CHAPTER 368: CHAPTER 16: AMERICAN COLLABORATOR_2

Kongges’s face twitched uncontrollably, unsure of what to say, and he could only remain silent.

This silence infuriated the mayor and his negotiators. An assistant glared at Kongges, cursing, "You traitor of America, helping these Chinese bully your own people. Don’t you feel ashamed?!"

Kongges’s face turned red instantly, and he shouted back, "Don’t try to morally blackmail me. The life I have now is what I deserve. If you don’t cooperate, sooner or later you’ll become slaves."

These words almost caused a brawl between both sides.

Seeing that pressure was futile, the mayor quickly laughed it off, "Let’s not argue. Let’s talk about something practical.

The townspeople are very upset with your ’white slave’ policy. This greatly hinders our cooperation. Could you compromise and release some of the captives?"

Marco also laughed it off, "We’re here to make a deal. If you want the captives, it’s not impossible, but you need to offer something in exchange. For instance, supply twenty thousand kilowatts of electricity for one captive."

The mayor did not respond — the town’s population was large, and food rationing was becoming increasingly tight. They only wanted to occupy the moral high ground and didn’t actually want the captives.

Throughout the negotiation, two to three ’Warthogs’ kept circling over Farmville Town, making the townspeople extremely nervous.

During the noon negotiation break, Mayor Aik cursed at the sky, "These bastards, with their planes, are almost shitting on our heads.

It used to be only the United States bullying others with planes, and now we’re being bullied by a bunch of monkeys with planes. It’s a great shame and terribly hateful."

Major Fleming of the ’Richmond Guard Team’ appeared at the right moment, sneering sarcastically, "You still want to cooperate with ’Holy Light’? Still want to exchange electricity for supplies?"

Seeing the major, the mayor was even angrier, stomping his foot as he cursed, "If not with ’Holy Light,’ then with you?

You’re just a bunch of warmongering military heads. Can bullets be eaten, or can diesel be drunk? There are nearly a thousand people in my town, eating potatoes every day, almost driving us crazy.

This year, there’s a drought in Virginia. The water level of ’Xihu’ reservoir is dropping, and potato yields are insufficient. When winter comes, who knows how many people will die.

Now we can only rely on ’Holy Light’ to provide food and save us. If we can’t reach a deal today, then tomorrow, and if not tomorrow, then the day after. It’ll work out eventually."

Major Fleming continued to sneer coldly, "You have no tomorrow or the day after because I’ve already reported the situation concerning ’Holy Light.’

Commander Borg takes it very seriously and has decided to use reserved military supplies to launch a massive offensive. If those yellow-skinned monkeys don’t surrender, they can only wait for death.

The same goes for you."

The ’Richmond Guard Team’ has always been overbearing, leveraging their military might to loot everywhere. If these guys were determined, hundreds of vehicles would set out, and no one could stop them.

The mayor’s face turned ash-gray, stuttering for a long time, but weakly said, "You... you can’t do that."

Major Fleming immediately grinned savagely, "No, we can. The strong can do anything and won’t face any consequences."

The mayor’s face turned to pleading.

When the threat took effect, Major Fleming was extremely pleased. He said no more, turning arrogantly to leave, exiting the metal walls of Farmville Town, and returning to his convoy.

Two six-wheeled RG-33 armored vehicles were parked a few hundred meters outside the town, accompanied by a few retired ’Humvees’ for commuting.

This platoon of more than twenty had two grenade launchers, eight heavy machine guns, over a dozen handheld rockets for reinforcement, in addition to decent armor protection.

Except for lacking anti-aircraft weapons, this team’s firepower was enough to crush an ordinary opponent ten times their number.

Back at the convoy, Major Fleming looked at the sky once more, relieved to see no ’Warthogs’ circling and feeling quite smug about it.

Major General Borg of the ’Richmond Guard Team’ had already received intelligence about ’Holy Light,’ which particularly emphasized the ’rich’ background of this force and the practicality of the ’Warthog.’

The major general could see the benefits of taking ’Holy Light,’ which was a sumptuous feast — whoever digested it first could greatly enhance their strength.

’Holy Light’ has planes, and the ’Guard Team’ has them too.

