Chapter 819 - 819: Terrorism?
Ahmin felt her curses weren't enough because it was this sudden event that would force her to step into politics.
Even though she knew she couldn't remain a salted fish basking under the sun and caring only about the fence around her home, she still shifted the blame.
Damn those fanatics who looked down on women.
"I suppose you want us to support your group with drones, am I right?" Tang Ziyi interrupted the swearing commander.
Even though Athena's language translation carried a slight delay, Tang Ziyi felt a spike in her blood pressure.
"Yes, indeed. I know I am asking for too much." Ahmin's voice grew softer at the end.
Tang Ziyi exchanged a look with Xiao Yue, pondered for a moment, then shook her head. She decided to leave this mess to her lover.
Xiao Yue rolled her eyes as she caught the hidden message through the channel.
After a brief contemplation, she spoke.
"We can do it, but are you ready to face the onslaught and crusade of the surrounding countries?"
Ahmin sighed and shook her head.
"No need. It was my oversight. I'm just being too impatient."
"No, you're not. You just want to lessen your soldiers' casualties. What's wrong with that?" Xiao Yue shrugged.
In fact, Ahmin was already satisfied with the management autonomy regarding the weapons produced by themselves. Well, technically, all the materials were sourced from GSS, so to whom the factories truly belonged remained questionable.
Perhaps only the raw materials and technicians could be considered her militia's property.
Country S's situation was nearly stabilized, with no sudden changes expected within the next few years.
Her militia's power and reputation had grown among the tribes. It seemed she would have to begin recruiting male soldiers as well.
Alas, her group would never be pure again.
Her prestige among many tribal leaders was currently very high thanks to the flawless victories and the intelligence extracted from the captured general, which had rooted out numerous dangerous pests.
The only concern regarding the alliance with GSS was that they truly seemed to desire nothing.
The valuable crude oil refinery zones controlled by her militia hadn't aroused the slightest interest from GSS.
Free favors were the most expensive transactions.
Ahmin understood that very well.
Even now, her militia had not provided the slightest benefit apart from future promises—an alliance agreement to support the cause of GSS's leader.
Funny enough, she didn't even know the leader's identity yet.
"What do you need us to do?" Xiao Yue asked, noticing Ahmin had suddenly fallen silent.
"Ahem… Sorry. I was lost in thought for a while," Ahmin apologized. "I really want to intervene even if we are in different groups, but you know our situation requires caution in case foreign powers intervene. And I don't want to deal with political arguments with the leaders over there when I send my troops."
Xiao Yue nodded in understanding. This was the ultimate weakness of alliances and coalitions. She also regarded it as the price paid for the positive aspects of collective action.
True centralized dictatorship had its own costs. It was effective in the short term before eventually collapsing like an earthquake.
"What's the goal of that terrorist state attacking your tribe at this moment? Is it because of our stunning success?" Xiao Yue voiced her doubt.
Ahmin pursed her lips and shook her head.
"Sort of, but no. It's actually failing itself. The state is about to implode, and they need to unite their remaining loyal or foolish people under one banner to prevent fragmentation."
"Just for that reason?"
Xiao Yue tried to review Athena's information and frowned.
Too little information appeared. Most of it came from doubtful sources and word of mouth.
However, such information still had value because although rumors spread wildly, there was usually some truth buried within them when everyone repeated the same narrative.
The reason she frowned was the recent crackdown on the largest protest.
Testimonies from numerous anonymous medical practitioners spoke of a brutal reality that the entire world seemed to have ignored.
The arbitrary torture of imprisoned protesters.
Court sentences delivered so quickly it was like chopping vegetables.
Worst of all was the treatment of women—and men as well—where sexual assault and rape were deliberately used as tools of intimidation to frighten the population.
The more she read, the more upset she became.
Never mind Ling Qingyu's opinion. She was going to assist those poor people.
As for the excuse that some members of the population had wielded firearms, which became the pretext for the brutal crackdown by the security forces, Xiao Yue didn't want to dwell on it too much.
Firstly, only a small number might have actually possessed weapons. Makeshift firearms supplied by corrupt officials with their own agendas, army officers acting incognito, existing rebels in the crowd, or foreign spies.
No doubt—all of the elements she listed were involved.
In times of hardship and severe security control, when people could barely communicate clearly, the fact that so many still stood up already proved something.
Even without those factors, Xiao Yue would support the protesters and dissidents based solely on how women had been deliberately targeted.
She could understand such heinous acts occurring during wartime because of humanity's beastly nature and the horrors of conflict.
But to deliberately employ them as a tool of governance went far beyond what she could accept. Civilized world must never accept and tolerate such deeds.
The only weirdness was the restraint shown by the World Government.
Understandable, given the nature of Country R's involvement, Country C's shady dealings, and Country A's desire to watch the spectacle unfold.
Nonetheless, they should move together soon. Otherwise, it would set a precedent within the world order that such acts could go unpunished.
Weak diplomacy meant nothing to a cruel tyrannical regime.
Maybe they feared that too much intervention would result in a scenario similar to Country S or other nearby nations that had only recently recovered from war.
"Do you have channels to get inside the country?"
"I doubt they'll be useful with such strict monitoring." Ahmin bit her lip. "What are you planning?"
"Didn't they designate the protesters as terrorists?" Xiao Yue smirked. "Why don't we make their lies a reality? We could arm and train them with the help and influence of your militia, of course."
"Hmm, how would an armed population become terrorists?" Tang Ziyi asked.
"We don't need a large group. Small compartmentalized cells. Lots of them. They'll coordinate with us." Xiao Yue briefly outlined the system she had wanted to test for so long.
"But that's still insurgency, not terrorism," Ahmin pointed out.
"I'm not saying we directly terrorize people, but we can." Xiao Yue paused. "Assassinations. Targeting officials. If guards try to stop them, then the guards and their families become targets as well. If a judge insists on injustice, then he and his become a target too. Don't you think it's unfair that the protesters' relatives suffer as well?"
"Xiao Yue, hiss...some might be innocent." Tang Ziyi rubbed her arms as goosebumps rose across her skin. She never knew her girlfriend could become so terrifying.
This was a means of fighting evil with an equal or greater level of evil.
No obligations to rules. No understanding of boundaries.
When did Xiao Yue become so cartel-like?
In fact, Tang Ziyi didn't know her warlord lover had studied so many insurgencies in the past and adapted her own understanding from them.
She normally wouldn't resort to such tactics at all if it weren't for what she viewed as the regime's worse-than-animal behavior.
Nevertheless, violence, regardless of its scale, had to remain under control.
Otherwise, they would simply lose control of their trained rebels in the future and give birth to another evil.
Ahmin found herself short of breath listening to Xiao Yue.
Were those even human words?
She didn't argue that it was impossible because she had already witnessed GSS's capabilities.
In fact, the cruise drones currently available to her alone were enough to plunge that regime into chaos. Silently, she lit a sympathetic symbolic tears to the regime.