Chapter 267 Riot

"Bread! Bread! Bread! Bread!"

"Milk! Milk! Milk! Milk!"

Just when Kevin and others were thinking about how to celebrate Mei's birthday, the Rhine, tens of thousands of kilometers away, fell into chaos again.

It was unclear which block started the riot first, and it was impossible to find out what was the last straw that broke the camel's back.

In short, when the riot control troops directly under the city hall arrived at the XC area, which was said to be the first to cause unrest, the people there were already shouting slogans and holding up banners with blood-stained words. They broke through the blockade set up by the local guards like mad sheep breaking through the fence, forming a bloated and long dragon, and quickly rushed to the main road leading to the suburbs.

The hundreds of soldiers responsible for suppressing the riots, even with the local guards, only had a number of more than a thousand. It was a fantasy to stop a riot of tens of thousands of people with just these people.

What was even more troublesome was that within the next hour, as agreed, countless starving people with long hair and beards, skinny bodies, and almost no clothes came out one after another from the underground air-raid shelters in other areas of Rhine City where they had taken shelter.

They moved their lips and made low voices and calls that were difficult for ordinary people to understand. The sound was neither like a dialect nor an ancient language. If they had to say it, it would be more like the unclear prayers during the mass... Or perhaps, these people had already lost their ability to speak after being confined underground for a long time.

But if you listen carefully and think about their current situation, it is obvious that what they kept shouting, what they needed and wanted most, was "milk and bread".

The youngest of them had not seen the sun for more than three years.

Many people were blinded by the afternoon sun at the first sight, but they still had ears-

A man in a windbreaker casually climbed up a pile of rubble, which can be seen everywhere in the city today. He looked completely different from the hungry people-

He had a dark complexion, wore a pair of sunglasses, and had a few thin scars under his cheekbones. He walked with a limp, so that he had to support his butt with both hands when climbing the rubble. This funny posture almost made him fall down halfway.

But when he stood on the high ground, he did not make any deafening speech. It was not that he had nothing to say. He wanted to say and could say a lot, but many of them were meaningless-no matter for "him" or him, they were meaningless.

In the end, even his name was no longer important, so what was the past experience?

"Let's go!"

His voice rang in the mind of every hungry person.

"I'll take you to a place with bread, milk, and beef."

…………

"What should I do, Mr. Alderman!"

"You ask me, who should I ask..."

Faced with his subordinates' questions, Buggy rubbed his beard and complained in a low voice.

"Um... should we notify the European branch of the Fire Moth?"

"Stupid!"

As if he had heard something extremely terrible, Buggy turned around and slapped his assistant on the head with the folder in his hand.

"Pierre, are you stupid? Are you stupid? Are you stupid?"

It was not enough to slap him. He kicked his assistant Pierre twice, and then he pulled his assistant Pierre in front of him and explained in a low voice:

"Report to the Fire Moth? How to report? When they come over and see, well, where are there so many hungry people making trouble?"

To fight against Honkai, it only means that resources are given priority to the military, but it does not mean that the lives of ordinary people are ignored.

After all, even if we don't consider humanitarianism, and only think from an absolute rational point of view, if most people live below the poverty line, then occasional riots and non-cooperation will greatly reduce the efficiency of resource integration.

Fighting against collapse is not a one-day job, and both the previous coalition government and Mei know this.

So, regardless of the facts, just from the perspective of the system, the coalition government has long implemented a resource rationing system on a global scale. Even if a vagrant is penniless, unemployed, and even unable to prove his identity (such people are common in the case of a large number of collapse disasters and the lack of common database networks in various places), as long as he actively registers with the local city hall, he can get a household registration and the corresponding D-level survival supplies distributed three times a week.

In terms of cost, D-level survival supplies are only one-third of A-level survival supplies, but this so-called cost is more on vegetables, fruits and some medicines. In terms of pure energy, it is actually enough to meet the needs of an adult.

Well, that is the so-called junk food.

But this is only in theory. There is no free lunch in the world. Under the highly rationed resource system, after registering your household registration, you will be sent to various factories to be semi-forced to perform extremely high-intensity labor. Even children over the age of twelve will not be spared.

The materials they produce range from soul steel and various special metals to weapons and firearms, and down to cans for storing materials. Perhaps they even make the packaging of the materials they receive themselves!

But the intensity of the labor is too high. Twelve hours a day is considered standard working hours. Therefore, many people would rather not register, but live by hiding in ruins and air-raid shelters, constantly collecting materials before the disaster. This is freer -

This is also one of the reasons for the sharp decline in the world's population. A large number of people did not die in the disaster, but were out of the control of the coalition government. Their lives will not be included in the electronic archives, and their deaths will not be included in the electronic archives either.

However, according to the regulations, the top priority of a city hall is to eliminate the hazards caused by disasters, even though this is impossible.

