Chapter 1655 Curse?
"Transporting grain?"
Lujiang looked at the secure uncle next to him with some curiosity, and asked doubtfully: "Is it going to be transported to the people in my hometown?"< br>
Because Largo had said before that they were rushing back to the Savage Highlands, Lujiang's first reaction was to 'carry food to the family'.
Reality often does not have so many reversals, and this principle also applies to the realm of innocence, which is not reality but is the same as reality. In other words... Largo smiled after hearing this He nodded, confirming Lu Jiang's guess.
"It's like this. Our mercenary group transports food to the settlement probably three or four times a year."
Largo, who was quite close to the Wangwang team, smiled and made a ball casually. He threw it into his mouth and explained in a cheerful tone: "You may not know that Highlanders actually have very big appetites. Especially when we are young and old, our family's appetite is at least ten times higher than that of adult orcs, and it is not just about quantity, but also about quality. "
Ji is very energetic when it comes to food. Xiao Ge immediately opened his eyes and asked enthusiastically: "Do you want something particularly delicious?"< br>
“That’s not true. Being picky about food is a personal habit and has nothing to do with our Highlander race. Although the food must be more delicious and popular, taste is not actually a hard requirement.”
Largo chuckled and shrugged: "What we need is nutrition, not hunger." They are all secondary. If we consume food with low nutritional value for a long time, it will have a very bad impact on our family. Ah, but you don’t have to worry. Birger and I have already had dinner in the camp before. Take that kid I came to Huangdian to sit for a while just to let him see the world.”
Jadeka stroked his beard and asked curiously: "Speaking of which, I have met a few friends from the Highlanders before. A whole mercenary group like yours belongs to the Highlanders, so there shouldn't be many, right?"
“Haha, it’s not just that there are not many.”
Largo laughed, raised his index finger and shook it slightly: “I can guarantee that our [Destruction King] mercenary group is the only one in the entire continent. They are all composed of highlanders. As for other tribesmen, in my impression, there are only seven or eight people who can gather together at the same time. They have to be a very powerful first-class mercenary group, but I have met them. Some adventurer teams composed entirely of highlanders."
Since the highlanders appeared after the Pride of the Dragon was bulldozed, Wang Badan, who had no relevant knowledge, also poked his head in with interest: "Then why don't you get together with a bunch of the same race? Do you know how to fight?"
"Good guy, a turtle-shaped monster that can talk? It's very powerful."
>
Largo smacked his lips, and then cheerfully explained to Wang Badan: "We won't fight when we get together, but raising a Highlander warrior costs a lot of money, whether it's for others or for yourself. , if nothing else, even a mature Highlander like me would have to eat almost one meal. Food worth thirty gold coins, and a guy like Birger who is still growing can eat more than twice as much as me. This expense is not a small amount."
Mo Tan nodded slightly, suddenly aware. Said: "I see, that means that a highlander like you is mainly a member of the ordinary mercenary group. The elite force specializes in attacking difficult situations, so it is difficult for the ratio to increase."
"Yes, after all, we are too difficult to raise."
Large spread his hands, first. He chuckled and mocked himself, then patted his chest quite proudly and grinned: "But [Destroy King] is special. Although we had a hard time, we finally found a way out before starving ourselves to death, and now we can even feed our own tribe."
Jadeka was a little surprised. His eyes widened and he said in astonishment: "You are all from the same tribe?"
"That's right, we come from the tribe [Loya] composed of eleven settlements. Although it is not a big tribe, it is our proud hometown."
When mentioning his hometown, Largo, who had a calm temperament, seemed to have a light shining in his eyes, and his voice became a little excited: "Our tribe has about two thousand people, and most of the middle-aged people are working with us in [Destruction King] all over the continent. task, while the children and middle-aged people stayed in the settlement. Boys and girls like Birger were responsible for hunting monsters in the east and ensuring that the tribe had enough food reserves. This was an arduous task. After all, as I just said Speaking of which, both children and the elderly consume a lot of resources."
