As the sun had already risen, they had a better vision of the wilderness.
Two jeeps sped forward bumpily from the south.
The others in the jeep were quick to arouse from their sleep. Chen Xiaolian’s face turned grim while Hans urgently whispered, “Women, stay in the car!”
He grabbed his gun, opened the door and got off the jeep. Chen Xiaolian and Winston followed suit. Although Winston was still young, looking at the way he was holding onto the gun, Chen Xiaolian judged that this was not his first time operating a gun.
The two jeeps quickly approached them and were quick to slow down as well. After reaching a certain distance from them, the two jeeps seemingly made a detour to move past their position, passing over them by the side. The two jeeps continued trampling over the grasses in the wilderness and came to a stop when they were at a position parallel to Chen Xiaolian’s jeep.
The other party was very vigilant and they did not move close. Instead, they had chosen to maintain a certain distance.
Hans stared at the other party’s jeeps for a moment before whispering, “Not rebel soldiers. They look like poachers.”
Poachers?
Chen Xiaolian was momentarily surprised and he narrowed his eyes.
Due to having enhanced his body before, Chen Xiaolian’s five senses were superior to ordinary humans. He was able to see that not everyone in the other party’s jeeps were Africans.
There were only three Africans inside the two jeeps. There were four other Caucasians who wore hunter outfits and were all armed with rifles and wore hats.
After the two jeeps came to a halt, the two sides were clearly sizing each other – they do not know the situation on Chen Xiaolian’s side.
“Be careful.” Hans grunted. “Poachers may not be any better compared to rebel soldiers. These fellows aren’t good people.”
The Kombia government’s governing power was weak and there was almost no security for its borders. Thus, this place was like a paradise for poachers.
There were over ten metres between both parties and they looked at each other for a bit. Soon, Hans made a gesture of raising his right hand high up in the air, revealing the gun in his hand.
Someone from the other party smiled and he raised a hunting rifle high up before taking a huge step forward.
Hans sighed. At the same time, he also whispered to Chen Xiaolian, “You fellows don’t come. Also, make sure the women don’t come down from the car. We cannot expose our real situation. If they see that we are in a disadvantageous position, they will immediately become bandits.”
After saying that, Hans strode forward.
Chen Xiaolian understood. Hans was going to negotiate.
“Wait.” Chen Xiaolian suddenly caught Hans’ shoulder and said, “I’ll go with you.”
“…” Hans cast a profound gaze at Chen Xiaolian and saw determination in his eyes. Hans then nodded.
Chen Xiaolian and Hans walked forward together. Another person also walked out from the other side.
Two each, fair.
They met up in the middle position. There, Chen Xiaolian and Hans met up with two poachers.
The two poachers were Caucasians. However, their skin had been deeply tanned due to the sun. One of them had a reddish face and his body reeked of alcohol. The other one had a beard and was biting on a cigar.
“Good morning,” said the bearded man with a cold smile. “Who are you people?”
“Is there any meaning to that question?” Hans shook his head. “There is no transaction between us.”
“You’re a businessman?” The bearded man looked at Hans. Hans had a rather burly figure, giving him a certain deterring aura. However, Chen Xiaolian, whose body was rather small and thin in comparison, was ignored. “Why park here in the morning? Don’t you know that this is the territory of a lion pack?”
Hans replied coldly, “We were just passing by. We stopped here to rest for a bit.”
The fellow who reeked of alcohol stared at Hans and turned his gaze at Winston who was standing beside the jeep with a gun in hand. He pursed his lips to the side and gave his companion a certain look.
The bearded man shrugged his shoulders and said, “Then, just consider this a greeting and we’ll go our separate ways.”
“That would be for the best,” Hans replied coldly.
The bearded man turned his head and made a hand gesture to his companions. Clearly, the other party’s was feeling rather at ease now.
As the two of them were about to turn away, Chen Xiaolian suddenly spoke up.
“Wait.”
Hans was shocked and he turned to look at Chen Xiaolian with an expression on surprise.
Chen Xiaolian did not look at Hans. He stared at the two poachers who were turning around.
“What type of good stuff do you fellows have?” Chen Xiaolian asked calmly.
A change flickered across the bearded man’s expression and he asked, “What about it?”
“Maybe we can strike a deal.” Chen Xiaolian spoke in a seemingly casual tone, “Do you have rhino horns? Or high-grade elephant ivory?”
The bearded man hesitated for a moment and looked at Chen Xiaolian. He suddenly asked, “Are you interested?”
The alcohol reeking man who was standing beside them laughed before barking out, “Brat! We don’t do retail business!”
“Who said I wanted to buy retail?” Chen Xiaolian walked forward calmly, purposely letting go of his gun so as to not make the other party become overly vigilant.
The bearded man looked at Chen Xiaolian with a puzzled expression.
“Don’t look at me like that.” Chen Xiaolian smiled and said, “I cannot possibly be the police… there is no police in all of Kombia. Besides, have you seen an Oriental working as a government personnel?”
“Ha ha ha ha!” The bearded man laughed out loudly. “The Kombia government do not care about hunters. But… which organization are you from?”
“A wealthy organization,” Chen Xiaolian directly replied. “How about it? Are you interested?”
