Steve and Li Du went to the polar forest together. They drove four cars, leaving two to guard the camp, and the rest to talk to the veteran rangers.
The car was bumpy, and after most of the day's journey, they were close to the polar forest.
Li Du looked out and saw the vast forest not far away. He breathed a sigh of relief and said, "I finally see some other colors besides the grayish-yellow and white."
The car in front stopped, and Steve smiled and pointed to the east. "There's blue there, and there's blue there."
Then he pointed to the top of his head.
Li Du looked up. It was true. The sky over Severnaya Zemlya was blue, so blue that it made people feel refreshed.
This time, the rangers did not appear in their cars. Last time, they must have been attracted by the helicopter.
However, the rangers were very conscientious, and they stayed for less than an hour before a pickup truck came roaring up. When it saw them, the pickup truck drove up to them.
Two old Russians got out of the car. Both of them were tall and sturdy. One of them had messy white hair, while the other had his hair tied into a ponytail. Their skin was as rough as the bark of an old tree, and their foreheads were full of wrinkles. However, their eyes were clear and sharp like an eagle.
A Russian bodyguard greeted them and spoke to them in Russian, and the three of them chatted together.
Soon, the two old men looked at the crowd with gloomy faces. Li Du's heart was pounding, but the two men came up and hugged them one by one.
The bodyguard smiled and said, "They welcome you. The one with the ponytail is Kirilenko, and the other is Argishe. They recognized Mr. Tussenberg."
Steve hugged and shook hands with them warmly, and the two old men looked into the car, as if expecting something.
Seeing this, Steve opened the trunk of the car and revealed the food, oil, alcohol, and other things inside. The two old men's eyes lit up and they cheered.
Li Du took out two bottles of vodka and handed them to them. The two of them opened the caps and gulped down a few mouthfuls of vodka directly from the bottle.
All at once, half a bottle of vodka disappeared.
Li Du was speechless. These people were really good drinkers.
Steve noticed his expression and said, "They can't drink as well as you. You're not surprised, are you?"
Li Du said, "I can hold my liquor well, but I'm not good at it. I don't like to drink. They're different. We're not the same."
The bodyguard also took out a bottle of wine, and the three of them squatted under the sun and drank from the bottles. Argisie also took out a greasy lunch box with some dried meat inside. This was the dish that went with the wine.
The conversation revolved around Steve, Li Du, and the others. They had been talking in Russian. Li Du could not understand, so Big Ivan, who was next to him, roughly translated.
Then, the bodyguard pointed to Li Du and mentioned the Red Devil's Mi-171 helicopter.
Hearing this, Kirilenko immediately stood up angrily.
Big Ivan said, "Things are not wrong. It was a misunderstanding last time. They came for the helicopter."
The two old men shouted excitedly, and the bodyguards nodded or shook their heads, trying to interrupt and explain.
He introduced Li Du's identity and the process of getting the helicopter.
The two old men looked at them suspiciously. The bodyguard explained again and even showed his gun. Big Ivan said that the bodyguard was also very aggressive. He told the two old men that if they were hostile, they would not have come to explain. They would have just come to the door and fought.
The old men nodded silently, got into the car with the bottles of wine, and motioned for them to follow.
The bodyguard came back and said, "They believe us, but they don't think they can explain to their companions. They want us to go see their companions."
"Then let's go," Steve said happily.
Li Du was a little more cautious and said, "What if they lead us into an ambush?"
Big Ivan said, "Don't show it. They will look down on you if they know you think that way. If you meet them again in the future, they won't care what you think or feel."
Li Du laughed. "Why would I let them look down on me?"
Having said that, he did not ask any more questions. The five cars wobbled toward the rangers' campsite.
Their campsite was made of wooden houses, all built with solid wood trunks. These wooden houses were arranged in a picturesque manner. There were six of them in total. In addition, there was a tall tower on which someone was standing guard.
The campsite was surrounded by a circle of wooden walls. The walls were very high, with sharp wooden barricades in front and back, and machine gun muzzles a few steps away. In general, the campsite did not look like a ranger's dormitory, but more like a small military base.
Li Du asked Brother Wolf in a low voice, "If we fight, can we break in with the weapons we have now?"
Brother Wolf said confidently, "Yes, especially with grenades. We can take down this campsite in five minutes."
Li Du said, "It's not that bad, is it? After all, this is also carefully built by the veterans. "
Brother Wolf said, "They are veterans, but not elite soldiers. Besides, the fighting philosophy they have accepted has long been obsolete. The defense of this kind of campsite is not strong. Of course, if the opponent only has shotguns, it will be difficult to break into this campsite. "
They arrived in the car, and a few old men came out.
Li Du glanced at them. Some of them were the people who had hit the helicopter last time.
The old men obviously remembered the heavy SUVs. When they saw Steve, they came up to shake hands. Their faces were expressionless, or not very good, but they were really friendly.
Some of them knew English. An old man with a small braid on his chin said in vague English, "Hello, American friends, what can I do for you?"
Since someone spoke English, things would be easier. Steve went up and explained his intentions.
The old man with the plait listened to him and said, "The red Mi-171 is your friend's plane?"
Steve explained, "No, no, it's our enemy's plane. We snatched it. We heard that you and them are also enemies, and we are worried that there will be a misunderstanding between us. "
The old man with the plait frowned and looked at them. "Are you really enemies with those guys? They flew here before and were driven away by us. "
"It was us who were driven away," Li Du interrupted. "We were confused at the time. We didn't know how we provoked you, so we had to retreat."
The old man with the plait looked at him with a gloomy face and said, "How can you prove it? Those bastards are bad, and we can't risk believing you. "
Steve said, "How about this, we don't ask for your trust, but we won't interfere with each other. We won't go into the forest, and you won't attack us when you see us. How about that?"
The old man with the plait pondered. He looked at Brother Wolf and the others and their weapons, and then said, "Well, that's settled."
After the explanation, Li Du and the others could leave. Before leaving, he asked, "Can I ask a question?"
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