"I left the village early to help the regiment because my mother died in the war a few months ago."
Birger smiled shyly, scratching his cheek shyly, and said: "Although our mercenary group has a lot of people, we are basically carrying out many tasks at the same time, so the manpower is never enough. In addition, my reaction time is slow and I can’t catch any prey in my hometown, so I just asked my uncle to take me out.”
Mo Tan took a look at how tall and strong he was. Birger, who still had a hint of childishness, said sternly to this young man who was only seventeen or eighteen years old at most: "I think you are already outstanding, really."
Birger pursed his lips reservedly, while Largo patted him on the head a few times, shook his head and said: "Humph, this kid still needs to practice."
But everyone saw it. It turns out that this approachable mercenary captain actually loves his nephew very much, otherwise he would not have taken him from the camp to the abandoned shop to "see the world."
"Speaking of which..."
Lujiang blinked and suddenly asked Largo in hindsight: "Mr. Largo, you just said that there are only children and middle-aged people. People stay in the settlement, what about the old man?”
“The old man?”
Largo was stunned for a moment, and then smiled calmly: "We highlanders don't have the concept of old people, because even the longest-lived people can only live to be in their fifties at most."
Only then did Lu Jiang react. Thinking of Jadeka's previous popular science talk, she blushed and shrank her neck, and apologized repeatedly: "Yes...I'm sorry, I've obviously heard about this, and I just said it." So rude..."
"Haha, what's the matter? Goblins won't mind if others say they like to engage in explosions, dwarves won't mind if others say they are short in stature, and of course we highlanders won't mind it either. The fact that his own family has a short life span.”
Largo waved his hand to comfort Lujiang indifferently, and suddenly smiled: “And if I have to say it, not only do I not object to talking about this with others, I even I still feel proud when I talk about it."
Wang Badan blinked his eyes and asked curiously: "You are short-lived and you are proud?"
Suddenly - a vein popped up on the foreheads of Mo Tan and Ji Xiaoge at the same time, and they stared at the table with anger.
"Hahahaha, a short lifespan is nothing to be proud of."
Largo is not as knowledgeable as Wang Badan. Judging from his expression, he seems to feel that It was quite interesting. Then he lowered his head and explained sternly to the latter under the table. : "But I think it's something to be proud of if you can do more things that you think are right in your short life."
Wang Ba boldly nodded expressionlessly: "Oh, so what? , do you plan to create a hundred children in your limited life?”
"Although carrying on the family line is also a big thing, it is not good to have too many children. It is easy to be unable to feed them."
Largo shook his head and grinned: "Actually, the things that make me proud have been said before. , that’s why our [Destruction King] mercenary group can repay the tribe.”
Beside him, Birger also proudly puffed up his chest, his tone full of pride: “Our ‘Loya’ tribe. , is the only tribe in the entire Savage Highlands that has its own cemetery.”
The only tribe that has its own cemetery?
Hearing this, several people in the Wangwang team were a little confused for a moment (of course, this did not prevent Mo Tan and Ji Xiaoge from kicking Wang Badan at the same time to shut him up), and responded well I couldn't finish the conversation for a while.
Largo, who has been outside for many years, immediately saw the confusion in the eyes of Mo Tan and others, and then explained in a brisk tone: "Some of you don't know. In fact, we highlanders, whether they are small settlements, Large tribes basically don’t set up cemeteries in their own territory, because most highlanders don’t die at home.”
“You don’t want to die at home…”
Mo Tan first raised his foot to stomp on Wang Ba Dan, who was probably trying to make some saucy remarks. Then he cast a searching look at Largo, because the latter obviously didn't. He had no intention of concealing it, so he did not pretend to be considerate and silent, but took over the conversation naturally.
“Birth, aging, illness and death are the norm for all races. From this perspective, we Highlanders are not an exception. However, although we are not an exception, we still share the same relationship with you humans, elves, half-dragons, and half-orcs. Subtle difference."
