CHAPTER 437: CHAPTER 407: THE LEGEND OF ALASKA

Early the next morning, Mountain Eagle crawled out of his sleeping bag, lifted the tent flap, and was about to go out for his morning washing when he found Old Qiao and Quida, the two old men, sitting on the steps of the platform where his tent was pitched.

Hearing the movement behind him, Old Qiao turned around and glanced at Mountain Eagle, then lifted his wrist to check the time, smiling as he said, "It’s a good habit to get up early. What time shall we set off?"

Mountain Eagle was stunned for a moment; he actually had no intention of having Old Qiao, an elderly man, accompany him into the mountains, nor had he planned for Quida, a fisherman, to follow along.

Because it wasn’t a leisure trip; what lay ahead were several days of high-intensity action...

The distance on the map looked like only two centimeters, sounding like a mere 50 kilometers, but in actuality, it involved crossing vast stretches of forests and waterways. To avoid being seen by anyone and make it on foot, the journey could take three days.

Seeing the slightly puzzled expression on Mountain Eagle’s face, Old Qiao patted Quida on the shoulder and said, "Boss, wherever you want to go, you need a boat and Quida’s help!

The northern mountainous region is completely surrounded by swamps on the west and southwest sides. The waterways there are incredibly complex, and very few people can enter without getting lost.

It’s not as simple as just taking a boat and heading towards the mountains to find the right path."

Mountain Eagle asked, frowning, "How do you know I want to go to the northern mountains?"

Old Qiao stood up and patted his buttocks twice, chuckling, "I didn’t at first, but now I do...

So you need us even more."

Mountain Eagle, still a bit groggy from waking up early, saw the sly expression on Old Qiao’s weathered face and immediately sobered up, shaking his head, "The place we’re heading to is dangerous, and both of you are too old.

The campsite now is only manned by Old Ruby, and I hope you two can stay here and assist with the camp’s affairs until I return.

You’re a guide, and I’m not planning to hunt, so..."

Old Qiao shook his head and said, "You need me even more!

Boss, I may be old, but I know how to survive in Alaska better than you do.

Summer doesn’t mean there are no dangers in the mountains. Alaska at this time is like a made-up crazy lady—she looks beautiful, but she’s still crazy at heart."

With that, Old Qiao glanced at the large backpack Mountain Eagle had placed at the entrance and said earnestly, "Whatever you’re planning, you need me, and you need Quida...

We’ve taken your money, and we need to guarantee your safety in the wild!"

Seeing Mountain Eagle still hesitating, Quida stood up and said, "If you go alone, unless you take the Russian Mission forest route, you’ll never manage to sneak into the mountain region and avoid everyone. With just the three of you, there’s no way you’ll make it out of the southwestern swamp maze."

Mountain Eagle looked at the two old men’s serious expressions, thought for a moment, and said, "There are dangers..."

Quida, growing impatient, waved his hand, "In Alaska, walking is dangerous!

Hurry and prepare. I’ve already got the boat ready. If we set out soon, we might be able to get through the swamp area before sunset and find a suitable place to camp at the foot of the mountains."

Upon hearing this, Mountain Eagle couldn’t refuse!

He returned to his tent, took out two walkie-talkies and handed them to Old Qiao and Quida, smiling, "Am I a difficult client?"

Old Qiao looked at the obviously advanced walkie-talkie in his hand, nodded slightly, and said, "You underestimate other wealthy folks. If you’ve ever seen a fool who wants to bring a water bed and a toilet along for hunting, you’d know you’re far from ’difficult.’"

As he spoke, Old Qiao hesitated for a moment, then said seriously, "I’ve always been a bit skeptical about your purpose for buying this campsite, but after seeing how you treated Wayne and the others yesterday, I think you’re a good person.

At least, you wouldn’t make their situation worse than it is now, right?"

Mountain Eagle turned around to take out his toothpaste and toothbrush, and as he walked down the steps toward a small stream nearby, he laughed, "I might regularly bring kids here for hunting and camping, so I want to leave a good impression on the locals."

Old Qiao knew Mountain Eagle was just talking nonsense; there were plenty of places to hunt and camp without spending so much money...

In Old Qiao’s mind, Mountain Eagle was a wealthy man with money to burn but filled with a sense of justice and a spirit for adventure.

He had seen many such people in his life and even had some connections with a few of them...

Like those whale defenders who drive boats to battle with whale boats from the island country...

And the environmentalists who go to the Arctic Circle to fight with energy companies...

Old Qiao knew a few wealthy backers behind those people!

He felt Mountain Eagle was quite like these individuals, with the main difference being that while others provided financial support for others’ causes, Mountain Eagle seemed keen on taking matters into his own hands, and doing so fiercely!

And to really help the Indians, it would take more than just lawsuits; sufficiently fierce measures would be needed to bring the Dimension Card Company to the negotiating table.

Watching Mountain Eagle walk briskly to the creek to wash up, Old Qiao turned to Quida and said, "Go prepare the boat. I’ll notify that old guy, Old Ruby, and by the way, get the women and children from the tribe to come over and help out...

Mountain is a crazy boss, and the more goodwill shown by the people in the tribe, the stronger his resolve to maintain this place for the long term."

