Chapter 54 Going Abroad for Peacekeeping

  Several people sat on a plane for over ten hours, and then drove for several hours on bumpy roads. Even if they were physically fit, the scientists would be even more exhausted. Along the way, they complained that this country was really backward.

  Upon arrival at the headquarters of the peacekeeping force, the previous batch of peacekeepers who were about to return home had been waiting for their arrival. Several thousand people wearing blue berets and scarves under the national flag handed over the mission.

  The Desert Fox Team was assigned to the garrison headquarters, protecting those outgoing researchers and private entrepreneurs, while other engineering troops went to take over the unfinished work of the previous batch of brother units.

  This is a war-torn African country, with conflicts filling every corner of this small nation, and the people are suffering from the wars. There are no pedestrians on the road, who dares to go out, may be hit by a bullet flying from nowhere, and die in the street.

  The sand fox team took two days to adjust to the time difference and jet lag, but the researchers took three whole days.

  After finishing their rest, the researchers began their work, going out to collect new bacterial samples in order to develop new medicines. The Sha Huo team drove a high-performance armored vehicle on the road, and from time to time, anti-government armed personnel would appear before them in old pickup trucks. The people sitting in the back of the truck held AK-47 automatic rifles, which were beloved by third-world countries, whistling loudly as they sped past, leaving behind a cloud of dust.

  The car arrived at a dilapidated small village, it was already noon, but the chimneys in the village did not emit any smoke. Due to the hot weather, most of the villagers were cooling off under the eaves of their thatched cottages. Only those innocent children were still chasing and frolicking in the village, however, most of the children were naked, revealing their pitch-black skin. None of the people in the village, including the children, was slightly fat, all were thin as firewood, it could be seen that these people had been struggling at the subsistence level for a long time.

  After the desert fox team got off the bus, what they saw in front of them was shocking. There were still such backward tribes in this world. Seeing their arrival, the only middle-aged man who spoke English in the village came to welcome them and represented the whole village to welcome international friends to help them.

  The people in the car behind distributed the food they were carrying to every household, which was enough for everyone in the village to eat for a week. Seeing that there was food, those who had been lying weakly under the eaves of their houses also came to life, and they all cheered and jumped up to dance, as if celebrating something.

  Scientists set up tables in the center of the village, and the villager who spoke English organized the villagers to line up one by one for physical examinations and medication distribution. This was originally a very happy thing, and Xie Xiaoshuai and his team felt a sense of accomplishment as they watched from the side.

  But just as the village was starting to stir with smoke rising from cooking fires, a large group of anti-government armed men in pickup trucks charged into the village. These people did not fire their guns and ignored the sand fox team and the researchers who came together, they directly rushed into every household and looted all the grain that had just been distributed. The villagers were too afraid to resist, holding their children in their arms for fear of retaliation from these men.

  Xie Xiao Shuai and the others could only watch as everything unfolded before their eyes, they were not attacked and couldn't counterattack. One by one, they tightly gripped the guns in their hands, watching as these people loaded things onto a pickup truck and sped away.

  These people come and go quickly. Xie Xiaoshuai went forward to ask the English-speaking man, didn't the government troops really care? And his answer was: The government troops are basically stationed in the city, the situation in the city is even worse, making them overwhelmed, and they can't take care of these small villages at all. What happened just now is very common, anti-government people often rob relief supplies, but they will never conflict with peacekeeping forces, and each time they rob, they will leave some for them to survive. The anti-government armed forces only oppose the government army and do not kill civilians indiscriminately, otherwise the people in these small villages would have been killed long ago, even if they were not starved to death.

  This incident had a great impact on Xie Xiaoshuai, he couldn't understand why the country was so backward that even eating became a problem for its citizens, and yet the ruling class was still fighting an internal war to seize power. No matter which side ultimately won, what would they use to restore the normal functioning of the country and solve the food and clothing problems? Of course, these were other countries' internal affairs, and had little to do with him, so he just thought about it in his heart.

  By the time it was almost evening, the villagers had all been checked. The physical condition of these people is still relatively optimistic, and most of them are only malnourished, and those who are ill can be treated with existing drugs.

  The car was driving on the bumpy road, and the night vision was even worse. The speed of the car was only slightly faster than walking. Xie Xiaoshuai and his team returned to their base, exhausted, already close to midnight. At this moment, Xie Xiaoshuai thought of his life back home and felt a hint of sweetness in his heart. He wanted to call Lu Xue to let her know he was safe and share with her what he had seen today.

  He walked to the communication room and dialed Lu Xue's phone, but for some reason Lu Xue's phone was turned off. Xiao Shuai had no choice but to leave a message saying everything was fine before returning to his dormitory to rest.

  The next morning, the group continued to visit various small villages. With yesterday's lesson in mind, they opened another car this time, carrying several days' worth of supplies and tents, so as not to rush on the road when it got dark. In this small country, taking a car was simply suffering, Xie Xiaoshuai couldn't understand how those people who were bouncing around in the pickup truck could bear it.

  This time the village they arrived at was a bit far, about 120-130 kilometers away. They had been jolting for nearly five hours before they finally arrived. When they got off the car, everyone felt like their bones were going to fall apart. Xie Xiaoshuai got off the car, stretched his waist, and observed the surroundings.

  This is a village located in the center of the vast grassland, surrounded by simple fences made of branches. All the houses in the village are built with mud and grass. Under a big tree in the distance, a lion is resting in the shade, its eyes scanning around for prey.

  This village is much better than the one we visited yesterday, after all it's really remote here, and the villagers make a living by hunting, so they don't have to worry about food and drink. But precisely because of its remoteness, the living conditions are very poor, and the health index is very low. Researchers actually discovered an unknown disease here that had never been seen before. Unknown things are a challenge for researchers, but not so good for patients.

  The patient was isolated and it took two days for the working group to not leave the village a step, checking all the people in the village. Medical personnel distributed treatment drugs in sufficient quantities, and after leaving enough food, they took the patient back to their base to start work. As soon as they got on the car, researchers began taking blood samples from the patient, recording the movement of the pathogen at any time, so that they could develop new drugs targetedly after returning.

  Less than ten kilometers away from the village, someone saw thick smoke rising from the village outside the window. Xie Xiaoshuai immediately ordered Li Gang to turn back and rush back to the village at full speed to see what had happened.

  Although the armored vehicle that Xie Xiaoshuai and his team were riding in had good performance and strong passability, the road conditions were indeed very poor. The ten-kilometer journey took almost half an hour to complete.

  After everyone got off the bus, they saw a terrifying scene that would be etched in their memories forever.