After driving for over an hour from the airport, Liang En and his party's vehicle smoothly entered a courtyard located on a hillside on the outskirts of Guatemala City.
As soon as the car reached the entrance, the courtyard gate opened, and a plump Indigenous woman directed the vehicle into the yard.
From the Spanish conversation between the local driver and the woman, Liang En learned that this place was the driver's home, as well as the home of someone from a security company, and was now open to the security company to make some money.
Since it was already past 4 PM, and they had eaten very little on the plane at noon, everyone was feeling a bit hungry. Fortunately, the host had already prepared dinner to welcome them.
Considering that they were all foreigners, the meal was more Europeanized. Apart from tortillas, local specialty grilled corn cobs, and an absolutely abundant fruit platter, the rest were European-style stews and roasted meats.
Overall, the dishes were decently made; although not particularly delicious, they were not bad either. The fruits served as dessert after the meal were indeed very tasty and plentiful.
As a country with a tropical rainforest climate and primarily agricultural, it produces a lot of tropical fruits. Most importantly, because there is no need for long-distance transport, the fruits available in the local market are picked ripe and taste much better than those that are transported unripe and then ripened artificially.
After dinner, the security personnel went up to the attic to retrieve their weapons and perform maintenance, while Liang En and the others stayed to chat with the host of the house.
Thanks to the "Card of the Holy Tongue," Liang En's fluent local Spanish quickly bridged the gap between them as they started chatting.
"The place you're going to is safe because it's too poor and off the main roads, so the criminals aren't interested in it—just be careful of wild animals and insects," the female host nodded and said.
Although the country has over 70,000 criminal organizations, their willingness to become lawless outlaws is just for money, so few criminals can be found in such remote and impoverished areas.
This news was, of course, good for Liang En, since, compared to wild beasts or venomous insects, humans are the most dangerous creatures on Earth, not to mention that Guatemala is a country with widespread gun availability.
After all, his plan was a treasure hunting trip, looking for lost ancient Mayan jade mines, not engaging in gun battles with someone in the tropical rainforest or the urban concrete jungle.
After all, the precedents set by Americans are there for everyone to see, showing how foolish it is to fight with the local indigenous people in the vast tropical rainforest.
With everything prepared in advance, they rested there for the night, and early the next morning, Liang En and his group set out in three off-road vehicles heading east.
According to the plan, they would drive to a small town closest to their destination and then switch to the prepared mules and horses to enter the real rainforest along the valley.
January is the dry season in Guatemala, so the small convoy of three off-road vehicles kicked up clouds of dust as they drove on the dirt roads.
Outside the city, the roadsides were occupied by lush tropical rainforest plants, and without rain, there was a thick layer of dust on the dirt roads.
At that moment, Liang En missed his ravens, as aerial reconnaissance is valuable, but considering the dense vegetation of the tropical rainforest, which is not conducive to their movement, he didn't bring those three plump birds this time.
"Do we have a good relationship with the contact person in that small town?" Liang En asked Fan Meng as they drove on a relatively straight stretch of road. "The security company actually paid him the full amount in advance."
He asked because providing a dozen mules and horses at once in such a small place isn't simple, and yet the security company didn't hesitate to pay the full fee for hiring these animals five or six days in advance.
"Very reliable; our contact is my old squad leader and also the old squad leader for some of these security personnel," Fan Meng smiled and said. "Unfortunately, he lost half his foot to a landmine during a mission in West Africa, so he had to take his pension and go home."
Soldiers in the French Foreign Legion come from various countries, and in chaotic and impoverished countries like Guatemala, many are willing to earn this risky money. Unfortunately, not many make it through the rigorous selection process to join the Foreign Legion each year.
"Why didn't your squad leader stay in France?" Liang En asked, puzzled, as he learned from Fan Meng's introduction that his squad leader was a veteran sergeant who should have been able to stay in France based on his years of service.
"Because he has a lot of family here he needs to take care of," Fan Meng said firmly, pursing his lips. "And
for a disabled person, staying in France is not a good idea."
One important reason France has the Foreign Legion is to have foreigners die in place of French nationals. In this context, whether it's salary, bonuses, or pensions and benefits for casualties, there's a clear difference between legionnaires and genuine French soldiers.
In the case of Fan Meng's squad leader, the retirement pay and injury compensation he received might just suffice for him to barely get by in a small town in France, but such a futureless life was definitely not what he wanted.
So he chose to take that money back to his homeland, get married, and have children. Fan Meng mentioned that his squad leader was doing quite well back home and had even become a somewhat influential local figure.
"His hometown is exactly the town we're heading to," Fan Meng continued as he drove, "We'll have a good meal and rest there before we start our search operation."
"You're right; having adequate support in this kind of operation is entirely different from not having it," Liang En nodded. "Especially in unfamiliar places—"
But before Liang En could finish, a loud bang was heard in the distance, and then they felt the vehicle's left rear tire deflate suddenly, causing the vehicle to jolt sharply.
"Prepare to accelerate, we're under attack!" Fan Meng immediately grabbed the walkie-talkie and shouted, then stepped on the accelerator. At the same time, the other two vehicles also started to speed up.
As professionally trained security personnel, they knew that the first thing to do when attacked was to leave the scene and escape the attackers' reach.
But to their surprise, just a few hundred meters down the dusty road and around a bend, they discovered an old American-style school bus that had veered off the road and tipped over on the roadside, with several gunmen approaching it.
"Prepare for battle!" Seeing this, Fan Meng immediately told Liang En and the others, while the car slowed down and pulled over to the side of the road, and the other two security vehicles also stopped.
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