Dual wielding volcanoes, killing through the west

“…I didn’t kill him.” Xiaomei shook her head.

"what?"

“I…I think…it’s meaningless.” Xiaomei pursed her lips, but her tone didn’t have that saintly air of “letting go of everything and having a profound realization.” Instead, she was genuinely thinking. “Mr. Hongzhong, think about it. When I killed him, I only calmed myself down. Apart from that, his death had no value whatsoever.”

"So, you're planning to..." Zhang Renfeng hesitated for a moment, "...let him go back?"

“No, this person is too dangerous. We can’t let him go. We can’t control him. Even if he loses everything, with his mobility, he can quickly make a comeback.” Xiaomei shook her head. “He still has to die, but… it can’t be like this, in a room, shot in the head with a revolver.”

"I have an idea."

"Perhaps... Mr. Flying Eagle can also help with this."

Chapter 703: You Too

"Waaaaah... Waaaah—!!!"

With his hands and feet bound and a wad of cloth stuffed in his mouth, Ryan was carried out of the cabin like a pig to be slaughtered by Flying Eagle, hoisted onto his shoulder. He seemed to have a premonition of his fate, twisting and struggling with immense resentment, but to no avail.

noon.

At the height of the sun, sunlight filters through dappled shadows and falls on the platform beneath the tall trees.

The eagle doesn't need to shout anything; this action alone is enough to attract everyone's attention.

The victory celebration had lasted all night, and with another day added to the mix, most people would be feeling tired. The noise wasn't as intense as before. The initial exhilarating rush of victory had passed, and now everyone could calm down and discuss things like the details of the war and its future direction. The sudden appearance of the Flying Eagle was undoubtedly a very clear signal.

Zhang Renfeng and his group had already secured their spots in the front row to watch the spectacle.

Director Xiao Mei's eyes were cold as she looked at Ryan Childer, who was bound hand and foot. Her eyes showed no emotion, and she no longer regarded him as a "person".

……

"Boom!"

The eagle slammed him to the ground, shouting, "My brothers, my sisters—!"

"The war is temporarily over. We have defended our homeland and won victory from the invaders. This is a victory to celebrate! It is a hard-won victory! I am incredibly proud of you, and of all those who participated in this war and stood on the side of justice!"

"oh---!!!"

Cheers erupted like a tidal wave.

The tone was very high, but as the actual leader of the Gaoshu tribe, this was actually the most appropriate start.

Zhang Renfeng couldn't help but sigh. When they first met, he thought Flying Eagle was just a reckless brute, but he had greatly underestimated him.

"But amidst the celebrations, has anyone considered why we were subjected to this undeserved disaster? What is the root cause of all this?"

Eagle grabbed Ryan by the collar, lifted him up, and raised him off the ground to show everyone.

"This man is Ryan Childer, the 'Ryan Childer' who was ambushed and kidnapped near the tall trees!"

"However, the truth is that it was all staged by them. He was never attacked by the tribe or anyone else. The claim that he was kidnapped was just a pretext for their military intervention!"

The charade between the Chaidel father and son was already a consensus among the high-ranking members of the Gaoshu tribe.

However, most ordinary members of the tribe had never heard of this news before; this was the first time they had heard of it.

Everyone was in an uproar.

After the initial shock came an overwhelming surge of anger!

"Because of him, our homeland has been invaded!"

"Because of him, the bison on the grasslands were slaughtered on a massive scale!"

"Because of him, we have parted ways with some of our brothers and sisters forever! In his eyes, what is valuable is this land of Gaoshu and the oil buried beneath it. We, the indigenous people, are naturally an eyesore. His arrogance, pride, and greed drove this war!"

"Waaaaah! Waaaahh ...

Ryan kept twisting his body and making noises, trying to refute.

To be fair, such a major decision couldn't possibly be made by him alone. Like all wars, this war was the optimal solution reached after weighing and negotiating the interests of multiple parties. It's just that they failed to find the right solution, resulting in a complete defeat.

