Yama Reborn-Chapter 580 - 577: Assassination?

Chapter 577 [Assassination?]

Heaven’s Punishment?

Chen Nuo didn’t mock this saying, but instead became more solemn: "Tell me more?"

Enke was not one of those uneducated, ignorant African natives Chen Nuo had seen everywhere these days.

He had attended school, even a charity church school—studying the Bible, that sort of thing.

And, he was considered one of the smarter local black people that Chen Nuo had met. He had seen power, had seen force, knew what authority was... and so on.

He wasn’t one of those ignorant and unknowledgeable African bottom-level natives.

To have someone who has read the Bible and might believe in God speak of Heaven’s Punishment...

Either the guy actually believed in the Bible.

Or there was another reason.

From what is known of Enke, it would be strange for this guy to believe in God.

Enke’s expression, at the moment, looked a bit conflicted, as if he didn’t know how to explain.

"Concerned? Is there a taboo in discussing this?"

"Not really." Enke shook his head: "Only locals would believe this stuff. When spoken to outsiders, it only draws ridicule.

Previously when white people... that is, people from M Country, came here, they provided us with a lot of aid and trade. But when we talked about these things, they all showed mockery, thinking we’re fools for speaking such words."

Chen Nuo nodded, even took out a box of cigarettes to hand over.

Enke’s eyes lit up, looking at the cigarette box Chen Nuo handed over: "Huaxia cigarettes? Good stuff. I traded with Huaxia people at the mine, and this kind of cigarette is better than Three Five."

Watching Enke light up a Huaxia cigarette, Chen Nuo smiled and said: "I’m just curious, so I’m asking. Feel free to speak, I won’t mock your beliefs."

"Uh, actually... it doesn’t really have to do with belief." Enke even chuckled, then spoke a sentence that Chen Nuo found quite philosophical: "In a place as poor as ours, belief is worthless."

After blissfully taking a drag of the cigarette, Enke began to speak.

"Sir, how much do you know about our country?"

"Not much," Chen Nuo shook his head: "It’s my first time in your country—though I’ve been to other places in Africa several times."

"We are very poor here, and it’s always chaotic," Enke spread his hands helplessly: "Sometimes I can’t figure out if we’re poor because we’re chaotic, or if we’re chaotic because we’re so poor.

The government here is different from your country, and also different from the countries of the white people in Europe and America.

Our government is more like a game, a clumsy imitation, do you understand? Imitation!

Referring to the style of civilized world countries, then roughly following some titles and rules, they did a poor imitation.

Like children imitating adults speaking, they think they are doing well, but in truth, it’s full of mistakes.

But this is just how the place is; there’s no choice.

The current government of our country took power five years ago—though in name only, serving as the country’s government. More than two-thirds of the territory doesn’t listen to this government’s orders.

Before this, our country was like this, it has been this way for decades.

A warlord slowly developed, traded with countries outside, received support, gradually grew stronger, and became the most powerful armed force locally. Finally, they took the Capital City, captured the President’s Mansion.

In name, they command the entire nation.

Then they can use the country’s name for trading with foreign powers.

Round after round, year after year, it’s always like this.

Five years ago, an armed force got outside support, strength quickly expanded, then defeated the previous government, stirred up a coup war, defeated the former government, became the current government.

Of course, I and our mayor are members of this government—our mayor served as a regiment leader before this force became the government.

So, when the new government was established, he turned from a regiment leader to mayor, controlling the region centered around this city.

But still like before, our government cannot control the whole country.

Because the whole country has countless tribal armed and local armed factions.

One day you hit me, the next day I hit him, the day after tomorrow you and he unite against me...

Like dozens of lion tribes, fighting each other, scrambling for territory.

We are even unwilling to accept conquered populations—many tribes with hatred, once war starts, it leads to ethnic cleansing.

They’re very stupid; they even don’t understand that for a civilization, population itself is a valuable resource.

The most crucial thing is we’re still very poor here.

Domestically, there are several mines... but we lack the technology for mining; we don’t even have the money.

A worn-out AK with a magazine costs less than a few US Dollars.

Yet a set of large-scale mining equipment might cost more than our annual productivity value.

An AK with a magazine can casually recruit a young man to become a soldier.

But nationwide, there are hardly a few who can understand equipment instruction manuals.

We have no money, no talent.

Only untended lands, untapped mines, and ignorant crowds.

Those civilized outsiders come, exchanging cheap firearms for our mining rights.

We use [cheap] minerals and rare earths to exchange for [valuable] AKs and bullets from white hands.

Then we continue fighting each other, while white people exploit our mines.

