Chapter 527: Treatment of Prisoners
Joe Ga had taken away 13 prisoners from the lawless camp…
Only 5 members of the 'Ghost Mercenary Group' remained; the rest were mercenaries from Walker Mining Company.
The combat skills of these people were definitely sufficient. With just a few dozen of them, they played a month-long game of hide-and-seek in the jungle with the lawless.
Later they teamed up with the local guerrillas, who had been driven into the jungle, and inflicted significant casualties on the lawless and the blue helmets.
For Joe Ga, their only purpose was to serve as human examples: harshly 'punishing' them would make future mercenaries think twice before coming to Sangha Town to do business.
The leader of the 'Ghost Mercenary Group' went by the name Calvin Ramsey, codenamed 'Jupiter'.
Just from the codename, one could tell this guy was ridiculously pompous, because 'Jupiter' was the king of gods, Zeus in mythology—how ridiculously arrogant must one be to operate under such a nickname?
It's like a short mule calling himself 'Lord Guan,' with a tattoo of Lord Guan's open eyes on his back—without enough luck, he would soon be dead.
Joe Ga had no penchant for mistreating prisoners; he took them back to the base and first changed them into clean prison uniforms.
When those guys thought they could temporarily escape the endless interrogations, they were led one by one into a 'courtroom' with a green screen hanging in it.
Tribal elder Bilus, wearing a black robe and holding an old wooden gavel, sat at a desk, acting as the highest judge of Sangha Town.
Several unlucky devils had not yet figured out what was happening when their assigned defense attorneys declared their guilt, and then the judge sentenced them to life in prison.
Applause continuously erupted from the speakers in the four corners of the 'courtroom,' while Joe Ga, sitting in the command center, watched Tony adeptly manipulate the software to turn the green screen in the 'courtroom' into a packed formal courthouse.
It was like filming a movie; it seemed ridiculous to stand there and watch, but once post-production was completed, it all looked very real.
Although every prisoner was applauded by people behind them after their trial, at the same rhythm, it's unlikely anyone would feel sorry for these unscrupulously evil mercenaries.
If you want to challenge the authority of Central African judges, you can come here and sue; these judges will show you just how fast a 'swift trial' can be!
'Jupiter' scoffed at what Joe boss had concocted, believing that as long as his friends brought enough money here, once everything blew over, he could be redeemed.
'Imprisonment'?
'Jupiter' believed that a true expert who had fought all over the world for half his life, would not rot in prison.
His self-worth decided that, as long as he was willing to 'completely surrender,' he could find a new boss and regain his freedom, especially in Africa.
Most importantly, he'd done dirty deeds for many people; if they couldn't afford to have him killed, they'd have to find a way to break him out, otherwise an unrestrained mercenary might speak unwisely.
But this time 'Jupiter' was wrong. After they accepted the 'trial,' they were quickly sent to a large prison cell.
Previously captured 'Syringe' and 'Smoker' were napping in the cell, and seeing 'Jupiter' brought in, 'Smoker' laughed loudly and said, "Jupiter, even you have come down to this."
'Jupiter' straightened his clean prison uniform and even politely smiled at the P.B. soldiers escorting them before entering the cell and saying to the extremely haggard 'Smoker,' "We lost, so we surrendered!
I think P.B.'s Hu Lang are quite decent. We should be able to get out soon."
As 'Jupiter' frowned at the sneering 'Smoker,' he said, "Why are you looking at me like that? They didn't kill us, there's definitely a reason we have value.
Locking up a bunch of mercenaries in a cell hardly shows value!"
'Smoker,' as though he heard a hilarious joke, grinned and said, "Do you think they kept us alive to help them fight?
Jupiter, how are you so naive to have survived until now?"
'Jupiter', frowning, said, "Then what is the point of imprisoning us? Do they hope to pry some information out of us?"
"You? Give P.B. information? You thought wrong!"
'Smoker' said with a bitter smile, "But rest assured, you'll soon know, P.B. doesn't keep idle men..."
'Jupiter' had a bad feeling. He sat down next to 'Smoker' and glanced at 'Syringe,' who was still sleeping, then frowned and said, "What do you mean? Will P.B. mistreat prisoners?"
'Smoker' said with a bitter smile as he shook his head, "No, they won't beat prisoners here, but we need to work to earn our food.
The hourly wage here is one US dollar, and the performance assessment is very strict.
From my days of experience, if you want to be full, you need at least 12 dollars a day."
'Smoker,' pointing at 'Syringe,' who was snoring on the bed, said, "Do you think 'Syringe' didn't want to meet you? No, he's just exhausted!"
'Jupiter' incredulously said, "We're imprisoned and still need to earn our own food?"
"Yes!"
'Jupiter' felt like he was going insane. Not even concentration camps did this; when did prisoners have to pay for their own food?
He said, somewhat incredulously, "A job that pays a dollar an hour, we need to work 12 hours a day to afford a meal?"
'Smoker' nodded with a bit of schadenfreude, "If you have an average appetite, you could work a little less."