For instance, using helicopters to transport a squad of special forces directly to raid over two hundred kilometers, attacking the town where ’Holy Light’ was located.

Or deploying artillery to shell ’Holy Light’s personnel and bases from ten to twenty kilometers away — professional armies have plenty of offensive methods, and any target could be taken down for a price.

As for who would pay the ’price,’ naturally, Farmville Town residents were to be cannon fodder. Have the townspeople drive upfront, attracting the fire.

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By the afternoon, about two hundred meters away from this armed convoy, a palm-sized micro ’Hummingbird’ drone took off from Zhou Qingfeng’s palm, flying towards Major Fleming’s location.

This kind of drone is small, quiet, weighing only thirty to fifty grams, with short endurance time and range, making it very suitable for individual use.

This gadget was initially exclusive to the US Military for use in the Afghanistan war, and all who used it praised it. However, one unit cost tens of thousands of US Dollars, more expensive than small drones.

And then...

Then it was cracked by Huaqiangbei.

The ’Hummingbird’ in Zhou Qingfeng’s hand costs only ten thousand RMB, and that’s the hiked-up ’deluxe version.’

The tiny device is equipped with dual infrared and optical cameras, plus two obstacle-avoidance LiDARs, with a maximum remote control range of four hundred meters.

The small thing buzzed over and was hard to spot from dozens of meters away, with the rotor’s noise so faint you wouldn’t notice if you didn’t pay attention.

It circled the convoy for filming, thoroughly capturing the entire deployment of Fleming’s platoon — over twenty soldiers, only one-third on duty.

Another third were resting, while one-third were looking for fun in the town, not even present at all.

An encrypted radio transmitted Marco’s negotiation report, "Boss, the townspeople listed a bunch of conditions for cooperation, like abolishing white slavery and releasing captives.

That Mayor Aik seems tough, yet didn’t bar us from leaving. The lunch was quite hearty, even offering two bottles of wine.

From my observation, this summer’s drought has severely impacted the town’s agriculture, and many residents are worried about insufficient food reserves for winter.

The mayor himself mentioned the support from the ’Richmond Guard Team’ multiple times, but I believe it’s likely bluffing.

Because there’s only so much food, and winter lasts for several months, if distributed to other forces, people in the town would starve to death.

Just now, a mayor’s assistant privately came over to share some information.

The ’Richmond Guard Team’ might rely on force to seize any resources useful to them, including ’Holy Light’ and Farmville Town’s hydroelectric plant.

The townspeople have no recourse against this and want to know our thoughts."

Marco was also a bit worried.

The apocalypse is like a dark forest. ’Holy Light’ emerging from the shadows is already in danger. Once noticed by a stronger force, it’s easy to be coveted and attacked.

"Old Ma, have Jiang Menglong prepare the ’swarm.’" Zhou Qingfeng commanded over the radio.

"Now?" Marco was startled.

"Yes, now." Zhou Qingfeng continued, "After the ’swarm’ takes off, fly east. We’ll use the data link to transfer control to me."

Marco was staying in an apartment in the town, glanced at the tall and strong Jiang Menglong, and conveyed Zhou Qingfeng’s order, "Open the window, prepare to release the ’swarm’."

Jiang Menglong carried a large military-green box on his back, opened it, revealing fifty ’Hummingbird’ drones.

Once powered on, these drones could be individually controlled or collectively managed through battlefield routers using data links.

"Who are we attacking?" Jiang Menglong asked.

"Probably that armed convoy outside the town," Marco thought of something, "But it carries certain risks."

Meanwhile, a few prominent figures in the town were silent or pacing back and forth in the office, unable to decide.

’Holy Light’ wants to cooperate, but their ’reputation is bad,’ and they’re not ’one of us.’

The ’Richmond Guard Team’ is one of us, but their ’reputation is worse,’ and they disregard our survival.

The best outcome would be for the two to fight to the death, both severely injured, so the town’s survivors could benefit. The question is how to get them to fight without harming themselves?

The mayor and a few others were worried sick when a middle-aged prostitute from the town suddenly came over, lazily communicating:

"An Asian young man asked me to tell you he’s planning to take out the ’Richmond Guard Team’ convoy outside the town."

"Now? Outside our town?" The mayor was stunned, his mind racing, "Isn’t this forcing us to be traitors to America?"