George Bush’S Great America [EN]: Chapter 177

< Episode 176 >

While the southeastern part of the American continent was desperately fighting against the majestic advance of a firestorm that human power could not stop, something quite similar was happening on the opposite side of the globe. The only difference was that they were trying to start a fire, not put it out.

When you ask people who live far from war zones to describe a bombing, they often say that pillars of fire erupt. The reality is slightly different.

“Fantastic!”

Pillars of fire do erupt, but they aren’t neat columns. They scatter in all directions as they explode, so it’s more accurate to say that the ground is engulfed in flames.

“Those terrorists never get tired of showing up, especially the snipers.”

A Frenchman and an Englishman were sharing tea while watching the scene. I had heard that British tanks always have tea-making machines, and Elan’s genius ‘Sergeant Remond’ confirmed it today. Of course, there really was a tea-making machine, and even a dedicated tea storage box. However, it seemed the storage box was personally installed.

In war, the most threatening forces are asymmetric weapons like nuclear or biological weapons. However, when confined to a small battlefield, the most threatening presence to infantry is always snipers. Of course, it varies from person to person, but unlike tanks or aircraft, snipers are invisible, which can lead to situations where the entire army cannot advance. Therefore, even a limited asymmetric force is significant.

It means that, to a limited extent, it becomes possible to do something like Zhang Fei [a famous general known for holding off an entire army at Changban Bridge in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms] at Changban Bridge. Therefore, in accordance with the principle that there are no snipers if there is no terrain to hide in, the US military has been fond of the time-honored ‘bomb everything to ashes’ strategy since World War II.

The EU military is similar in this regard. So, they blew up a hill suspected of harboring snipers. Unlike the old armies that were divided by country, the newly reborn army in the form of a semi-permanent alliance had a budget so vast that it was no exaggeration. This was a stark contrast to the old days when they were struggling with arms reduction.

There have been many joint exercises and actual battles to improve proficiency, and there were even rumors of newly building aircraft carriers. Some might say, ‘Europe having aircraft carriers in this day and age?’ That’s because aircraft carriers are actually very inefficient weapons. Strictly speaking, it’s just an airport floating on the sea, yet takeoff and landing are incredibly difficult. It is for rapid air force response in areas without airports.

In other words, an aircraft carrier is just an expensive and useless object under the premise that it ‘reaches the sphere of influence of land airports.’ At least, it’s not something that the current EU military, which doesn’t need to invade anywhere and has a large land area, should have. It might be a different story for the UK, which still has territories abroad even after World War II ended and most colonies disappeared, but the other countries are all the same.

Anyway, a small hill was burning like hell under the joint forces’ attack. The sniper who had been bothering them must have died as well. Even if he didn’t die, he wouldn’t be in a condition to snipe anymore.

“They must be desperate in their own way.”

Even though they were quite far from the hill, the heat of the explosion could be felt here. The exposed skin felt hot all over. Of course, it might just be a feeling, or it might be because the hot tea was circulating through the body. But one thing is certain: this feeling is now sickeningly tiresome.

Behind them was the city they were trying to protect. The higher-ups were talking a lot about justice and whatnot, but to put it coldly, it was just a city where foreigners lived. It wouldn’t be strange if they didn’t feel like protecting it at all. Protecting foreigners they don’t even know in a foreign land that has nothing to do with them? It was not something a sane person would readily do.

In World War II, it was often the case that enemy soldiers were lurking on the other side of a wall. In urban warfare, where it is difficult to distinguish even the front and back, let alone the location, it was happening even in modern warfare.

Such a thing was happening here as well. If you want to hide a tree, hide it in the forest. Who would have known that the leadership of the Islamic Liberation Front terrorists was lurking in the house right behind where the Allied tanks were parked? They were watching the small hill being bombed behind the thin wall made of poor-quality concrete.

“Amazing. If only we could get our hands on that kind of firepower.”

They are sometimes foolish, but not stupid. They clearly realized the difference in tactics that comes from firepower. But there was something that they encountered faster than any other country in the world, and that was drones.

“That’s that, but did you bring the goods?”

The man was holding a cookie in his hand and laughing heartily. He was of mixed Chinese and Afghan descent, born in Iran. But he had lived half his life in Iraq, and the other half had been spent doing business in Germany and England. If that were all, he would have been just a businessman living a truly eventful life. But the very fact that a mere businessman was meeting with terrorists meant that he was not a very ordinary person. He originally had a different name, but due to circumstances, he had changed his name to Alan Wesker when doing business in England.

Anyway, the terrorist leader frowned when he saw the cookie the businessman was holding.

“Do you have a doctrine in your religion that forbids eating cookies? I knew you didn’t drink alcohol, but.”

The leader shook his head with a still-frowning expression, as if that wasn’t the case. It was a sensitive issue because it was directly related to life.

