Aztec Eternals

The warm January winds blow across the tropical Gulf of Mexico, bringing humidity and heat. The sea wind blows westward along the Owl River, blowing seven or eighty li, and they come to the southern ancestral land of the Vastek people, the wealthy riverside city-state, the Crow City Papantra.

A few gray crows surrounded the sky, overlooking the familiar cities, villages and temples below, as well as seven unfamiliar slender ships. Hundreds of shirtless Vastek artisans were surrounding the edge of the longboat at this time, holding black clay pots in their hands, bowing their heads and busy doing something.

After a while, a crow lowered its height curiously and stopped at the top of the longship's mast. Then, it stared at the round eyes, turned a little, and made a complacent cry at the black wolf flag flying on the mast.

"Quack! Quack!"

"Um?"

Hearing the cry, the old militiaman Chiwako looked up and saw a triumphant crow standing on the mast. The old militiaman's face suddenly turned into a flower with a smile.

"The crow fell, crisp and quack! Good! It's a rare good omen!"

Uh, yes, that's a really good omen! In Central America at this time, crows were often dropped during sacrificial ceremonies. They are like messengers who descend from the sky after praying to the gods, with a mysterious and unpredictable divinity. Likewise, they also appear when the old man is about to die, like the messengers of death, taking the souls of the dead. Therefore, in the Central American tribes that worship death, the crow is indeed an auspicious bird.

"Damn it! ... This hot coastal lowland is much hotter than the plateau above the Owl River!"

Puap, wearing a wooden eagle helmet, looked up at the hot sun and complained. Then, he looked at the busy Vastec craftsmen on the shore and shook his head.

"These Vasteks are good at dancing, and women's waists are too weak. They almost kill us warriors... But is it possible to repair the ship? It took more than 20 days to repair it, always Say almost..."

It was early January, and more than a month had passed since the fleet entered the water at the end of November last year. The kingdom's exploration fleet first set sail from the Herbal Lake, followed the upper tributaries of the Owl River, and merged into the main stream of the Owl River. Then they went all the way north and then turned east, bypassing the precipitous waterfall and bypassing the gentler tributaries. And if you encounter a waterfall that cannot be avoided in the middle, you have to board the shore and pull the fiber down in the reverse direction to avoid the ship crashing...

It took half a month for the Kingdom's fleet to travel a total of more than 600 miles of water before arriving at Crow City on the edge of the East China Sea. After arriving at Raven City, it was a long period of repair and waiting.

In the waterway of more than 600 miles, the altitude has dropped by more than 2,000 meters! The surrounding temperature has also risen a lot, from the warmth of the tropical highlands to the heat of the tropical lowlands.

"Phew! Going down from the upstream is like urinating downwind, fast and hastily. If it weren't for the speed, it would even be able to travel a hundred miles a day! The rock walls on both sides are dangerous, bumping and bumping all the way, and there are gaps everywhere on the boat. Several times, they almost fell apart! I heard that there are many storms in the eastern sea. If these seven long ships are repaired, how can they go to sea again?"

Recalling the difficult voyage before, the old militiaman shook his head and sighed. Crossing the section of the Sierra Madre East, the drop is indeed too large, and the navigation is dangerously tight. This is just the beginning, when we go out to sea, there are still more than 4,000 miles of sea road!

Then, return from the sea, travel another four or five thousand miles, and then go upstream from the mouth of the sea, and then climb such a high drop before returning to Tlaxcala. Then, from there, we have to travel a thousand miles by boat on dry land to return to the kingdom of the lake and see our son-in-law, daughter, and grandchildren who don't know how old...

Thinking of all this, the old militiaman was sad and his eyes were red. He looked towards the western sky and cursed fiercely in his heart.

"This blind highness, deserves to be Lei Wei!..."

"Captain, the craftsmen of Vastec say that in one day the ship will be repaired!"

Dark Snake lowered his head, leaned over cautiously, and reported to the old militia. The four states of Tlaxcala are adjacent to Vastek, and there are many commercial exchanges. Dark Serpent himself also speaks some everyday Vastek language. The old militiaman arranged for him to participate in the ship repair communication.

The craftsmen and sailors of the expedition fleet also arranged for many to repair the ship together. And the newly joined sailor Didi, from morning to night, worked harder than anyone else, forcing everyone to speed up.

