"Haaha, the big shrimp here are actually this delicious! When we get back to the ships, this village is going on the sea chart as Shrimp Village, and this great lake that produces such delicacies will be marked as Big Shrimp Lake!"
The sea breeze was soothing, carrying fragrance on the wind. After the party had eaten and drunk their fill, they prepared to return to the ships. Puapu reached into his robe, felt around for a while, then generously pulled out a handful of glittering Lake Gems to pay for the feast that had fed dozens of people. But the gray-haired old village chief only smiled humbly, bowed very low, and then carefully shook his head in refusal.
"Uh? What does he mean by that?"
Puapu froze for a moment and looked toward the Maya merchant Tikalo. Tikalo smiled faintly and explained.
"Captain Pu, this fishing village has very little contact with the outside world, and there are no divine descendants governing it. They don't accept gemstones. They only accept currency they can actually use."
"What? Currency they can actually use?"
"Yes. Like the salted fish, cotton cloth, and cacao the fleet traded before."
"Uh... then how much do they want?"
"Two bolts of cloth at random will do. If you're satisfied, you can add a basket of salted fish. There aren't many people in their village, and they don't have many tools. Felling trees isn't easy, and boiling salt is very difficult too."
"Fine. Then tear off two rolls of cotton cloth, and add two baskets of salted fish! That salted fish reeks so badly that even the warriors get dizzy and muddleheaded from the stink when it's kept aboard!"
Grey Earth Puapu waved a big hand, and two warriors returned to the ships, bringing back snow-white cotton