“Then?”

“He who does not work shall not eat.”

“Pardon?”

“So, I’ve been starving all day today.”

A moment of silence followed. For a moment, it felt like encountering some ascetic in the Indian mountains rather than other Muslims.

“I always think this, but there are quite a few people in your group who have rather… unique ideas.”

What he originally wanted to say was ‘idiotic.’ To the eyes of someone who knows the true taste of capitalism and knows how to handle it well, this leader couldn’t look more strange. Of course, there were such people even in the upper class. But for someone living in a country where their life is on the line today or tomorrow to have such a way of thinking? Goodness.

However, unlike ideologies, the money they hold in their hands is equal. There are people in the world who will do anything if you pay them properly, and Wesker was just such a person.

“I’d appreciate it if you’d consider it my own enlightenment.”

In fact, the very fact that he could have such a complete conversation with an Islamic fundamentalist was close to a miracle. But that must be why he took on the role of leader.

“That cookie. It’s a fortune cookie.”

“It’s Chinese.”

“Fortune cookies are Japanese. I don’t know why it’s known as a food originating from China.”

“No. It was made in China. PRC [People’s Republic of China]. MADE IN CHINA.”

Another unpleasant silence followed. Unable to bear the silence, Wesker spoke first.

“Besides, this is a cookie with a huge origin dispute. There are several origin disputes going on right now, so can you say so definitively that Japan is the origin?”

Wesker said that and split the fortune cookie in half. Usually, fortune cookies have fortunes written on them, but this was a special fortune cookie. Inside the fortune cookie was a very small chip. Although small, it was about the size of a finger joint.

“It’s quite a classic method. Is this chip okay?”

A semiconductor is a very delicate thing. No matter how sturdy an electronic device is, if the core semiconductor is damaged, the electronic device is as good as useless. Especially delicate things like these storage media.

“We don’t bake it in, but put it in when it’s cooled down appropriately. I hope you’re satisfied with our product.”

“I hope so. By the way, you got this through the border well.”

“Unlike other countries, the Middle East has very lax security. As long as you don’t openly carry guns and knives, anything goes through.”

“So, what about this chip?”

“There’s a dedicated converter.”

He plugged various things into the semiconductor terminal and then connected it to the computer.

“How is it? This is our program.”

It was a kind of Trojan horse variant. It was the latest version of the virus that had been popular for a long time, which decrypts everything, and it was created by a company. What is clearly different from the existing ones is that while some ransomware was for the purpose of making money for poor and impoverished hackers or satisfying the secret sadism dormant inside, this was a virus created by a small and medium-sized company for terrorist cyber warriors.

“Modern warfare is electronic warfare. If you just plant it, they’ll beg. I hope you can bring your enemies to the negotiating table with this virus. It’ll be quite useful if you don’t use it stupidly. Consider the expiration date to be about 3 years unless you hit it big. That’s how viruses are.”

He had a very satisfied expression. That’s because he happened to have someone to negotiate with.

“Didn’t you say there was one more?”

“Ah, of course.”

Wesker took out a USB from his bunch of keys.

“Is this also a program?”

“No. It’s not a program, but this USB is what I’m going to sell to you.”

“Isn’t it just a USB?”

“Well, that’s what it looks like. Do you have a computer among your computers that you can throw away?”

“I have one.”

When he gestured, his subordinate brought a laptop that looked quite old.

“DOS [Disk Operating System]?”

It wasn’t a rare item even a few years ago, but now I was slowly feeling a sense of distance. The problem was that it wasn’t equipped with a USB port, but this was solved with a converter.

“Well, that’s good.”

The important thing was whether or not you could plug in the USB. As soon as he plugged in the USB killer, the parts ruptured and the PC turned off with a sparking sound and never turned on again.

“What is this?”

“This is called a USB killer. It’s something that makes the computer unusable by applying high voltage, and what I want to sell is the blueprint for this. Even if the battery is a bit large, you can use it even when the computer is turned off. You can make it very easily if you know the principle.”

Wesker explained proudly and plugged it back into the keychain.

“How is it? You can even drop an airplane with this, although it has to be the latest model with a USB port. At least for now, there’s no country that’s carefully examining this.”

“That’s tempting.”

Wesker noticed that his eyes had changed. There are always people like this when you deal with terrorists. People who try to get rid of you without hesitation when they think you’re no longer useful.

“I’ll send this to you around next week.”

“That’s a shame. I wanted to use it right away.”

“Don’t worry. I can get you anything if you pay the price.”

“Oh, what about the tank in front of that house?”

“If you want.”

Wesker stared out the window and opened his mouth. He saw an Englishman and a Frenchman, and lo and behold, one of the Frenchmen was quite famous in Europe.

“However, it’s not a price you can afford.”