Chapter 848 - 792: The Second Phase of Captivity
Mountain Eagle stood on Little Ruby's open kitchen terrace and threw a dismembered reindeer into a large pot...
Watching the pot with blood froth floating and a strong gamey smell, Mountain Eagle somehow got a little distracted, to the point that he didn't even react when the huge steamer next to him started whistling.
Old Ruby, full of energy, came over with a cane, turned down the draft of the wood stove beneath the steamer, and then added a few handfuls of snow to it...
The steam that rose as the snow melted, mixed with the sweet fragrance of rice, began to spread on the terrace.
Old Ruby, accustomed to hard times, sniffed the air, glanced at the distant warehouse, and said a bit discontentedly, "Boss, there's really no need to feed them such good stuff. Back in the Vietnam War, our prisoners could survive on dog shit, so can they."
Mountain Eagle was stunned for a moment, then looked at Old Ruby, who was like a living Yama, in amazement, and gave a thumbs up, saying, "I think you're absolutely right, the only downside is that feeding prisoners dog shit affects my glorious image.
Now that we're feeding them well, it's easier to extort money from their backstage bosses...
And I still have use for this bunch, dog shit isn't quite nutritious enough!"
Old Ruby listened and walked over to the pot, watching as Mountain Eagle talked while constantly skimming off the floating blood froth...
The old fellow licked his lips, shook his head, and said, "Boss, I admit your cooking is great, but doing this takes away the original flavor of the food...
Why not let me handle it, it's just a pot of soup, no need to go through so much trouble!"
Mountain Eagle didn't have the habit of letting an old man who might die any time work, he smiled and threw a large handful of spices into the pot, then covered the lid, saying, "Old Ruby, have you ever seen someone cook soup in a bathtub?"
Old Ruby paused, frowned at Mountain Eagle's 'nonsense,' and said, "Boss, what are you talking about?
If you think this pot isn't big enough, you can ask Daria to bring a bigger one…"
Mountain Eagle bent and waved his hands, tossed a few more sticks into the wood stove, then opened the large barrel-turned-oven next to him and randomly sprinkled a handful of spices over the smoked and blackened reindeer meat inside.
Then he dumped a large basket of green vegetables into the boiling water, stirred it like pig slop, and quickly scooped it into a big plastic basin.
Seeing Old Ruby staring at him, Mountain Eagle smiled and said, "Nothing, just talking nonsense.
Have Little Ruby bring the car over, the venison is almost done, take these things over to the prisoners.
This time no need to deliver to each one, let them come out to get their food, and get some exercise...
The smell in the warehouse is terrible now, during their meal, air it out a bit. Someone's coming to inspect in the afternoon, we need to make a good impression!"
Old Ruby didn't understand what the boss was scheming, he just stubbornly thought the boss was wasting money on the prisoners, but he still followed orders…
So the old fellow took the radio and gruffly called his son Little Ruby, and the two drove a tractor loaded with prepared food to the warehouse entrance…
Recently, Little Ruby had some issues with the boss due to his goddess Daria being bullied, but after getting scolded by his father a few times, his attitude improved a lot, though he still wasn't keen on talking to Mountain Eagle; he'd load the stuff onto the tractor and turn away...
Mountain Eagle was amused by the guy's attitude, looking at Old Ruby, who was also left behind, Mountain Eagle couldn't help but roll his eyes and said, "Where did your son get the idea that Daria is a pitiful person?
He's so foolish, sooner or later he'll be conned by a woman into losing everything!"
Old Ruby stomped his cane angrily, grumbling as he walked toward the warehouse, "This idiot will never have the chance to try skydiving in this life…"
Mountain Eagle pointed to the kitchen terrace for Butcher and the others coming for meal, where he had prepared roasted meat, beef, and lamb soup…
Then he caught up with Old Ruby's pace, to prevent him from hurrying too much and tripping himself…
Upon hearing Old Ruby's complaint about skydiving, Mountain Eagle laughed heartily and said, "With Little Ruby's smarts, he'd be dead before even putting on a parachute…"
Old Ruby sighed and quickened his steps…
They were joking about something or it's a proverb, there's a similar proverb circulating in the Europe and America military…
Getting married is like skydiving, some people discover their parachute won't open and die in the fall.
It's a ridicule from those soldiers towards the consistently high divorce and infidelity rates, also a reminder for the juniors, if you're not very confident, don't try marriage lightly.
Under Mountain Eagle's malicious reminder, Old Ruby angrily chased to the warehouse entrance, swung his cane and hit Little Ruby a few times…
Watching Little Ruby holding his head and howling, Mountain Eagle chuckled happily…
The little fool, how dare he show attitude to the boss, serves him right!
