Paul finally understood that Song Heping was not someone to be trifled with.
But he had no other choice, so he yelled at the workers to move the bodies.
These workers were not soldiers; they had never seen such a scene before. The corpses were decomposing and oozing liquid, swarmed with maggots and flies. Nobody wanted to do the job.
Just then, an underling suddenly came to the door to report that a local had come to the water station's entrance with a request to see Song Heping.
"They say they want to meet our leader, so I thought he might want to see you, boss."
The reporting subordinate said so.
"Did you search him?"
White Bear was very cautious.
Because they had just decimated the headquarters of the Salafi Armed the night before, and now a local was looking for them.
Could it be a human bomb?
"We searched him, no problem."
Song Heping said, "Then let's go meet him."
After speaking, he stood up and walked toward the main entrance.
At the gate, sure enough, there was a local holding a donkey, standing there, a young man.
Seeing Song Heping approaching, he looked him over, guessed that he was the leader of the mercenaries here, and bowed in a greeting, saying, "Respected leader sir, I have come on the command of our chieftain to seek an audience."
With that, he took out something like a letter from his bosom and presented it to Song Heping with great respect.
Song Heping did not understand his words, but it was clear the man was a messenger.
He took the letter and opened it, not recognizing the Illiguo writing inside.
Song Heping then handed it to Samir standing beside him for translation.
After reading it, Samir said, "Boss, it's a personal letter from their chieftain, inviting you to be their guest."
"Be a guest?" Song Heping was surprised; he had been in Illiguo for half a year, and this was the first time dealing with local chieftains.
In many places in Illiguo, especially more remote areas, tribal traditions are still preserved. A tribe might be just a village, or a small town.
And the chieftain is the most respected and esteemed individual among them.
Here, no matter how prominent you are outside, you have to listen to the chieftain in the tribe. Losing the support of your family tribe is a very terrifying thing.
"Be a guest where?"
Song Heping asked Samir.
"Yijibai Village." Samir turned to ask the young man, "Where is your village?"
"To the west, about 20 kilometers."
The young man said.
Samir translated the young man's words to Song Heping, and White Bear was the first to object, "Boss, I advise you not to go, not to mention 20 kilometers, even 5 kilometers away from the water station is unsafe. We just took out the Salafi Armed last night, and with so many messy organizations around here, who can tell what connections they may have with the local tribes?
If it's a trap and you go, it's like walking into death! If they want to find you, let the chieftain come himself!"
White Bear's words were not without reason.
But upon hearing this, Samir disagreed, "Andre, you can't say that. Tribal chieftains are very noble people, and their influence is very big here. Asking them to come is disrespectful to them."
"Respect?" White Bear was disdainful, "What is there to respect? If they are so powerful, then why can't they even protect their own homelands?"
His words deeply wounded Samir's pride.
His face turned white, then red, and then white again.
In the end, Samir swallowed his pride and said to Song Heping, "I think we should go."
Song Heping's gaze fell on Samir's face, and he nodded slightly, "Tell me your reasons."
Samir asked, "Boss, do you know why the US Army is in a hurry to build the water station here?"
Song Heping said, "To win hearts and minds."
Samir nodded, "Exactly, to win the hearts and minds of these chieftains."
He picked up the letter, pointing to the seal on it.
"This is an ancient family, you can see from the seal that it has history, and in this generation, it is very well-known. We're performing security tasks on their territory; if we can get their support, it will be much safer. Just like the Salafi Armed last night, I dare say that some of the local ancient families definitely back them.
Without their support, the Salafi Armed wouldn't have operated here for so long without being eradicated."
Song Heping roughly understood what Samir meant.
The tribes are the local big shots.
As the saying goes, even a mighty dragon cannot repress the local snakes.
No matter how strong one's combat ability is, they are just a fierce tiger, but even a tiger can't withstand a pack of wolves.
If one offends the nearby major clans and tribes, it's not certain they will be killed, but it will definitely be troublesome.
Worldly wisdom.
It appears it's not only in China that this exists.
It's here as well.
"Okay, tell this messenger to set a time, and I will meet with their tribal leader."
Admiration shined in Samir's eyes.
He was becoming more and more impressed with Song Heping.
From last night's battle to today's distribution of money, and then to the compensation for the dead mercenaries, everything reflected Song Heping's extraordinary leadership.
Even with this invitation, which White Bear strongly opposed, Song Heping dared to accept the offer with composure.
His courage and vision were different.
After a conversation, Samir told Song Heping that the head of the Yijibai Village invited him to arrive at the Yijibai Village before dinner this evening, where the tribal leader would invite Song Heping to have dinner together.
"Tell him I agree,"
Song Heping replied readily, instructing Samir to inform the young man.
The youth seemed very pleased after hearing the translation, performed a gesture of thanks, and then mounted his donkey and left the water station.
"Boss, you actually agreed to him?!"
White Bear found it unbelievable.
"This is Illiguo. We just wiped out a local armed organization last night. Aren't you afraid they're inviting you over just to directly—"
As he said this, he made a throat-slitting gesture with his hand across his neck.
Watching the young man's receding figure, Song Heping said without apparent concern, "If they really want to be enemies with us, there's no need to complicate matters. They could simply mobilize their own people to fight us directly. Why bother inviting us for dinner?"
"Directly fight, they can't beat us!" White Bear said.
Song Heping pointed to the distant Tigris River and asked White Bear, "Andre, who do you say this water supply station is providing water for?"
White Bear was stunned.
But, Samir immediately answered, "Of course, the nearby residents."
Song Heping asked, "Is the Yijibai Village considered a nearby village?"
Samir nodded, "Of course."
Song Heping said, "Exactly, this water supply station is also beneficial to them. Drinking clean water is much better than fetching it from the river, so they have no reason to be against us."
"If that's the case..."
Samir asked with some confusion, "Then why does he want to invite you, the boss, for dinner? Just to express support?"
Song Heping frowned.
He hadn't figured it out either.
But he had a vague feeling that it wasn't so simple.
"We'll see when we meet."
White Bear asked, "Do you want us to send more guys with you when the time comes?"
Song Heping shook his head, "No need, aren't you afraid it's their strategy to lure the tiger from the mountain? By protecting just me, if all our brothers are called away and armed militants come to attack, what then?"
Hunter asked uneasily, "Then how many people do you plan to take?"
Song Heping pointed to Samir next to him, "Just taking Samir, one person is enough."
"Just the two of you?!"
Everyone present was astounded.