OR1-EP1: Rainbow Nation (11)
After receiving McNeil's call, Gene Smilas immediately dispatched his soldiers to the predetermined location to receive the goods they needed. The content of the entire operation is strictly confidential, and no one of the executors can know the truth of the mission except Smilas himself. They received a sack from several well-dressed Africans in the wilderness. Judging from the shape of a struggling creature in the sack, someone was locked in the sack. The soldiers didn't want to find the reason for it. They only needed to complete the work assigned by the officer. Unconditional obedience is the root, and the cause and effect are not within the scope of their duties. The group loaded the special cargo into the truck, traversed most of the city in a familiar way, and returned to the main station of the Defense Forces in Transvaal. Another group of soldiers who had been waiting at the guard post swarmed up and ran into the barracks with sacks. The rest of the men drove trucks to the next destination. Major Smilas saw the sack being carried into the barracks by the crowd before he left the window and returned to his desk to continue his work. Michael McNeil was sitting across from him, looking at a military magazine leisurely, as if everything that had just happened had nothing to do with him.
"How did you lead him out?" Smilas asked, "We have been suspected of him all the time, but they couldn't find evidence, and didn't have the guts to go to the superior to obtain the right to investigate. I didn't expect you to take him so quickly."
"He is just a driver and has no other extra income on weekdays. During the time he was receiving protection, I guessed he was on the verge of poverty, so I lied that he had won the lottery ticket he bought before. I didn't expect him to trust me, but I also didn't expect this guy to be scammed so easily." McNeil put the lottery tickets on the table, "As long as he has the slightest chance to make a fortune, he doesn't care if he actually bought the lottery. It's reasonable to pretend to be a winner."
"Then who owns these lottery tickets?"
"The old gentleman who was traveling with me, he bought some lottery tickets in Rhodesia." McNeil took the lottery tickets back. "I didn't expect them to be used in such unexpected forms at the time."
On the day Jorge Dias was killed, his driver Nito Mariam first called the police. After that, he was investigated and was preliminarily ruled out of suspicion of committing the crime. Lawyer Dias is a well-known social figure advocating the rights of indigenous people. He applies this concept to his life, hoping to treat the indigenous people equally. For example, the driver is of indigenous origin. Among indigenous people and immigrant descendants who support indigenous rights, Jorge Dias has a high reputation. His name has become a symbol of martyrdom against backwardness and decay, just like the previous Britannian Prime Minister Abraham Lincoln. Since the end of the two world wars, the new social ethics that have emerged in the EU have continuously prompted the EU to change its original style. This huge pressure of public opinion is undoubtedly detrimental to Adalbert Herzog. His only hope is to transfer the case to the army. Otherwise, any judge who strictly follows the rules and regulations will send him to the gallows.
"Has him won the lottery?"
"I don't know the result yet, but I hope he will win the prize." McNeil said gloomily. "Although I have seen many poor people who have won huge prizes and ruined their lives, I think they have at least a chance to prove that they were alive, even if they were remembered as negative examples in a disgraceful way. Major Smilas, the gentleman was a veteran who fought in the world war, his wife and son died early, and he was alone. Even if he really won the Jackpot and ruined his life, it wouldn't make a difference, he's already very old anyway."
"...You hope he can leave the bonus to you?" Smilas thought he understood McNeil's thoughts, "Don't rush to refute, I didn't mean to make fun of you."
Nito Mariam has been strictly guarded by the local Guardian Corp. He himself is locked in the camp and will soon have psychological problems. Therefore, when he was persuaded by McNeil's fake news, the driver quickly decided to go to receive the reward. It happened that the barracks were in chaos due to a suspicious misreport. No one cares about the whereabouts of a small person. As soon as Mariam arrived at the scheduled meeting place, he was surrounded by a group of African natives, knocked out, and then sent to another place by them in sacks. The African colonies of the EU have always had a large unemployed population mainly composed of indigenous people. McNeil succeeded in hiring some idle indigenous people to work for him at a small price, and these people cherished the hard-won income very much. Throughout the process, they performed their duties and were more serious than professionals-despite their lack of competence. Colonel Carl Duttmann thought about it in advance. If the Guardian Corp came to question him, he would evade that it was the Defense Force who was ready to take over the investigation. When the Guardian Corp really found out what was wrong with the procedure, the trial might be over. No one will be able to trouble him with this matter anymore.
"You mean, this driver has a major suspicion?" Smilas looked at McNeil in disbelief, "Did you make it wrong? His suspicion was the first to be ruled out. Besides, shouldn't this matter be handed over to the police?"
"I seem to say that this is politics." McNeil closed the magazine. "I have done all the work I should be responsible for. Whether you can seize this opportunity depends on your performance. After all, you can make him admit the crime, and that's beyond my control."
After leaving the barracks, McNeil walked back to their original neighborhood, where he saw Old Jake sitting by the roadside resting. Happy time is always short. After escaping the shadow of life for a while, old Jake still has to face reality. He doesn't feel additional loss, and people who have never had it will certainly not feel sorry for the loss. Seeing McNeil return, old Jake beamed his eyes and asked eagerly:
"Have you negotiated with them?"
"I still think they are too stingy." McNeil sighed. "Col. Duttmann said that the entire mission will take about half a year. If the goal is finally achieved, he will give me a three-year salary for an active army captain. But..." He seemed to think of something, "If you didn't win any of your lottery tickets, after I get the money, I decide to give you two-thirds."
