Dual wielding volcanoes, killing through the west

----

The moment he pushed open the wooden door, Flying Eagle felt incredibly conflicted—all his efforts had only resulted in getting the other person to sit at the same table with them.

So-called civilization is nothing more than whoever has the strongest fist gets their words heard.

Compared to the enemy's overwhelming numbers, Flying Eagle's side had an extremely streamlined personnel. The tribal warriors were all waiting outside the house; only Flying Eagle, the chieftain, and Zhang Renfeng were actually inside to participate in the negotiations.

Native Americans are yellow-skinned; terms like "yellow barbarian" and "red barbarian" were actually created to precisely discriminate against people of different origins. If they stood together, as long as no one said it outright, no one could tell whether Zhang Renfeng was a Native American or not. So, he naturally joined the group.

If the other party can't handle the game and plans to do something underhanded, having him as the strongest fighter will put me at ease.

……

"So you're the King of Tall Trees?" Aaron made a welcoming gesture, a businesslike smile appearing on his usually cold face. "You're much younger than I expected."

"I am Flying Eagle." Flying Eagle pulled out a chair and sat down, cutting straight to the point, "You want to negotiate..."

“Watch your tone, Indigenous people,” Andy said coldly. “You have no right to speak to us in that tone.”

“You are…” The chief turned his head to the side.

“I am Andy McCullen, a senior member of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs.” His tone was quite proud, with a top-down air of superiority. “Simply put, I represent state power and oversight of you.”

"What does your 'oversight' mainly include?" the chief asked.

“Of course, it’s everything that concerns you,” Andy said in a deep voice, “including your place of residence…”

“I do have something to tell you about our place of residence,” Flying Eagle interrupted his mature words, his tone and attitude extremely firm.

"The tall trees are our home. Our fathers and grandfathers lived here long before you came to this continent."

"Although... you probably don't really care."

Eagle changed the subject abruptly, "Not long ago, your government offered a deal. They wanted us to buy this land for $2. To be honest, I don't think living on this land requires anyone's recognition, but for the sake of longer-term peace..."

"We are willing to make this deal."

The chief placed the box he was carrying on the table and opened it.

The stack of bricks made of US dollars made everyone in the room widen their eyes.

Chapter 705: What cannot be obtained on the battlefield cannot be obtained at the negotiating table.

"Where did you get so much money?" Andy's expression changed from shock to suspicion. "How could a primitive tribe possibly scrape together twenty thousand US dollars?"

He was actually aware of this $20,000 deal. As the head of the Indian Affairs Committee, this strategy must have passed through his hands before it was even proposed.

From the outset, the design fully considered that for Native Americans, exchanging leather for necessities was the limit. Raising $20,000 was simply an impossible task.

However, Eagle remained calm. He patted the chief beside him on the shoulder and introduced him, "This is Hummingbird. He's the one who accepted the letter from your government officials. You call that... a contract, right?"

"It's written very clearly on it. It's in black and white that we're exchanging $2 for this land in the Advanced Mathematics Department. It's stamped and signed. In short, we've accepted this deal." He patted the box full of US dollars on the table. "This is part of it, consider it a deposit."

“Take this money and don’t bother us again. I don’t want this tragedy to happen again.”

"How... how can this count?" Andy gritted his teeth, trembling with anger.

“If this money is obtained illegally, we probably cannot accept it either.”

At the crucial moment, it was Aaron who stabilized the situation.

He actually had no idea what the contract was all about. But the Pinkerton detective was far too experienced in handling these kinds of matters. "I also have some general knowledge of the living standards of Native American tribes. You rarely use dollars, right? You usually barter with leather."

"Where did these two thousand dollars come from?"

“That’s up to your imagination,” Eagle said in a low voice.

Aaron continued to deny it, saying, "We are government officials, not robbers. If we accept money from dubious sources, it would be difficult to explain."

The chief sneered, "Is that so? To me, there's no difference."

"Excuse my bluntness, but this war was entirely started by you Indians. If you hadn't picked up his train..."

“Speaking of this topic,” Eagle interrupted him again.

Zhang Renfeng understood and played the role of a lackey very well. He got up, went out, dragged Jiawosi in, and shoved him in front of the table.

“You know this guy, right?” Eagle tapped the table. He said in a deep voice, “He is Jarvis Childer, Ryan Childer’s son. One of the instigators of this war.”

“We have learned a lot from him. From the very beginning, this war was a lie, and he admitted it himself.”

After saying this, Flying Eagle explained in detail to the person opposite how the Cheder father and son had conspired to put on this charade.