Occasionally rewarding us a bit, we rush like hungry wolves to tear each other apart.

Hahaha!"

Enke laughed out loud, but the smile carried helplessness and unwillingness.

Chen Nuo’s expression remained calm.

Though Enke spoke miserably, his account was factual, yet Chen Nuo wasn’t emotionally stirred.

"Actually, we shouldn’t have been a country at all—what I mean is, from the start our nation was unhealthy. A force that hasn’t cleared up its local grounds should first clear and settle the whole country, eliminate divisions, end the fighting, then become a nation’s ruler—that’s the correct sequence, right?

But us?

As soon as a warlord becomes slightly stronger, they think to seize the Capital City—is the President’s Mansion really that important?

Is becoming the new government of this country really that crucial?

Actually, it’s not important at all; it’s just for money.

Because seizing the Capital and capturing the President’s Mansion means an empty government without authority—though this name is very significant.

Very significant to those white forces outside.

Only with the government name, can they become trading partners with white folks, have the qualification to sign those mining resource deals.

Only with the name of the government can they collect money from the whites.

While white folks plunder our resources, for the international community, they need legitimate cover. This legitimate cover requires a government here to sign those blood-sucking agreements with them—and us? Whoever seizes the [government] name gets the qualification to earn traitorous money."

Chen Nuo was truly surprised now.

This Enke... is this really how clearheaded he is!

In this regard, he has distanced himself widely from most of the local indigenous black people Chen Nuo has met.

Chen Nuo asked: "Then, having gotten the money from the white people, why not continue expanding, growing stronger, and then plan to clear up the whole country?

Having gotten the whites’ money, at least you should be getting stronger, right? Even if it’s at the cost of national resources in the short-term, but in exchange for the money from the whites, the firearms can arm more soldiers, train stronger troops, and then... unify the country?"

"It’s impossible." Enke gave a wry smile, then said in a low voice: "Those warlord leaders, those tribal chiefs, those regiment leaders, those people are just wolves blinded by greed more rampant than brutality!

Ignorance and greed are like a pair of twins.

With money, they first choose to profit greatly themselves, stash money in overseas accounts.

Buy houses overseas.

Or slaughter for hatred, hunt for women out of lust.

Our whole cycle collapses midway through due to corruption.

People here lack culture, lack belief, lack faith.

Every warlord is essentially just a more powerful Bandit Gang.

You can’t expect a bandit leader to have any intelligent long-term vision and faith.

Everybody is just vying for the qualification to sell out the country."

"No exceptions?" Chen Nuo frowned.

"There are!", Enke slowly exhaled: "That’s exactly what you asked me about tonight, regarding ’Heaven’s Punishment’."

Chen Nuo sat up straight, listening intently.

Enke spoke slowly, "Decades of war, and round after round of warlords taking power. But the times have changed.

Education, this thing, will slowly spread. Even if it starts as just a seed, over long years, it will eventually sprout some seedlings.

A country will always have some intelligent, visionary people.

Unwilling to be the puppets of white people, unwilling to remain poor, unwilling to be a bandit chief, unwilling to be a short-sighted traitorous group.

Then, there are also those who understand that if a country is to become strong, first and foremost, there must be peace.

But this peace has nothing to do with the humanitarian ideals espoused by international peace organizations.

Those people, to me, are all fools.

If we want peace here, what we need is not words, not persuasion, not ceasefire agreements.

What we need is a thorough war!

Because facing dozens of hungry wolves, you can’t expect them to sit down and negotiate, and then happily become one family afterwards.

You need a knife, a hammer, an AK, or a grenade!

You need to knock down these wolves all across the nation, smash their heads! Pull out their teeth! Cut off their claws!

Hang all the local emperors, disarm all armed forces that do not heed the government’s commands, and eliminate all warlord leaders!

Only then can the country be at peace!

And only after peace can development be discussed!"

Chen Nuo nodded, "You’re right, facing a pack of wolves with knives, unifying the country definitely requires going through a war. 𝗳𝚛𝚎𝚎𝘄𝕖𝕓𝕟𝕠𝚟𝚎𝕝.𝗰𝕠𝐦

Breaking the butcher’s knife, twisting the gun barrels, allowing decrees to spread throughout the country, only then can the nation be at peace.

But... why didn’t they do this? And what is Heaven’s Punishment?"

Enke smiled somewhat mysteriously, but Chen Nuo could see that within Enke’s smile, there was a hint of fear.

"I just said, our current government came to power after defeating the previous government five years ago, right?

Then do you know how that previous government five years ago suddenly collapsed?"

