"It's like an African. Seeing Ye Tian lying shirtless on an abandoned second-story building basking in the sun, Ralph quipped. Although the clouds are thick in the sky, the sun occasionally naughtily shows its head and shines on the long-lost earth. The tenacious and tenacious grass grows in the gap between the floor and the floor slab, and the sunlight shines through the clouds like a sharp sword, making the water droplets on the grass shimmer with fantastic colorful light.

The skin on Ye Tian's body has colored quickly, and the originally fair skin has gradually become a healthy wheat color after these days. If you don't look closely, it's already very similar to many mixed-race Africans. It's just that the hideous scars on the body make people feel shocking just by looking at them.

The two men walked and stopped all the way, and finally entered the territory of Kenya. The entire hinterland of Africa seems to be at war, with many borders and cities at war, except for the major cities, which have normal order. However, the regime in Kenya is relatively stable, and the probability of a coup d'état is very small.

"Is that the town you said in front?" Ye Tian sat cross-legged on the roof of the abandoned second floor with his upper body naked. In the distance, the sparkling river meanders like a snake, and the flat, endless grasslands begin to appear, and the undulating mountains stretch into the distance.

"Yes, Kutcher. Ralph nodded, a hint of indescribable loneliness in his eyes.

"It's not on the map, but everyone calls it Kutcher, and some call it Thocher. It was a vanished oasis, and the people who lived here today were mostly people who worked for the nearby gold and diamond mines. There's my best friend here, and if we're lucky, we don't have to go to the heavily guarded part of the mine to find him. Ralph quipped, "He's a celebrity here." ”

"Is this town really out of the government?"

Ralph shook his head and said: "The local government here has been forcibly disbanded, and most of the energy of the Kenyan central government is used to deal with the military problems on the border with Somalia, and it is simply not able to manage these areas. ”

Ralph pointed to the mine in front of him and said, "That super gold mine in front is the master of this town. They have their own powerful mercenaries, but they are reasonable, as long as they work hard here, they will be paid accordingly, and they will be guaranteed personal safety. It is said that this gold mine has obtained the super mining rights for 99 years, and the owner behind it is European, and the weapons and equipment are all French. Ralph shrugged: "Anyway, these rich mineral resources in Africa are basically white." If they don't get it, they will launch a coup d'état, incite racist contradictions, or simply mercenary legions to rob it. ”

Ye Tian's heart moved when he heard this, isn't this model mentioned when he was in China? Through a strong economy, the mercenaries will continue to grow, and when they are strong enough, they will be able to control a certain region. Even some small countries carry out military and economic infiltration, and finally achieve the goal of control. Or directly through forceful armed intervention.

"Then this regime occupies such an eye-catching gold mine, isn't it afraid of being attacked by other mercenaries?"

Ralph nodded and said disapprehantly: "Most of East Africa and North Africa are in a state of war. The real power in each country is dominated by the military, and these guys are inextricably linked to the local mine owners. As long as the troops are paid enough money, any problem can be solved. Isn't this true not only in East Africa and North Africa, but also in Afghanistan? These Caucasians, who have cultivated their own power there, end up with war everywhere, but no matter what, they will always find a suitable way, and they will not find a loophole in the legal level, that is, they will get an obedient and legitimate government on the legal level. If the legitimate government is attacked by other mercenaries, they will intervene under the pretext of protecting the legitimate regime. ”

As if thinking of something sad, Ralph sighed heavily and said, "People here, as long as they don't get beaten to death and don't starve to death, can be regarded as a happy life." As for who takes power and who occupies the gold mines, what difference does it make?"

Ye Tian patted Ralph's shoulder and didn't say anything. Everyone has their own destiny, and since they are already on the established track of life, don't be sad about anything.

The sunset in the rainy season is always particularly beautiful, and the dazzling sunlight gradually becomes soothing and soothed by the layers of dark clouds, accompanied by the cloud-like tired birds, slowly sinking below the horizon.

In the dark, we entered this nondescript town.

It's a small town, but it's actually more like a small city. But the gates were in ruins, and the walls of the earth were broken and broken.

Walking into the town, you will be greeted by a mud patch mixed with a large number of thatched houses, and a wide sandy road that leads to the foot of the mountain. On both sides of the road, there are many small restaurants with oil lamps. Greasy dining tables sit in the airy house, and from time to time workers in ragged clothes come and go.

Further on, you can see pink huts with improvised wires, and scantily dressed and dark-skinned women standing in front of the door, scratching their heads, hoping to make money from these men with green eyes.

