Smit, an ordinary field engineer, was sent to the capital, Mogadishu, because of a $30 billion oil and gas field development deal between ExxonMobil and Somali authorities.

Although he had made all kinds of preparations before coming here, the dilapidated level of the place ended up exceeding his expectations.

He had read in travel magazines that it was known as the white pearl of the Indian Ocean before the civil war.

Now, the buildings with a bit of history are all that remains in ruins, bullet holes are clearly visible in the walls, most of the roads are potholed, and the entire city is barely green. As long as you have a mouth, you will be able to eat a stomach full of sand.

It's not just the greening that is being criticized.

Because of the local culture, there are no bars, and casual drinking is punishable by caning.

Although their executives managed to help them gain the privilege of drinking without being whipped, the privilege was limited to the dormitories, and the variety and quantity of supply was quite limited, which was really unpleasant.

So, for those of them who have been sent here, the only entertainment here is to buy the latest newspaper, sit in a café near the company's premises, consume the air conditioning that the locals can't afford, and spend the afternoon drinking hand-ground coffee denominated in dollars.

It doesn't matter what newspaper it is.

It doesn't matter if it's the BBC or Playboy, as long as you have words, because life here is so boring.

As usual, Smit went to the café, ordered a cup of black coffee that was hard enough to drink for an afternoon, and sat down in a safe place far from the window with the newspaper in hand.

Just as he was about to start today's newspaper reading pastime, he was stunned for a moment.

[Elwag Victory!] The Somali regular army has won a big victory! 】

What the heck?

April Fool's joke?

No, there's still half a year.

The moment he saw the headline in the newspaper, Smit's first reaction was that something must have gone wrong.

He is clear about the combat effectiveness of the Somali regular army, even if he has been trained by various ** officers, but the fight is still quite barbaric, it can be said that the rifle is replaced by a spear that can breathe fire, without any sense of disobedience.

In contrast, the enemy they face is a pirate who is a headache for all countries in the world, and a devil who has survived the elimination and test of blood and fire for more than ten years.

In the face of such an enemy, let alone them, even if the US aircraft carriers are invited, they may not be able to completely wipe them out, let alone the Somali Army, which can't even muster a few tanks.

In disbelief, he looked down at the newspaper, but it didn't matter, and his eyes were glued to the picture of the newspaper.

That's four sets of images, to be exact.

Two of the groups were "black coffins" suspended by parachute, presumably filmed with some kind of professional remote filming equipment.

The other two photos are a long-range snapshot of a swarm of drones flying out of the black coffin, and smoke rising from a detonated ammunition depot hidden behind a hill.

The moment he saw these pieces of equipment, Smit could be sure that the Somali authorities must have invited foreign help.

These natives of East Africa may not have even seen what a drone looks like, so how can they use high-tech equipment that even the U.S. military has not installed on a large scale.

Sure enough, when he read down the text, he quickly found the answer between the lines.

"With the support of the Chinese side, the Elwag area occupied by the militants of the Somali ZF army launched the largest offensive this year, dropping at least 100 aerial bombs on the battlefield during the fighting, destroying more than 20 ammunition depots and more than a dozen militant control posts."

At the same time, our reporter learned that a small drone suspected to be controlled by AI to automatically identify the militants and attack them was put into the fight against China. This drone is highly similar in shape to the logistics drone that is being promoted in Shenzhen recently, and it is uncertain whether it comes from the same company......"

"At present, the battlefield has moved from open areas to street fighting, and several militant leaders have been killed. According to a spokesman for the Somali authorities, the armed forces active on the ground are no longer able to maintain control over the area, and the ZF Army is reclaiming villages and towns that were previously controlled by the militants. It is expected that this unrest will continue until the end of the year, and this newspaper reminds foreign employees working in the local area to pay attention to travel safety. ”

In addition, our reporter has consulted the US military base in Ethiopia to ask for more information about the air raid. However, the head of the military base did not say what kind of aircraft were involved in the airstrike, and where the airstrike came from, and refused to answer in more detail. ”

“…… Oh, God. ”

The Yankees actually helped China keep it secret?

The sun is simply coming out in the west!

Smit would not have believed that the American military would keep the Chinese tight-lipped about the weapons used to launch air strikes. If they knew, the whole world would know about it.

In this case, there is only one possibility......

So far, they haven't found enough evidence to prove who actually started the airstrike and where it came from.

Just as the expression on his face gradually changed from doubt to disbelief, the voices of several other foreign employees whispered behind him.

Coincidentally, what they were discussing happened to be the same thing as the thing he was trying to figure out to doubt his life.

"Have you seen yesterday's news? The Somali ZF army actually won?! ”

"Do you still need to watch it? It's all about it on Twitter today! Many people say that Hua Guo used some kind of terrible secret weapon. I heard from our resident bodyguards that his eldest nephew, who served at the station, was involved in that battle, and that they were ready to fight the militants to the death, but they went in and collected the bodies of the militants. ”

As he spoke, the man with the stubble on his chin couldn't help but smash his tongue, as if he was a witness to the battle, and continued in a heavy tone.