"However, I wouldn't recommend eating too little for long periods, because you'll need a lot of energy to accomplish your work."
"The performance evaluations here are extremely perverse, and they really do deduct your pay, so you definitely don't want your hard-earned meal money taken away," he added.
As 'Smoker' spoke, he looked tiredly around, flipped the middle finger indicating to not disturb 'Syringe' who was resting, pulled the blanket snugly for 'Syringe', and then proudly said, "Thanks to 'Syringe', I'm now working at the hospital in Sangha Town.
"It's a bit dirty and easy to catch infectious diseases, but there aren't too many heavy tasks—however, for you guys..."
While 'Smoker' was speaking, a squad of P.B. soldiers marched in step to the front of the cell door.
Xiao Hei knocked on the door of the cell and said, "Time's up, get ready, I'll take you to the hospital."
'Syringe' sat up reflexively, looking numb, sat on the edge of the bed for a few seconds, and then, like an office worker exhausted by overtime, struggled to stand and walked to the door, turning around to put his hands behind his back...
Only after Xiao Hei put leg shackles on him did he reluctantly say, "Can you take off the weights on the shackles? I have three surgeries this afternoon; if this continues, my hands are going to be ruined."
Seeing Xiao Hei's displeasured face, 'Smoker' rushed over and said, "I'll take it, I'll take it, hang the weight on me.
Anyway, the handcuffs have to be removed at the hospital let him have it a bit easier.
This guy has done 163 orthopedic surgeries in the past month—he's really doing heavy-duty bone work.
Give the weight to me; hanging a couple of iron balls won't hinder me from being a hospital janitor."
"Don't worry, we definitely won't escape. 'Syringe' and I have saved up 25 dollars, and in one more week, we could get a day off, and we'll treat you to something nice..." Xiao Hei heard this and kindly nodded, said, "Okay, but you need to stay honest. Yesterday a bottle of glucose went missing at the hospital. If something similar happens again, you'll be sent to work in the mines."
'Smoker' looked distressedly at the pale-faced 'Syringe' and then whispered to Xiao Hei, "We get it, let's hurry and leave.
The cell is too crowded now, it's impossible to rest well. We won't come back tomorrow noon; can we bring some food?"
Xiao Hei nodded and said, "No problem, prepare a lunchbox, just buy a bit extra for breakfast to take with you."
'Jupiter' watched as 'Smoker' and 'Syringe' were taken away. He stared at a P.B. Xiao Hei standing at the door and said, "We're not working. Since we've been tried, we demand reasonable prisoner treatment."
'Jupiter' was testing Xiao Hei's attitude, but unexpectedly, Xiao Hei didn't make it difficult for them. He slammed the cell door shut, then took a fire hose from the side...
In 'Jupiter's' surprised expression, he soaked their beds and then turned off the flush valve of the cell toilet before smilingly turning and walking away.
The P.B. disliked the task of guarding prisoners. These folks were troublesome, talkative, and handling them was a pain that was completely unnecessary.
'Tough Guy' had seen it all. Like 'Smoker' and 'Syringe,' who had been tough at the start, it only took a week before they gave in.
The Xiao Heis had only one method—starve them while keeping them uncomfortable as Thompson instructed.
Damp bedding, damp floors, a toilet constantly leaking urine and feces, hunger pangs that wouldn't go away after two days...
When simply working can get you a clean environment and delicious food, no one can resist such conditions.
'Wild Bull,' one of the earliest captives, was now diligently working in the mines, even more industriously than the locals because he found out he was earning more than them.
Even though the outrageously priced inmate food in the P.B. canteen quickly depleted this 'high wage,' it also eroded the prisoners' will to resist.
Without inflicting physical or psychological torture, they simply pressed the psychological threshold of inmates and destroyed their will to resist with intensive labor, gradually turning them into labor machines.
Humans are terrifying like that!
Those who have studied psychology are even more so!
'Iceman' was now sitting in a small infirmary next door to the cell, playing chess with Jack Heinz.
After some time off, Jack Heinz's leg injury had almost healed.
Over the past month, Jack had been eating delicious meals daily but could only watch as his two mates, 'Smoker' and 'Syringe,' were tortured almost to death by their work.
It felt worse than eating shit!
Watching 'Iceman' cheerfully checkmate him, Jack pushed the chessboard away, got off the bed, and like an agitated beast, paced around the infirmary before saying, "My leg injury is healed. Let me go; I'm going to kill Harlotte."
As he spoke, Jack looked at 'Iceman' and said coldly, "Is your promise still valid?"
'Iceman' tidied the chess pieces and nodded with a smile, "Have you ever heard a P.B. person lie?
Go kill Harlotte, then Smoker and Syringe will be freed!"
As 'Iceman' said this, he patted his head, "But because of your injury, we lost a little time and lost track of Harlotte. He has gone to Eastern Europe, and we don't know exactly where.
You'll need to figure it out yourself!"
Upon hearing this, Jack was silent for a while before saying, "I have my own way; you just need to fulfill your promise after I succeed!"