But Eagle wouldn't argue with him.

Just as he said a few minutes ago, "Everyone's sense of justice is completely different," and what Eagle is doing now is the justice that belongs to the son of Takagi!

……

"Children of Takashu—!!"

He threw Ryan violently into the crowd.

"Let that bastard go where he belongs!"

----

The crowd was stunned for a moment.

Then, like fish swarming to bait, they rushed over and rained blows on Ryan. The pressure, tension, anger, grief… so many negative emotions these past few days—some of which simply couldn't be relieved by a wild party.

This is a brilliant exit.

"Waaaaaahh ...

Ryan's eyes widened in terror; facing imminent death, this was the most natural reaction.

"Woo..."

After being hit more than a dozen times, his breathing gradually weakened.

"..."

Lane Chedder, a sugar merchant, railroad tycoon, and oil smuggler, rose from humble beginnings in Windblown Sands to become a powerful figure who controlled almost the entirety of New Elizabeth.

In the end, the Native American he looked down upon was trampled to death without leaving a single decent last word.

Xiaomei's expression remained unchanged; at this point, she had only performed half of her script.

……

"Everyone, this person dies, but there will be another, and the next one... This war is not over, and perhaps it will never end. As long as we live here, this is an issue we cannot avoid."

“I am very grateful to our new friends, but they also have their own things to do, and they can’t stay here forever.”

Eagle's tone was heavy yet sincere: "Next time, when the army comes again, can we drive them away on our own?"

"I believe everyone has the answer in their hearts."

The principle of "praise before criticism" applies in reverse as well. To get a large number of people to follow your lead peacefully, it's best to offer them a small reward first. Only with a reward will they respect you and listen attentively to your advice.

For the people of Takagi, executing the instigator of the war was an extremely powerful stimulus.

Have you ever wondered why?

"Because the enemy has factories that can produce guns and ammunition in a continuous stream, but we don't; the enemy has trains that can transport and dispatch logistical supplies from all directions, but we don't; the enemy has hospitals, so their wounded soldiers can receive better, faster, and more effective treatment, but we don't."

"They even have scholars who specialize in studying the lifestyles of Native American tribes, what we depend on, and how to destroy us more quickly. Destroy our land, our food, our way of life, destroy everything we have. But what about our tribe? We can't even find a single literate person!"

"We only have this forest and this grassland, but in this day and age, their power has been exhausted and they can no longer protect us. If we want to continue to survive, we have to walk and forge our own path. We also need our own factories, hospitals, railways, and schools!"

"We are the lagging party, and if we want to catch up, we have to make tremendous efforts... and pay a heavy price. For my homeland, I can endure any hardship!"

The eagle raised its arms and cried out, "Children of the Tall Trees, I swear to you!"

"I will never lose our culture and customs; rather, we will go further!"

"From this moment on, I will lead you all into a brand new future!"

----

When the emotions are right, what is said is not so important.

Most of the tribe's young people didn't understand what the eagle was going to do. In their eyes, it was their young leader who was promising them a brighter future!

There was thunderous applause.

……

Xiao Mei breathed a sigh of relief. She had essentially achieved all the effects she wanted through this one-woman show. With Flying Eagle's speech serving as a preemptive measure, the tribe members would be more accepting of potential future changes—a win-win situation.

"Mr. Flying Eagle is truly amazing." She looked at Flying Eagle, whose eyes revealed a resolute expression, and exclaimed sincerely.

……

"You too." Zhang Renfeng rubbed her head.

Chapter 704: Let's Negotiate

“Calm down, Mr. Andy,” the blond man with a cold expression said impatiently. “Even if you spin around a hundred times, they won’t pop out of the ground.”

"..." Andy's expression was one of near madness. For the umpteenth time, he straightened his tie and complained, "Why did we agree to negotiate with the Red Barbarians on their own turf? It's so beneath us! When have we ever suffered such a loss?"