"You don't want to see that...... It's like hell. ”

"What do you think that secret weapon might be?"

"I don't know, but a lot of people say it's orbital weapons...... If it was a fighter or a bomber, it would not have been possible to fly so far, and it would have been impossible to escape the radar of the US military base! ”

Listening to the discussion of several foreign employees behind him, Smit fell silent, and it took a long time before he squeezed out a sentence.

"It's insane......"

Orbital weapons?

Completely avoid the radar of the US military?

This is simply ridiculous!

Let's just say that the Somali ZF has achieved an epic victory with the help of aliens!

After reading the newspaper in his hand, Smit, seeing that it was already early, drank the last bit of coffee in his cup, threw a dollar tip to the waiter, and got up from his seat.

The streets were filled with cheers and celebrations, and locals gathered in groups as if to celebrate and welcome something.

For this lifeless city, this scene is as if it comes from another world, and it is so unreal.

Although curious about what was happening to celebrate, Smit did not dare to get in touch with the locals, because his skin color was too dazzling for the locals, and it was easy to be mistaken for a fat sheep......

Over the next few days, strange things happened.

First they moved next door to a Chinese construction company, then an oil company, and then an import and export trading company......

Later, there were more and more Chinese faces in the neighborhood, and supermarkets, clothing stores, and even franchised bars were gradually opened.

Yes, it's a bar.

This made Smit's eyes red with envy.

Although their executives had tried to bribe local officials to see if they could come up with an American bar to entertain their employees, the officials were full of promises when they received the money, but when they were ready to open the bar, they instantly turned away from them.

I don't know what those Chinese people used to buy them off, and they actually made them bow their heads to principles.

Interestingly, though, the Chinese employees don't seem to be very interested in bars, and are frequented only by American and European employees who work for Shell and ExxonMobil.

This also includes Smit himself.

Though jealousy is jealousy, there is nothing wrong with wine.

However, something happened that annoyed Smit. One day, he suddenly discovered that the wine that the Chinese people sold to them was twice as expensive as the price of selling it to their employees.

When he questioned the bartender, he received only one sentence of "exchange rate reasons", and there was no further explanation.

This is simply a clear slaughter!

Although he was angry in his heart, in the end, Smit could only grit his teeth and admit it.

No way, who wants this to have only such a bar?

Thanks to these Chinese nationals who are praised by the locals, even if they don't like him very much, at least he has one more fun in his life, and he no longer has to drink coffee and read the newspaper like an old man.

In the week that followed, things got even more interesting.

There are more and more Chinese faces in the neighborhood, and it has become a Chinatown.

Later, Smit learned from several British oil workers that the Chinese construction company was preparing to send an engineering team to the Elewag area to rebuild the city recaptured by the ZF Army.

Now Smit is increasingly certain that the Somali authorities must have reached some kind of ulterior deal with the Chinese side, contracting all the reconstruction of the area to the Chinese.

But Smit still couldn't figure it out.

Is there anything of value there other than stones and sand?

There is no point in bringing order to cacti and camels.

And, frankly, a chaotic Somalia could at least help the world steadily consume some of its surplus arms and feed at least 20,000 families who depend on it.

Yesterday, while drinking in a bar, he also heard an acquaintance of the arms brokers complaining that the Chinese construction workers had taken their jobs, and that the honorariums paid by several arms giants, such as Lockheed Martin, had been drastically reduced, and that they now had to abandon the "market" they had so hard to open up and go to the more dangerous Central African region.

When they spoke of it, their eyes gleamed with excitement, like sixteenth-century navigators.

It is said that there is a food crisis and that various tribes and warlords are constantly fighting.

Although they are not as "rich" as Somali pirates, there are unmined diamonds, gold mines, oil, and every inch of land there smells of rotting flesh or banknotes.

Before the Chinese open up the market there, they can make a lot of money while there is still a mess.

Drinking and drinking, the arms broker with a face full of vicissitudes fell asleep.

Smit didn't disturb his sweet dreams, but just bothered about something to himself, and drank sullen wine.

Now it's not just that newspaper, there are more and more things that he can't figure out.

Vaguely, he felt that the logic of the operation of the world seemed to be quietly undergoing some kind of huge change.

He couldn't describe the feeling, only vaguely felt that the change seemed to have started a long time ago, but recently even he had begun to be affected.

For example, being able to sit here and drink with a lot of swagger.

For example, being able to stay outside the dorm room until 10 p.m....... In order to protect those Chinese, the local military and police have at least tripled the police force here, and in the past, there were occasional robbers, but now as long as they do not go out of this street, they basically can't see a shadow of a local.

However, there is no way to figure it out.

After all, there seems to be only so much for a small person like him to witness with his eyes......