Chapter 75 Spring Breeze Brings Guests, New Rumors on the Trade Route "Hey..."

"Hey, have you heard? Fernando, the manager of the Golden Libra Merchant Guild, went on a trip to the northern route a while ago. When he came back, the entire caravan was like they'd been injected with chicken blood, everyone was glowing with health."

"Not only that, I heard they brought back a kind of wheat that can glow, which can cure insomnia, and a kind of snow-white salt, which is better than what noble lords use. After seeing it, the lord of Blackrock City offered a high price to buy it out on the spot, but that old fox Fernando refused to sell it."

"Really? That godforsaken place like the Cursed Lands can grow such good stuff?"

"Who knows? But the weirdest thing is what my cousin, who works as a guard in Libra, secretly told me. He said that on the edge of the Cursed Lands, they encountered a mysterious settlement called Hope Town. The people there not only have those magical foods, but also live in red houses that are warm in winter and cool in summer, and even... they have a kind of... uh... magical white throne that flushes itself."

“What you’re saying is all outdated,” a mercenary who had just come from Blackrock City said in a low voice, mysteriously. “I’ve heard the latest news. It’s said that Duke Caslan’s good-for-nothing eldest son, Karl, led troops to Hope Town a while ago, and guess what? He got utterly thrashed, and even his father’s most elite Red Scorpion Army suffered heavy losses.”

"My God, is this for real? Is Hope Town really that powerful?"

“More than powerful,” the mercenary said, his eyes gleaming with awe. “It is said that behind Hope Town stands the legendary elves, the real elves. Karl ran into a brick wall and was terrified by the elves’ magic.”

"Elves? Haven't they been celibate on continental affairs for nearly a century? Could it be... they're finally going to make their move?"

"Shh! Don't talk nonsense! If someone with ulterior motives hears this, they'll be in trouble."

Rumors, tinged with shock, doubt, and intense curiosity, began to circulate quietly in the towns, fortresses, and mercenary camps surrounding the Cursed Lands, fueled by the drunken boasts of caravans and adventurers.

For the homeless struggling to survive and small mercenary groups, the rumored food and safety were the greatest lure. For the astute small caravans and speculators, exclusive specialties and new technologies meant enormous business opportunities and wealth.

So, on a bright, sunny morning, when Eagle Eye, who was on watch at the lookout post, was scanning the distance as usual, he was surprised to see a small group of three dilapidated wagons and seven or eight walkers on the eastern horizon, tentatively approaching Hope Town.

"Mayor, mayor, there's something going on. Another group of people has arrived, and they look like a small caravan."

Lin Yue was in Central Park with Old Bud and the others, researching how to cultivate Moonlight Rice and Sacred Tree Seeds together, hoping to produce some kind of magical cross-cropping effect. Hearing the shout, he immediately dropped his small hoe and scrambled up to the lookout post.

Seeing the group, clearly wary and curious, Lin Yue's lips curled into a complex smile. Once Pandora's box is opened, it can never be closed again. There is no true isolation; if Hope Town wants to develop, it will ultimately have to gradually integrate into this complex and diverse world.

"Attention everyone, all production teams, maintain normal operations. Patrol and guard teams, enter Level 2 alert status, deploy on the city walls but do not actively expose hostility. All logistics personnel at Store No. 1, report to your posts immediately, we are opening our doors to welcome customers."

Soon, the small caravan arrived at the gates of Hope Town. Leading the group was a shrewd and capable-looking middle-aged merchant. He looked at the sturdy red brick and cement wall before him, which, though not high, was exceptionally thick. He then looked at the guards on the wall, who were armed with iron spears, dressed in uniform leather armor, and had sharp eyes. A look of shock and fear flashed in his eyes.

Is this really the level of defense a shelter could have? This wall alone is stronger than the city walls of their small town.

"Excuse me... is this... Hope Town?" the middle-aged merchant asked tentatively from a distance.

"Indeed." Lin Yue and the others were standing at the city gate waiting for them, their faces bearing polite smiles. "Welcome to Hope Town, friends from afar. I am Lin Yue, the mayor of Hope Town. May I ask what brings you here?"

