Chapter 286: Immigrants (2)
The arrival of a hundred immigrants was like a godsend to him. Although Zhang Qin Feng knows that there's nothing much for him to rely on them, an addition of 100 manpower is better than nothing.
"Alright, you guys heard what the boss said. Get these guys changed into fresh clothing, check their health status, and make sure they're fed. As for these smugglers… You'll be staying here until our boss wants to meet you." the director of the security forces said before leaving the room.
Following Zhang Qin Feng's order, a few specialists from the government hospital soon made their way to the facility much earlier than Zhang Qin Feng. Using the top-class medical equipment on the hundred immigrants, a basic medical report was compiled into a database for a later study.
They were already getting feed by the time Zhang Qin Feng arrived at the facility.
"Boss." the group of trusted individuals with given positions in the security team greets Zhang Qin Feng when he gets down from his car.
"Get me updated." Zhang Qin Feng said.
"Sixty male and forty-five female. There are five kids, so that's 110 illegal immigrants in total. All of them came from a nearby country known as Panem." the director said.
"The initial report from the medical specialist explained their malnourished condition, likely due to the lack of food and water. Based on what we believe, these people were on the ship for at least a week," his assistant continued.
"Were there more people before this? What language do they speak?" Zhang Qin Feng asked. As someone with zero knowledge about neighborhood countries, it was expected he had no idea what kind of life these people were going through.
"The Oceana official language. But many of them speak the same language similar to us, only different in some parts of their pronunciation."
"Also… It seems that they escaped from their country because of the war between the rebels and the government. The captain was also someone from the same country as them, so our initial guess is he's not smuggling them for profit." the director said.
Zhang Qin Feng nodded. The director's suspicion is likely right on the point. If it was for profit, they wouldn't be choosing a small country like Marianna, but Dongcheng or Han Country instead. Furthermore, it seems that there's no firearm nor fight happened in the ship ransacked by the private force.
This means everyone here is likely refugees escaping from their country due to their power struggle.
"Pick a few people for interviews. You'll be the one conducting it on my behalf. I want to speak with the captain and his crew now, arrange it." Zhang Qin Feng said.
"Boss, those people are still eating… Do you want me to get them assigned to another room for you to question them?" the director asked.
"They're eating? Then that's a good time to talk. Get to your job and find someone to walk me there." Zhang Qin Feng smiled. His decisiveness was something. Not even the director has an idea on how to refute his words.
And pretty soon, Zhang Qin Feng was brought into a room where the captain and his crews were locked. No handcuff or steel chain is restricting them, but an electronic tag was on the side of their leg in case they attempted to escape.
"Who's the captain?" Zhang Qin Feng asked.
"I am." a middle-aged man in his fifties answered. It seems that his appearance and age are what made the director come up with his previous answer.
"Tell me about the situation in Panem." Zhang Qin Feng skipped all the pretense here and went straight to what he wanted to know.
"This…" his straightforwardness made the captain stuttered for a moment.
"I would have you prosecuted publically if you're using these refugees following you for profit. But from the look of it, you're one of the escapees as well, am I correct?" Zhang Qin Feng added. Using this question to get the captain to open his mouth, Zhang Qin Feng was also trying to study the captain's facial expression while answering the question.
There's nothing much better than Stein in reading a person's behavioral language. The tiniest hint of changes in tone, gesture, the expression could quickly determine if they're speaking the truth or false.
Unless this captain was a secret agent with the level of the colonels from the Special Squadrons in Dongcheng, he would likely get exposed by the system if he tried to lie.
"The situation in Panem is getting worst each day. We have no idea where the rebels got their weapon from. It felt that the entire incident was orchestrated by one or two of the superpowers behind the scene." the captain said.
"What was the national security forces is doing then?" Zhang Qin Feng asked. He felt that this entire thing now started to look like a scheme.
While he continued to listen to the captain, Zhang Qin Feng instructed Stein to search the internet for more information about this Panem and its geography.
It seems that the island that was twice bigger than Marianna has no significant natural resources. At most, there's only a precious mineral mine on the entire island. The industry of fishing, tourism, and oil hardly doing well over there too.
But these weren't the reason Panem went into an internal struggle for power.
The main reason for the outside interfering in their struggle for power was their strategic position between the Oceana Alliance and the Continent of Southern States. Whichever side the country was going to stand with will determine the control over the sea around there.
Having Panem in their hand is like controlling over a naval base in the middle of the Southeastern Sea.
"So, what you're planning to do with us?" the captain asked. He had finished speaking what he knew.
"Are you interested in helping me with a refugee program? You'll be given unrestricted access to the Marianna Strait as long you bring the refugees in." Zhang Qin Feng said.
"What? You mean… Bringing the people that wanted to escape Panem to here and become refugees? What is your motive behind this?" the captain asked.
He had a feeling that going with Zhang Qin Feng's suggestion was like selling his soul to the devil.
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