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Chapter 157: "Aid" to Africa
🕑 Added 2025-01-13 14:43:32 +0000 UTC"If you want to untie the bell, you have to find the one who tied it. Since the intelligence of the Europeans links us to Austria, the problem may lie with Austria itself," the chief of the river tribe said thoughtfully, as Azzuri fell silent.
"Only a fool would think so. Use your brain. If you were the ruler of Austria and knew about Wakanda, would you deliberately link your country with us? That would be a provocation! Besides, we all know that Austria's technology has nothing to do with us. I believe some nation or organization is trying to manipulate us into targeting Austria by fabricating this information," the Merchant Tribe Chief replied dismissively.
The other tribal leaders and Azzuri nodded in agreement.
In fact, after careful analysis, the intelligence obtained by the British and French revealed that Austria was the most disadvantaged party aside from Wakanda.
If Wakanda were to investigate and confront Austria, it would play right into the hands of those behind this fabricated intelligence.
"Hmph, I won't spare the culprits when I find out who they are!" Azzuri slammed the armrest of his throne in anger.
"Your Majesty, what about those spies outside?" asked T'Pani, the chief of the border tribe.
"We act together. The rainforest and savannah are full of danger—make it look like an accident," Azzuri replied coldly. It was time for outsiders to witness the power of the Black Panther.
"Ah-choo!" Josh sneezed as he aimed his rifle at a lion on the Sudanese savannah near the Nile.
The sneeze startled the nearby resting lion, which roared loudly at Josh as a warning when it spotted him.
But the lion didn't attack.
Josh wasn't alone. Around him were more than 30 guards, including Vito and a local guide, all armed with rifles.
Sensing the threat, the cautious lion took a few steps back and growled as a warning.
Unfortunately, the smart lion had encountered Josh, who wasn't known for playing fair.
Failing to kill his prey, and now being growled at? Josh would not tolerate such defiance.
He pulled out a small device and pressed a button.
The device emitted a faint clicking sound, barely audible to the lion.
Within seconds, the lion's fur stood on end.
He sensed danger all around him, but he couldn't see it.
Moments later, ten strange-looking creatures emerged from the tall grass and surrounded the lion.
These creatures were Velociraptors, which had once made a brief appearance in Europe War.
Now they served as Josh's hunting dogs.
In one-on-one combat, a Velociraptor was no match for a lion, or even a lioness, due to the sheer difference in strength.
Actual velociraptors were small, averaging less than two meters in length, standing just over a meter tall, and weighing about 20 kilograms.
The ten velociraptors with Josh, however, were a larger subspecies bred by Yuri from the Mongolian region of the Cretaceous. Each was nearly three meters long and about 1.8 meters tall.
It looked imposing at first glance, but that was all appearance.
In reality, velociraptors were quite slender. Their hollow, bird-like bones meant that they weighed little more than 30 kilograms—lighter than the African spotted hyena (which weighs 40—60 kilograms) and very different from their distant African relative, the ostrich, which could weigh up to 150 kilograms. The ostrich was even rumored to have the strength to kick a lion to death, although there was no hard evidence of this, only videos of them chasing away lionesses.
Interestingly, velociraptors shared some similarities with hyenas, such as matriarchal social structures and pack behavior.
However, it would be a grave mistake to underestimate the velociraptor by equating its fighting skills with those of a hyena.
Hyenas might occasionally outnumber and bully lionesses, but they were no match for a lion. Lions were superior to hyenas in speed, strength, and reflexes.
Velociraptors, on the other hand, made up for their lack of raw strength with superior speed, agility, and reflexes.
Despite their slender build, their hollow but resilient bones and tough keratinized skin under their feathers gave them remarkable durability. Unless directly pinned down, even the superior strength of a male lion would be unable to deliver a fatal blow to a Velociraptor.
However, the Velociraptor's greatest weapon—the razor-sharp, sickle-shaped claws on its highly flexible hind limbs—could inflict devastating damage. With a claw over 13 centimeters long, a single slash could be fatal.