The bearded man and the alcohol reeking man hesitated for a moment and they exchanged glances.
“Enough. I need good products. So, are you going to do this… or is there something you are hesitating about? Could it be you do not want to make money?” Chen Xiaolian shook his head.
“We have our own buyers. Scram, kid!” the bearded man suddenly spat out and raised his rifle to point it at Chen Xiaolian.
Hans’s expression turned tense and he raised the gun in his hand. “Hey!”
There was an unperturbed expression on Chen Xiaolian’s face as he turned to face Hans. He waved his hand and turned back to look at the bearded man. “All right, this method of probing is a waste of time.”
After saying that, he rolled up his sleeve and reached into one of them with the other hand.
The other party quickly became tense but Chen Xiaolian quickly pulled his hand out.
There was a roll of US dollars in his hand.
The bearded man’s face eased up. However, there was contempt in his face and he said, “So little? You won’t be able to buy even my vehicle, what more the goods in them.”
Chen Xiaolian laughed and said, “This is not the money for the goods, this is just front money to put you at ease. Now, can we talk business?”
The two fellows exchanged glances.
Chen Xiaolian continued, “I’m not interested in other stuff. I just want rhino horns and elephant ivory. The higher the grade, the better. The more, the better. How about it?”
Chen Xiaolian observed the two of them and continued, “I’m sure you don’t have too many of these items in your vehicles. My intention is simple. If you have those goods, then I will order it and pay you a deposit, then… we’ll settle this transaction in Kabuka. There, we’ll exchange the goods for the money. This transaction is quite fair, don’t you think?”
The bearded man gripped the roll of US dollars and hesitated.
He took a deep breath and his expression turned serious. “Rhino horns and elephant ivory is not our main trade. However… how many do you want?”
“How many do you have?”
“This is Africa,” said the bearded man coldly. “I can get you however many you want.”
“I want to inspect the goods first.” Chen Xiaolian shook his head. “Do you have any recent ones in your vehicle? I don’t need many, I just want to make sure that it’s up to standard before making the order. Don’t you think that’s normal?”
The alcohol reeking man stared at Chen Xiaolian and asked, “Just who are you?”
Chen Xiaolian smiled and looked at them. “Is that very important? In this continent of Africa, no one cares about Kombia! Even if I am the FBI, what can I do to you? As I said earlier, I am just a businessman who can show you the money. If you are interested in making a business transaction, then we’ll discuss business.”
The two fellows hesitated.
The alcohol reeking man suddenly spoke in a different language. He spoke in Spanish to the bearded man, “We can give it a try. At any rate, we’ll be able to make money as well. Don’t we have two elephant ivory and a few rhino horns in the jeep? We’ll just let him check it and see if it can lead to a deal. At any rate, we’ll have to stay here for quite some time. If his price is not bad, we can just do it…”
Chen Xiaolian understood what they were saying but pretended to be ignorant and said, “Hey! Hey! Speak in English, English, ok?”
The bearded man gave Chen Xiaolian a cold glance and said, “All right! You want to check the goods?”
“That’s right.” Chen Xiaolian smiled in a seemingly harmless manner.
“You can come over… alone! He cannot!” The bearded man pointed at Hans.
Chen Xiaolian nodded and turned around to Hans and said, “You go back first. Just wait for me beside the jeep.”
That took Hans off guard. He looked at Chen Xiaolian only to see him winking at him.
Hans did not know what he meant by it. However, it was not exactly a convenient time to be asking Chen Xiaolian about it. Hans did not know what Chen Xiaolian had planned and was fearful of disrupting his plans. He sighed and slowly gave a nod.
Chen Xiaolian readily pulled out his gun and handed it to Hans before waving him off.
The two poachers were pleased with Chen Xiaolian’s actions and they too, lowered their weapons.
“Come then,” said the bearded man who stuffed the roll of US dollars into his pocket.
…
Chen Xiaolian followed them.
He deliberately walked slowly and calculated the time. It was only after Hans had made it back to the side of the jeep did Chen Xiaolian relaxed.
After reaching the spot in between the two poacher jeeps, Chen Xiaolian looked at the poachers.
Three Africans and four Caucasians, seven in total.
The three Africans were either subordinates or guides. The four Caucasians were the real poachers.
Standing beside the jeeps, Chen Xiaolian could smell a strong stench coming from them. Several boxes were locked in place behind the jeeps and Chen Xiaolian saw some hairy animal inside it. Who knows if it was a monkey or something else.
The bearded man brought Chen Xiaolian to the back of one of the jeep and opened up a box. Its contents were covered with a piece of tarpaulin and when removed, Chen Xiaolian saw two greyish items that were covered in blood.
“Rhino horns,” the bearded man said coldly. “You can check it.”
Chen Xiaolian forced back the feeling of nausea, rolled up his sleeves and pretended to bow down and feel it. At the same time, he checked his surroundings.
These fellows had not completely let their guard down.
The bearded man and the alcohol reeking man were right beside him, rifles in their hands.
In the jeeps, one of the Caucasian was sitting in the driver position while another Caucasian was smoking in the first passenger seat of the other jeep. As for the three Africans, they were standing beside.
Chen Xiaolian carefully made his plan.
…