Jack remained remarkably calm; he had already learned about the matter from his father. However, such a scandal absolutely could not be allowed to leak out, so much so that Aaron and Andy were caught completely off guard.

"The evidence is that, through intelligence gathering, we eventually found his hiding place. He was hiding in his own oil refinery, and we found the factory and had him intercepted."

"Where is he?" Aaron asked, his voice trembling with excitement.

Cheddar is one of the Pinkerton Detective Agency's biggest clients; many of their large cases come from him each year. This is the main reason he's willing to participate in this negotiation.

“He’s dead,” Flying Eagle said calmly. “We executed him in our tribal way.”

"Dead?!" Andy jumped to his feet, his lips trembling as he roared, "You killed him! How dare you do such a thing to him!"

“This is war. We not only killed him, we also killed all the uninvited guests who set foot on this land! If you think that's not enough, you are welcome to send more people over.”

"All the people of Takashu will shed their last drop of blood to defend their homeland."

Flying Eagle's tone was calm.

But the calmer these words are, the more lethal they are, especially when he has just achieved a great victory.

To those unaware of the truth, the deterrent effect seemed to have reached its peak.

Andy slumped down.

What you can't get on the battlefield, you can't get at the negotiating table either. Especially since you're still on the battlefield, having been utterly defeated.

"After we captured him, we got a lot of interesting information out of him, including some things that are best left unsaid within your army. Add to that this utterly disgraceful spectacle," the chief said coldly. "Just imagine, many people will be interested in this kind of news."

“You…you have no evidence…” Andy gritted his teeth, “This is all your imagination, no one will believe it!”

“We found some letters in Ryan’s secret office. They also explained his reasons for attacking us.”

"This is a copy." The chief took out a copy of the letter, placed it on the table, held it with his finger, and gently slid it to the other side.

After reading it, Aaron and Andy's expressions changed, and deep down, they believed it.

The motivations are very complete.

It could even be said that if this gamble pays off, Ryan will go even further from his current position and become a new oil tycoon. At that point, he will transform into the biggest winner in this war.

However, having lost the most crucial battle, the once-glorious Chedell family ultimately suffered a complete defeat and disgrace.

……

"Isn't it lamentable?" the chief scoffed. "So many innocent lives have been sacrificed for their family's reputation and money."

"What are you trying to say?" Andy composed himself, picked up the letter, tore it to shreds in a few strokes, and said in a deep voice, "This kind of thing... you can easily make it up, it doesn't count as evidence!"

"Whether the letter is true or false is not that important. If you want to say it's false, then it is false." Flying Eagle stomped on the floor and laughed. "Whatever reasons you want to fabricate to make others believe about this war is your business. What I want is very simple."

"Peace."

"Peace?" Aaron said coldly, "After murdering so many lives?"

"If you are unwilling, you can send people, and we will fight again. As I just said, the people of Gaoshu are not afraid of war. If you really understand, you will know that many members of the tribe were forced to flee here because their habitat was destroyed... This is their last home, and they have an irreconcilable blood feud with you!"

After making the threat, Flying Eagle's tone softened slightly, "Or, we can achieve coexistence peacefully without bloodshed."

"Ha, coexistence... coexistence requires resources. What do you have?" Andy sneered. "Buffalo hide, or buffalo horns?"

"Oil," Flying Eagle said in a deep voice.

Chapter 706: Sanyuan Heavy Industry

“Impossible.” Andy’s first reaction was to refute Eagle’s claim. “Even if there is oil, how could you primitive people…”

“You’re right.” Flying Eagle waved his hand, as if he had expected them to ask this question. “But we really can’t do it.”

"But the world is so big, there will always be peace-loving and rule-abiding businessmen who are willing to develop this wealth with us in a bloodless manner."

The chief then took out a rather neat document from his satchel, almost too neatly. So neatly that it seemed quite incongruous when it appeared in an Indian's animal-skin satchel.

Andy's heart suddenly clenched, and his brows furrowed. As a seasoned government employee, Andy's daily work involved dealing with all sorts of documents, contracts, and forms; he could usually tell the quality of something just by glancing at it.

The document's layout was very pleasing to the eye at first glance, which was a big problem!

The indigenous people of the Gaoshu tribe could not have written this kind of thing.

It's either the government, or... there's a powerful figure behind them.

How tall?

Andy licked his lips, took the book, and became increasingly terrified as he looked at it.

