Chapter 100: Children's Protection Agency

Brian did not ask his question directly in the car, because he also noticed that this little assistant of Lady He Ben was intentionally or unintentionally keeping unsuitable troubles away from that lady.

At such a time, asking the matter out without more evidence would only make that lady worry in vain.

Brian believed that this smart young man knew his limits; when the time came to speak, he would not hide anything from him.

This was not blind trust, but rather, from daily observation, discovering this young man's extraordinarily thoughtful behavior, where his actions and words were always just right, which made Brian dare to wait for the other party to speak up on their own.

So the security team leader's performance was just staring at the scenery outside the window, mainly watching for any abnormal car convoys approaching them, and occasionally using the walkie-talkie to contact the people in the rear car to ensure everything was normal.

Henry, meanwhile, put his garrulous ability to work, getting old Bernie to talk about his military experiences.

Even though certain missions involved secrets that could not be discussed casually, a man who served in the army must have certain experiences that would become lifelong conversation topics.

Old Bernie had worn the green beret longer than the other three, and whether it was his training or his experience training new recruits, there were endless funny stories and embarrassing incidents to tell.

Henry played the role of a young man who knew nothing very well; not a single thing old Bernie said failed to surprise him.

Those jokes among men also successfully made the big star in the car laugh heartily, and she kept asking questions.

With two people cheering him on like this, old Bernie spoke even more enthusiastically.

He even unhesitatingly sold out Mark and Sam, who were not in this car, regarding a series of embarrassing incidents they committed when they enlisted.

Behaviors like using a toothbrush to scrub the toilet during cleaning duty and then using it to brush teeth at night were considered minor cases; seeing the foolish sight of emergency roll calls at midnight with steel cups on heads and steel helmets in hands, some wearing sportswear with chairs, others in camouflage with washbasins, was not uncommon.

Hearing this made Brian's mouth twitch, and he suspected he might also have some "black material" in old Bernie's hands.

Time passed amidst laughter and the beautiful scenery of the African savanna, and the three cars finally arrived at their destination.

This children's protection agency was the largest facility on the southwest border of Somalia; it was the main body of this settlement itself. One could say the protection agency came first, and then crowds gathered around it, so its scale was imaginable.

But speaking of the settlement's size, it was at most the level of a village; standing at the village entrance, one could see from one end to the other. Moreover, the houses were scattered here and there, and apart from barely leaving a path, there was no reasonable planning.

Such terrain made Brian somewhat troubled; it was not easy to defend and very easy to ambush in advance. The only benefit was that if enemies wanted to enter from outside, the open field of view made it easy to detect them early.

The convoy of three cars drove directly into the gate of the protection agency. Calling it a gate was an exaggeration; it was more like the livestock fences common in American ranches during the pioneer era, simply a wooden frame that could be opened and closed.

If one tried hard, a car could ram through it without major damage, meaning it had no blocking effect; this observation made Brian feel slightly relieved.

After the cars stopped, everyone got out, and first, a large group of children lined up to welcome them; they clapped while singing welcome songs in English, but some younger children, not knowing what they were doing here, looked around.

Beside the children were several burly black Misses; they were teachers and also nannies, and the smiles on their faces were not fake.

Seeing a large group of children without expressions of sorrow or wariness towards outsiders showed that these children were well taken care of; Audrey He Ben held her heart and said movedly, "Henry, look, these children are so cute."

This white big star from Hollywood immediately got out of the car, accepted a simple bouquet of wild flowers picked nearby by the children, and then held the hand of a little black Miss, walking closer to the other children.

Henry hurriedly picked up his camera and chased after them, clicking away.

Brian noticed the guide's vehicle stopped further away; apart from that fat official coming over to serve as Lady He Ben's translator, the guide did not come over but instead met up with adult males who should belong to the protection agency and was talking.

Although there seemed to be no threat from their actions, Brian still kept an eye out; the supplies to be handed over to this children's protection agency were to be carried by him and Sam, while old Bernie and Mark each guarded a car.

Seeing things being brought over, several auntie-level teachers were even more delighted; although Brian could not understand what they were saying, he could tell from their body language that they were directing where to move the supplies.

The aunties did not let the people sent by the United Nations move the supplies directly into the agency's warehouse; instead, they placed them under the shade of a big tree first, and the items had to be counted, confirmed, and signed for before entering the warehouse.

After all, this was a place set up with United Nations support, so some rules were quite rigorous.

Although it was a pity that they could not take the opportunity to explore the interior of the agency, in this hot weather, saving a few steps of carrying seemed not so bad.

Even though all these scenes looked so peaceful, a warning signal lingered in Brian's heart.

He noticed that as Audrey He Ben was led by the children to the small playground of the agency, in front of a simple stage, a group of men led by that muscular guide also moved positions to place themselves where they could see people.

When visiting other places before, whenever these black brothers had nothing to do after the appointed time, they would find a place to hide.

No matter what they were doing, before leaving, they always had to spend some effort finding people out, and sometimes they couldn't even find everyone!

Fortunately, these were all locals; as long as the United Nations visiting members were all present and greeted the local officials, the visiting team would move on without insisting on finding all the black brothers they brought before leaving.

Was there a case like today where they did not leave?

Yes, but that was usually when money was stuffed in advance to the local bullies responsible for protecting them; the content of these people's work was to display their presence within this visiting team, and sensible people would not come to disturb this group of rich white folks.

Henry was still taking photos, but he was no longer limited to shooting around Lady He Ben; he would also take some long-shot photos of this children's protection agency while wandering around.

"Mr. Mills," Henry suddenly shouted and walked over, "Did you see the bag where I put my film?"

The speaker was holding the camera in his hand, rewinding the film that had already been shot.

Day 2, celebrating the launch; an extra update at 9 PM tonight.

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(End of this chapter)