To the south of the Northern New Continent, there is a natural strait.
There are scattered houses built on the shore of the strait, which used to be the site of the “Northern Temple Army”.
With the liberation of Salt City, slave traders were expelled and wiped out, and most people moved to Salt City or Yao City, but a small number stayed behind.
With the frequent comings and goings of adventurers, scholars, merchants, sailors, fishermen, and pharmacists, some people gradually settled here. This place now has a new name: the Strait Pier.
In the tavern at the Strait Pier at this time, two men were drinking hot wheat beer with roasted potatoes.
“So, Fabiani, do you think the key to this world is underground?” Pawa looked curiously at the man sitting opposite him.
Fabiani swallowed the food in his mouth and wiped his mouth with his hand: “Where people can go, one is the ocean, and the other is the land. There are too many dangers in the ocean, and people are the creatures of the land. Yes, I think the truth may be hidden underground.”
“For example, the splitting earthworm?”
Pawa laughed and said, “You are the first to discover the splitting earthworm. Although the Lord God gave it a name, many people also call it the Fabiani earthworm in private.”
Fabiani shook his head: “I was just lucky. Now those guys have become livestock for the dragons.”
“Another one?”
“No. Drinking is just to keep warm, not to get drunk.”
Fabiani exhaled a breath of white air, and his mouth with a stubble of beard slowly opened: “I used to be a prophet of the fallen old gods.”
Pawa remained unchanged, as if he had known all this long ago.
“Seeing the collapse of the gods, the disappearance of miracles, I was confused for a long time, not knowing what to do. The omniscience and omnipotence displayed by God Yao made me feel that as an ordinary person, anything I do is meaningless…”
“Later, I went to many places, Salt City, Yao City, Sanilo, the Eastern Continent, overseas, the New Continent where the Southern Elves live, and then here.”
“In the past ten years, I found that the underground is a place that most people ignore. The extinct ancient history and truth have been preserved because they are buried underground.”
“The cave dwellers, they are the descendants of ancient humans, and there are many caves and ruins underground, which have not yet received much attention from everyone.”
“I once heard from a dying cave dweller that many epochs ago, the continent was not yet divided into four parts, much larger than it is now. At that time, there was a Rose Kingdom on the ground.”
“The Rose Kingdom cultivated many roses, all of which were transcendent life forms, and at that time, humans and roses ruled the secular world together…”
Pawa’s eyes lit up as he listened: “Have you found the ruins of this ancient kingdom?”
Fabiani shook his head: “I was looking everywhere and ended up digging out the splitting earthworm underground… I was really scared at the time and was chased by those guys all the way. I finally found out that they wanted to eat the sour raspberries and berries in my backpack.”
“So that’s how it is.”
Pawa opened his own log and recorded with a charcoal pen: “It seems that it’s not wrong to bring some food when going out. The archaeologist Fabiani’s personal experience.”
“…”
“Why did the earthworms go to the dragon’s nest?”
He passed by the dragon’s nest from a distance and saw large earthworms coming and going around, breaking through the thick ice and plowing the soil, a spectacular scene.
“I do know this.”
Pawa took a sip of wine: “It’s a gift to the Dragon King.”
“Do you know about the Elf Lake? Some people have learned to give gifts to the little elves, build tree houses and pools for them, plant tree seeds and grass seeds, and establish friendships to obtain treasure chests in the lake. However, the little elves are getting smarter and no longer give away treasure chests so easily.”
“Some adventurers want to use the same method to establish a good relationship with the Dragon King and see if they can get some treasures.”
“Although it’s not easy to see the Dragon King, there is a young dragon in the dragon’s nest, and giving it a gift might be useful.”
Fabiani frowned: “But dragons and elves are completely different creatures.”
Pawa speared a piece of potato with his fork and said, “The splitting earthworm is a favorite food of transcendent creatures.”
