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Chapter 40: Disdain
🕑 Added 2024-06-01 19:06:26 +0000 UTCThe plane took off again, this time with two inflatable dinghies on board.
This time it was still reconnaissance, not just airborne reconnaissance, but also ground reconnaissance.
It was only reconnaissance, not combat. If any human activity was detected, they would simply evacuate. Therefore, Arthur and the others didn't carry more combat equipment; they only had five pistols and two AK rifles.
As for reconnaissance equipment like radar, binoculars, and thermal imaging, none of them were useful because the dense vegetation would obscure everything.
People from the South, especially in tropical regions, would understand what such dense vegetation meant.
In the rainforest, being able to see ten meters ahead was considered a wide field of vision. It was normal not to be able to detect someone deliberately hiding less than a meter away on the other side of a thicket.
Therefore, tracking traces in the rainforest was a highly important skill. People unfamiliar with the rainforest, engaging in combat with the local indigenous people, would be seeking death.
Furthermore, the rainforest was filled with all sorts of deadly creatures that were ubiquitous yet difficult to detect, such as poisonous spiders, snakes, various exotic poisonous insects, poison dart frogs, as well as leeches and mosquitoes carrying deadly viruses.
Moreover, the place Arthur and his team were heading to was a zone where swamps and seasonal lakes alternated, meaning they would inevitably have to enter the water. This meant facing threats underwater, such as caimans, electric eels, leeches, and giant pythons.
In short, the rainforest was indeed an extremely dangerous place, and if the most dangerous creatures, humans, were also present in such a dangerous place, then it would truly be terrifying.
But they had to go because there was $400 million waiting for Arthur and his team to find in the rainforest.
The plane landed on the small lake they had chosen last time.
As the plane began to glide on the water surface, approaching the shore of the lake, no one spoke. Everyone just nervously scanned the surroundings of the small lake.
George controlled the plane very well, stopping it completely about ten meters from the shore.
After shutting down the engine, the cabin fell silent. Frank gestured lightly and said, "Guys, let's get moving."
John's face showed only excitement and excitement, completely devoid of the despair from last night. He opened the cabin door, ready to jump onto the plane's float, and took the inflatable dinghy Rubber handed him, placing it on the water's surface. He then unfolded it and began inflating it using an electric pump attached to the dinghy.
Soon, a dinghy capable of carrying three people was fully inflated, followed by the second one. After inflating them, an electric motor was installed on the rear of each dinghy.
With the dinghies ready, they tied the plane to a tree with a rope and all five of them got into the dinghies, rowing towards the shore.
The vegetation was too dense; there was no land at the edge of the lake, so there was no concept of a shoreline. In the forest, it was either mud or shallow water that barely covered the feet.
The good news was that there was no grass on the ground, but the bad news was that they couldn't row their boat. If they wanted to enter the rainforest, they had to wade through the mud.
Sitting in the boat and tying the rope to a large tree, Frank whispered, "Let's find a waterway first. It's impossible to have human activity in this terrain. If there's no waterway, abandon this landing point directly and ascend again to find a suitable river to land on.
The biggest task now is to explore whether there are any signs of human activity, rather than starting the treasure hunt. So, it's not the most difficult time yet.
Looking around, John shook his head and said, "Now I understand why Mr. Smith didn't want this huge sum of money. I'd rather charge into a building occupied by a hundred Syrians than wade through the mud in this ghostly place."
Rubber, with a look of despair, said, "Shut up, you wouldn't even dare to charge into a building with ten people."
"Think about becoming millionaires, and you won't find it difficult," Frank said, pointing not far away with a serious expression. "There seems to be a waterway over there. Let's start exploring from there, guys. This is not a job that can be done in a day. Don't rush, take it slow, and don't miss any clues."
Rubber took out the GPS. After checking it, he frowned and said, "Damn it, the straight-line distance from our coordinates is 2,600 meters."
A straight-line distance of 2,600 meters. Who knows how long it would take to walk there, but at this point, they had to keep going.
Frank sighed and said, "George, you stay here to guard the plane. The four of us will search together first. When necessary, we'll split into pairs to search separately. Turn on the walkie-talkies and GPS. Let's go."
"Wait, this allocation is unfair!"
Several people looked at John, and they all looked somewhat surprised, but John's face was stern as he said, "If we split into pairs, then who will be with him? Will it be me again?"
John pointed to Arthur. Arthur looked puzzled, but Frank frowned and said, "Then let's not split up. The four of us will stay together."
"But the efficiency of four people together is too low. As long as there is a suitable route, we will have to split up for the search. Two people per group are the minimum, so we prepared two boats. Now, the question is, what can he do if I'm paired with him?"
No one could deny that John had a point. Frank frowned and pondered for a moment before saying, "I'll team up with the Kung Fu Kid. Will that work?"
