Chapter 177: The Kree
The mountains are covered with snow.

The wind and snow howled through the mountains.

This is the central region of Maple Country.

The coniferous forest is dense and human activities are rare. Under the heavy snow, even telling the direction becomes a luxury.

Even the most familiar hunters or wilderness survival experts will try to avoid entering the forest in such dangerous weather.

Carlos is neither of them, he is just an ordinary extraordinary person.

His mission is to investigate the Wolf Lord's sphere of influence, assess the number of creatures he can currently control, and ideally behead him.

Originally this task should have been carried out by Jamie, but for various reasons, it finally fell on Carlos.

"According to the map, I should be close to a small town."

This place is actually already within the "wolf danger zone". The town on the map is an Indy reservation. Most of the residents here refused to evacuate, and the Maple Country officials did not force the residents to move out like they did in other places. Instead, they "fully respected the opinions of the residents" and allowed them to stay there. They also blocked the roads and set up checkpoints to intercept them.

Of course, the information given to Carlos was that the residents did not obey orders and even drove away the staff who assisted in the migration, causing the migration work to be unable to proceed smoothly. For the safety of more people, they had to block the area, causing people in the town to be stranded.

According to satellite intelligence, there were signs of human activity in the town three days ago.

Carlos's goal now is to go to that small town and see if the local residents have any information about the wolf pack.

But now, he has gone a little off track.

“It should be this direction.”

After walking in the snow for more than half an hour, he finally saw a wisp of smoke rising in the wind and snow.

I checked my condition, buried the existing food and water, and made sure that I didn't have anything I shouldn't have with me.

Then he walked towards the direction of the smoke, behaving like a tired traveler lost.

After walking for a while, when he could see the outline of the town clearly and was about to get close, two people ran out of a building. They had dark yellow skin and were holding shotguns. They pointed at Carlos, the outsider, and said, "Who are you?!"

"Relax, relax, I'm a traveler, I got lost while coming down the Yukon, I just wanted to buy some food."

Carlos breathed out cold air and tried to act as pitiful as possible. With his hoarse voice and the ability of a saint, the two locals unconsciously lowered their guns.

A sharp whistle suddenly came from the building behind. The two men were startled and quickly raised their guns, but they no longer had the vigilance they just had.

"We need to check your backpack and pockets."

"Sure, go ahead and check it out. I'd like to buy something to eat if I can. I haven't eaten in three days."

They didn't respond. One of them continued to point a gun at Carlos while the other checked his backpack and pockets.

There were only cameras, maps, a broken compass, sleeping bags, and some survival supplies in it.

"Where are you from?" The examiner looked at Carlos' brown skin.

"Latino, hola, Buenos días." Carlos did not lie. He was indeed a real Latin American before he went to Ameya and he could still speak his native dialect.

I don’t know if the other party understood what I said, but he nodded and waved towards the house behind.

"Don't you know? You are now in Lord Wolf's autonomous region." The man's attitude became much friendlier and he held out his hand. "Originally, this was the private land that the white people designated for us, the Cree people. But now, we belong to - ahem, I don't like the original name very much. You can call me 'Fierce Horse' and he is 'Steel Axe'."

"Carlos." Carlos shook hands with both of them.

"Let's go. As long as you are not those damn official troops, at least you will not be our enemy." Liema carried his bag and walked towards the building that looked like a convenience store.

Steel Axe nodded at him and deliberately lagged behind by two steps, still remaining alert.

Several people walked into the convenience store one by one. There were several Cree people inside. There was no heating or electricity in the building. There was only a fireplace that looked like it was made temporarily, and several portable stoves.

Fiery Horse and Steel Axe communicated with them in a language Carlos could not understand. Facing their frequent glances, Carlos gave a dry smile.

"Uncle, drink some water."

A girl who was estimated to be in her early teens was writing something at the desk. When she saw someone coming in, she put down her pen, tiptoed to get a cup, and poured a glass of water for Carlos.

"Thank you." Carlos took it and wanted to give him some candy or something, but when he saw the shelf full of snacks on the side, he didn't give it a try.

"I originally had a name that the white people forced us to give, but now that we are no longer bound by the Indian Act, the old name has been abandoned. Now, you can call me Headhunter. I am the mayor of this town, but I am no longer under the official jurisdiction of Maple Country. If you do not agree with us, you can leave now, and I will provide you with three days of food."

After hearing what Liema and the others said, a fat, older Kree man stood up and walked in front of Carlos.

"Everyone has the right to pursue freedom and equality. Although I don't know much about what happened here, I respect your freedom."

Carlos knew how it felt to be discriminated against. After all, the city where he used to live, Mai, was called the "Capital of Latin America." "Thank you, everyone who supports us is a friend." The headhunter grinned and gave Carlos a big hug.