“Whether it’s the cannibal crab, the firebird, the sandworm, or the fishman, they all love the splitting earthworm. Now, merchants are everywhere, madly grabbing them, and that’s the reason.”
“It is said that the splitting earthworm constantly splits itself, but it needs a large area of land. The wider and more fertile the land, the faster they grow.”
“These large earthworms were originally given as food to the dragon’s nest, or as offerings.”
Fabiani was stunned for a moment and then had a new doubt: “But there are a particularly large number of earthworms around the dragon’s nest… and the snowman is still selling them to the outside world, what’s going on?”
“Who knows?”
Pawa recalled: “I and the Blast Furnace Adventurer Team have been to the dragon’s nest and also met the snowman, it’s a… very special snowman.”
“When I first saw it, I thought it was a bit silly, but later I found it to be particularly clever. Things that normal people take for granted, the snowman cannot understand. It claims to be the steward of the dragon’s nest… and the earthworms are also sold to the outside world by the snowman.”
The dragon’s nest is vast and cold, but the splitting earthworms can still live normally deep underground. In just a few years, this place has become the place with the most splitting earthworms in the entire world.
Of course, the earthworms nearby are all the property of the Dragon King Pasha.
Fabiani vigorously rubbed his face with his rough hands: “The boat is about to leave, let’s talk while we walk.”
The two walked out of the tavern one after the other, and as soon as the cold wind blew in their faces, they immediately sobered up.”If I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes, I would never have believed it. Ice giants raising earthworms outside the Dragon’s Nest, selling them to outsiders… This is nothing like the Dragon’s Nest I imagined,” the archaeologist exclaimed.
Pawa also smiled wryly: “In the initial draft of the Dragon’s Nest chapter I conceived, I wrote that the Dragon’s Nest was a dangerous holy land, where challenging the dragon race represented the utmost courage and rebellion against fear… Who would have thought, in just a few years, the Dragon’s Nest has turned into a market for earthworms, and the strait’s dock has prospered because of it.”
Fabiani suddenly thought: “Are dragons short of money? They shouldn’t be, right?”
Pawa rubbed his hands together: “Anyway, the Dragon King is definitely very wealthy now. It’s very likely to become the richest one soon, as it’s said that half of the split earthworms in Sanilo City are imported from here.”
“The growth rate of the earthworms from the Dragon’s Nest is incredibly fast, and they are very strong, with firm flesh, especially the black earthworms, which are simply worth their weight in gold… Reality is always stranger than fiction.”
“The only problem is, the Dragon’s Nest chapter I wrote is completely useless now.”
Pawa pressed down on his rabbit ear hat, looking dejectedly ahead.
The ice giants were tying up thick, reddish-brown earthworms with ropes, stuffing them into boxes by the dock, and then the sailors used wheelbarrows to transport the boxes onto the ships, placing them in the cargo hold.
The galleons, one after another, left fully loaded, while new merchant ships continued to arrive in the distance.
Everyone knew the dangers of intruding into the Dragon’s Nest.
But whether one could obtain treasures, no one could be sure.
Yet at the strait’s dock outside the Dragon’s Nest, ships docked regularly. By working on the dock or as a sailor on a ship, one could make a small fortune.
Many young people traveled long distances to work and earn money here.
Pawa looked up at the sky.
Lord God Yao, did you name the split earthworms just to foster peace between dragons and humans?
The might and wisdom of the gods are truly unfathomable.
Fabiani stepped onto the deck of the galleon and waved to the man by the dock: “Goodbye.”
Pawa snapped back to reality and shouted: “Please send my regards to the Mayor of Copper Sea.”
The archaeologist nodded, tugging at the burlap wrap on his back: “Take care of yourself.”
“Rest assured, God Yao is with us,” Pawa exhaled a white breath.
Fabiani also said earnestly: “God Yao is with us!”
Thanks to: The Crybaby Lunatic for the support of 500 starting coins.