Music for this Chapter

OR1-EP1: Rainbow Nation (3)

Since the colonists from the north set foot on the dark continent for the first time, the unchanging lives of the natives for thousands of years have been completely overturned. Although history is very different from what McNeil knows about, some things will not change: by the 19th century, all of Africa became a colony of the EU, and there are also a few coastal areas affected by the Britannian Empire. While the Britannian Empire, symbolizing the remnants of the old world, competed in the Americas for the original Latin American colonies, the EU was stepping up its expansion into the grasslands of Central Asia and southern Africa. However, when the EU came to the southernmost part of the African continent, the local intricate sphere of influence taught these arrogant colonists a good lesson. As early as hundreds of years ago, colonists from the British Isles and the Netherlands settled there and established many self-governing institutions. They successfully escaped the storm that swept across Europe and suffered because of their connection with Britannia. Therefore, the EU cannot tolerate the existence of these dominions, and has successively launched several wars with the indigenous peoples, and completely annexed the two African Britannian dominions in South Africa.

Previously, the EU promised to the indigenous people that it would respect the independent kingdoms of the indigenous peoples and return to them the lands taken by the African Britannians from the indigenous peoples. Unexpectedly, when the EU completely seized control in South Africa, they immediately overturned the unreliable oath. Since then, EU immigrants, African Britannians, and indigenous people have formed a mutually hostile relationship. The three parties have unconcealed malice towards the other two parties and are planning to make itself become the sole master of South Africa. The EU has an unwritten rule, that is, governors-general from all parts of Africa must not let local descendants of European immigrants or Britannian immigrants take the post, and must be appointed by the European mainland. This rule was only broken recently, and Jacob Herzog became the first governor-general of Africa to have an immigrant origin-he had previously served as a director in the EU.

This kind of discrimination and contempt is top-down. Native Europeans are the most noble, European immigrants are second, Britannian immigrants are the third, and indigenous people are not being treated as human at all. Even decades ago, EU would send the indigenous people in cages to the zoo in Paris for visitors to visit. It is called "New Human Exhibition". This abominable behavior that must be shown during the holidays was finally abolished 30 years ago, but the situation in Africa has not improved. In order to suppress the more restless aboriginals, the civil or military management agencies recruited a large number of indigenous people to enter the local defense or garrison, let them aim their guns at their compatriots, in exchange for a chance to fill their stomachs.

The more McNeil understands these past events, the more pessimistic he is about EU's future in Africa. However, if an indigenous ruled Africa, he would only become the next target of annihilation. For this reason, even if it is just to save his life, he has to choose to stand on the opposite side of the indigenous people-he is not an indigenous person, even if there are thousands of indigenous people who are fighting each other with their compatriots for a living.

Not only the world history itself has undergone tremendous changes, even the guns in his hands are not the same as the weapons in his perception. The information found from the municipal library shows that gunpowder weapons have never become the origin of modern thermal weapons; on the contrary, most modern electrical equipment is driven by a magical mineral Sakuradite (known as the sage's stone by ancients), which makes McNeil felt very novel. Perhaps some changes have taken place in the manufacturing principles of firearms, but as long as it is still a firearm instead of a sword, McNeil can skillfully use it to fight. They don't have many bullets. The EU authorities, who are very disgusted with the indigenous people, have never distributed enough weapons and ammunition to the indigenous garrison. They can only use handguns against invaders with automatic rifles and high explosives.

"When did the battle begin?"

"Half an hour ago. These people...they will always try to sneak into the outskirts of the city to carry out sabotage activities. This kind of thing has happened often before, and it has become more and more frequent recently." An indigenous guard said, "We have not yet found out who provided their weapons."

It does not matter who provides weapons to the indigenous people, only the living have the opportunity to find out the truth. McNeil fired symbolically at the opposite side several times, but failed to hit any targets. The city after the power outage was very dim, and they did not carry night vision goggles on their bodies, so they could not detect the enemy's movements. He didn't give up, hiding behind the bunker, and from time to time he probed the fire from the end of the dark street to find out where the enemy was. When several indigenous militants fired randomly at the guards again, McNeil decisively fired at one of the enemies, hitting him in the chest. The native fell backward, and no one knew his fate.

"Hey, you must be a professional." The guard next to him looked at McNeil who returned to the back of the bunker approvingly. "I think you must have fought before."

"I have performed several more dangerous missions, nothing more." McNeil calculated a counterattack strategy, "This is an era of peace, and there is nothing better than not having a war."

According to the indigenous guards, although these indigenous invaders possess weapons far more powerful than theirs, they cannot use them properly. Many aborigines still treat firearms and explosives as some kind of magic, and even depict various symbols on the firearms, hoping to increase the hit rate and damage. An aboriginal guard vowed to say that he had seen some indigenous soldiers simply raise their guns above their heads to make prayers when shooting, and these people never cared about whether they actually hit the target or cared about aiming. The importance of goals. Those indigenous people who have received a certain education in the city certainly understand these basic modern scientific knowledges, but unfortunately their compatriots who are still in the mountains and forests have no chance to understand.

The gunfire stopped temporarily. McNeil seized the opportunity, slipped out of the bunker, and followed the edge of the street toward the enemy's sphere of influence. This is not an isolated invasion. The faction which has the ability to provide the indigenous people with weapons and equipment better than the Guardian force (although this is usually caused by the authorities withholding the materials of the Guardian force) and let the indigenous people attack the city behind the scenes will not be EU or South African native. Of course, the indigenous people do not have this ability. In this group, those who know nothing about modern civilization are still living in the tribe, while those who are obsessed with assimilating themselves into qualified civilized people don't care about the life in the tribe at all. In a word, those indigenous people who have escaped their original fate will probably not assist their compatriots in rebelling.