“Strictly speaking, this is the boundary of Tall Trees.” The man shrugged. “Who told that good-for-nothing to lose? If he had won, we would have taken over the land, and these red barbarians would have been driven to a more remote place. Instead of occupying half of Granite State like this, firmly rooted here like a nail.”

"The so-called invincible Northern Army, in my opinion, is nothing special."

“Watch your tone, Aaron Pinkerton!” Andy immediately frowned and warned, “You’re just a mouthpiece.”

"If I could, I would be very willing to hand over this spokesperson position. You can tell me who to give it to."

Aaron leaned back in his chair, his voice dripping with sarcasm, "When it's time to eat meat, I'm never served. I only get the tough scraps like bones."

Andy was speechless.

……

It wasn't until the third week after the war, when the news had spread to Granite State and New Elizabeth State and was known to almost everyone, that the government realized they had actually lost the war.

It's unbelievable! A fully armed and well-equipped army, under the command of a colonel, lost to a group of tribal savages!

Where does this leave the face of the Northern Army officials?

Immediately, the army was in high spirits. Officers took their roll call, gathered their troops, and prepared to return to High Tree to teach these ungrateful Native American barbarians a lesson.

However, after they spent some more time learning about the specific battle situation and the casualty ratio, they made a decision that surprised everyone.

Stop fighting, let's negotiate!

Because they couldn't gather any specific battle information at all—the team that Jaworth led, numbering over two thousand, was almost entirely annihilated or scattered, with very few escaping alive.

The soldiers who escaped were either suffering from severe PTSD, acting erratically and spouting nonsense like "a three-meter-tall metal giant" or "a giant gun that can shatter a person"... or they knew nothing at all, only seeing everyone else running and joining in. The latter group made up the majority.

This is normal.

Thinking about it carefully, having seen what the armor looks like means that he is actually very close to this killing machine!

At this distance, surviving Zhang Renfeng's clutches and then escaping the encirclement and slaughter by the Gaoshu tribe would be extremely difficult. In other words, only those who, upon witnessing the rout of the enemy army, would turn and flee without hesitation have any chance of escaping alive. Such people would devote all their energy to escaping, and would have no time to look back at the situation on the front lines.

In other words, in the eyes of the current military, the situation of this war is a complete mystery; all that is presented to them is a bloody casualty ratio.

Annihilated.

The entire force, including all the officers, was wiped out. The colonel himself was missing; he may have been captured or killed.

so horrible.

Therefore, the government decided to negotiate with the Gaoshu tribe. The location for the negotiations was chosen to be an abandoned hunter's hut on the border of Gaoshu. Coincidentally, this hut had been inhabited not long ago. However, the original owner had unfortunately taken on a mission to the army to hunt bison on the grasslands and remained there permanently.

Andy paced back and forth, not only agitated but also fearful.

He knew very well that his identity as a government official was only useful in the civilized world outside. In this room, he was nothing more than a piece of meat on someone else's chopping board; once the suit was stripped off, he was nothing.

Are you sure there are no security issues in the area?

“I sent them all back,” Aaron said calmly. “With Old Jack here, there’s no need for anyone else.”

"What?!" Andy's expression changed abruptly. He looked at the old cowboy who was lounging with his legs crossed, leaning back in his chair and snoring softly. His face twisted in pain as he pointed at Aaron. "You...you bastard! You're going to get us all killed!"

Besides the three of them, there were several other representatives, mostly government officials. Hearing that their safety depended on a plain-looking, fast-sleeping cowboy, their expressions turned grim, but none of them uttered a curse.

"Ah."

Aaron smiled and lit a cigarette.

"What are you laughing at?" Andy pressed. "What if those barbarians......"

……

“They’re here,” Jack said, sitting up straight without a word.

The sound of horses' hooves came from afar, gradually enveloping the small wooden house.