Chapter 443 The Way of Evolution

In the dark nest, it was almost pitch dark.

If Li Qi used his original eyes, he would definitely not be able to see anything, and could only rely on listening to locate.

I think the mermaids did the same, using their eyes and their voices, because Li Qi noticed that Lei Fang had very good hearing, better than Li Qi.

Maybe this is the racial talent?

Of course, now with the pupil bug, Li Qi can see these nests clearly.

These nests may be related to the professions of the mermaids and the "renter".

Li Qi thought so, but at this time, a large group of mermaids swam towards him.

He counted the number, and there were more than 20 of them, all led by Lei Fang, and soon came to Li Qi.

"Sir, this is my home, they are all my family, these are my brothers, sisters, and these two are my parents!" Lei Fang seemed to want to introduce his family, so he swam in front of many mermaids.

To be honest, it was difficult for Li Qi to distinguish between male and female mermaids.

They all look like charming girls, both male and female, with smooth and slender bodies. Because they don't need to breastfeed, they don't have any secondary sexual characteristics, and their lower bodies are all fish tails, and no primary sexual characteristics can be seen.

And they are not a race with solid muscles, and they don't need them in the water, so both males and females have the same body shape, and even the long hair is the same.

Really... It's hard to recognize.

Especially when introducing the parents, Li Qi couldn't tell which one was the father and which one was the mother.

Moreover, the reproductive ability of the mermaids seems to be very strong... This family has only one pair of parents, but they have more than 20 children. They are really fertile.

But why are there no elderly people?

Is it because the mermaids have a long lifespan, so they haven't reached the time of "old" yet?

It is very likely. Li Qi has read about this in a book. The lifespan of mermaids is quite long, about a thousand years. Although it is not immortal, it is very long compared to humans.

It is said that their oil is refined into lamp oil, which can also keep the candlelight burning for a thousand years.

Li Qi has never used it, but it is very likely true that someone has used mermaids to refine oil.

"Well, I am very happy to meet you all. I am just curious and came to see the mermaids' residence. I hope you will forgive me for disturbing you." Li Qi immediately bowed and said.

However, these mermaids hurriedly shook their heads and waved their hands, saying that they didn't need it, and some were in a panic. There were even a few who were about to swim back, but were caught by other brothers and sisters.

Lei Fang hurriedly stepped forward: "Sir, I'm sorry, everyone just didn't expect someone to come to our home. After all... it's really shabby. I hope you will forgive me and don't blame me."

"Really? Is this the shabby type? In other words... your financial situation is not very good?" Li Qi couldn't tell whether the mermaids' homes were shabby or luxurious, so he asked.

Lei Fang didn't seem to expect Li Qi's thoughts to jump so quickly, and was stunned for a moment.

However, she immediately reacted and replied: "It's really not very good. We pearl farmers...are not very good. The rent is very heavy, and the tax in Dongyu is not light."

"Oh...so that's why you go to the outskirts of Dongyu to sell pearls. Those people like you are the same as you?" Li Qi asked.

"Almost, they are all the same. The front of Dongyu is in a good position, and there are many people coming and going. Everyone is there." Lei Fang nodded and replied.

Li Qi nodded thoughtfully: "So that's the case...Have you finished your work?"

"I'm done, I'm done. Where to go next, please tell me, sir!" Lei Fang replied immediately.

Seeing this, the other mermaids also wanted to leave. They came to pay respects to the noble, but they didn't seem to be as brave as Lei Fang, so they hesitated and seemed to be afraid to speak.

Although they are mermaids, their temperaments are no different from those of the old farmers of Baiyue.

Perhaps...their social status is actually the old farmers among the mermaids? And they are tenant farmers, because they still have to pay rent.

Li Qi watched these people leave, and didn't communicate much from beginning to end, because Li Qi knew that if he spoke, it might bring more unnecessary burdens to them.

After Lei Fang's family members all left, Li Qi looked at Lei Fang floating beside him and said, "Let's go, take me to visit the mermaids' place first, there should be more than one family here, right?"