Quida, somewhat uncomfortable, shook his head and said, "You white people always think too much. Indians always carry goodwill toward friends!"

Old Qiao was somewhat at a loss for words regarding Quida’s stony Indian temperament, waving his hand, he said: "The mountain is the last hope for those tribes up north, you can’t expect him to deliberately get close and understand them.

I’ve lived longer than you, so just listen to me on some things!"

Mountain Eagle and the others had packed their luggage and backpacks yesterday...

All of them are seasoned veterans, especially Butcher and Daria who were both trained in Siberia, so they are very well adapted to the climate and environment of Alaska, hence there’s no need for explicit instructions.

On the contrary, boss Mountain Eagle insisted on bringing some hot food for the occasional warm meal, so he stubbornly asked Butcher and Daria to also carry some dried noodles, seasonings, dehydrated vegetables, and of course, the classic 78 pot.

When Mountain Eagle, his three companions, and the dog boarded the boat, Old Qiao was already there waiting with his Hound.

Quida’s speedboat is nearly four meters long...

In reality, it’s just a patched-up hull with a brand-new outboard engine attached.

At the rear of the boat, four red Oil Barrels were placed, while the front was piled with a fishing net and a harpoon.

Quida sat beside the outboard engine, below the gunnel to his left, a gun rack and a sealed box were welded, on which lay an old-fashioned Enfield rifle, as well as some homemade spare fish hooks and bullets.

This kind of simple fishing boat is standard for Alaska’s natives, but not so friendly for outsiders.

When Quida started the speedboat, the cold morning breeze of Alaska instantly woke Mountain Eagle up...

Seeing Quida driving in just a short-sleeved shirt paired with a greasy jacket, Mountain Eagle huddled his neck, gave him a thumbs up, and then turned to Old Qiao sitting in the front, asking: "Once we enter the mountains, what should we be aware of?"

Old Qiao turned around to sit sidewise, smiling as he said: "What you need to do is tell me exactly what you want to do after we enter the mountains and then stick close to me."

Saying that, Old Qiao took out his direct-screen mobile phone with a tri-sided shell, adding, "If we go further in, we’ll lose phone signal...

Some things you were reluctant to discuss with me in the camp, maybe we can talk about them once we get into the mountains, right?"

Mountain Eagle did not doubt Old Qiao’s intentions, but as he himself was unsure about the Black Fox issue, he couldn’t provide a detailed explanation...

Now that Old Qiao had asked, Mountain Eagle simply nodded and said, "I want to go into the mountains and see exactly what Dimension Card Company is doing there.

I’ve seen their land deeds, and they’ve purchased the lands at the foot of the mountains...

I suspect Dimension Card Company is preventing Wayne and the others from passing through their territory to enter the mountains because there’s some illegal activity happening there.

If we can gather evidence, perhaps Wayne and his issues can be resolved."

Old Qiao nodded in sudden realization and said, "I see..."

Mountain Eagle did not delve into discussing the mission with Old Qiao. Instead, he asked out of curiosity: "You’ve been living in Alaska for a long time, what do you think Dimension Card Company is doing inside there?

I’m really curious, what is in that mountain that makes a company spend nearly 10 million US Dollars to buy up a large piece of land that can’t be developed for Gold and oil.

Even if all the trees on that land were chopped down and all the wildlife were slaughtered, I doubt it would be worth that much money."

Old Qiao thought for a moment and said: "I don’t know, maybe they’ve found the legendary treasure of the Seal Pirates, or discovered the lost gold of the Saint Elias Mountains..."

Saying so, Old Qiao looked at Mountain Eagle with a thrilling expression and said in a deep voice: "Or it’s a bunch of mad scientists hidden in the mountains trying to find a way to revive the Werewolf..."

Mountain Eagle saw Old Qiao’s expression and couldn’t help but chuckle, saying: "You actually believe that?"

Old Qiao shrugged his shoulders and said: "You can ask Quida, he’s seen a Werewolf with his own eyes..."

While speaking, the speedboat turned into a gently flowing tributary, and as everyone including Balang looked towards him, Quida shook his head and said: "Many people say I was seeing things, but I really did see a Werewolf near the poles...

It could run on all fours and also stand upright to walk, covered in long hair, a bit taller than me but very muscular. I saw it with my own eyes tearing open a Moose’s neck with its bare hands.

And there was also a sturdy brown bear with it!"

Old Qiao, seeing Mountain Eagle’s incredulous face, said earnestly: "That must be the ’Loup Garou’ from Indian legends, the evil Werewolf!

There have always been tales of it in Alaska!

I heard that near the Arctic Circle, around Alakagite, there was once a laboratory where people studied how to turn wolves into Werewolves...

An old friend of mine told me that he saw a guy with several wolves, who could hunt Polar Bears without using a rifle.

He said those wolves were Werewolves that had not fully evolved because they could understand human speech."

Mountain Eagle was amused by Old Qiao’s mysterious demeanor...

He never trusted such talk of ’I heard’ or ’I have a friend who said’...

He would rather believe Old Qiao’s earlier mention of the so-called pirate treasures or the lost Gold Mines!