The middle-aged merchant was even more surprised to see Lin Yue's youthful face. He gave a standard merchant's bow: "Respected Mayor, we are the Clover Caravan from Fallen Leaf Town. We have heard that your town has amazing specialties, so we have come to visit you and hope to have the opportunity to conduct some small trade with your town."

“Trade? We certainly welcome it.” Lin Yue nodded. “However, Hope Town has its own rules. All weapons belonging to outsiders must be deposited outside the city gates. Our guards can keep them for you, or you can leave some people outside to guard them yourselves. Furthermore, once inside the town, you must abide by our regulations, and you must not wander around or disturb the residents. All transactions must be conducted in Hope Town’s No. 1 Shop on a fair and voluntary basis. If you can accept these conditions, then the gates of Hope Town are always open to you.”

He paused, pointed to the main cement road leading to the central square inside the city gate, and added, “To ensure the safety and tranquility of our town’s residents, all visitors are primarily restricted to the area from the city gate to Hope Town Store No. 1, and the public area of ​​Central Park. You can trade, dine, rest, and even take a walk in the park after your meal here. However, the residential areas further back are strictly off-limits to outsiders. Our patrol teams will be constantly patrolling the town. If anyone is found repeatedly violating the rules and attempting to enter the residential areas, we will not only immediately remove you from Hope Town, but also permanently refuse to conduct any form of trade with you and your caravan. We hope you can understand and abide by this.”

The middle-aged merchant and his companions exchanged glances and ultimately agreed to Lin Yue's terms. They had come prepared, having heard that Hope Town dared to defy even Duke Caslan's eldest son, so it was clearly no pushover. Therefore, they hadn't brought many valuable goods this time, focusing mainly on probing and establishing contact. More importantly, they believed that a settlement capable of establishing such scale and order must be focused on long-term interests and wouldn't easily compromise its rules and reputation for short-term gains.

So, under the supervision of Gray and Amu, the caravan's guards reluctantly surrendered their weapons. Then, accompanied by a few guards from Hope Town, this small caravan, filled with trepidation and curiosity, stepped into Hope Town for the first time.

As they walked along the flat, clean cement road, even marked with strange white lines, and saw the neatly arranged, brightly lit red-brick courtyards on both sides of the road, the sacred trees in Central Park radiating soft green light, and some residents strolling leisurely, especially when they smelled the fragrance of flowers and grass and the faint scent of wood in the air, the whole town was filled with the vitality of life...

They were utterly shocked.

This...this is not a refuge on the edge of the cursed land. This is clearly a paradise that is more prosperous, cleaner and more vibrant than their Fallen Leaf Town.

Lin Yue led them to the lobby of No. 1 Store.

"Ladies and gentlemen, this is where we conduct our transactions." Lin Yue pointed to the huge menu wall. "All the goods we are willing to sell and their corresponding prices are listed here. To the right of the hall is our supermarket area, where you can see the actual products on the shelves. To the left is our dining area, where you can order food whenever you are hungry or thirsty. Behind the hall are guest rooms, where we also provide safe and comfortable accommodation if you need to stay overnight."

The members of the Clover Caravan, like country bumpkins visiting the city for the first time, looked up at the dazzling array of goods, their eyes almost unable to take it all in.

"My goodness, snow salt, it really is as white as snow, and it's even packaged in such a delicate little earthenware jar."

"Starlight Wheat Flour... does it really help me sleep better?"

"Look at this iron kitchen knife! The forging craftsmanship... the sharp blade... it's almost comparable to the high-end products I used to see in the blacksmith's shop in the capital. And it... it only costs thirty silver coins?!"

They discussed excitedly, wishing they could empty the entire trading company immediately.

That noon, Mia, who was in charge of the catering area, found Lin Yue discussing with Shi Quan how to improve the heat conductivity of the iron pot, with a look of confusion on her face.

“Mayor,” she said softly, “we’ve had several groups of customers lately who have bought a lot of things from the shops, but… but it seems like very few people come to our food court to order food.”

Lin Yue was taken aback: "Why? Is our food not good?"