Enke spoke while taking a strong drag on his cigarette, his fingers even shook, then he slowly said:

"The leader of that government from five years ago was a guy called General Noy.

That guy was smart, very capable.

His father was a chief, and he studied in Europe, even went to university.

Later when his father died, he gained control of the tribe, and the armed force he led expanded over a few years, eventually becoming the government.

After becoming the government, he also took money from white people, doing the same things as all previous governments.

But what was different was, he used the money from white people to buy better weapons, hired military instructors from several countries. He made his army stronger.

He didn’t have offshore accounts, didn’t stash money into his own pocket.

Our mayor has eight wives, but he, this former president, had only one wife, four children.

It’s said he was even in negotiations with whites to introduce some machinery production lines and the like.

He built schools in the capital and in the cities under his control.

He tried to use his trained army to sweep away other armed forces in the country; he wanted the government to become a true national government.

After becoming the government, he did these things, and then, when he felt his power had grown strong, he waged war.

He used two years to double the territory he controlled — meaning the territory the government actually controlled.

Then..."

At this point, Enke’s cigarette had burned down to just the butt.

He violently crushed the cigarette butt with a kind of agitated posture.

"Then, he died."

Enke’s voice trembled a bit.

"His body was cut into dozens of pieces. Each anti-government armed force received a piece of his corpse, which was then burned, cursed.

Incidentally, his head appeared on the desk of our faction leader at the time.

Now, in our president’s office, there’s a delicate bone-lamp made from his skull."

Chen Nuo raised an eyebrow, "How did this person die?"

"Who the heck knows?", Enke shook his head, "No one knows!

It’s like, one day he was still in the heavily guarded President’s Mansion, protected by that elite guard team trained by foreign military instructors.

The next day, his body had been chopped into dozens of pieces and appeared on many warlord leaders’ desks.

How he died, who did it, how it was done, no one knows.

Everyone only knows, he suddenly died, without a shot fired from his guards, without anyone noticing."

Chen Nuo raised his eyebrows again, sneering, "Assassination?"

The story sounds mysterious - to ordinary people.

But such things, to a top-tier Special Ability User like Chen Yanluo, aren’t anything strange.

With the power of a Controller, even under tight security, there could be a hundred ways to silently kill someone.

Doing such things isn’t difficult.

So...

It could be some faction, to prevent this ambitious president, and perhaps knowing relations in the Underground World, spent a large sum to hire a powerful Special Ability User?

But there is something I don’t understand.

The Underground World also has its own set of rules.

It’s just... being an assassin, although common,

The targets for killing usually very rarely include a nation’s leader.

Killing a rich person, a political figure, is already the limit.

Going higher... would provoke a strong reaction from the secular world.

Even on the Octopus Monster’s website platform, assassination missions banning killing of national leaders are enforced.

Of course, the Underground World isn’t just the Octopus Monster’s website, and not all people follow these implicit rules.

Someone with a rebellious character who doesn’t care about these could take such a commission and do such a case, that also makes sense.

"At first I thought it was just a political assassination.

Might even be someone bribed that former president’s guard officers and killed him.

After all, what he wanted to do would certainly have countless people want him dead."

Enke said, then whispered, "Later, after my sister married the regiment commander, who is now the mayor, and I became an official under Mayor sir, I got to some higher-level information, and I realized things weren’t that simple."

At this, Enke raised his head to look at Chen Nuo.

"There are those who don’t want a unified, powerful government here!

This former president died five and a half years ago. After his death, his forces crumbled, the generals under him vied for power, civil war ensued, and collapsed swiftly.

But, I later went to the capital, and heard my brother-in-law say some things when drunk.

Before this former president, in decades past, our country also had one or two ambitious leaders appear.

Before this former president’s death a decade or so prior, someone similar to him also appeared.

Rising from local warlords, then taking over government power... many different tactics, some aggressive and warlike, some strategic and cautious, some brutal and bloodthirsty.

But as soon as they showed ambition — that is, showing intent to sweep away other local armed forces and launch war...

Then this leader, would die mysteriously in a very short time!

Each time the method of death was the body chopped into dozens of pieces, then separately delivered to the other armed factions’ leaders’ desks!

Later, amongst the high ranks of all forces in this country, such a legend spread.

In this place, Heaven’s God is punishing anyone who tries to unify all tribes! Anyone who raises a blade trying to eliminate all tribes must face Heaven’s Punishment!"

Seeing Enke say this, already trembling...

Chen Nuo curled his lips with disdain, "Bah!"

What nonsense Heaven’s Punishment.

Just a Special Ability User for some unknown reason doing this act.

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