Foreign Land Reclamation By a Vegetable-growing Skeleton

“It’s the sand robbers, hurry up, run!” Erik the merchant quickly mounted his horse, cut the rope of one of the carts, and then the others galloped off with their load.

Erik was a veteran desert merchant, with twelve people in his caravan, all old buddies. They traversed this trade route year-round. He was familiar with every sand dune, every gobi desert, and every oasis. He knew the habits of the sand robbers well, so he always managed to avoid them.

After all, if he hadn’t been able to, his caravan would have broken up long ago, and it would be hard for him to keep his own head on his neck.

Despite this, Erik always carried some ‘tribute’. It contained necessities that the sand robbers liked, such as hemorrhoid cream, sunburn ointment, cloth, tea, sewing needles, aphrodisiacs, etc. These items weren’t expensive, but the sand robbers loved them.

This tribute was packed into a separate cart. In case of emergency, they would just throw this cart away and let the sand robbers fight over it.

Some of the sand robbers who preferred to pursue steady benefits would stop chasing after seeing his gesture.

With this method, Erik had escaped from the sand robbers several times. However, recently the situation has changed a bit.

First of all, the number of sand robbers on the trade route had increased, as if most of the sand robbers in the entire desert had gathered in this area. Erik had already encountered sand robbers three times on this trip.

This was very unusual. Because of his extensive experience, he always avoided the main roads. For example, between two oases or water sources, the shortest distance is in a straight line. Both caravans and sand robbers liked to move along this line, where the robbers would loot.

So, he would take a detour to avoid this straight line. It took a bit longer, but it was safer.

Of course, only an experienced old merchant like him would dare to do this. In the vast desert, without landmarks, if one accidentally missed a water source or oasis, death could await the caravan.

But now, even though he had taken a detour, he still encountered three groups of sand robbers. How many sand robbers must be on the direct trade route?

The first two times, they managed to escape due to their horse speed. The third time, the horses began to tire, so they had to throw away the tribute cart.

But after the sand robbers rushed to the tribute cart and examined it, they chased after them again, shouting something while pursuing.

Erik didn’t listen carefully, kept his head down, and urged his horse to gallop furiously. His caravan had three horses per cart. The wheels of the cart were treated with a Delaying Technique to keep them from sinking into the sand while moving fast.

This was the most cost-efficient method for desert wheels, full of folk wisdom. Who could have thought that the magic originally used to slow down the movement of objects would have this surprising effect in sandy terrain?

Maybe the tribute cart delayed the sand robbers, or for some other reason, Erik’s caravan quickly left the sand robbers behind. Only then did he turn his head to ask his companions, “What were those sand robbers shouting just now?”

A companion behind him, wrapped tightly in a cloak and with even his eyes covered by a scarf, replied, “They said they don’t want aphrodisiacs, they want water. They can pay for it.”

“Ha, I wouldn’t believe them for a moment. Those guys are very cunning. Pay money? I’ve never heard of sand robbers buying things with money. They definitely want to trick us into stopping, then kill us and steal everything.” Erik cursed bitterly.

“They are not numerous. If you want, I can kill them all.” The cloaked companion said emotionlessly.

“No, no, no. Stop talking about killing. We are merchants, and we should act according to the rules of a merchant. Bargain when we should, pay tribute when we should, share profits when we should. After all, one person can’t make all the money. Making money together is a long-term plan. If there were no sand robbers, who would I sell these luxury goods to?” Erik made a painstaking speech.

The increase in sand robbers added to the dangers of the trade route and the transportation costs of the caravan, which naturally pushed up the price of goods. A cart full of goods could be sold for four or five times the previous price. Now having encountered so many sand robbers, the price would have to go up.

Upon hearing this, his cloaked companion cursed bitterly, “What a profiteer.”

Far away, they saw people moving on the sand dunes. White turbans and camel riders were typical of desert people.

“Why are there desert people here? There’s no oasis nearby. Could it be sand robbers fishing?” Erik immediately pulled his horse to a halt and observed from a distance.

The desert people in the distance also saw Erik and his team. They went on the alert immediately. Several of them climbed up the sand dunes, watching vigilantly.

However, as soon as they got a closer look at Erik and his team’s outfit and goods, they quickly relaxed their guard. Besides the original one, the others returned behind the dunes.

This was the normal behavior of the desert people. Erik quickly led another horse, and rode toward them on two horses. If those people were indeed sand robbers fishing, he could easily escape with two horses. If they were indeed desert people, then it meant he had found customers.

Upon seeing him approach alone, the desert people let go of their sword hilts. Especially when they saw Erik raise his hands, the desert man also raised his hands. This was a gesture to show they meant no harm.

The two parties quickly approached a distance where they could converse. The desert man asked loudly, “Trade caravan?”

“Trade caravan!” Erik replied loudly.

“Where are you going?”

“Hope Oasis!”

“We are, what did you bring?”

“Tea, oil, iron pot, needle, medicine, book, and cloth.”

“Any seeds?”

“Seeds? What? Seeds? Why would we bring that?”