To use a gaming analogy, velociraptors were like high-damage, high-defense, fast-moving assassins, while lions were general warriors with average attack and defense but high raw power.
The result was clear. Unless a lion could restrict a Velociraptor's mobility, it had no chance of winning.
And would a Velociraptor fight head-to-head? Absolutely not.
A raptor jumped onto the distracted lion's back while it focused on its packmates. It latched onto the lion's neck with its forelimbs, then used its powerful hind claws to repeatedly slash at the lion's abdomen, causing excruciating pain.
The other raptors took the opportunity to leave deep wounds all over the lion's body.
Although the scene seems long to describe, the attack lasted only seconds.
By the time the lion finally forced the raptor off its back by rolling on the ground, its body was covered in dozens of gaping, bloody wounds, some deep enough to expose bone.
The most gruesome injuries were on its belly, where several large gashes revealed exposed intestines.
The scene was gruesomely bloody, causing Josh and his group to frown in discomfort.
Though they had witnessed Raptor hunts before, the sheer brutality of this one never failed to unsettle them.
It was no surprise that paleontologists in the previous world considered velociraptors, despite their small size, to be some of the most perfect killing machines of the Cretaceous period.
"Is it time yet?" Josh turned to Vito, deliberately ignoring the sight of the feasting raptors.
Josh wasn't in Africa just to hunt. Hunting could be done at any time—concepts like poaching didn't even exist in this era.
His real goal, like that of the British and French, was Wakanda.
However, Josh had no intention of entering Wakanda himself. Instead, Vito would lead a team that would try to take advantage of the chaos in Wakanda to smuggle out some Vibranium while stirring up trouble for the British and French.
As for Josh, his role here was simple; transportation.
What was he transporting? Weapons, of course!
Since last year, the U.S. military had been massively downsized. Lyndon, Ophelia, and the Austrian government had purchased large quantities of American military equipment at dirt-cheap prices—cheaper than scrap metal.
From pistols and bayonets to tanks and airplanes, countless warehouses were filled with these items.
During his time in Europe, one of Josh's tasks, in addition to dealing with the Yugoslavian wars, was to clear out these warehouses by transferring everything to the system inventory.
Even though Daenerys' forces were in the midst of intense battles, they could only use so much of the stockpile weapons. Leaving the rest to sit idle would take up valuable space, and even with the system’s vast storage capacity, it wasn’t infinite.
So where would all the weapons go?
Josh decided to contribute to the independence and liberation of Africa.
While he wasn't particularly friendly with his "black brothers," his dislike for the British and French was even stronger.
The black communities may be poor, but with Josh's zero transportation costs, selling the equipment for slightly more than his purchase price seemed reasonable. If they couldn't pay in dollars; gold, silver, platinum, gems, and minerals would do.
And if that wasn't enough, Josh was open to deals; win the war and gain independence, and he'd claim rights to some of their land and resources. If they lost, well, investments were always risky, and Josh could afford a few losses.
So while British and French intelligence agencies focused on investigating Wakanda, Josh had been selling arms from Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, and Sudan, moving south.
Surprisingly, this low-margin, high-volume trade had already yielded over seven tons of gold, over 20 tons of silver, and over a ton of various gemstones—a modest profit of a few million. Chump change, really.
In fact, he had sold barely a fifth of his stock, just enough to cover the cost of his purchase from the U.S. military.
Now Josh and his group waited for their next batch of customers.
Once the deal was done, Josh planned to continue south to sell—no, "help"—other black communities in the region.
"Fifteen minutes to go!" Vito checked his watch and replied.
"Boss, I think they're here!" A lookout pointed to a dark line moving toward them across the distant savanna.
"Vito, get ready!" Josh looked ahead and nodded, giving the order.
Vito acknowledged the order and began to lead the guards to their assigned positions. The ten Velociraptors also disappeared into the thick grass, ready to strike if necessary.
Despite the gains Josh had made along the way, he knew that dealing with these black factions required caution. Many didn't play by the rules, so precautions were essential.
Since setting foot in Africa, Josh's group had dealt with at least ten unruly warlords.