Ye Tian and the two of them walked on the crowded road, without attracting the attention of the people here.

Walking towards the foot of the mountain, there were more people on the road. Most of these people are miners from nearby gold and diamond mines, and although they are not well paid, they are already very good in this land where people starve to death every day.

"They come down from the gold mines, and they are subjected to strict checks every day such as body searches. Ralph pointed to the limping and bloodied man in front of him and whispered, "Once someone is found to be hiding rough gold or diamonds, this kind of poison is the lightest, and some are directly killed and thrown in the wilderness to feed the lions." ”

"Where do we sleep at night?" Ye Tian looked around, but he didn't find a place like a hotel. He was not interested in the life or death of these miners, in an unfamiliar area, the most important thing Ye Tian had to do was to find a safe place to stay.

Ralph bared his mouth full of white teeth, and grinned and hugged Ye Tian's shoulder: "Don't look for it, do you think this place looks like a hotel?" There are many abandoned houses at the foot of the mountain, and their owners have either made a fortune and left here, or died in the mines, of course, there are many smart people who have given up their ambitions and chose to leave. So the houses gradually became empty and were taken for themselves by some homeless people and miners. ”

"Isn't that difficult to manage? There are so many people, it takes a lot of police force to manage, right?"

"Management, why do you need management?" Ralph pouted: "These people don't take the resources of the mine, when the mine doesn't need workers, these people solve all the problems themselves, and when the mine needs workers, they become workers and get paid for their work." Ralph pointed to the lights in the pink hut behind him: "These electricity are also sold to them at a high price from the mine." ”

Ye Tian looked at these workers who had just come down from the mine. The faces without any protective measures were covered with dust and stone debris, and many of them had bloody scabbed wounds on their hands, but one by one they happily talked in the local language that Ye Tian did not understand.

"These people's daily wish is to be fed and alive. As for the rest, they are just distant dreams that cannot be touched. Ralph said in a deep voice.

The atmosphere was a little dull, and Ralph took Ye Tian around to the back and found a relatively clean house in the abandoned houses.

"That's it, there's no excrement, and some wind and rain can be sheltered. Ralph was a little more interested in finding a place to live, and abandoned houses were scattered all over the place, but many of them were either inhabited or filled with all kinds of excrement. Others have no roofs or walls, and these houses are of course usable in Africa during the dry season, but in Africa during the rainy season, such houses are obviously uninhabitable.

Taking out the sleeping bag from the duffel bag, Ye Tian smiled and threw it to Ralph.

"If you snore tonight, I'll throw excrement from the ground nearby into your mouth. ”

Ralph made a vomiting motion and opened the waterproof sleeping bag. Seeing that Ye Tian began to arrange fishing lines with small bells around him, Ralph couldn't help but shake his head and smile bitterly: "It's absolutely safe here." ”

Ye Tian sprinkled the anti-snake and all kinds of mosquito medicine on the corner of the wall, and then clapped his hands and shook his head: "In this world, there is no absolutely safe place. ”

Ralph shook his head and began to press the sleeping bag up and down, and Ye Tian also 'abused' the sleeping bag in the same way. In less than five minutes, the sleeping bag that was still deflated just now had been tormented by two people, and the sleeping parts were all surrounded by air capsules bulging up and down, left and right. Not only are these military sleeping bags waterproof, but they can also be used as lifeboats during the rainy season, when flash floods can occur at any time.

Ralph slipped into the gas-filled sleeping bags all around, and through the sparse thatched roof, he could see that the sky was full of dark clouds.

"The owners of these gold and diamond mines have formed a joint mercenary agency. Their power is large and they are protected by state forces. In addition, it has the support of Europe and America, so it has always been very strong and safe. In order to protect their own interests, they also do not allow the miners here to be harmed. So, it's safe here. ”

The two of them chatted a few more words, and then fell asleep deeply.

I don't know how long it took, Ye Tian was awakened by the sound of hurried horses' hooves in the distance.

"Why are so many horses galloping here?"

Ralph, who was dreaming beautifully, muttered a tribal language very dissatisfied, and said to Ye Tian: "Please, that's the horse team in the mine, do you think there will be electricity in Africa every day? Kenya has no coal resources and can only import it by sea from Somalia, which relies on these horses and diesel fuel to power gold panning equipment when the situation in Somalia is chaotic. Sleep, sleep, yes, I'm dreaming。。。。。 ”

After hearing Ralph's explanation, he relieved himself and lay down to continue sleeping.