"......? What's so good about these places, sir... There are many shops on Dongyu, and many things from the deep East China Sea will be shipped out from there and sold in the East China Sea. There are more good things there, ah... sorry." Lei Fang realized that he shouldn't make the decision halfway through, so he slapped himself, and then immediately changed his words: "I'll take you to see the surroundings now, shall we start from the pearl fields here?"

"Don't be so restrained, let's talk while walking." Li Qi shook his head.

The hierarchy in the East China Sea seems to be very serious.

Like Lei Fang, is he actually brave enough?

While Li Qi outlined the situation in the East China Sea in his mind, he and Lei Fang left the nest and went to a pearl planting area not far away.

He swam around and asked casually, "By the way, how do you collect rent?"

"Rent? The rent collected is... In recent years, 70% of the rent is collected, which is slightly heavier than in previous years. It is said that there is a war, but it does not feel like there is a war. It seems that the people above found an excuse to increase the rent..." Lei Fang said beside her, and she couldn't help complaining.

But she immediately realized that she shouldn't say this, so she stopped talking in time.

"70%... Regardless of the harvest, it's 70%?" Li Qi asked again.

"No, there is a fixed amount of rent paid first, and then after the harvest, 70% is paid. It is said that this can prevent us from being lazy and not planting after renting the land." Lei Fang said so.

"Such a heavy rent, don't you protest?" Li Qi asked.

"Protest? Well... There is no need, right? After all, the land is indeed his, and the pearl oysters we grow are all rented from them. If there are no pearl oysters cultivated by mother oysters, we can't do this, so it's actually quite normal, right?" Lei Fang changed her words and began to defend the landlord again.

"Pearl oysters are all cultivated by mother oysters?" Li Qi was stunned.

"What else? I heard that my grandfather's generation all planted their own clams, but now it's no longer possible. The clams we plant are not good. The pearl production rate is low, the production is slow, and the quality of the pearls produced is not good. So everyone uses clams produced by mother clams. Although the rent is much higher, overall, the income is still much higher than before." Lei Fang explained.

Li Qi nodded.

Landlord and tenant production, and then monopolizing seeds...

The strange thing is, what is the "mother clams"?

Now it seems that if it is literally true, these pearl clams are all the offspring of the mother clams. So for the mother clams, is this what she wants to see? You know, the breeding environment and natural environment of pearl clams are completely different. If you want to get pearls, you have to pry open the pearl clams first, which will directly lead to the death of the pearl clams.

If not...

Then the mother clams, is it some kind of biological production factory?

Then, this method reminds Li Qi of humanity.

Coupled with the fact that not long ago, Li Qi saw the people of Li Dao registering the visitors and needing to record their breath when entering the city...

Is this an erosion from humanity?

Not necessarily, let's observe it again.

Thinking of this, Li Qi began to observe the living place of the mermaids.

As he observed this lower area, according to Lei Fang's introduction, Li Qi also began to gradually understand this giant mechanism.

It turned out that in Dongyu, there are also upper and lower urban areas.

"The upper level is where you are going, sir. The lower level is generally where our aborigines live. This is where the mermaids live in the lower level." Lei Fang said so.

This upper and lower is the literal meaning of the upper and lower levels. The upper level is the Dongyu known to ordinary people, which is mainly a resting place for tourists, businessmen, and people from other East China Seas.

This is also the role of Dongyu that Li Qi first understood. It is used as a safe haven and a place to stay for those who are not good at swimming in the East China Sea, so that they don’t have to solve everything at sea. It can also facilitate the management of these people, so that they have a few fixed places to gather and disperse, and they can exchange what they have and what they need, and bring things from the outside world to the East China Sea, which can bring many variables to the East China Sea area, so that it will not become a stagnant pool of water.

But a giant mechanism like Dongyu also needs maintenance.

A huge mechanism must also rely on every small part to operate, and it cannot be created out of thin air. Li Qi understood this principle when he understood the theory of boundaries.

The difficult things in the world must be done from the easy.

The great things in the world must be done from the details.

Therefore, the saints never seek greatness, so they can achieve greatness.

