Chapter 405 - 380: Dumbfounded! Who the Hell Would Go Back

"Mr. Tetra, what do we do now?" a staff member with him asked.

Tetra said at once, "Find the Xuanfeng Alliance people. Tell them to gather the refugees for us. They promised Mr. Duodoli they would."

"That's true. Since they're supposed to cooperate, we might as well have them do the work for us," another staff member said with a laugh.

The group immediately headed for the town's administrative offices.

Before long, they arrived at Bolado Town's administrative center, where they stated their purpose and identities.

The people of Bolado Town had already received orders and knew these people were coming.

The town mayor had therefore already gathered people and was waiting at the administrative center.

'He wasn't exactly thrilled to see these guys.'

'He knew their goal: to pull all the laborers out of his town and take them back home.'

'After all, ever since these people arrived, the town had gained a significant amount of manpower.'

'This had greatly increased their capacity for planting Kalu Grass.'

'It had also led to huge growth for the town's economy.'

'Without a doubt, if they were taken back, the town's economy would take a massive hit. Consumer spending alone would plummet.'

But he had no choice. The higher-ups had ordered them to cooperate, so cooperate with these guys he must.

Upon seeing the mayor, Tetra spoke with an air of entitlement. "Mayor, you're aware that your Xuanfeng Alliance has agreed to cooperate with us. So, please gather the Myanmar refugees here in the town center. I want to have a talk with them."

The mayor looked at Tetra, stunned. "Are you kidding me? How am I supposed to gather that many people here? The most I can do is gather some representatives to hear you out. Beyond that, we can't make any promises."

Tetra frowned upon hearing the mayor's words.

'He could tell this mayor had no real intention of helping them.'

'Is this guy defying an order from the Xuanfeng Alliance? The Alliance itself issued the command to cooperate.'

'But what could he do? He couldn't exactly hold a gun to their heads and force them to obey.'

'This was their turf, after all.'

"Then I'll be troubling you, Mr. Mayor," Tetra said, forced to compromise.

'Gathering a few representatives is better than nothing.'

'These representatives are probably the more prestigious or influential ones among the Myanmar refugees, right?'

'If I can just convince them to return to Myanmar with me, it'll be much easier to persuade the others.'

The mayor nodded, then left to order his subordinates to make the arrangements.

…

In one of Bolado Town's villages.

Kukur was tilling a plot of land with his wife, sowing seeds into the soil.

These were Kalu Grass seeds their boss had told them to sow.

Kalu Grass is a key ingredient in Xuanfeng Wind Dream-Returning Wine, and the distillery buys the mature grass at a high price.

The boss had promised that once Kukur saved enough money, he could buy a stake in the business. The boss was getting old and might eventually move to the Wind Capital to live with his son and enjoy retirement.

The land here would need managing, and eventually, it would all be entrusted to him.

This filled Kukur with motivation. He felt life was brimming with hope. In the past month, he had learned what it meant to truly live.

'His life back in Myanmar hadn't been living; it was just suffering in poverty.'

Just as he was working with all his might, the village chief suddenly came over and shouted, "Kukur, get to town, quick! The town is gathering some of you immigrants from Myanmar. Seems like they have something important to discuss."

Kukur put down his hoe, annoyed. 'Seriously? I was planning to finish this plot today. What's this all of a sudden?'

But it was a summons from the town, so he didn't dare ignore it. Although he was a citizen now, he hadn't been assigned a place of household registration yet. He wanted his registration to be in Bolado Town, right here in his boss's village.

He'd already submitted the application.

So when the town issued a summons, he couldn't afford to hesitate. He set off immediately.

He went to his boss and borrowed the small three-wheeled truck. His boss had helped him get his driver's license over the past month, since he'd be the one making deliveries to town or hauling fertilizer from now on.

Soon enough, he arrived at the administrative center in Bolado Town.

He ran into several fellow countrymen from Myanmar that he recognized.

They had all escaped together and had seen each other around town many times.

"Kukur, you're here too."

"Lorna, you made it too."

"I wonder what the mayor called us all here for this time..."

"..."

The group entered the administrative building, where someone was waiting to lead them to a conference room.

Inside, the mayor, Tetra, and his men were already waiting.

Tetra had been eagerly waiting. When he saw Kukur and the others, he plastered a wide smile on his face, doing his best to appear friendly.

'These people fled to the Xuanfeng Alliance; they must be incredibly moved to see an official from their homeland coming to take them home, right?'

'After all, who would want to be a destitute wanderer, far from home?'

The mayor then made the introduction. "Everyone, this is Mr. Tetra. He's from Myanmar, just like you. They're here for one reason and one reason only: to convince you to return to Myanmar."

The mayor's words instantly threw Kukur and the others into a panic.

'Are you kidding me? Who would want to go back to that godforsaken place?'

'The wages here are many times higher than back there, there's no war, and the social benefits are excellent.'

'What's there for us in Myanmar? Nothing but poverty.'

Tetra, however, stepped forward with a broad smile. He approached Kukur's group and offered his hand to shake with each of them.

'He needed to build rapport quickly, show them he wasn't putting on airs. That would make the rest of the conversation easier.'

But Tetra's smile quickly faltered.

He realized they seemed repulsed by the idea of shaking his hand. 'This isn't right.'

'Why don't they seem to welcome me?'

Unwelcoming was an understatement. Kukur didn't even want to shake Tetra's hand. As the man reached out, Kukur simply put his own hands behind his back.

Tetra was instantly left hanging, embarrassed.

He forced himself to suppress his irritation and said, "It seems you're not all that happy to see me. I understand. The chaos back home has left you disillusioned, and you've lost faith in us officials as well."

"But rest assured, the situation back home is gradually stabilizing. Mr. Duodoli wants to bring you all back. This is your only chance to return to your homeland. If you miss it, there might not be a next time."

His words clearly carried a veiled threat. He was certain that as long as they missed their homeland and wanted to return, this tactic would be effective.

Hearing this, Kukur actually cheered. "No chance to go back? That would be great!"

"Yeah, please don't give us the chance," Lorna chimed in.

The others piped up as well:

"That's right, please, whatever you do, don't give us a chance to go back."

"I'll thank you to take that chance right back."

"???" Tetra was completely floored. 'This is not how I thought this would go at all.'

'Why wouldn't anyone want to return to their homeland?'

'That should be impossible. When he graduated from his studies abroad, he couldn't wait to return to Myanmar and contribute.'

'Something's wrong. That mayor must be behind this.'

'How dare he?'