John pointed at Arthur again and said, "He has never been in the jungle before, and he has no combat experience, Captain. This time, we're not treasure hunting, not dragging things out of the mud. We're on reconnaissance. What do you think he can do? You can make a rookie do manual labor, but you can't make a rookie who knows nothing come with me for reconnaissance."
Frank looked at Arthur, then at George, and frowned. "But only Joe can fly the plane, and the Kung Fu Kid doesn't know how to fly."
John said lightly, "That's why it's even more reason for the Kung Fu Kid to stay behind and guard the plane. Guys, it's not that I don't trust you, but even if Joe can fly the plane, he can't fly it into the rainforest to pick us up. None of us are rookies anymore. At this time, wouldn't it be better to ensure that no one escapes alone?"
Rubber frowned and said, "Bottle Cap, you're going too far."
Joe waved his hand and said, "No, he's right. I should indeed act with you guys. Rubber and I will team up. After all, we cooperate more tacitly. Captain and Bottle Cap will be together. How about that?"
Frank hesitated for a moment but finally nodded and said in a low voice, "Okay, that's the arrangement. The four of us will act together, and if necessary, we'll split up like this."
After saying that, Frank looked at Arthur with a serious expression and said, "You stay behind and watch the plane. Don't stay inside the plane, try not to enter the water, be careful of mosquito bites, drink water in time if you sweat too much, spray insect repellent every hour, pay close attention to any movement around you, try to hide well, absolutely do not leave the plane, contact us every ten minutes with the walkie-talkie, and if you find anything unusual, notify us immediately. If you find anyone approaching, shoot them immediately and notify us!"
Frank had actually told Arthur all this several times before, but he couldn't help but repeat it now. Finally, he grabbed Arthur's collar, his voice and expression stern. "This plane is our only means of escape. Even if you die, you must protect this plane, understand?"
"I understand! I will not leave this plane!"
Captain sighed and let go of Arthur's collar. He said in a low voice, "Don't make mistakes. Call us immediately if there's any problem, even if you're just bitten by a bug. I don't want to come back and see your body. Be careful."
Although a bit verbose, Captain was not bad. He might indeed lack managerial skills as John said, but he was a qualified leader.
Arthur got off the boat by himself. He stood on a tree root exposed to the water's surface and whispered to the four who were about to leave, "Be careful and stay safe."
John glanced back at Arthur, sneered disdainfully, and said coldly, "Huh, rookie, take care of yourself!"
Frank was now truly the Captain. He whispered, "Let's go!"
The electric motors started, and the dinghies made no noise, but they moved at a fairly fast speed along the lake's surface, entering a river barely two meters wide, and soon disappeared.
The understory vegetation under the canopy was not too dense, and the visibility was quite good, but it could not exceed thirty meters. From now on, Arthur would have to rely more on his hearing to be aware of his surroundings.
But it was unlikely that there would be anyone here.
Arthur let out a light sigh. His mood was somewhat complicated now, mainly because he was worried about John.
Although every word John said was sarcastic, even accusing Arthur of being a rookie, everyone understood that everything he said and did was to protect Arthur, the rookie.
John even uttered words that hurt morale and friendship, but Arthur felt he said them to protect himself.
Arthur understood John's protective intentions towards him, but he didn't understand why John was so good to him. After all, they had only known each other for barely half a month.
It was impossible not to be touched, and it was impossible not to care, but Arthur also knew that he was indeed a rookie and really couldn't handle the task of surveying the surrounding environment, so he worried about John but couldn't help much.
He had to grow quickly.
Arthur sighed inwardly and, when he saw that ten minutes had passed, picked up the walkie-talkie, pressed the transmit button, and whispered, "Kung Fu Kid calling, all is well, over."
"Captain received, all is well, over."
Ten minutes later, Arthur pressed the walkie-talkie again and whispered, "Kung Fu Kid calling, all is well, over."
"Captain received, all is well, over."
This dialogue was repeated twelve times, that is, two hours later, the dialogue became a three-way contact between Captain, Rubber, and Arthur, because they had split up.
Three hours later, when Arthur was about to report again, he suddenly heard Captain's call in his earpiece.
"I am Captain, I have landed, the land is dry, over."
Arthur waited for a moment, waited for Rubber to reply to Frank's report first, and then whispered into the walkie-talkie, "Kung Fu Kid received, all is well, over."
Ten more minutes passed, and when Arthur was about to report again, he suddenly heard Frank's urgent shout in his earpiece.
"Enemy encountered! Enemy encountered! Bottle Cap is hit! I have started to return, requesting support! Meet me, over!"
Accompanying Frank's urgent shout on the walkie-talkie was clear but not dense gunshots.
And John never made a sound from beginning to end, even though he also had a walkie-talkie on him.
