Chapter 6 The Importance of Food

  Taking the leftover food from last night, Li Lan directly walked out of the base.

  As soon as I left the base, what entered my eyes was a high wall, and inside, all sorts of sounds were crackling and popping, sounding very chaotic.

  By comparison, Li Ran knew that the walled area in front of him was a nuclear reactor under construction. Seeing the high iron plate blocking all view, he couldn't help but sigh: "This is too realistic! It's really like the real thing."

  Seeing Li Lan's figure, the great general guarding the base door became very excited and came to Li Lan's side, his tail wagging like a fan blade.

  Li Ran's attention was also drawn to the faint dark red at the corner of General Zhang's mouth, which was a bloodstain.

  "What's going on?" Squatting down and taking a closer look, the bloodstains had already started to thicken and turn black, indicating that some time had passed.

  Li Ran remembered that when he came back yesterday evening, there were no bloodstains on General's mouth. Did someone pass by last night? His heart tightened involuntarily.

  Seemingly noticing Li Lan's confusion, the general pulled on Li Lan's pant leg with his mouth and then ran off to a nearby thicket.

  Li Ran didn't have time to care about anything else and hastily followed up.

  The location of the incident was not far from the base, estimated to be less than 500 meters. Li Lan, who followed behind General Zhang, soon saw the owner of the bloodstains, a dead animal with its head already gone.

  Like a horse but not a horse, with a ring-shaped stripe on its back, grey fur, and white belly.

  Although I don't know what breed this poor animal is, Li Lan's heart can be put at ease. As long as it's not a human, it means the base hasn't been discovered yet.

  Judging from the bloodstains on the general's mouth and the bite marks on the animal's neck, it is clear that he died in the general's mouth.

  "Well done, you won't have to worry about your stomach for the next few days." Li Lan squatted down and patted the general's head, saying: "However, next time you encounter a wild animal, don't try to save it, it's a pity if it dies."

  When Li Ran spoke, the general seemed to understand and nodded his head. Although Li Ran was not an active animal lover or conservationist, he also didn't like to go around killing species that were already scarce.

  Ten minutes later, with the help of General Li Lan, he finally dragged this lost fellow into the base. After inquiring about the base assistant, it was only then that they knew that this unlucky guy who was bitten to death by General was an African wild donkey.

  The African wild ass is a wild member of the horse family. The animal is believed to be an ancestor of the domestic donkey and is usually classified as the same species. They live in grasslands and other dry areas of East Africa.

  The African wild ass has a short, smooth coat that ranges in colour from light grey to fawn, but is always white on the belly and legs. All subspecies have a dark stripe running along their backs, which in the Nubian wild ass extends to the shoulders; Somali wild asses have black stripes on their legs, similar to those of zebras.

  African wild asses inhabit arid and semi-arid rocky deserts, are heat-tolerant and can withstand intense sunlight, have low water requirements, and feed on desert vegetation. They often form small groups of 10-15 individuals led by a vigilant female. In captivity, they can live up to 40 years.

  Due to war and social unrest, it is rare to see wildlife in Somalia.

  After several hours, Li Lan, who had no experience, finally dismembered the wild donkey's body completely. The internal organs and so on were directly buried in a deep pit outside the base. After all, on the first day of arrival, Li Lan had seen lions with his own eyes, and he didn't want the bloody smell to attract those annoying scavengers or large predators.

  Although General was a powerful third-tier elite military dog, he didn't want to let General go and try his fists with the likes of lions. No matter how strong the dog is, it's still a dog, and it can't escape the limits of its species. Now that there was only General and himself for company, he didn't want to be alone either, staying in this desolate grassland.

  Throw all the remaining camel meat in the food bag to General, Li Lan carried a leg that had just been dissected and set up a bonfire directly at the base gate, burning it.

  An hour later, one person and one dog started to enjoy the barbecue feast. Although there was no seasoning, Li Lan felt that this wild donkey meat was much more fragrant than the camel meat exchanged from Muhanmudi.

