Chapter 402 - 174: Interrogation Results (Part 2)
Unexpectedly, even before landing, they saw the conspicuous wooden and stone walls and the wide cement salt drying yard on the beach from afar.
After going ashore, the natives discovered neatly stacked wooden boards and stone bricks not far from the wooden and stone walls, and evidence of heavy deforestation and wagon tracks in the woods.
This convinced the leading Spaniard that there were people living on the island.
Coincidentally, there was a path, formed by frequent treading, leading from the edge of the lumber-strewn woods to the camp at the foot of the mountain, so he led four natives up along the road.
Subsequently, he successfully found the abandoned camp at the foot of the mountain, discovering a number of deserted huts, a large wooden house, and Chen Zhou’s fishing gear.
Being too close to the peak, they were soon spotted by Sunday, and shortly afterward, they were attacked by Chen Zhou.
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The team of originally 15 people was suddenly reduced to only 10 after the Spaniard led his men away.
The natives dared not act without the Spaniards’ permission.
Moreover, they hadn’t eaten their fill before setting out in the boats.
Due to the habits they developed in their tribe, these ten naturally divided into groups, with some staying on the beach to start a fire, while others headed into the forest to search for food.
This was what they were supposed to do.
Even if they didn’t find something to eat right now, once they finished searching the northeast corner of the island, whether or not they found the old Priest, they needed to have eaten before returning to the Archipelago.
Otherwise, they feared that with an empty stomach for a day, they would run out of strength midway and be left drifting at sea.
...
By summarizing all the narratives from the natives, it was basically consistent; excluding the possibility of a pre-discussed story, Chen Zhou believed it should be accurate.
As for his major concern, the relationship between the Native Tribe and the Spaniards, most natives couldn’t provide a clear answer, and he could only guess the truth through hints and indirect questioning.
Without the tall native painted like a zebra, relying solely on the possibly true or false information from others, Chen Zhou may not have understood the situation.
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Even the Leader’s cronies, or the tall native himself, weren’t fully aware of the detailed process of the tribe’s liaison and cooperation with the Spaniards.
He only knew that their tribe was initially small and located on the periphery of the island, a place impoverished of food resources.
Early on, they lived difficult lives until one day when a massive ship halted not far from their tribe in the sea, dispatching a small boat—different in design from the Canoe—to contact the Leader.
From then on, the Leader struck an agreement with these clothed outsiders.
They ceded a small part of their already limited territory for these people to build houses and sent some warriors to help the outsiders unload items from the ship.
The tribe couldn’t understand the language of these outsiders.
But through shiny containers, soft materials for clothing, incredibly hard weapons, tobacco, and fragrant intoxicating liquors, the outsiders earned the Leader’s trust.
Apart from these gifts, the tribe’s expansion was also filled with the shadows of the Spaniards.
They not only taught the Tribe Leader how to improve combat strategies but also provided intelligence on other tribes.
Chen Zhou suspected that the Spaniards might even secretly use crossbows or other Cold Weapons to help the tribe profit in wars, thus accelerating the growth of their proxies to gain more benefits.
The Spaniards’ assistance propelled the tribe on a mad path of expansion, with the Leader’s warriors being invincible in conflicts, and the tribe growing stronger by the day.
Due to the rapid expansion of the tribe, absorbing too many warriors from other tribes created a mixed environment.
Warriors of the original tribe usually occupied higher positions, but the numbers of newly captured ones were greater.
This was the fundamental reason why this landing Canoe was different from the one before—
Different tribes had different boat-building habits, hence the Canoes they made varied.
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In return for all this assistance, the Leader handed over young female captives and some particularly strong captives to the Spaniards for their use.
These people were not taken away by the Spaniards but remained at the stronghold built by the Spaniards on the island’s edge.
The women served as outlets for the sailor’s desires, while the men helped with digging deep pits, transporting supplies, or other physical labor.
