Amy gave out a sigh, lit up a cigarette, and said, "Now we are on our own. Anyone who wants to leave can do so."
Sea Snake Fang nodded quietly.
Firecracker Tan listened as he kept checking his backpack.
Kurnawan stood smiling, keeping an eye out through the window.
Bobby and I were just puffing along.
There was a silent pause.
Everyone was taking it in, thinking about what it meant.
Currently, we have Clement and his party after us.
Also, we are now on the opposite side of Huang Bao Kun.
With his resources and ruthlessness, it will be much more difficult.
However, no one decided to leave.
We are so close now.
"What about your father's rare Chinese medicine?" I asked Amy Lee.
She exhaled a puff of cigarette smoke, looked at me, and said, "I have other leads, but first I need to have the money to do so."
Speaking of money, that reminded me of why we were here.
"Kurnawan, let's have a look at the map."
Kurnawan took out the scroll of the map, placed it on the table, and we gathered around.
I unrolled the scroll slowly; if it weren't preserved, the silk and linen would have already decomposed.
Then there it was, the map of west Kalimantan unfolded.
On the bottom right, there was the inscription "蘭芳大统制共和國" (Lan Fang Republic).
Next to it was a stamp in red color, the seal of the Lan Fang Republic.
At the middle of the map, written in Chinese, marked twenty kilometers north of Mandor, in the rainforest, next to a river, an 'X' was marked on it.
I pointed my index finger on the spot and said, "This is it. We've got to prepare for the jungle."
Sea Snake Fang frowned, crossed his arms across his chest, and said, "We will have to stock up on supplies, if not we won't survive in the jungle."
I agreed with what he said; the jungle eats up the toughest and spits them out.
It's a constant battle with the humid air, insects buzzing at you, animal calls, and the fatigue bashing through the thick vegetation.
Bobby raised his hands into the air like a student, looked at everyone, and said, "But to stock up in town, we might bump into Clement and his party."
He held his head up, as if waiting for the teacher's approval.
I rolled my eyes at him again.
"I have a plan. Kurnawan, can you arrange for a meeting with The Chef?" I lit up another cigarette, waiting for his reply.
"Sure, The Chef can help, but it will cost us. But he only deals with information."
"Good, I can pay for it." I grinned, thinking of getting revenge for Amy.
I then went on and briefed the team on my plans.
…
The next day, Bobby, Kurnawan, and I went off to execute my plan.
We went to "Hock Kee" to meet with The Chef.
We ordered our meal, then the same thing happened.
Kurnawan wrote my message on a piece of paper.
It was for The Chef to inform Hamood that Clement murdered Snookey in cold blood.
They'd encountered each other while raiding a tomb in Mandor.
The Chef will inform Hamood of Clement's whereabouts when we activate him to do so.
The reply from The Chef was affirmative.
A huge sum for the service rendered was tagged onto the bill.
With that settled, we then drove to the hotel we stayed at.
We sat across the street, ordered some food, and watched out for Clement.
"Sam, this Rawon is good, have some," Bobby said and took a huge gulp of the soup.
I smirked, envying his ability to live in the moment.
A kid then came up to us, big round eyes looking at us, offering to sell us flowers.
"Can you help me buy some flowers?"
"Get out! Don't disturb my customers," the boss screamed at the kid.
I motioned to the boss that it's ok and ordered Rawon for the kid.
The kid went at the Rawon, slurping up everything.
"Hey kid, I need you to help me later. I will pay for the help." I took out IDR 1 million and passed it to him.
He nodded and took the cash.
…
After half an hour, Clement and his party made their way back to the hotel.
Big Lawrence carried Small Lawrence; I could see Small Lawrence had his hand bandaged.
We could hear Small Lawrence cursing out loud when every little movement made him feel pain.
Clement looked back at the Lawrence brothers, cussed out in French.
Crystal Siti kept her head low, not wanting to get involved.
With them back in the hotel, everything was set to go.
Kurnawan messaged The Chef the location of the hotel.
And we waited.
After some time, we could hear the roaring engines of the Flaming Wheels announcing their arrival.
I turned to the kid, gave him Snookey's wallet, and said: "Do as I've instructed."
He took the wallet, ran over to the hotel, and shouted for Clement.
"Clement!"
"Clement!"
"Clement!"
The kid with his head tilted up, hands by the side of his mouth to amplify his voice, shouted at the top of his lungs.
Clement, hearing all the ruckus, came out of the hotel and approached the kid.
Before he could say anything, the kid passed him Snookey's wallet and ran away as fast as he could.
Clement didn't give chase, looked at the wallet wondering what it was all about.
Hamood and his gang arrived just in time.
He had a build like a Mongolian wrestler, not too muscular but you could sense the strength in the muscles.
When he saw Clement holding Snookey's wallet, he roared into the sky, his face immediately turning red, fueled with all the rage he cursed and lunged at Clement.
Clement sidestepped elegantly like a ballet dancer, but he was seriously outnumbered.
Other gang members went at him with their parangs (machetes).
Clement was able to dodge a few but took a few slashes to his arm.
Then Big Lawrence came smashing through the front door of the hotel, joining in the brawl.
Now that both sides drew blood, I knew that the truth wouldn't matter anymore.
I took a huge puff, stubbed out my cigarette, and said, "Come, let's continue on our expedition."