And the lower level of Dongyu is the maintainer and producer of these small parts.

Lei Fang continued, "Most of our pearls are sent to the drying furnace. The nobles will buy all our pearls, so we only need to plant them and don't worry about the sales. This is also better than before."

"Noble? Drying furnace?" Li Qi noticed the two words.

As for the snail people, he knew that they were also a race in the East China Sea.

"Noble, they are the people who rented the land to us. They are also mermaids, but their cultivation is much higher. We don't know their specific rank. Maybe you can find out about it, sir..."

Li Qi nodded slightly, no wonder...

When I went to see Lei Fang's family before, they were so trembling and trembling, I thought they were afraid of something, but it turned out to be because of the title of "noble" at that time.

In other words, I was regarded as a "noble" at that time, no... Now looking at Lei Fang's attitude towards me, I am also regarded as a "noble".

In other words, "noble" is not limited to race, and not only mermaids are "noble".

At this time, I heard Lei Fang continue to speak.

"As for the oven, it is the place of the snail people. Pearls will be sent to the oven. The snail people are good at making magic weapons, so they have always maintained the oven. Pearls are their energy source. The nobles let us grow pearls, and then buy our pearls and sell them to the snail people." Lei Fang said.

"It seems that the snail people and the mermaids are not engaged in food production, so what do you eat?" Li Qi was curious.

"There are herders, sir, haven't you seen herders before?" Lei Fang said.

Li Qi recalled that he had indeed seen herders in the sea before, breeding fish.

"So that's how it is. Each ethnic group occupies a part of the area and social functions of Dongyu? This is a bit like Baiyue. By the way, did the nobles say why it is like this?" Li Qi said while thinking.

Lei Fang didn't know what Baiyue was, but... from the tone of this noble, it should not be a good place, but she immediately answered the question: "This, the nobles seemed to have said that this is called... ecological niche?"

As soon as he said this, Li Qi's eyes widened suddenly.

His previous meditation was directly awakened by this term!

Ecological niche!

Yes, that's it!

So that's it, so that's it!

So that's it!

Li Qi immediately understood why there was such harsh oppression, such a huge gap between the rich and the poor, and such a clearly hierarchical social composition.

The way of natural selection, is this the 'way of natural selection' of the true dragons?

Complete free competition.

The law of the jungle without any constraints.

Unbridled expansion, arbitrary occupation of ecological niches, extreme freedom without any constraints and supervision, but also extreme unfreedom!

Survival of the fittest. Only by finding a position that suits you and surviving the cruel competition can you be qualified to gain a foothold in the East China Sea.

You may not be strong, because the weak are allowed to exist in the food chain, but you have to bear the responsibility of "food".

You may be strong, but even as strong as the Dragon King, he died without a burial, and no one helped him to avenge himself. His body was like a whale fall, becoming food for countless weak people, just because he lost in the "strong competition".

Unlimited death competition!

Every link must do its best, either die, or try to adapt yourself to this arena, whether it is to adapt as food and nutrients, or to adapt to the existence at the top of the food chain.

Is this the way of natural evolution?

Then... standing at the top of the way of natural evolution is the real dragon?

Now Li Qi understands.

Why all things in the East China Sea aim to be the real dragon, and why the real dragon is so powerful and why it has such a terrifying talent.

If Li Qi's guess is correct, then... the real dragon is a perfect creature, the ultimate product of the way of natural evolution.

No weaknesses, adapt to all conditions.

No wonder the 'Dragon King' was able to adapt to the position of God in the Shinto and the position of human officials at the same time, and could also refine the East Sea without any backlash. Is this the foundation of the perfect creature taking effect?

Is the foundation of the perfect creature enough to allow him to adapt to the conflicts of various paths?

Li Qi suddenly realized that the way of natural evolution might be of great help to him.

Can this adaptability, coupled with the 'ultimate way' of Taoism, completely solve the problem of conflicts in the internal path?

Li Qi took a deep breath.

However, at this moment, the merman Lei Fang next to him saw Li Qi stunned and asked: "Sir? Sir? Someone is coming towards us."