Because the tall native had personally participated in handing over the captives and once helped the Leader to take something from the Spaniard’s camp, he knew quite a lot about these inside details.
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As for issues that concerned Chen Zhou the most—specifically, the Spaniards’ actual strength—he was vague.
According to him, the Spaniards had at least two large ships which couldn’t dock on the shore, generally lingering far from the shore, sending small boats back and forth for communication.
Moreover, most of the time, the large ships weren’t by the shore, and they could only be seen infrequently, unloading goods for at least a day each time they came by the island.
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Another concern of Chen Zhou—
"After more than twenty warriors vanished mysteriously last time, has the Great Tribe’s expansion been affected, and if so, why they were still able to dispatch people to the island again"—revealed more detailed inside information from the tall native’s mouth.
In fact, suddenly losing over twenty of the original tribe’s strong laborers indeed had a considerable impact on the Great Tribe, not to mention the disappearance of a Priest.
If it weren’t for this sudden incident, the Spaniards wouldn’t have broken from their usual stinginess, granting the tribe a batch of metal weapons to help them regain their footing in conflicts.
Bear in mind, the Spaniards were always incredibly strict in regulating weapons.
They only had around a dozen permanent residents on the island, with no numerical advantage against the ever-growing Native Tribe.
If they didn’t strictly control the tribe’s combat capability, they feared the greedy nature of the natives, which might endanger the lives of the permanent residents, most critically, threatening the goods they had hidden away.
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After concluding all inquiries, appreciating the "premium source of information," Chen Zhou specifically turned off the strong flashlight, telling Saturday to give this native some extra care in the future and gifted him a piece of chocolate.
He was never stingy with rewards for promising talents.
It was inevitable to differentiate among the natives, promoting those who were insightful, willing to attach themselves to them, and show their loyalty.
Since someone was stepping up to the task now, Chen Zhou had no reason to refuse his candor and honesty.
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Having understood almost all the necessary information, there was only one last captive left—the brown-haired fellow.
Chen Zhou felt this man was completely untrustworthy.
Yet on reflection, he did hold some utilitarian value.
Although lacking a common spoken language, as someone from the "Civilized World," this brown-haired guy should at least be able to write or draw, wouldn’t he? Having him depict everything he knew through patterns might not be a bad way of getting a confession.
Moreover, as someone who once stood high above, managing and ruling over the natives, the brown-haired guy’s death itself could aid in the indoctrination of the natives.
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The new batch of captured natives differed from Saturday and Sunday.
Not only were there more of them, but they were caught and subdued under the threat of violence and fear of death, rather than being rescued.
Hence, fundamentally, they could never have the loyalty and gratitude like Saturday and Sunday.
For these individuals, a clear system of rewards and punishments was necessary, while erasing the traces of their past tribal life left on them.
Chen Zhou deemed that the first step in taming them could precisely start with this Spaniard.
By trampling on the power and prestige of these symbols of authority and status, to tell the natives—
On this island, who held the power of life and death, who was the real boss.
Afterward, he would entice some while suppressing others.
Those who worked diligently and did more, learned quickly, and could integrate rapidly into the new environment would naturally receive rewards, raise their status, and gain their own house, even better food.
Slackers, if minor, would face hunger, if severe, they’d endure flogging, to let the natives understand right from wrong.
Furthermore, some strictly prohibited actions must be communicated to the natives in advance so that there would be no leniency in punishment later.
Regarding cultural lessons like those of Saturday and Sunday, Chen Zhou thought it could be postponed.
In any era, knowledge remained the most precious resource.
Saturday and Sunday impressed Chen Zhou with their loyalty, thus earning those riches beyond the comprehension of their time.
Until they proved themselves worthy, no native deserved to possess knowledge.
They could only act temporarily as "smarter livestock," diligently fulfilling the tasks assigned by the management.
They didn’t need to know why; the whip would teach them the right way to do things.