"It's almost fixed?"

Hearing this, the old militiaman was a little surprised. Wearing a straw hat, he walked to the side of the boat, and he saw the craftsmen of Vastec, using a black, sticky lake liquid, accompanied by some black soft gravel, the lake was in various parts of the longboat. . And those damaged wooden boards and smashed holes were filled with these black oil rubble and solidified into a hard appearance.

"It's a strange black oil, and it tastes even weirder than the mud in the swamp! ... Well, but after it's been repaired, it's definitely not leaking."

The old militia sniffed the nose and smelled the pungent smell of black oil. Then, he touched the filled gap, feeling the sticking of his fingertips, thoughtfully.

The Vastec craftsmen have long told him that this is the "black oil" produced from the pits in the ground. It is the essence of the Earth Goddess and can resist the divine power of the Eastern Sea, the God of Storms! For hundreds of years, the coastal Vastec tribes have used this black oil and soft gravel to repair broken canoes.

And if Shilot came here and saw these black oil and soft gravel, he would definitely be greatly surprised and shout out their two names in later generations.

"Oil and Asphalt!"

Yes, the Crow City of the Vastecs is located on the oil fields on the Gulf of Mexico. Hundreds of miles to the north is the huge Tampico oil field, and hundreds of miles to the east is the offshore Cantarel oil field, one of the largest oil fields in the world!

In fact, the entire coastal Bay of Campeche, from the Vastec lowlands to the Totonac rainforest, is rich in oil. There is even so much oil here that it can come out directly from the deep pit in the ground, making the heaven of later generations cry! Natural bitumen is also a common associated mineral in large oilfields.

The old militiaman bowed his head and checked the long dark ship for a long time. He tried waterproofing first, then hardness. After this repair, the toughness of the longship is even better than before! The only shortcoming is that the ship is a little heavier, and the load is slightly reduced... A smile finally appeared on the face of the old militiaman.

"Okay, just fix it! Dark Snake, go for a run and inform the tomato priest in Raven City and the long-headed Mayan merchant. Let them come back early and get ready to go!"

"Yes, Captain."

Dark Snake nodded, carried a copper spear, and ran to Raven City, a dozen miles away. Outside Raven City, along the Owl River with abundant water, a large area of ​​farmland has been reclaimed. In some fields, even beans have been planted. In the tropical lowlands that are hot all year round, there is no longer a strict time limit for the cultivation of crops, and even three crops a year. However, the lack of fertilizers in the farmland has severely limited the number of times of farming. The only thing that can be cultivated many times is the nitrogen-fixing and fertilizing kidney beans.

Soon, when they reached the edge of Crow City, the fragrance of Dandan came oncoming. Dark Snake looked curiously and saw some well-tended small fields with low herbs growing on them. Seeing this, Dark Snake pursed his lips, recalling the taste of vanilla venison, and swallowed secretly.

Crow City is the origin of many Mesoamerican herbs, and the domestication of herbs began thousands of years ago. If there is no vanilla here, the milk tea of ​​later generations will probably lose its soul.

The dark snake kept at his feet, showed the token of the fleet, and came to the big tent of the silver crow leader under the leadership of the Vastek warrior. Well, there are too many coastal storms, and every two years, a hurricane passes by. Due to the lack of construction technology, tall wood and stone buildings are not safe, but tents, grass huts and underground caves are the most common here.

In the tent, the aroma is fragrant. Missionary Priest Tomat smiled and took a sip of cocoa with vanilla. Opposite him, a middle-aged chief was sitting cross-legged, with a golden sun talisman on his neck, looking at the straw mat on the ground, thoughtfully.

Afterwards, Priest Tomat stretched out his hand and pointed to the "Ali Sutra" unfolded on the straw mat.

"...Cold and summer, autumn harvest and winter storage. The Lord God controls the changes in the temperature of the world and the storms in the sea and land! She bestows bountiful harvests on those who obey, and brings disasters to those who disobey, so that the land will fail to harvest, and people and animals will die. Those who die from divine disasters will sink into the abyss, and will not be able to escape forever!"

"Respected Chief Papata, the Silver Crow Tribe must completely convert to the Lord God and completely abandon the belief in the Feathered Serpent... in order to obtain God's blessing, survive the continuous hurricane, and even obtain a God-given harvest!"