I’m Trapped in a Cube - Chapter 215

“Captain, last time you taught us relay transportation. When I went back, the Great Chieftain praised me for being smart, so I fought to come collect goods this time.”

The captain wiped his sweat and “praised,” “You are indeed smart, Jeff. You’re different from other mermen.”

Speaking, the captain also patted Jeff’s shoulder.

Jeff’s body was covered in water. The captain patted twice before realizing something was wrong and quickly wiped the water on Jeff’s clothes, but the more he wiped, the dirtier it got.

“Jeff, why are your clothes so dirty,” the captain said with a face full of disgust. “Don’t you wash them?”

“Merman Island is like this. I’ve washed them, but the next day they’re like this again,” Jeff said dully, looking down at his clothes.

The captain could only wipe his hands with his handkerchief again, “Have your brothers bring the cargo up.”

Jeff responded and came to the cargo hold exit, speaking strange language to the mermen below in a chattering manner.

The huge wooden box was carried up by several mermen. The captain couldn’t wait to open it, and the contents inside were exposed.

Inside the box were old metal parts, but they were already covered with rust, basically unrecognizable in shape. However, the strange patterns carved on these parts hadn’t disappeared, and some were even glowing faintly.

The captain saw these glowing runic parts and his eyes lit up. Not caring whether his hands were dirty, he grabbed them directly.

“You’ve been collecting better and better things recently,” the captain said with surprise, holding a runic part.

“Because we’re holding the Sea Moon Ceremony, we’ve renovated many places and dug up a lot. There’s still more in the village, but it’s not organized yet. We’ll bring it next time,” Jeff explained.

He pulled out a handle-like part from deep in the box, “This one is a still-usable Relic, but the Great Chieftain said it’s useless to mermen, so he told me to put it in for trade too.”

The captain stared straight at the part in Jeff’s hand, “What kind of Relic is it?”

Jeff thought for a moment and said uncertainly, “Seems like it can control the salt content of liquids. The range is quite large. I don’t know the cost.”

Hearing this, the captain was already beaming with joy. He quickly ran to the side of the cargo hold and moved a case of alcohol.

“Can it convert fresh water?” the captain asked, nodding.

“Haven’t tried.”

“This is for your chieftain. Tell him it’s a gift from the captain.”

Jeff said nothing and had his companions move the alcohol down.

“Good stuff. Can it convert fresh water?” The captain was playing with the Relic, his eyes unable to move away, his face full of joy.

“Good, good, good. You go back now,” the captain said, toying with that Relic, eyes unable to look away, full of joy.

“Captain, we’re going back now. Still need to prepare for the Sea Moon Ceremony.”

The captain nodded, but suddenly thought of something and had Li Luo nearby follow the mermen back, “You need to go to the mermen village to ask when the ship in the other direction departs.”

Li Luo quickly thanked him and followed the mermen off the ship.

As soon as she stepped ashore, Li Luo stepped into a foot of mud.

The soil of Merman Island was very damp, similar to mudflats, and would even sink when stepped on.

“Just walk toward the shore,” Jeff helpfully reminded.

“Can you still adapt?” Jeff followed up, asking curiously. “Many humans visiting for the first time don’t adapt well to Merman Island.”

“It’s fine. Is Merman Island always like this?” Li Luo didn’t really mind.

Jeff’s gills moved twice, “Yes, it’s been like this since I was born. The Sea Moon Ceremony is coming, and the fog has become much thicker.”

“Sea Moon Ceremony?”

“Yes, according to ancient texts, every time the Sea Moon Ceremony comes, the thick fog on the island will accelerate its spread and even affect the surrounding waters,” Jeff explained.

Li Luo nodded and didn’t continue asking.

At this time, Mo Ling also remembered the thick fog at sea earlier. It seemed that fog all came from Merman Island.

What relationship did this Sea Moon Ceremony have with the fog?

Mo Ling had originally thought it was just an ordinary mermen traditional festival, but now it seemed this festival was also related to climate.

Like humans’ twenty-four solar terms”, using festivals to distinguish changes in natural rhythms.

These were actually humans’ summary of climate change patterns throughout the year.

The twenty-four solar terms were a product of agricultural civilization. Looking at these mermen’s level of civilization, they also seemed to be an agricultural civilization living off the island. It wasn’t strange that festivals could correspond with climate changes.

However, Jeff’s next words negated Mo Ling’s speculation.

“You came at just the right time. The Sea Moon Ceremony is only held once every two hundred years. I’ve never seen it either.”

“Two hundred years?”

Mo Ling was somewhat surprised.

“What kind of festival could have a two-hundred-year cycle?”

The reason humans could summarize the twenty-four solar terms was because each year’s climate cycle was exactly the same. Humans derived this life experience after constantly experiencing it.

But how could a two-hundred-year cycle be summarized?

Could some mermen live for two hundred years?

Li Luo beside him was also shocked by Jeff’s words, “You only hold it once every two hundred years?”

Jeff nodded, “Yes, even the Great Chieftain has never seen it. He can only search for content about the Sea Moon Ceremony from ancient texts, which has kept him extremely busy lately.”

Hearing this, Li Luo also had similar doubts to Mo Ling, “Do you mermen have very long lifespans?”

“Not long, about the same as humans. That’s why no one has seen the Sea Moon Ceremony. We’re all arranging things according to what’s recorded in ancient texts,” Jeff said, scratching his fish head. This matter seemed to trouble him greatly.

Wanting to recreate a festival from two hundred years ago was indeed not so simple.

“If we don’t hold the Sea Moon Ceremony, this fog will continue to intensify. Eventually, the entire island’s decay will accelerate and even affect our lives. This is what’s recorded in the ancient texts,” Jeff said seriously.

Seeing Li Luo was very interested in the Sea Moon Ceremony, Jeff walked while telling her about it.

Mermen didn’t have humans’ advanced recording methods.

They also had no paper books, because paper would rot within a few days on Merman Island.

For them, the only way to understand tradition and history was to consult “Merman Ancient Texts.”

These were wooden books recorded on “Immortal Wood,” using merman language to record various precious merman history.

Even some powerful strength training methods were recorded in the Merman Ancient Texts.

It could be said that these ancient texts were the inheritance of civilization for the mermen.

Moreover, these ancient texts were everywhere on the island. Even when digging holes, one or two could be found, but the most precious ones had already been collected by the mermen village.

The Sea Moon Ceremony was recorded in the most precious one among them.

That was an ancient text called “Merman Calendar.”

In the records of “Merman Calendar,” the Sea Moon Ceremony was an extremely important ritual, even recorded on the book’s first page with special emphasis, extremely prominent.

This was also the reason the mermen race placed such importance on the Sea Moon Ceremony.

“Okay,” Li Luo quickly quickened her pace. Sure enough, when she reached land far from the coast, she stopped sinking.

But the ground was still full of mud and filth, like ground that had just been rained on.

The fog seemed even thicker, with fishy rotting smells drifting from all around, permeating the thick fog.