The atmosphere suddenly became very relaxed.

The little girl clapped her hands as well.

People started talking and laughing, mostly speaking their native language. Only the headhunters, perhaps intending to let Carlos know something about the situation, spoke in English.

During the conversation, considering that Carlos had mentioned before that he had not eaten for three days, Liema and the others took some high-calorie food from the shelf and handed it to Carlos, and hurriedly heated up some local staple foods.

When Carlos tried to give them money, they refused to take it.

In their words, money is no longer useful to them. They are part of nature and will coexist with nature in the future.

"The white people have corrupted our bodies with sugar and wine, but they cannot corrupt our souls! One day, we will gallop across the free land and build a free country under the protection of the Wolf God! Long live nature! Long live the Wolf God! Long live unity!"

The headhunter took a few sips of hot water and felt more excited than after drinking alcohol. It might also be because he hadn't met an outsider for a long time, especially a supporter, so he became more and more excited as he spoke.

People clapped and cheered, the atmosphere was very enthusiastic.

Carlos was not in a hurry to find out anything, but he could hear a lot from their casual conversation.

Lord Wolf must have communicated with them, and even reached some kind of cooperation or agreement.

According to the intelligence provided by the military before departure, the Kree people here also happen to have the custom of animal worship, and the appearance of the Wolf Lord might be just what they want.

Of course, the premise should be that the Wolf Lord has not infringed on their interests.

In the current situation, if we want to suppress the wolf pack, an exchange of fire with these people is probably inevitable.

Carlos frowned. Now that he knew, he couldn't do such a thing.

Perhaps, only by finding a way to behead the Wolf Lord can we avoid a bloody massacre among humans.

Most of the information he knew so far was provided by the military officials of Amei and Maple Country. It contained a large number of detailed tragedies, including which town was attacked by wolves on which day and month, how many people were killed and injured, and how much property was lost.

For the sake of their compatriots' lives, the government endured the humiliation and signed an unequal treaty with the Wolf King, relocating most of the civilians to safe areas, leaving only a small number of Indians who could not be persuaded to leave.

Now, in order to avoid a possible larger-scale war, Carlos was sent to conduct a special infiltration in order to achieve a glorious victory at the lowest cost.

Carlos naturally would not refuse such a task.

But now it seems that the people here have been deceived by the Wolf Lord. Is this extraordinary creature really so smart?

Is it its special ability or is there someone secretly helping it?

The time limit for this mission was quite loose, as the military decided to launch the attack in the spring, and the spring in Maple Country was usually in March or April, so he didn't have to rush. He just needed to keep in touch with the authorities by using his watch.

Since the Wolf Lord is so keen on communicating with humans, can I try to infiltrate him and find an opportunity to assassinate him?
However, Carlos, who had not read much, became more curious about the Indians.

Why didn't they want to leave? From what he had seen so far, the entire town should have been cut off from water and electricity.

In other words, the people living here are equivalent to returning to a rather primitive life, which is bound to cause various inconveniences.

He is not a materialistic person, but he also believes that without modern industrial conditions, the convenience of life will be greatly reduced.

"It's snowing so heavily now, it's a miracle that you can come here. Perhaps, this is the blessing of nature and the Wolf God. Stay here with peace of mind. I'll arrange a house for you, but you have to figure out the heating and water supply yourself. We will provide food every day, and you can leave after the winter is over." The headhunter said affectionately, putting his arm around Carlos' shoulders, but soon frowned again.

"But now the main roads leading to the outside world have been destroyed and blocked. I'm afraid it will be difficult for you to get out."

"It's okay. I can think of a way later. I got here this way too. I'm lucky to have a place to stay now. Thank you for taking me in."

Carlos expressed his gratitude. He was not pretending. How could he not feel grateful when faced with other people's genuine enthusiasm?

Although he is an extraordinary person, he does not lack the enthusiasm of others, but that enthusiasm is entirely attributed to his own strength.

"There's no need to talk about this between friends." The headhunter patted his chest. "I know the high priest. Maybe I can ask him to help me think of a solution when the time comes."

"High Priest?" Carlos caught the key words.

"High Priest Sandberg is the left shoulder and right arm of the Wolf God. He often brings us food and also announces some of the Wolf God's 'policies'. He is a blessed man who is favored." The headhunter's eyes were full of envy when he talked about Sandberg.

Carlos knew this name. Intelligence had mentioned that he was an extreme nature conservationist who was known to have defected to the Wolf Lord. However, he did not expect that his current status sounded quite high.

He might be the man behind Lord Wolf's strategies.

(End of this chapter)