"The premise is that I can live to that time." Although these words sounded quite pessimistic, the old Jake still had a smile on his face, as if he had seen McNeil making a fortune. Poverty leaves old Jake with only money in his heart. He thinks that he can make a lot of money as a soldier in war. EU officers can get salaries that far exceed the average income level of citizens. As long as they use the money properly, it is not impossible for the poor to turn over with such hard-working accumulation. An active army captain has a salary of about 4,000 euros per month, which is undoubtedly a huge sum of money for the old Jake. The old man thought about it and thought this picture was a bit funny. He and McNeil seemed to be expecting each other's good fortune. If their ideas were all lost, maybe they could only continue to live in this kind of slum-like place.
"Can they make a deposit in advance?"
"I'm afraid it won't work. We are dealing with the trouble that they are inconvenient to solve by themselves. If something goes wrong, we have never existed." McNeil told a cruel fact, "Whether it is the Guardian Corp or the Defense Force does not want to be deprived of the notoriety of slaughtering the indigenous people again. They will claim that all military actions against the indigenous people are spontaneous armed resistance activities of citizens whose lives and freedom are threatened, and the army decides not to intervene out of neutrality... This means that if all the people they enlisted died in the jungle, the family members would not even get half a penny of pension."
According to the old Jake, his only son was also a soldier before, but unfortunately this man died in an accident. Since then, his life has collapsed. When he was young, he had no education, no craftsmanship to make a living, and he had no other choice but to do a temporary job. More than 20 years ago, when the EU's economic development was in full swing, it ambitiously planned a comprehensive social security system, hoping to show that it was a beacon of human civilization and an ideal country. Taking advantage of the policy, old Jake's life has been temporarily stabilized a lot, and he thought it was not bad to live like this at the time. Unexpectedly, the EU failed to adhere to this policy for a long time, and the shortfall in making ends meet led to the EU's decision to restore the original competition model. People like old Jake are a necessary price in the eyes of policymakers.
At around nine o'clock in the evening, old Jake and McNeil went to a nearby tavern to drink. In the past, there were illegal vendors selling fake wine. After several customers were poisoned and died, these vendors finally attracted the attention of local authorities. However, the pub was not sealed up, but continued to open after a change of owner. Although the new boss vowed to promise that he would never engage in similar activities, the bad impression left by the fake wine incident in the hearts of surrounding citizens was too obvious. The customers here are becoming scarce, and only the old Jake will come to consume.
"Is there any news?" the boss said to McNeil, "Oh, I heard Land said you are lucky, congratulations in advance."
"Luck? Is it lucky to bet on fate?" McNeil repeatedly denied, "If there is a better job, I will change my mind. However, I don't have the ability to do those jobs."
In addition to the lengthy news of the African colonies and European mainland, another new darling of the EU media is naturally the new emperor Charles III of the Britannian Empire. Since he became emperor, Charles aggressively pursued the New Deal he dreamed of. The new emperor was determined to correct the long-standing aristocratic system of the Britannian Empire, but he could not shake the foundation of the aristocracy, so he proposed a set of self-made doctrines that integrated pedigree and capability. In a public speech just a few days ago, Emperor Charles vigorously criticized the inferior people who had dragged down the Britannian Empire. He collectively referred to the poor, the disabled, the mentally ill, or the incompetent aristocracy as enemies of the empire, and called on the empire to set off a thorough reform to eliminate the silverfish that endangered the emperor and the motherland. Many celebrities heard red flags from his speeches, but many civilians in the empire welcomed this, because the emperor stated that the status of aristocrats would be judged by ability rather than by origin. It is foreseeable that a series of actions by Charles will cause a bloody storm. No one knows whether the curse of the imperial crown prince of Britannia can be broken in his generation or not.
Regardless of whether Charles' original intention was to declare war on the noble group that controls the Britannian Empire or not, his remarks have aroused widespread criticism in the EU. In the spirit of humanism since the age of enlightenment, EU rightly refutes these absurd ideas, completely ignoring that it had used similar arguments several years ago to call on citizens to fight against the Chinese Federation. Some social commentators willing to express opinions on major issues immediately declared Charles to be the number one tyrant of their time, calling on the Britannians to execute this tyrant like the pioneers of the EU executed Louis XVI, Napoleon Bonaparte, and Nicholas II.
"These pretentious emperors always think that they were born with a major mission, but they often can't even solve their own family affairs." The boss watched the report of Charles on TV, "I heard that this new emperor has tens of concubines, the scene of his descendants competing for the throne must be spectacular."
The royal family of the Britannian Empire expanded at an alarming rate, and the empire relied on various laws to ensure the rights and interests of royal family members and nobles. In less than two hundred years, it greatly affected the social structure—many nobles actually became slaves, the only difference between them and civilians is the title. Since no one dared to abolish the privileges of the nobility, the nobility of the Britannian Empire is now the chief culprit in the waste of resources. In fact, as long as a certain emperor is willing to draw in a group of nobles to attack those hardline nobles, and divide a portion of the wealth held by the defeated nobles to the civilians, he or she can gain the support of the civilians to a considerable extent. The emperors rarely did this, and they knew that a little carelessness would offend the entire aristocratic community.
"Does the media mention the relationship between the new emperor and the exiled Russians?" McNeil asked, "They are the most resolute in advocating a counterattack against Europe. As long as the relationship between the emperor and them remains indifferent, we will not face a new war."
"I thought they had been forgotten." Old Jake interrupted. "In the last few decades, no one has welcomed them in the empire. These exiles have nothing except the title given to them by the emperor's mercy."
It is unwise to have a relationship with another group that has a lot of criticism at such a tense moment. Even if Charles hopes to support these exiles, he can't write a bad check before he takes full control of the empire. Moreover, since the overthrow of the Russian Empire by the EU, the emperor of Britannia has always been jealous of another aristocratic leader who claims to have the title of emperor.
"Not necessarily. The Britannian Empire is currently in its worst year since its founding. Emperor Charles would only choose to launch a war against foreign countries when he could not cleanse the entire aristocratic group." McNeil said confidently.
TBC