Chapter 7 The Reality of War
Article One
In the image, two savage men from a cannibal tribe, one tall and one short, walked wearily through the dense tropical rainforest. They chattered and gestured to each other, seemingly frustrated by their growling stomachs. A flock of geese flew overhead in a line, and the shorter savage spotted them, excitedly calling out to the taller one to bring down a bird for food. The taller savage shaded his eyes from the still-blinding sunset and looked up at the flying geese, shaking his head with a complex expression, clearly thinking they were too high to shoot. Nevertheless, he took down his bow and arrow from his back and shot at the geese.
The result was predictable, the wild goose was not shot down by the tall savage. The short savage was extremely annoyed that the tall savage failed to shoot down the wild goose and kept complaining incessantly. The tall savage was also very angry. The two men gradually escalated from arguing to fighting. But just as they were fighting, the tall savage suddenly stopped his hand and beckoned the short savage to look towards the lake in the distance.
The dwarf savage looked up towards the lake and immediately jumped up with excitement. He saw a white-skinned man, dressed in tattered clothes, walking wearily along the lake shore, carrying a large backpack on his back, looking like a traveler. The two savages quietly approached the "traveler", waiting for the right moment, when the tall savage drew his bow again and shot an arrow at the "traveler". This time he didn't miss, and the "traveler" fell to the ground with a thud.
Two savages yelled and ran to the "traveler". The "traveler" was not dead yet, he saw two wild men with murderous faces suddenly appearing in front of him, knowing that his life was hopeless, his face showed a desperate expression, but he still tried to beg for mercy from the savages. But unexpectedly, the short savage did not hesitate, picked up a huge stone and smashed the "traveler"'s head into pieces, splashing fresh blood everywhere, brains scattered all over the ground.
The bloody scene stirred up the endless appetite of the savages, and the short savage grabbed a handful of brain matter that had fallen to the ground with his hands. After taking a bite, a look of joy immediately appeared on his face, while the tall savage used a rough blade to dismember the corpse of the "traveler".
The sun sets in the west, and the dark night envelops the entire land. Two savages start a bonfire and roast the dismembered body of the "traveler" over the flames. Before long, the "meat" is cooked, and the two begin to devour it mouthful by mouthful. In the firelight, the savages' mouths are smeared with grease, their faces twisted in a terrifying grimace. Just then, a torrential rain comes pouring down from the sky, thunderclaps shaking the air, lightning flashing all around. The two savages are frightened out of their wits, screaming and snatching up the roasted "meat" to flee headlong into the depths of the dense forest.
A thunderclap was drowned out by another, and the frequent flashes of lightning illuminated the entire tropical rainforest as bright as daylight. Suddenly, a huge spherical light body flew in from the horizon at high speed and fell straight towards the direction where two savages were running. Immediately, the strong light engulfed everything. When the strong light receded, the two savages had already been transported to a food processing plant in a modern city by some unknown force.
The savages were clearly startled and hid in a dark warehouse in the factory, carefully peeking through the gap in the door to see if there was anything unusual outside. The two savages plucked up their courage and walked out of the warehouse. At this time, a teenage girl suddenly ran out from somewhere and bounced towards them with a jump. The savage instinctively covered his food with one hand and grabbed his weapon with the other, staring at her fiercely.
The little girl saw the wild men and didn't seem to be afraid at all. Instead, she walked closer to them with a smile and asked if they were filming a movie. The wild men seemed not to fully understand the little girl's language, but looking at her small body, they relaxed their guard. The little girl looked at the short wild man holding a burnt piece of meat in his hand, smiled and said: "This doesn't taste good, here, have this." And handed him a sausage.
The dwarf savage took the sausage with a puzzled look, put it in his mouth and took a bite. His face immediately lit up with joy, and he quickly devoured the sausage in three or two bites. Seeing the dwarf's eating habits, the little girl laughed so hard that she was bent over backwards, and then handed another sausage to the tall savage. The tall savage saw the little girl's kindness and took off a string of animal bone decorations from his body and gave it to her. The little girl took the decoration and curiously played with it in her hands.
"Rila!" At this time, a voice came from nowhere, and the little girl heard the call. She said to the wild men, "My 'mother' is calling me, I'll go back first, and come over to play with you again tomorrow." After finishing speaking, she skipped away happily. The two wild men looked at each other and couldn't help but laugh. At this time, a group of people's chatter came from afar, and the two wild men were startled and hid back in the warehouse. After returning to the warehouse, they were delighted to find that there were many sausages stored inside. The tall wild man took a look at the roasted meat on his back, savored the flavor of the sausage again, and with a flick of his hand, threw all the roasted meat aside. The short wild man also threw away the roasted meat made from the "traveler's" remains, and sat down with the tall wild man in a corner of the warehouse, grabbing sausages and eating them voraciously.
Night fell, and two wild men with full bellies stretched lazily and snuggled into the cargo box to sleep soundly.