Standing there watching Little Ruby get spanked, waiting until Old Ruby seemed drained, Mountain Eagle grinned and stepped forward to stop the panting old fellow…
"Let it be today, gather your strength and beat him for 5 more minutes tomorrow…"
After speaking, Mountain Eagle walked to the warehouse door, pulled open the decorative latch, and then forcefully yanked open the warehouse's large doors...
The moment the door opened, a complex stench of various odors burst forth. It was like the strange smell of aged smelly socks that had been fermented and then boiled, causing Mountain Eagle to involuntarily step back a few paces.
After the cold wind swept into the warehouse, a commotion arose inside...
General Sid, leaning on a cane, slowly walked out of the warehouse with a few others. Seeing the food on the tractor, he surprisingly nodded with satisfaction and then gestured to his subordinates to maintain order.
Then nearly two hundred captives began queueing obediently for their meal...
A spoonful of steamed rice, a piece of roast deer meat, a scoop of green vegetables, a bowl of hot soup...
To be honest, Mountain Eagle didn't really put much thought into this, but these guys seemed quite satisfied as they ate.
The gunshot wound on General Sid's knee hadn't worsened, but he's definitely going to be limping for life.
Nevertheless, this guy was indeed a seasoned old gun, rushing through storms, and after his surrender, he followed Mountain Eagle's commands without question, even voluntarily taking on the role of order maintainer. In less than a week, he had the prisoner camp organized and orderly.
Mountain Eagle wondered whether it was his imagination, but General Sid seemed to have a sense of achievement while managing the prisoner camp...
Taking advantage of the captives serving themselves meals, Mountain Eagle approached General Sid, and with a smile said: "I'm planning to distribute tents to all the captives this afternoon...
You all have made my warehouse so stinky that people can't enter it anymore. I've prepared over twenty 'Tu Pique' tents, each capable of housing ten people. This afternoon, you will organize them into groups, and they can collect materials to set up their 'Tu Pique' on the vacant land next to the camp..."
General Sid was momentarily stunned, then he bitterly smiled and said: "You are the only one I've ever seen who makes the captives set up tents by themselves...
Sir, aren't you afraid some of them might try to escape?
Although there are no women or children in the camp now, you must understand that you are detaining dangerous mercenaries..."
Mountain Eagle glanced at the Maghenxi Wolf Pack dining elsewhere, and the two large-sized cougars, then said indifferently: "This is Alaska, and within a 50-kilometer radius there's only one native village. I won't stop them if they want to run, and I welcome any chaos they want to stir up...
There's not much entertainment in the camp at night anyway, and if these people have the nerve, I don't mind letting everyone get some activity.
Once the tents are set, select a leader for each tent, who will collect food and firewood from Little Ruby daily.
The winter here has four more months to go, and I don't have time to look after your meals; you'll need to fend for yourselves.
Be sure to tell them that if they want to eat better, their bosses and family can send money or work to exchange for more food.
Otherwise, for the next few months, you'll only get rationed rice and potatoes."
Mountain Eagle looked at General Sid, who had a helpless expression, and said: "Of course, we're on the same side now. You and your men will get some favoritism...
Your food and drinks will be covered by me. I'll have Little Ruby list out the winter labor projects in the camp for you, then you can oversee their distribution and management.
I only have one requirement: don't let them idle around. They must work 12 hours a day.
If they can't do it, then you'll eat rice and potatoes with them!"
General Sid nodded with a bitter smile, knowing what Mountain Eagle intended...
The first round of 'confinement' had already broken the spirits of all the captives, and now he wanted to crush everyone's will through intensive labor, while filming their work in harsh conditions to broadcast it.
This method is extremely evil!
Because Mountain Eagle does not prohibit captives from calling their families or bosses, and this approach not only fails to improve their situation but accelerates their breakdown.
Ever since they became captives, each of them accrued a huge debt of 200,000 dollars!
And this 200,000 dollars isn't ransom money but rather so-called 'rescue fees'...
According to Mountain Eagle's narrative, these captives were rescued at great cost from the Alaskan wilderness, and their bosses and families should bear the rescue fees. Negotiations for ransom can't even begin until this money is settled.
Moreover, after more than a month of accumulation, this debt has grown to roughly 300,000 dollars...
Mountain Eagle's boss sends meals to the captives every day on a schedule, and photos are taken of these meals, featuring meat, vegetables, and soup, all marked with a 'reasonable' price, adding 'accommodation fees' and 'garbage cleaning fees', as well as interest scarier than American student loans, causing the captives' debts to continually rise.
Currently, a detailed chart is pinned at the top of the International Intermediary Company's website, along with a website link. The chart lists the names and photos of these captives, followed by a number that changes daily.
The website link connects directly to a video site, where, like East University's kindergarten surveillance, you can observe the captives' conditions in real-time.
Mountain Eagle's creative approach takes the art of extortion to the extreme!