Chapter 1540: New Riches
The place was more like a palace than a city hall. Giant ivories carved out in marbles stood on both sides of the entrance, with more magnificent marble architecture behind the entrance. The style of the entire building was European, but the layout was somewhat Arabic.
A whole row of guards stood at the entrance. The bolt-on sniper rifles in front of their chest had bayonets attached. It made people wonder why the guards on duty had to carry sniper rifles, and why bayonets were attached to sniper rifles.
All the guards were over two meters tall, and it certainly made people wonder if they were burned mutated humans. Perhaps they were injected with genetic vaccines, but they did not equip any other equipment and only wore a tiger or leopard coat. Their faces were painted with dark green patterns and they wore s.h.i.+ny black military boots.
Being able to put together such a uniform and set of equipment was enough to demonstrate the power of this war chief.
“This way, please,” Lusambo gestured and guided Feng Yuan and his a.s.sistant to the city hall. As for the others, including the NAC guards, they stayed outside of the city hall.
The four-meter-wide mahogany door opened, and behind the door was a red carpet that covered the entire hall. There were different tropical fruits on the table and a variety of spiced barbecues.
Feng Yuan and his a.s.sistant couldn’t stop salivating at the sight of the table filled with delicacies. The cost of the table full of food like this was probably at least a thousand credits. Their salaries for half a year were probably just enough.
As for those fruits, he didn’t even dare to think about it…
Of course, in order not to be underestimated by the African natives, Feng Yuan did not keep his eyes on the food. Instead, he forcibly resisted the alluring fragrance, looked over the table full of deliciousness, and smiled at War Chief Duaman that sat at the highest place.
He did not look burly, about 1.8 meters tall. There were not a lot of wrinkles on his face and he seemed to be in his forties. He leaned back against the tiger skin chair as his right hand sluggishly held his chin. His eyes were menacing and as fierce as a vulture.
While his ways were perhaps not the most dogmatic and calculated, based on his eyes, he killed probably at least hundreds of people.
Feng Yuan made an evaluation in his mind.
It was rumored that this man united the tribes from chaos to form the current United African Tribes and he drove the South African Union out of the continent. Then he took his tribe and his slaves and migrated from barren northern Africa to the wealthy southern region.
There were tens of thousands of slaves from India, South Asia and even distant East Asia working for him, and thousands of soldiers who have fled from all over Europe in his army. In this continent, slaves meant strength, whether as cannon fodder or serfs, only a large number of slaves could sustain the economy of a tribe.
After War Chief Duaman heard NAC’s proposal, he immediately became interested in this new model. With about one hundred thousand slaves who came from South Asia working under him, he only cultivated around two million mus of land, which worked out to be less than 20 mus per person.
It was not because the slaves did not work hard enough, but rather due to poor efficiency. Without a factory that manufactured agricultural machinery, there was naturally no mechanical equipment. A dozen harvesters in the warehouse were ordered from Pan-Asia Cooperation before the war. Although the company promised a warranty at the time, the agricultural machinery company was shut down a long time ago.
“Dear War Chief Duaman, I am Feng Yuan from the NAC. This is my a.s.sistant Yuan Liwei. On behalf of all the soldiers and citizens of the NAC, as well as the Supreme General, I would like to extend my kindness and respect to you,” Feng Yuan held his right fist against his chest and performed a standard NAC salute to the chief sitting at the top. He took an agreement from his a.s.sistant and handed it to a tribal warrior who came to him. Then he nodded and smiled, “We have come here based on our agreement, for the common prosperity of Africa.”
“Please sit down, Mr. Feng Yuan.” War Chief Duaman extended his hand and gestured to the long table full of food, then said in French, “We can eat and talk.”
The banquet commenced.
Women wearing gold jewelry came forward with gold utensils and poured wine into Feng Yuan’s cup. Most of these maids were dark-skinned, and a few of them were white. n.o.bles of Steel Teeth Tribe sat on both sides of the long table. The n.o.bles closer to the war chief wore more teeth around their neck. As for War Chief Duaman, his neck was almost covered with golden fangs.
Although gold was not a rarity in w.a.n.ghai, it was certainly not abundant enough compared to what Feng Yuan saw here.
Chief Zaria was not in the hall. It seemed that he was more like a va.s.sal to War Chief Duaman, rather than his courtier. Feng Yuan was still unclear about the political system in United African Tribes.
The n.o.bles feasted on the meat, while Feng Yuan and his a.s.sistant Yuan Liwei continued to reach for the plate full of fruits. Duaman noticed this, so he beckoned to the maid closest to him and whispered a few words.
Soon, a whole plate of cut dragon fruit was brought up.
Even though he tried to restrain the shock in his mind, Feng Yuan’s eyelids twitched fiercely.
After he woke up from the hibernation chamber, he hadn’t even seen a dragon fruit, let alone eat it. However, these African natives brought plates after plates up, the lavishness could no longer be described by words.
“I suggest you try our roasted venison. I bet it is better than fruit.” War Chief Duaman grinned, “In our tribe, the strongest warrior can eat a whole stag! As for the fruits, those are nothing but thirst quenchers.”
“Thank you for your kindness, but I’m sorry I’m full,” Feng Yuan wiped the corners of his mouth with the towel handed by the maid, put down the knife and fork, looked at War Chief Duaman, then smiled, “Before we head to the farm, there was one thing I wondered if I could ask the honorable chief.”
“Go ahead.”
“We hope to buy some slaves, preferably from East Asia,” Feng Yuan said.
“No problem,” Chief Duaman gazed at Feng Yuan, “But what are you going to give me in exchange?”
“Rifles, bullets, all the munitions we can produce, even power armors…” Feng Yuan noticed that the moment War Chief Duaman heard the word power armors, the lack of interest in his eyes instantly became an intense gaze.
It was evident that the natives were almost fanatical over power armors.
“No problem! As long as it’s weapons, we want them all!” War Chief Duaman laughed loudly, raised a gold cup full of wine. “Set aside the business for now and let us toast for our long-term friends.h.i.+p!”
“Cheers!”
Like the other tribal n.o.bles, Feng Yuan raised the cup in his hand.
No one noticed, the corner of his mouth reflected in the liquor gradually turned turned into a smug…