Largo raised his glass and drank the wine Lujiang had just poured for him. He wiped his mouth and said slowly: "Highlander babies will basically not die in infancy, as long as they have good nutrition. Yes, the probability of babies suffering from diseases and deformities is zero, and their vitality is also very tenacious. Just like this child, Birger, my sister ran back to the mercenary group as soon as he was born, but he was stunned. A baby that was fed bread without breast milk would take two months to grow all the teeth if it were a baby of other races, let alone a human, right?"
"Uh..."
Seeing Largo looking at him, Mo Tan, who had no idea how long it would take for a half-dragon to grow straight teeth, could only scratch his hair and said with a dry smile: "This... this This touches on my knowledge blind spot, but it should be two months anyway, right?"
"Who says otherwise, except that pure-blooded blood seekers can be born with two fangs? , How can a baby have good teeth when he is born?"
Largo laughed, then changed the topic and said seriously: "But we highlanders can have good teeth after two years of birth. A good set of teeth can grow within an hour.”
Mo Tan, Ji Xiaoge and Lu Jiang looked at each other. After all, for these three people from other worlds, a tooth can grow within two hours after birth. The baby with good teeth chewing cakes was a bit out of line, but they didn't show too much surprise. After all, this was a fantasy world where even a bastard could curse, and everything was possible.
"No one knows why, but the vitality of us highlanders is terrifyingly strong, and we seem to have very strong immunity to most diseases. Conditions such as colds and fevers will not happen to highlanders at all. "
Largo knocked on his solid chest and said proudly: "Not only that, our physical fitness is also far better than that of the orcs who are recognized as having strong physiques, even if they are not experienced. Highlanders with any professional training can compete with most middle and low-level professionals. Therefore, until entering the [Decadence Period], apart from falling on the battlefield or during adventures, Highlanders will almost never die due to reasons other than natural disasters and man-made disasters. Death and death from illness are even more unfamiliar terms to us."
Ji Xiaoge pursed her lips and asked softly: "Then, Mr. Ralph, is the [decline period] you are talking about. ..."
"That's why our lifespan is much lower than that of other races."
Largo spread his hands helplessly and said with a wry smile: "No matter how strong the highland is. As long as a person is over forty years old, he or she may enter the state we call the "decline period" at any time. The specific manifestation is that the body rapidly loses activity, the demand for nutrients increases exponentially, and at the same time, some kind of alchemist appears. We call this phenomenon "collapse", which is the countdown to death for highlanders. Once the "collapse" reaches the extreme, our bodies will immediately collapse and die suddenly. "
Including Yaya and Wang Badan, no one spoke. Although they had a general idea from Jadeka before, it was completely different from the explanation given by Largo, a highlander.
“Some say it’s a curse hidden in our blood, some say it’s retribution for the highlanders being born so strong, some say it’s the gods’ punishment for heretics, but there’s no reliable explanation.”
Largo, who had the most relaxed expression, chuckled and said in a brisk tone: "In short, Highlanders will definitely enter the [Decline Period] between the ages of forty and forty-five, and the [Decline Period] will continue Even if the Highlanders in the eighth year are alive, they will die suddenly at a certain moment, so theoretically, the maximum age we can live to is fifty-three years old. Of course, that is just a theory. After all, no one really "
Theoretically, Jadeka, who has lived two lifetimes as an ordinary highlander, nodded with a complex expression and asked softly: "Then you just said that your tribe is the only tribe with a cemetery. It's because..."
"The vast majority of highlanders will not choose to wait for death comfortably after the [Decadence Period] comes, because 'hunger' is a very cruel torture."
"Hungry?"
"Yes, hungry. As I said just now, the nutritional needs of the highlanders will increase exponentially after entering the [Decadence Period], and our hometown Savage Highlands... is a very A very barren place."
"So..."
"They will choose to leave, wandering deeper into the wasteland with a maddening hunger, and then...return to the dust on the way. ."
Chapter 1,646: The End
(End of this chapter)