Of course Pierre thought of this, but he still asked hesitantly:

"However, this kind of hiding happens all over the world. It's an unspoken rule, right... Dr. Mei shouldn't pursue such a trivial matter, right?"

It’s not that we don’t work hard, it’s that we can’t do this even if we try hard!

Unless you ask those factories to strictly abide by the eight-hour work system, with two weekends a week plus holidays, it’s strange that people are willing to come to this concentration camp-style management method!

"Of course this kind of thing is not a problem!"

Bucky was going crazy. If he had known earlier, he should not have listened to the nagging at home and put his stupid brother-in-law in the position of assistant. Otherwise, it would be great to recruit a considerate female college student!

"Then...is that because those people in the city don't have to work...then, isn't this an unspoken rule? She shouldn't pursue it, right?"

Although there is no free lunch in the world, even in the end of the world, there are definitely not a few people who can get something for nothing.

Rhine is a world-famous industrial area. In the early days when there were not so many people living in seclusion, in order to ensure that there was enough labor for production, the city hall allowed Rhine locals to enter the factory to enjoy normal holidays and receive C-level survival supplies. If someone hands over the currency or equivalent of two C-level rations per day to the city hall, they do not have to work and can even gain permission to purchase supplies below A-level.

That's right, it's similar to the ancient corvee and retiring money.

Then everything fell into place - rich people bought supplies in large quantities, and soon the disaster intensified, the currency devalued to the point where it was cheaper than toilet paper, and then the supplies they hoarded became hard currency.

But these were also helpless actions in the early stages of the disaster...if you don't count the kickbacks received by the city hall.

"Idiot! Idiot! Idiot!"

Bucky was extremely angry. He ignored the eyes of others and kicked his brother-in-law to the ground. But suddenly he thought of something, and quickly pretended to be polite and helped him up, and took advantage of the situation to bite him. whispered in his ears:

"Where do you think the supplies sold come from? All supplies are rationed. If someone hoards them, someone will not be able to get them. You don't understand this? Do you think your sister's two big boxes of jewelry are all Where did it come from? Misappropriating a large amount of survival supplies is a capital crime! You must not let the Fire Chaser know!"

Although everyone understands that fire cannot be contained by paper, the luck mentality always makes people feel that even if the fire is discovered 0.1 seconds later, it is better than being discovered now.

What's more...it's not like there's no chance of redress.

“As long as the situation is resolved before the European branch of Fire Chaser is aware of it and intervenes, there will be enough room to modify the report on suppressing the unrest...

Bucky squinted his eyes, which were already slender due to his obesity, and a gleam of light suddenly bloomed between the thick eyelids:

"Immediately analyze the whereabouts of the mob. This must be an organized and premeditated riot."

How could a riot of this scale not have an organizer behind it?

Since there is an organizer, there must be a "purpose". Just analyze their destination and gathering place based on their route, and mobilize anti-riot troops and security forces to quell the riot in a timely manner.

Bucky gradually calmed down. After all, similar riots had occurred many times in the past two years, but never on such a large scale.

He quickly wiped the cold sweat from his forehead. On the display screen in front of him, a three-dimensional model of the entire city was quickly constructed, and even the routes of the rioting people were marked one by one.

Countless tiny red dots and lines are emerging from the ruins and air-raid shelters of the city, and then converging on the main roads like gravel.

And through the intersection of many paths, their ultimate goal is also revealed——

"According to artificial intelligence calculation and analysis, the probability that they are going to the Ruhr area is more than 99.999%... uh..."

"Okay, you don't need to tell me!"

The cold sweat that had just been wiped off Bucky's head dripped down again.

Rather than fear, the first thing he felt was doubt - why did this group of people go to the Ruhr area? There are arsenals there! There is even a factory that produces soul steel!

Fear is about 0.2 seconds later than doubt, and appears at about the same time as cold sweat. Because he knew very well that there was only one possibility for this group of people to go to the arsenal - to steal ordnance and rebel!

But... But this doesn't make sense... The arsenal has a guard force that originally belonged to the coalition government, but is now under the Fire Chaser Moth. It is responsible for security work. It is equipped with weapons that far exceed those of local riot forces and guard forces. It is a group of unarmed hungry people. Isn't it just asking for death to attack there?

And this was exactly what made him feel like he was falling into an ice cellar and facing an abyss - it was not that he was afraid of bloodshed, but that since these guards were fire-chasing moths, once a conflict broke out, they would immediately trigger a chase. The Fire Moth intervenes.

As for whether these hungry people were seeking death or whether they had colluded with the workers in the arsenal to riot, he didn't care at all.

"Stop them! We must stop them! We must stop them before they reach the Ruhr area!"

Under Bucky's order, the only four armed helicopters in the area took off immediately. Together with hundreds of cargo helicopters and private helicopters, they actually loaded a large group of soldiers to the main roads leading to the Ruhr area.

