lynch looked at the prices on the list and put it away without commenting, "I haven't dealt in spices before, but I don't mind trying it."

"I don't know if these prices are appropriate. I'll be going back to the Bail Federal next week, and we can discuss the purchase after I figure out the pricing."

"But before that..." Lynch pinched a small amount of hundred-flower herb seeds from the spice merchant's palm, crushed them forcefully, "they're too damp. If you want to do business with me, you'd better dry them out more!"

When he released his fingers, the dry shell of the hundred-flower herb seeds had been crushed, but the core was still somewhat damp. Don't underestimate this undetectable moisture; in the weight of a single hundred-flower herb seed, this moisture might make up more than half, even sixty to seventy percent of its weight.

These spice merchants aren't doing great business, but they didn't need anyone to teach them how to be cunning, showing that most merchants are fundamentally similar—they'll go to any lengths for profit.

The spice merchant wasn't embarrassed at all by the dampness of the spice he demonstrated and remained all smiles, "Of course, Mr. Lynch, I'll immediately have those lazy folks dry them thoroughly!"

"You'd better do that..." Lynch nodded, "Label these spices and keep them, I'll take them as samples when I leave."

After leaving contact information and labeling the spices, the spice merchant took his leave, and the second merchant, bringing his samples, entered.

An ivory merchant.

In this world, elephants and ivory don't count as rare species or luxury items. In places like Nagariel and those closer to the Equator, there are numerous elephant herds.

The elephants here are larger, have longer tusks, and are more threatening. On the savannah or in the jungle, they have few natural enemies. This has allowed their populations to grow larger, even threatening human living spaces in some areas.

Many elephant herds also exist on the savannahs and in the jungles of Nagariel. The ivory sold by the merchants mostly comes from savannah elephants—longer, thicker, tougher, and slightly yellowish in color, but not prominently so.

The ivory merchant, right off the bat, presented a pair of giant tusks over two meters seven or eight long, with a base diameter close to a foot and six inches!

If sent to the Federation for sale, they would be worth at least ten to twenty thousand Federation Sol, which is tens of millions of Galalier.

But here, it's just an expensive and sincere greeting gift.

"This is my gift to you, Mr. Lynch!" said a middle-aged man in his thirties, with a small mustache, looking somewhat shrewd and crafty, with a sinister and ruthless glint deep in his eyes.

Most hunters aren't benevolent. From the moment they take an animal's life in their first hunt, in the subsequent hunting process, most hunters naturally develop an attitude of 'life is no more than this.' They lose their reverence for life and begin to disregard it.

And this attitude eventually makes them have a similar regard for human life as well. They will disdain human life, just as they do when facing animals.

Lynch watched as the ivory was being moved off an old truck, thanked the ivory merchant, and then the two went into the room to continue their business discussions.

This merchant not only had a large stock of ivory but also rare rhino horns and rhino bones. These items can only be obtained deeper in the savannah, where the environment is harsher and scarier. Even Hassana fur traders wouldn't venture in easily.

Lynch also asked him for a price list. How much these items were worth specifically, and what price he should buy them at, would have to wait until he returned to the Federation.

Merchants came to visit in an endless stream, all local native merchants, heavily exploited by major corporations, always thinking Lynch could purchase their goods at higher prices.

In fact, this is a very mistaken concept. Even if Lynch could do this, he wouldn't, because it would offend all the foreign merchants in Nagariel and harm everyone's interests.

At that time, he'd be an enemy to all. Even if Nagariel's useless Central Government stood up, they wouldn't be able to prevent Lynch from being targeted, or even attacked.

But he can engage with these merchants. He won't touch most people's interests, nor will he offer the merchants an imaginary price list.

Many merchants came, and there were even intermediaries hoping to help some girls acquire genetic material from Lynch to modify the race, which started at a two billion dollar business.

But the merchants Lynch wanted to meet, the human traffickers, were the only ones that didn't show up.

This is actually quite normal. Nagariel's general environment is very resistant to the outside world, making people always think that foreign environments are harsher, worse than their own. Sometimes people can be so simple-minded and... foolish.

Therefore, no one is really eager to go abroad to work, and combined with religious brainwashing, the outside world has been equated with the Hell Abyss. How could they possibly give up such an opportunity to suffer abroad when they're waiting to become elites after the great destruction?

Lynch spent several days in this atmosphere, and the Provincial Governor's sons were still unable to convince each other to reach a consensus, which also gave Lynch some respite.

Seizing this opportunity, he had a serious look around the city, gaining deeper insights into the city, Magulana Province, and all of Nagariel.

On the second Tuesday of the following week, the Apostle of the High Priest came to escort Lynch to the event.

The third Tuesday of April is a festival of the native religion. Legend has it that on this day, a drop of blood, like flowing gold, fell from the deity onto the barren land, making flowers bloom and everything flourish. This day is also called the "Flower Festival," also known as "New Birth."

Actually, the festival's atmosphere had been noticeable two or three days prior, becoming even more intense yesterday, and reaching its peak today.

It's hard to imagine people would actually clean the streets. These days, when Lynch was wandering, he noticed not only men but also many women relieving themselves anywhere they pleased. It's somewhat amusing to say, but it's the truth.

Especially those middle-aged women from the lower echelons of society. They didn't care about others' eyes, finding a slightly off-street spot to solve personal issues, which was quite eye-opening.

The entire street was actually very chaotic and dirty, but surprisingly, today it was all cleaned up spotlessly.

Every household had wreaths made of flowers hanging over their doors, flower petals scattered across the ground in front of their homes. Both men and women had a red dot on their foreheads, with a circle of white petals around it to signify its meaning.

They had flowers decorating their temples, behind their ears, at their collars, chests, and wrists. The lingering stench in the city seemed to have lessened, even disappearing in the city center.

Lynch was invited to this religious event, which was actually a great honor. He was arranged to be on the second floral float, right after the High Priest.

Saying it was a floral float, it was actually an old bus repurposed and painted with some added decorations. There were already seven or eight people on the bus, about half of whom Lynch knew; they had met before, and they were all merchants.

The other half of the people Lynch hadn't met before, but after some introductions from others, he got to know them a little; they were representatives of some local notable families.

Maybe seeing Lynch was relatively young and participating in the Flower Festival for the first time, a merchant familiar with Lynch gave a quiet explanation of the process.

The purpose of this event is for people to thank the deities for nourishing all things with divine blood, by offering gratitude in various ways, and in return, the deity's representative would provide feedback to the people.

Thanking the divine and receiving divine feedback—a concept present in almost all religions. Lynch somewhat understood the idea.

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