Chapter 434 - 406: Unmanned War

"Welcome back to Fox News, breaking news, after consultation with the African Union, the Tanzanian Government will intervene in the Mkuju River uranium mine transfer case."

"The Mkuju River mine is rich in nuclear materials, and the Tanzanian Government transferred the mining rights to Uranium Ten Company in 2005."

"Uranium Ten Company, a subsidiary of the Russian Federation’s National Atomic Energy Group, is committed to the safe mining of uranium resources to promote global nuclear energy development."

"However, due to the recent downturn in the uranium market, the company could only slow down mining, and coupled with domestic instability, Uranium Ten Company had to seek the transfer of mining rights, eventually deciding to transfer them to Roxon Energy Group for 200 million US Dollars."

"However, the Tanzanian Government suddenly intervened, pointing out that Uranium Ten Company had not met the contractual mining volume and that environmental requirements had not been met. The taxes were significantly below expectations,

and planned to cancel Uranium Ten Company’s mining rights and purchase the mine’s facilities and equipment at cost as stipulated in the contract, estimated at 7 million US Dollars, significantly below Uranium Ten Company’s investment."

"200 million turned into 7 million, Uranium Ten Company sternly condemned the local government’s actions as robbery; they had already entrusted all disposal rights to Roxon Energy Group."

"It is reported that Roxon Energy Group is seeking international assistance, setting up an arbitration court to handle the dispute."

"The Tanzanian Government has already made it clear: it does not recognize any international court. Africans have the right to dispose of their land according to the law, a stance supported by the African Union."

"This concludes Fox News frontline reporting, now let’s turn to Houston, where we’ve caught up with a spokesperson for Roxon Energy Group."

"Hello, Ms. Kurtz, we’d like to know your thoughts on the recent dispute over the Kumju River uranium mine acquisition. Roxon Energy Group’s main business is related to oil, why suddenly focus on uranium mines?"

Ms. Kurtz epitomized the typical middle-aged businesswoman, with chestnut brown mid-length hair, a black custom suit, a healthy complexion, and meticulous eye makeup.

She patiently waited for the reporter to finish the questions before she began to answer.

"First, I need to correct a misunderstanding: Roxon Energy Group does not solely operate around the oil business. We are committed to providing a better and more stable energy supply to the world, and investing in various technologies and life areas that can make the world better.

Limited by the current oil supply situation, we had long been thinking about how to provide a more excellent energy source.

Clearly, nuclear power is the future, so if you are familiar with history, you will find that Roxon has significantly advanced the energy industry’s development, including nuclear energy.

As for the Kumju River purchasing case... this is not a dispute, this is a robbery."

Kurtz emphasized with a very disgusted expression on camera:

"You sell something and get paid for it; that’s capitalism. There’s no logic in buying it back at a lower price later.

After all, who compensates the buyer for the missing difference and the time cost?

We sympathize with what has happened to Uranium Ten Company, so we are willing to take over the Kumju River mine under a high-risk condition and communicate with the local government ourselves."

The interview was supposed to end there, and Kurtz even switched to a professional smile suitable for concluding the conversation.

Unexpectedly, the reporter suddenly changed the topic and pulled out a smartphone from his pocket:

"What do you think about this? It is reported that Uranium Ten Company employed local labor to reduce costs and did not provide workers with the necessary labor protection gear?"

Kurtz’s expression paused, and the reporter slightly tilted the phone so that the camera could also catch it.

The phone displayed an app developed by Bloom Company, currently the hottest video-sharing software in the US.

In the video, the Tanzanian Government provided several photos of local black workers suffering from radiation sickness and their children born with deformities due to radiation.

Not only that, but there was also a photo of a barrel marked with radiation hazard signs being placed into a freshly dug pit, with forest and grassland nearby.

The caption read: "The Tanzanian Government discovered illegal dumping of nuclear waste at the Mkuju River mine."

Obviously, due to the soaring cost of handling nuclear waste in mountainous areas, the local mine chose to bury tailings, wastewater, and rock waste on-site.

It would be okay if these were ordinary mine wastes, but these materials are radioactive!

The reporter’s mouth moved as fast as a spinning machine gun as he said:

"And this! This photo was released recently! It is said that Uranium Ten Company has already entrusted the site disposal rights entirely to Roxon Energy. Then, may I ask if these are the instructions from Roxon Energy Group...

What are you doing! I’m here for an interview...!"

The reporter was being escorted away by security, and the footage immediately shut off.

The scene instantly became chaotic, but the broadcast from Fox News was interrupted.

In front of the TV, Dalio, who had been leisurely enjoying the view, silently stood up from the sofa.

Soon, a phone call came in.

[Kurtz: Uh... sir, I’m sorry...]