“No,” Mia quickly shook her head. “I asked around, and they all said our food smelled amazing and must be delicious. But… but they said the dishes on our menu, whether baked or slow-cooked, sounded very time-consuming. For these travelers and small caravans, time is money; they need to quickly transport their goods back or reach their next destination. And… while some foods might indeed have magical effects, for those of them who aren't wealthy, satisfying their hunger is more important. So Aunt Leah and I discussed it and thought… could we introduce some faster, cheaper food specifically for these passing travelers?”

Aunt Leah came over and added, "Yes, Mayor. I heard them say that it would be great if we could have food that we could just pay for and take away, and eat on the go, even if it was simple in taste, as long as it was filling and cheap."

As Lin Yue listened to their words, a familiar word popped into his mind: fast food!

He looked at Mia and Aunt Leah with admiration in his eyes: "You...you are geniuses! The idea you have is so important. Isn't this the concept of fast food?"

“Fast…fast food?” Mia repeated the new word in confusion.

“That’s right,” Lin Yue clapped his hands excitedly. “This idea is excellent, and I fully support it. You can boldly develop the specific dishes without asking me. I trust your abilities, and you can freely mobilize all the resources in the kitchen and back kitchen!”

With the mayor's approval and encouragement, Mia and her team of cooks immediately began developing new dishes. Combining the available ingredients in Hope Town with the actual needs of passing travelers, they quickly devised several simple, quick, and delicious fast food meals.

One dish is rock-baked potatoes with smoked meat sauce. A large quantity of rock-baked potatoes are roasted beforehand, then the flesh is scooped out and mashed into a smooth puree. This puree is then mixed with stir-fried minced smoked meat, chopped wild vegetables, and a small amount of starlight wheat flour to enhance both flavor and nutrition. When a customer orders, simply scoop the warm puree into a ceramic bowl, pour a spoonful of the pre-cooked, piping hot meat sauce over it, and it's ready to serve immediately.

The other option is a standardized thick soup. It's made by simmering various mushrooms and hardy wild vegetable roots with animal bones for a long time until it becomes a paste. When a customer orders, they simply scoop out a bowl, heat it up, and sprinkle it with chopped green onions and cilantro before drinking the thick soup.

In addition to their regular purified water and Starlight Barley Tea, they've also launched a portable honey-flavored sour thorn juice. The juice is pre-squeezed from the sour thorn fruit, flavored with honey, and stored in small ceramic bottles. It's both thirst-quenching and a vitamin supplement.

To make them easy to carry, Ella's pottery workshop also specially produced a batch of inexpensive, simply shaped earthenware bowls and pottery jars that could be sealed with animal hides. Travelers could purchase these containers to hold food for a small amount of copper coins. Of course, the price would be even cheaper if they used their own containers.

Even the old hunter Barton contributed a unique skill: he used a special hollow plant stem, similar to a bamboo tube, to hold soup. This not only kept the soup warm but also gave it a faint plant fragrance, which was very popular with travelers.

The next day, when another group of adventurers arrived at Store No. 1, they were greeted with this tempting-smelling traveler's fast food meal.

For less than ten copper coins, they received a large bowl of steaming, fragrant mashed potatoes with meat sauce and a bowl of delicious and rich mushroom soup.

"Wow, delicious!" A stubble-faced mercenary scooped up a large mouthful of mashed potatoes with a wooden spoon and stuffed it into his mouth, wincing from the heat, but still couldn't help but exclaim, "This mashed potato is so fragrant and smooth, a hundred times better than any black bread I've ever eaten. And this meat sauce, it's amazing!"

"This soup is good too; it warms you up from head to toe," his companion chimed in.

This simple, quick, delicious, and affordable fast food quickly became a favorite among travelers passing through Hope Town. Although the therapeutic effects of these foods are negligible, most people don't feel them in the short term.

However, some veteran merchants who frequently traveled this trade route and stopped in Hope Town for supplies were surprised to find that whenever they stayed in Hope Town for a few days, ate the local food and drank the local water, their fatigue accumulated from long journeys seemed to be greatly relieved, and their bodies would feel exceptionally relaxed.