The bullet grazed his ear. McNeil walked towards the destination without a word, and several natives stood in front of him. The foremost enemy took out a short knife and stabbed it towards McNeil's flanks. McNeil grabbed the enemy's right hand, pulled it along, and slammed into the opponent's mouth and nose. The native was hit and dizzy, and the knife was released. McNeil picked up the knife that was about to fall and made a provocative gesture at the natives behind. The enemy mumbled vague words, and then surrounded him in groups.

"I have to tell you the truth: you can't win. Now you have a chance to live if you lay down your weapons." McNeil shrugged, "Don't make meaningless sacrifices."

The indigenous people may not understand English, or they simply ignored McNeil's kindness and continued to attack McNeil. The first native made a punch at McNeil. McNeil swiftly avoided the opponent's fist, his left leg was stuck between the opponent's legs, his right hand pinched the opponent's throat, and easily threw the tall native to the ground. Seeing that his companion was knocked down, the second person rushed up quickly, but McNeil hit the jaw with a punch. The upper and lower teeth creaked and maybe several teeth were knocked out. He covered his bleeding mouth and backed away. The third person had just raised his rifle and was about to shoot, but McNeil threw out a dagger and nailed his right arm to the wall next to him. The young former commander picked up the rifle that fell to the ground and looked at the other enemies who were still eager to try.

"I will repeat once, now, get out." McNeil raised his rifle in a threatening manner, "Otherwise you will be hanged on the street lamp tomorrow."

This is an ancient method of lynching. Old Jake said that those who hate the natives the most will hang every native who dared to appear in the city before. However, nowadays indigenous people can also serve as civil servants, priests, and soldiers. Of course, there is no reason for such atrocities.

McNeil watched the two natives fled in a panic, and turned around and forced the three prisoners who had lost their fighting capacity to a corner. At this time, an inexplicable premonition reminded him of the possible danger. McNeil, who had always followed his instinct, quickly rolled on the ground and hid in the grass beside him. He glanced intently, and left a not-so-shallow bullet mark in place, beside a longer bullet-needless to say, a sniper was staring at him in secret.

The development of things went beyond McNeil's expectations. If the descriptions of the native guards of their compatriots are completely true, these natives who can't even target are not capable of selecting snipers, which shows that there are outsiders assisting natives to infiltrate the city. The three natives had already escaped. If McNeil showed up rashly, his fate would be conceivable.

"It's really interesting. It seems that these people have professional mercenaries to assist them in sabotage." McNeil is predicting where the snipers may ambush. He believes that there must be something wrong behind this inexplicable armed conflict. After thinking about it, McNeil threw out the leather jacket he was wearing. As soon as the dress flew out of the grass, it was penetrated by a bullet. McNeil took the opportunity to pick up the bullet left on the walk, quickly ran to the back of the phone booth on the street corner, and managed to escape the enemy's pursuit. He doesn't feel bad about that dress. If he has the opportunity in the future, he can always buy a better one; however, if he urgently needs money now, this dress is the only thing he can save for money, otherwise he might as well sell newspapers with Old Jake.

The sound of army boots hitting the ground disturbed McNeil's thinking. Two armored vehicles were parked nearby, and dozens of soldiers were heavily armed and pounced on the indigenous armed men who were confronting the guards. A soldier spotted McNeil who was still hiding behind the phone booth, so he called his officer. A young officer with a big beard put on a big brimmed hat and walked towards McNeil.

"It looks like you probably don't speak French. Fortunately, I have learned a little English before." The bearded officer reached out to McNeil, "Which unit do you belong to?"

"Citizens passing by." McNeil replied, "You can treat me as if I am doing the right thing."

"It would be great if the citizens were conscious of yours. We have received the report a long time ago, but the superiors have not let us out. It seems that the contradiction between the defense forces from the homeland and the garrison is a long-term problem. "The bearded face was unhappy, "Then, do you have anything to report to us, Mr. Model Citizen?"

"The enemy has snipers," McNeil said. "This is the bullet they left behind."

The bearded officer took the slightly deformed bullet and checked it carefully with the headlights of other soldiers.

"We can't draw a conclusion now. We need detailed investigation and analysis." He returned the bullet to McNeil. "However, I am worried that some of us here are not willing to let the army know the truth, so this evidence is still left to you. Please tell us your name and home address so that we can contact you in the future."

"Michael McNeil, unemployed, sleeping on the street." McNeil replied briefly, "Which successful person are you?"

"From the 5th Infantry Regiment of the South African Defense Force in Transvaal, Major Gene Smilas." The bearded officer scribbled a few notes on a post, "Wait until the battle is over. After that, I hope to seriously investigate who caused this kind of tragedy that shouldn't exist."

Several more armored vehicles passed by on the road, leaving visible marks on the road. The road management department will definitely have a headache. They will blame these soldiers for ruthlessly rolling the roads that they have spent so much time on.

The communicator on Smilas' waist rang. He picked up this device, which looked quite similar to a mobile phone, and shouted inside:

"To repeat, the enemy ambushed snipers in the houses. Colonel Duttmann has allowed all means to suppress these criminals. If they dare to hold the people, they should be wiped out immediately.. That's it."

McNeil picked up the dusty leather jacket from the street and put it on him, watching the soldiers passing by.

"You dare to use violence?" he said with lingering fear.

"Don't care about them too much, Mr. McNeil. The people who live here are low-class people who can't even pay the rent. If they die, they will just die. They will not have any impact on the EU or even the city." Smilas explained indifferently.

TBC