Of course, a brigade cannot stop all the hungry people. What they have to do is to use negotiation and force to delay the speed of the hungry people's advance, so as to buy time for the follow-up troops to arrive and completely surround and repatriate everyone.

But it may be too late. The fastest mob is less than 15 kilometers away from the nearest factory in the Ruhr area. At such a distance, there is a probability that the sound of gunfire will be captured, not to mention the rockets that may be used to intercept the mob, not to mention that they need to rely on the deep echelon defense.

Once a fierce exchange of fire occurs, the guards of the factory will most likely find out, and the end will still be the end of the early intervention of the fire-chasing moth.

But Buggy no longer thinks about these things, and he is powerless to change them.

He lay on a chair covered with mink fur, and his brain was running fast, thinking about how to write his report in order to...

Not to mention completely hiding it from Mei, I heard that this girl has a high IQ, and it is still difficult to hide it from her.

But she still has to fight against the collapse, and she will not have much energy to deal with this kind of thing, so she must reveal some flaws as bait to cover up the principled issues.

If she really didn't find any problems, wouldn't that be a case of trying to cover up one's own faults?

But which unspoken rules should be exposed, and which ones should not be exposed for principle?

This requires him to spend a lot of time thinking, and to think from Mei's perspective based on his understanding of her.

As for the mobs?

From the beginning to the end, he was only worried that their movements would alarm the fire-chasing moth.

But is it possible that these mobs will break through the blockade he set up?

In his opinion, they are just a group of unarmed hungry people, and their value in this world may not be as good as the bullets that kill them.

In front of the blockade network composed of steel and fire, how could they possibly break through?

…………

On the main road connecting the city and the Ruhr area, the wind gradually picked up, and the burnt yellow dust was swept everywhere.

The vision was very blurred, and everyone kept coughing as they moved forward. The team gradually gathered together unconsciously, so tightly that people could really rub shoulders with each other.

If one person fell at this time, everything would be over, but the dense queue also had its advantages - from time to time someone stumbled, but the people around him were like four walls, so he couldn't fall down at all.

And because there was no pressure from the outside space, suffocation casualties common in large crowds were unlikely.

People walking on both sides of the team occasionally saw huge black shadows floating outside them, as if they were surrounded by a group of collapsed beasts.

Although there was no sound of grinding teeth like the collapsed beasts, and if it was a collapsed beast, it should have launched an attack long ago, but people always couldn't control themselves from thinking about it.

Fortunately... Fortunately...

Although everyone was a little scared, there was no trouble. It wasn't until the wind gradually subsided and the dust slowly fell back to its original place that everyone breathed a sigh of relief -

It turned out that the black shadows arranged every few steps or a dozen steps were not creatures, but cars parked in place one after another.

Many car cab doors were wide open, and the seat belts had not been put back in place yet, and were hanging outside for a long time, as if the car owners were in a hurry to run away.

The man with a scar on his cheekbone suddenly stopped, as if he was a clone, and the hungry people behind him also quickly stopped without receiving any orders.

Most soldiers cannot do this level of acting without orders and stopping without orders. Those who can do it either rely on years of tacit understanding or use cheating methods, such as conveying orders through hidden communication headsets or mental communication networks, but they cannot be discovered from a third-party perspective.

The tens of thousands of people in front of them obviously belong to the latter.

"Here it comes..."

The man muttered to himself.

The roar of the helicopter engine seemed to appear suddenly, and it seemed to sound slowly from a very far direction, and was finally captured hopelessly by the ears.

In short, when the strong airflow and the huge black shadow came together, people numbly raised their heads and watched the armed helicopter circling above their heads, while the transport helicopter flew further forward until it stopped hundreds of meters away, and then the long rope was lowered, and small black dots slid down along the rope.

The man looked at the familiar armed helicopter, his expression slightly changed.

He climbed onto the roof of a car and made a gesture of raising his arms and shouting - in fact, he really didn't say anything, because he didn't know what to say, but as he raised his right fist high, everyone followed this action and then shouted hoarsely.

He soon received the focus of the riot police. With a dull thunder-like gunshot, a bullet shot into his back of the head and shot out from the scar on his cheekbone.

Then he fell from the roof of the car and landed in front of a group of hungry people, and blood flowed like a river.

The shouts of the hungry people also stopped abruptly.

But silence sometimes does not mean giving in, silence sometimes just means accumulating strength and waiting for the next outbreak——

A young man squeezed out of the crowd, boldly stood in front of the man's body, raised his head and stared at the helicopter above with indifferent and silent eyes.

"What is he doing? Do you think he can shoot them down like this?"

The helicopter pilot turned the fuselage contemptuously and mocked the boy below.

Except for Superman who wears his underwear outside, who can kill people with his eyes?

At such a young age, he is neither breast-fed nor has a crescent moon.

They ignored the heat in the air around them until they saw dancing flames.