As the time turned to the second day near noon, two savages woke up from their sleep and found themselves on a container truck driving on city streets. The savages stuck out their heads and looked around, only to see high-rise buildings, cars and horses galloping, people of all colors coming and going between shops and buildings, it was a prosperous scene. Seeing this scene, the short savage excitedly rushed towards the tall savage, chattering and gesturing, meaning that with so many people, they didn't have to worry about food anymore. But the tall savage slapped the short savage, held up the sausage in his hand, chattered and gestured, meaning why kill people when there was such delicious sausage. Just then, a loud noise broke the tranquility of the city, and the pedestrians on the street were frightened and ran away.
In the distance, two armies were engaged in a fierce battle, with one side defending and the other attacking. Armored vehicles and tanks roamed the city streets, with both sides exchanging intense fire, as the war escalated into a state of frenzy. Wherever the flames of war reached, everything was left in ruins, with corpses scattered all over the ground and blood flowing like rivers. A cargo truck driven by civilians was overturned by a blast of air, and a middle-aged man holding a little girl hastily crawled out of the driver's cab, while the little girl cried loudly and kept calling out to the middle-aged man, saying "Nana is still trapped in the driver's cab!" However, unfortunately, the old lady was stuck firmly in her seat and couldn't get out.
Another bomb flew in, and the entire truck was set on fire, burning the old lady to a crisp. The two savages managed to escape from the truck before it caught fire, not understanding what had happened, but instinctively dodging possible danger. The middle-aged man pulled the 'girl' and ran wildly, a stray bullet flew in, hitting the middle-aged man's back, and then the two fell to the ground one after another.
At this time, a tank came rushing over, and the tall savage saw that the 'girl' who had fallen to the ground was the same 'girl' who had given him sausage. He instinctively rushed over to protect her, holding up his sausage with both hands, shouting loudly at the incoming bullets and tanks, meaning why kill people when you have sausage. The tank in battle wouldn't care about such a sudden appearance of a weird guy, and it heavily crushed the tall savage's body, turning him into a bloody pulp. Meanwhile, the short savage was also protecting the 'girl' with his body, but an incoming shell blew up the short savage along with the 'girl', leaving them in pieces.
The soldiers of the two warring sides were engaged in close combat, some fell to the ground dead after being shot or stabbed with a knife, others continued to charge forward amidst the hail of bullets, some clutched their severed arms and struggled in agony, some took their own lives by shooting themselves in despair after being captured, and some had long since lost their heads.
Soldiers on both sides fought bravely, fighting to the death. Meanwhile, in a spacious and bright conference center, several politicians dressed in bright clothes engaged in a fierce war of words, with neither side giving in. One after another, orders were issued to launch attacks, increase troops, and take or defend cities at all costs. The more fiercely they argued, the more soldiers and civilians fell. In many places, civilians held up signs that read "We want sovereignty", "We want land", "We want to survive".
At last, the politicians finally reached a consensus on their concerns, raised champagne glasses, smiled and clinked them together, and shook hands, hugged and kissed each other's cheeks when meeting or parting ways. On the other hand, soldiers who had ended the war were exhaustedly packing up their own luggage and the remains of their comrades; people in villages and cities that had been ravaged by the flames of war prayed for their loved ones who had died in the war while struggling to rebuild their homes.
As night falls, the politicians and dignitaries who sat upright in the hall during the day shed their usual disguises and slipped into a world of wine and roses; while soldiers and civilians in war-torn areas struggled in harsh conditions with inadequate food, medicine, and clean water. Every day, politicians and dignitaries rode in top-of-the-line luxury cars to grand office buildings, laughing and chatting; while disabled veterans and unemployed civilians had no choice but to organize rallies and demonstrations, only to receive meager handouts barely enough to sustain a minimal standard of living.
One day, politicians failed to reach an agreement once again, and immediately afterwards, a war broke out simultaneously on the sea, land, and sky. Batch after batch of soldiers were sent to the battlefield and returned in batches with ashes after a period of time. More and more refugees fled their homes. Hand-to-hand combat, gunfire, artillery fire, biological weapons, bacterial weapons, and even nuclear weapons. Various forms of warfare, diverse killing tools, wave after wave of slaughter continued, and from afar in outer space, the entire world was engulfed in flames of war. All living things were engaged in waging war and awaiting war, while war slowly destroyed everything bit by bit.
The earth in the flames of war gradually receded, slowly turning into tiny dust, and then, the solar system, the Milky Way also became small and turned to dust, finally, all condensed into a single bleeding eye.
The image in the dark cell disappeared, and Jie carefully put his eyeballs back into their sockets and put on his glasses. Zayil said to me seriously, "How's that, warrior? You've seen it now! This is the true face of war." After watching this scene, my head hurt even more, and my mind was a complete blank. I asked myself, "Is war really just a game where people kill each other?" Zayil looked at my expression and smiled strangely, saying, "Alright, I think you need to rest now. Tivisari may have taken your fingers, but I believe you still have fists that are hard enough. Take this opportunity to reflect on your life." After finishing speaking, Zayil led Jie and several guards out of the dark cell. As they left, he instructed the guard, "Take care of his wounds and treat him well. Don't lay a hand on him without my orders."