[Dalio: I don’t want to hear this.]

[Kurtz: Alright... The reporter claims he wasn’t paid, he was just... he was just brainwashed by online media.]

[Kurtz: We will continue to investigate...]

[Dalio: Then proceed.]

Dalio merely crushed the phone in his hand, yet his expression was quite calm.

Being furious solves nothing; crushing a phone is merely a little quirk of the wealthy, as it doesn’t take much effort for him.

ctOS had already deployed to several major cities including San Francisco and New York. The roll-out to other cities had been stopped.

But he couldn’t stop the mobile app! These netizens could easily download the ctOS app for their smartphones from the internet, making it impossible to control public opinion!

Utilizing international relationships to pull strings, "arbitrating disputes" through the International Court to pressurize uncooperative governments, while smoothing domestic public opinion, then buying military support with money—these were all tried and true tactics.

Unexpectedly, there was a hiccup this time: a brain-dead journalist popped up halfway through.

But the mishap at Fox News wasn’t an isolated incident, which was partly why Dalio was slightly annoyed:

The ctOS sub-applications covered multiple civilian domains, not just video sharing, but also included things like job recruitment, convenient payments, and traffic searching.

With over a hundred million users in the United States alone and more than 800 million active users globally still rising rapidly, these figures completely overshadowed the other information companies under his control—

He wasn’t surprised by this, but there was nothing he could do.

Without Dr. Zola, they had no advantage on the internet!

All they could do now was to channel resources, which should have been allocated online, into the real world: but controlling something completely in reality cost way more than manipulating public opinion through the internet!

Take the current situation as an example, he spent more money and went through a lot of connections to swiftly secure a contract with the Uranium Ten Company, but deployment took time.

Atlas had already been on the African Continent, and whatever happened there was completely beyond his control.

But it didn’t matter, he had money.

The Mei Country military would take action.

Soon, his allies in Somalia sent him good news.

[General Ross: Dalio, you really should see how these Iron Soldiers fight.]

[General Ross: Gellekayu port is now clean, if you want to invest in Somalia, you can start now.]

...

Somalia, Gellekayu port, Al-Shabaab-controlled area.

Since the 1990s, Somalia has basically been in a state of anarchy, filled with armed factions, and pirate activities could at any time have them labeled as terrorists.

Al-Shabaab was such a group, hostile to the transitional government of Somalia, and last month, they were designated as terrorists by the Pentagon.

One week after the attack, timely arrival of naval ships, planes, and drones completely severed the region’s contact with the outside world.

The people in the city were terrified; they all hid in the ruins of buildings, holding their heads, praying they could survive.

Just like the factions that Al-Shabaab had driven out before.

The outside world wouldn’t know that a battle, a massacre, had occurred here.

Iron Soldiers, drenched in blood, moved about the port, continuously throwing dead bodies into the sea.

This special, unmanned armed force was solely commanded by one general.

General Ross.

This lean yet robust gray-haired general walked strongly.

The Sixth Fleet was only responsible for providing sea-based information blockade and support; the fighting part was all handed over to these robots.

Iron Soldiers were efficient, merciless. With no people, there were no foolish moral dilemmas, no annoying political shackles.

Only a relentless metal storm rolled over these uncivilized pirates.

After the destruction of the bodies was complete, the navy could occupy the area and then establish a base to provide support for the upcoming operation in Africa.

No one would know what had happened here.

Click.

General Ross, admiring the operation of the Iron Soldiers, accidentally stepped in a puddle of blood.

He frowned.

He hadn’t expected that in this battle, the only one bloodied would be him, the commander.

Stark had invented some great stuff.

[Dalio: Great, the International Court will make a ruling tomorrow, we need to amplify our presence]

[Dalio: Good, the International Court will make a ruling tomorrow, we need to amplify our presence, show these slaves a bit of color.]

[Dalio: Now that you’ve taken the place, I’ll send you some new equipment, not Stark’s gear, it’s from my side. Test it out.]

[General Ross: Sure, Stark specifically designed an airdrop module, I was planning to test it.]

Ross left the port, in the jungle, a few black men looked on in terror, taking a few photographs with a battered camera.

"Barica...we...we better run..."

The tall black man, holding a broken AK, felt his legs go weak.

The small black man holding the camera was also trembling, swallowing his saliva, he said, "No...let’s take a few more photos, we stole the destroyer, if we get found, it’s only going to be worse!

These photos, they must be useful..."

"Useful to who? Can photos kill people for us?! Stop fucking around!"

Under the tall black man’s coercion, the small one remained unmoved, just continued taking photos.

While taking photographs, he muttered to himself:

"These Mei Country people’s enemies, another group of Mei Country people..."