  When Li Lan had eaten her fill, the time had unknowingly arrived at noon. The great general beside her was still lying on the ground, continuing to savor the flavor of the wild donkey's leg bone.

  Although the Great General is a product of the base, it belongs to one of the military units, but it also needs to eat. These days, it has been relying on Li Lan's exchange from afar for a little food to get by. For the gigantic Great General, the food was simply not enough. Today can be said to be its happiest day since coming out.

  "Aide, how much more time is needed for the magnetic reactor to be completed?" Li Ran asked the base aide in her mind.

  This is also another function of the base, as long as it's not too far from the base, Li Lan can directly contact the base assistant in her mind.

  "Still need 30 minutes."

  Ending the simple Q&A, Li Ran once again focused her attention on the Great General, squatting down beside it and gently stroking its fur with her right hand. Watching the Great General savoring the delicious food, Li Ran remembered something very important.

  The base can produce troops and build world-class tech units, but the base cannot provide food. And being in Somalia where food is extremely scarce, what about food once you start recruiting troop units?

  Now there are only two mouths, myself and the general, and food is not a problem, but what about later? If there are more soldiers, how will we support them in the early stages?

  Although Mohamud is a wealthy Somali in this area, his wealth is also limited. A hundred camels, although proof of Mohamud's wealth, are far from enough to meet his own needs alone.

  More food sources are needed! This problem must be solved as soon as possible.

  This is the second time Li Lan has been worried about being in Somalia, and the worry is still about food.

  Li Lan may not know much about the situation in Somalia, but he also understands that in this country, which is one of the most backward in the world, food is extremely scarce. If medical care is backward and many Somalis die from illness every day, then when a drought occurs, even more people will die from famine.

  Somalia is located in the Indian Ocean, which is a strategic location connecting Asia, Africa and Europe. It is also an important hub for trade between the Pacific, Indian and Atlantic Oceans. This makes Somalia a country of great importance in terms of geography, transportation and strategy.

  However, Somalia's economy and industry are underdeveloped, with a backward industrial structure and low social development indicators that rank among the lowest globally. In recent years, after the war, Somalia has started to rebuild its economy, which is in high demand and has great market potential.

  At the same time, however, Somalia faces serious threats from terrorism and piracy, has an unstable financial and tax system, and limited ability to repay debts. While there are opportunities for foreign companies to operate and invest in Somalia, there are also significant risks related to politics, payment, law and terrorist attacks.

  The Horn of Africa is located in the eastern part of the African continent, a peninsula between the Indian Ocean and the Gulf of Aden, shaped like a rhinoceros horn, known as the "Horn of Africa". The Federal Republic of Somalia is situated on this peninsula. This peninsula is at the throat of the Indian Ocean leading to the Red Sea, it is the bridge connecting Asia, Africa and Europe, the link between the Pacific Ocean, the Indian Ocean and the Atlantic Ocean, which makes it very important in terms of geography, transportation and strategy, making Somalia a country that attracts attention from people around the world.

  For now, Somalia does not have a secure investment environment for foreign companies, which strictly limits the country's economy.

  Somalia was in chaos for many years after 1991, with local warlords and tribal factions controlling various regions, accepting contracts from Western companies to exchange cheap resources within their territories for weapons and US dollars.

  In recent years, under the intervention and mediation of the international community, Transitional Federal Government President Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed was sworn in Nairobi and the Transitional Federal Government was established. For more than two years, Somalia's national situation has gradually developed in a good direction.

  However, so far, Somalia's turbulent political situation has not seen any substantial improvement. The Transitional Federal Government has yet to truly grasp state power, clan unrest has never stopped, warlordism still exists and armed conflicts remain frequent.

  This is very suitable for Li Ran's development, it can be said that there is no more suitable Red Alert base for Li Ran in the world. However, everything has two sides, there is a good side, and there is also an inevitable bad side.

  Industry and people's livelihoods are all very headache-inducing problems.