This is a fairly detailed development contract, divided into six parts: granting of development rights, distribution of profits, development methods and responsibilities, transportation and sales, breach of contract and dispute resolution, and confidentiality and force majeure. Both parties agree to abide by the General Mining Act of 1872 and the Amendments to the Indian Trade and Land Agreement (1875) as the legal basis.

Overall, the development company that signed the contract is willing to develop oil on fair terms and protect the tribe's right to survival.

"This is impossible... How could there be a company willing to cooperate with you..." Andy was completely stunned. He looked at the contract over and over again, using all his knowledge to try to find a flaw, but he couldn't even find the slightest problem with the format.

Regardless of who drafted it, this contract must have been written by an extremely experienced legal professional.

"You've been busy these past three weeks, and we haven't been idle either," the chief said coldly. "This world is complex, sir. There are greedy and unrepentant scoundrels like Ryan Childer, and there are also peace-loving, cooperative, and reasonable people... in your words, 'true gentlemen.' We would much rather cooperate with the latter."

"The plans and processes for oil development are all in the attachment; you can take a look if you wish."

Andy's job was to handle domestic and Native American affairs, but he never imagined that one day he would be involved in oil development.

The attached plan was indeed quite detailed, including the equipment to be used, the number of personnel, the technical standards, and the initial mining area... But Andy couldn't understand any of it. He only knew one thing: this contract was definitely not a sham.

They really intend to use the oil on their territory as bait to crash headlong into this civilized world!

“The company has the right to transport, price, and sell the extracted oil. Simply put, once the oil is extracted, we won't keep it all to ourselves. As long as the price is right and fair, anyone can buy it from us. There are no restrictions on our trading partners; it covers the entire America…” Eagle paused, then said meaningfully, “including the government.”

Andy and Aaron exchanged a glance, both seeing the hesitation in each other's eyes.

so amazing.

It's hard to imagine that such a combination of moves could be executed by a savage with no political experience.

When it was time to be assertive, it was assertive; but when it was time to concede, it also made concessions, not pushing the road to a dead end, but leaving room for maneuver—forget about the land, you can't take it, give up on that idea.

The land is ours, and the oil on it is ours too. But if you want to do business, that's fine too. As long as the price is right and both parties agree, we can sell the oil resources to you.

This negotiation arose because of the military's retreat. After Colonel Jarworth's unprecedented defeat, no one dared to joke about their rank and status anymore. They even brought in Aaron, the head of the Pinkerton Detective Agency, to participate in the negotiations.

Fighting is out of the question. If we were still willing to continue fighting, this negotiation might never have happened.

……

“A portion of the profits from the sale of oil will be transferred to the tribe in the form of infrastructure development. The contract stipulates at the outset that $20000 will be paid upfront as compensation for land access.”

Eagle tapped the surface of the box with his hand, making a clanging sound. "Do you understand now? This is how the $20000 came about."

"Please consider this money as our way of showing good faith in negotiating with you."

----

“No, this is too bizarre…” Andy frowned, his expression shifting between anger and uncertainty, and sat up straight. “Excuse me for being frank, gentlemen, but I can’t believe it!”

He said he couldn't believe it, but he changed his address to "gentlemen" when addressing Flying Eagle and the others. Deep down, Andy no longer saw the three men in front of him as primitive tribesmen, but as cunning old men with rich experience in political struggles, just like himself.

"What a coincidence that oil was discovered in the area where you live right after the war."

“Coincidentally, there is a development company in New Austin that is willing to take on unprecedented pressure and cooperate with you Native Americans; coincidentally, this company has the technology, equipment, and substantial funds for oil development; coincidentally… this company is also willing to give you $20,000, which happens to be the land purchase price you previously agreed upon with the Indian Affairs Committee…”

“In your words,” the chief said calmly, spreading his hands, “this is God’s arrangement.”

“God won’t protect you outsiders,” Andy said coldly. “I’m starting to doubt whether the company mentioned in this contract even exists.”

Flying Eagle laughed. "Do you think we savages living among the forests, grasslands, and streams are capable of forging something like this?"

“No. But you’re equally incapable of signing something like this.” Andy slammed the contract back on the table and said in a deep voice, “I know someone’s pulling strings behind the scenes. Let me meet them.”

……

The wooden door was pushed open again, and everyone's attention was interrupted by the young man who suddenly barged in.

He smoothed his wind-blown hair, revealing a bright and clear smile. He looked quite young, with a straight back, dressed in a suit and tie, and had a handsome appearance.

"I'm so sorry, I rode all the way here on horseback, I couldn't have gone any faster." He looked at the people at the negotiating table and asked, "Did I miss something?"