One day later.
The city lord and the steward stood on the watchtower, staring anxiously at the empty sea.
The sea was still surprisingly quiet at this moment. Apart from a few local fishing boats, there was no sign of any foreign ships.
"What the hell is going on?"
The city lord grumbled in dissatisfaction, his brows furrowed even more.
"A whole day has passed, why hasn't a single merchant ship appeared?"
"What a hell!"
The steward also frowned, and a few beads of sweat appeared on his forehead.
"My Lord City Lord, this is indeed strange."
"Logically, those things in the sea should have been driven away, and the caravan should be able to come in."
"Why is there still no ship?"
"Besides, our food prices are very competitive, 20% lower than before!"
"If it were in the past, the caravan would have almost started a looting!"
The city lord clenched his fists and pounded the city wall angrily.
"Damn it! No matter what the reason is, we must find a solution quickly!"
"We're stockpiling food, and those lowly beasts in the city are already complaining about rising prices!"
"If no more caravans come to buy food, we're doomed!"
Upon hearing this, the steward only spoke tentatively: "Sir City Lord, where do you think the problem lies?"
Then, the two began to analyze various possibilities.
"Perhaps our publicity efforts weren't strong enough? Perhaps the businesspeople simply don't believe in such a good opportunity?"
Upon hearing this, the city lord simply shook his head and said, "Impossible. I've already made arrangements with a few old acquaintances, and they left Marsa Matruh by ship a long time ago."
The steward then spoke up again: "Could it be that other cities have lowered the price of grain?"
The city lord shook his head even harder: "Absolutely impossible!"
"I just received news yesterday that food prices in several surrounding cities are rising due to the drought."
"Our current pricing is 20% lower than theirs. How could it not be attractive?"
"If the lord of Alexandria knows about this, he might send people to rob us!"
Of course, they must never let other people in Holy Egypt know that they were selling grain.
So, the two of them fell into deep thought again.
As night fell, the torches on the city walls lit up one by one.
The two officials stood in the flickering firelight, still without finding the answer.
"That doesn't make sense! That doesn't make sense!"
"Could it be that the merchants are dissatisfied with our food?"
The city lord raised his voice, but his voice was a little hoarse.
"We only provide high-quality wheat, with full grains and golden color."
"The food in Cairo should satisfy even the most discerning merchant."
The two of them talked back and forth, listing many possibilities, but each one was rejected by themselves.
The night wind blew, and the firelight illuminated their faces.
They looked at the flickering flames on each other's faces, but still had no clue.
"What should we do? If the caravan doesn't arrive tomorrow, something really bad will happen."
The city lord was staring at the pitch-black sponge, as if even his ears were about to droop.
At this moment, the steward also turned his gaze to Sponge, and his eyes narrowed slightly.
"Lord City Lord..."
"Do you think there is a possibility?"
"Is it possible that the 'enemies' in the water haven't been affected at all, so they still don't dare to approach our coast?"
"So they still think the coastline is dangerous!"
"Because those guys in the sea are still there, they don't dare to get close!"
"Besides that, I really can't think of any other reason."
The city lord frowned hard and took a deep breath.
"Yeah, that's the only reason I can think of."
"Could it be... that the potion's effectiveness isn't strong enough?"
"Will those 'enemies' in the sea still remain near the coast?"
After the city lord said this, he and the steward looked at each other.
Obviously, the two seemed to find this reason more convincing.
So, the steward asked, "Lord City Lord, what do you mean?"
The city lord pursed his lips tightly at this time.
"We still have a lot of medicine left. Why don't we give it all to him at once?"
"This time the dosage is larger and the coverage area is wider."
"Only by raising the concentration to a level that even humans can't stand will those guys stay away from our coastline!"
"We can't worry about that now! We must find a way to drive them out so that the caravan can land!"
"If we can't sell our food, the time we have to escape will become shorter and shorter!"
But when the steward heard this, he looked embarrassed. Obviously, he knew very well that if he poured all the potion in, he didn't know how many fish would float up.
It is likely that no fish will be caught on the coastline for a long time. Obviously, the damage to the ecology in a short period of time will be almost devastating.
"City Lord, that would cause a lot of fish to float up, and I'm afraid..."
The city lord raised his arm and interrupted the steward.
"If all the fish within a ten-mile radius of the sea surfaced, this spectacular sight would undoubtedly attract the attention of numerous fishermen and merchants. They would undoubtedly be drawn to this unusual phenomenon and come to investigate."
"We placed more flowers and ceremonial decorations outside Matruh and told everyone that this year will be a good harvest year, with fish, meat and grain production exceeding that of previous years."
"This will definitely attract business people."
But after the city lord said this, he just grabbed his hair randomly and tore it.
"Besides this, I really can't think of a better way!"
"Instead of sitting here and waiting to die, why not give it a try!"
"Besides, this method requires almost no additional cost, just a few more potion ingredients!"
“Right!”
The butler nodded slowly. Obviously, he didn't have much choice.
"Yes, Lord City Lord, I understand."
"This time, I will also supervise it personally."
"Then I will send people to release all the potions to the coast right now."
The two left the city wall and immediately began to prepare a new round of potion delivery.
Late at night, when the whole city is immersed in sleep, the secret workshops outside the city are brightly lit.
Batches of more potent potions are being produced overnight in preparation for the upcoming second release.
The city lord and the steward put on black cloaks and watched as the potion was poured into the sea.
Now, not only the fish, but also some shellfish, shrimps and crabs in the sea water all floated up.
They pulled it to the shore one boat at a time, but found that they could never pull it all in.
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