Chapter 552: Birds of a Feather
The six SEALs were searching for the villagers like madmen. With their night vision goggles on, they were like feline predators hunting in the dark. The villagers who thought they had hidden well under cover of the night were quickly found and shot dead.
Half an hour later, the villagers’ bodies were strewn across the ground. Driven by rage, these SEALs had shot them all to death in a flurry of executions. Many of them had been shot at least twice, and some of them even suffered a dozen shots. The bodies were just like pieces of burned tomatoes–too badly singed and mangled to be recognized.
When Rice looked at the bullet-riddled bodies of the villagers, his eyelids quivered. He still remembered how the villagers had been so friendly and accomodating when they were given food rations, which was really ironic. But it wasn’t just Rice; even Powell, Mina, and the other three SEALs found it a challenge to gather their senses. They might be able to accept the cruel act of a person dying from torture, but they would never accept such an inhumane thing as eating a person’s flesh.
Powell closed his eyes in pain, then heaved a deep sigh. “Our comrades, Hebrew and Adolf, have sacrificed themselves valiantly for this mission. Let’s bury them well,” he said.
“Got it!” The others replied in unison.
Then, they started to dig graves for the two dead SEALs on the hilltop. They collected their heads from the ditch, placing them back along with the rest of their bodies in the graves. A deep and heavy sadness hung over them all.
Xiao Luo remained silent throughout. Although he didn’t have a good impression of these soldiers from the Mei Nation, he didn’t gloat over their misfortune. The tragedy of humans eating humans wasn’t just limited to these soldiers from the Mei Nation. It was a tragedy that belonged to all of humanity.
Sarah Mich.e.l.le’s eyes were red. She clenched her fists and was resolved to expose such an incident to the world. “I want to expose all of this. I want the whole world to know that war will only bring pain. It’s the enemy of all mankind!” she cried.
“You have the capability and the connections to do so!”
Xiao Luo nodded his head in agreement. In this regard, he totally agreed with Sarah. War only brought hunger and panic, and the problems it created were immensely complicated.
“Mr. Mie, you’ve suspected that these villagers would pose a danger from the very beginning, right?” Sarah asked.
Xiao Luo shook his head. “No. I just thought something was a little strange, that’s all.”
Sarah then asked, “Strange? What’s strange?”
“The eyes of the Libyan civilians I met along the way were not only dull and numb but fearful. The villagers here had similar looks in their eyes, but they lacked one thing–fear. When they saw us in camouflage fatigues and armed with weapons, they didn’t avoid us out of fear. Instead, they looked at us cautiously. That’s why I thought it was a little strange,” Xiao Luo said.
Upon hearing that, Sarah and the SEAL team members were taken aback. When they arrived at the village at dusk, the villagers looked at them with cautious but eager eyes. It turned out they were looking at food.
Vice-captain Rice glared at Xiao Luo aggressively. “Mr. Mie, since you found something wrong, why didn’t you say something to us? What are your intentions?” he shouted.
Xiao Luo snorted. “That was just my guess. What’s more, would you have taken my words for it?”
Rice was unable to argue with Xiao Luo’s words. Indeed, they had looked down on Xiao Luo since he joined up. Even if Xiao Luo raised his doubts at that time, they would only laugh at him for being too cautious.
“Don’t count on him. He never treated us as comrades or companions,” Mina said.
Upon hearing that, Xiao Luo almost laughed. He was really be amused by their unfounded accusations. Even if these soldiers from the Mei Nation country treated him better and not so hostile to him, he would help them as much as possible because they were on the same mission. Like the tragedy they had just experienced, when he felt something wrong with these villagers, he would naturally help these Mei nation’s soldiers avoid them.
But in reality, just seeing Mina was enough to make him want to vomit. She, as well as the SEALs, were all birds of a feather. He was already gracious enough not to take advantage of tragedy or stand on the villagers’ side to deal with them. Now they even ask him to do them a favor? What gave them the right to do that?
“He even hit Mina just now!” One of the SEALs said with indignation.
What? How dare he!
When Rice heard that, he was immediately fired up. “Mr. Mie, you must give me an explanation. Otherwise, I will let you know how powerful we SEALs are!”
He rolled up his sleeves and cracked his knuckles, looking like he was about to start a fight.
“Rice, stop being so full of yourself. Mr. Mie is part of the security detail. Right now, we need to unite against the enemies, not engage in internal strife!” Powell growled.
“But he hit Mina. I swear…”
“Shut up, Lieutenant. I ordered you here to dig graves for Hebrew and Adolf and give them our last respects as a team!” Powell shouted, giving him a stern look.
Generally speaking, when a superior addressed a junior officer by his military rank, it meant that he had reached his limit of patience.
Rice gritted his teeth, and with great effort, he lifted his chest and raised his chin. “Got it,” he responded.
They went back up the hill to help with the digging of the graves.
Xiao Luo did not feel like doing that and went back to his room to get some rest. Sarah Mich.e.l.le preferred to stay close to Xiao Luo as she felt safest to be near him, so she stuck by him wherever he went like his shadow.
She stared at the man as he closed his eyes to rest with his back against the wall. The light from the fire lit up his cold but handsome face. He was like an eagle in the night sky, aloof and proud. He was radiating such steely confidence that would make the world bow to him.
“Grandpa, thank you so much for hiring such a great helper from Hua Nation. If it wasn’t for him, I would be long gone by now,” Sarah Mich.e.l.le thought to herself.
***
The next day, they took off and left the small mountain village.
Two lone graves appeared on the hill, and the villagers’ corpses strewn across the field added a queerness to the atmosphere. The day was dark and dreary, with yellowish dust floating in the air. The place felt like h.e.l.l.
However, Powell and his team continued on the mission, and they soon got over the grief of losing their comrades. Powell had collected the badges of his two team members who had perished and kept them safe. It symbolized that they did not leave Hebrew and Adolf behind.
Powell walked toward Xiao Luo and stuck his hand out to him, hinting that he would like to start over. “Mr. Mie, I sincerely hope that we can bury the hatchet and work together since we are on the same team now. We should help each other, am I right?” he said.
Xiao Luo knew that his conduct would represent his country in the eyes of these Americans. As such, he accepted Powell’s gesture of goodwill and shook his hand. “Yes, you are right. I totally agree,” he said with a wry smile.
He would pretend to be polite and compliant once more because he knew that Powell was not someone to be taken lightly.
“Mr. Mie, you are such a gentleman. As the Chinese saying goes, ‘A Prime Minister’s mind is broad enough for a boat to sail in.’ Mr. Mie, you are the Prime Minister.” Powell said.
Xiao Luo smiled. “Mr. Powell, your Chinese is excellent!” he complimented.
Compared to Mina and Rice, Powell was much more sophisticated and better at covering his tracks. Xiao Luo wanted to continue poking fun at him to see when he would reveal his true colors.