LIGHTNOVELONLINE American Comics: The Law of Strength
Chapter 102
Chapter 103: The Ten Rings Gang and Afghanistan
Wanda had never set foot in Afghanistan in her life, or before Diane invited her siblings, she and her brother had never left the city where they lived.
Although she has learned about countries with similar destinies to her own city on television and on various materials countless times, she still felt a strong shock when she actually saw it.
The sky here is dark and desolate, and no matter where you are, you can occasionally hear explosions in the air.
As the capital of Afghanistan, Kabul is already the most prosperous city, but on the periphery of the city, you can hardly feel the evolution of the times, even if the time here has stopped in the nineteenth century, Wanda can believe it.
The city is flanked on three sides by barren sand dunes stretching to the end of the sky, and the land rises into large stretches of hard dwarf foothills, overgrown with drought-tolerant desert palms and cacti, their roots digging deep into the sand and sucking up water, and only this strong plant is qualified to survive in this desert.
The houses on the periphery are crooked, the lower parts are almost made of dirt, while the upper parts are made of mud bricks dried by the scorching sun.
Whenever explosions were heard in the distance, dust and rubble fell from the cracks like fine light yarn.
More houses had large "skylights" on their roofs, ankle-deep sand on the so-called floors, and only the cracked walls on all four sides still standing.
And the wide streets leading to the run-down city were crowded with hundreds of people.
The shriveled old men of the appearance of wise men sat under the porch smoking pipes, and the fragrant smoke steamed like a mist.
The city's markets are drowned in color and noise, the air is filled with strong smells, the arched canvas awnings next to each other cover almost the entire street, and the sound of fierce bargaining, mixed with the pungent smell of spices and roasted meat, can be heard everywhere.
Wanda parked her dilapidated car for less than five hundred dollars on the side of the road and slowly walked through the bazaar, searching for what she needed, and she was now able to ignore the boasting of the vendors around her and the pleas of the family and children, and she struggled to squeeze a way through the crowd.
But someone grabbed her robe and pulled her to a stall that sold items that Wanda loathed.
Worn guns and ammunition were openly sold on filthy stalls, and Wanda could even see the wooden handles of several rifles stained with black blood that had been soaked in wood.
Probably to show that the gun can still be used, a stall owner "snapped" an AK-74 and then aimed ... No, it's not so much about aiming, it's actually just looking in an empty direction and pulling the trigger at random.
With a low "click" sound, several scalding shells fell to the ground, while a few unkempt street urchins ignored the pain, picked up the shells with sand, and then gathered together to display the loot they had just obtained.
But hundreds of people in the bazaar did not respond to the gunfire, and they still gathered together, forming clouds and sweating into rain.
They talk and laugh loudly at great speed, bargain, gamble and swear, etc. and so on.
Wanda, a foreigner, always thinks they have been arguing when he sees this scene.
This is the first time she has seen such a hot and unrestrained customs.
It wasn't until Wanda gradually moved to the center of the city that things got better, but even here it's hard to see the metropolis.
There are no high-rise buildings, no sophisticated crowds, only a few exquisite houses and hotels in the very core of the city, but that is not for the local residents either.
Wanda sighed, she carefully looked around, and then with a little inexplicable shame stepped into a hotel that was already very exquisite and luxurious compared to the city, but she did not notice that the urchins she had just met in the market were running around in the alley not far away, and the faces in the shadow of the hood were whispering.
After a brief exchange, one of the children ran straight to a tavern, where only five soldiers were stumbling in and out of the tavern.
Wanda avoided the welcome of the front desk clerk with a dull mood, did not choose the elevator, but climbed the stairs layer by layer because of the depression in her heart.
When Wanda arrived at Peter's guest room with a slight breath and saw her titular brother sitting leisurely in front of the window, he was freely observing the ruined city with a drink that was considered a luxury in the city, and her depression turned to irritation.
With a bit of anger, she threw a bag of newly purchased supplies on the wooden table, and the table immediately made an overwhelmed crunching sound.
Peter didn't reply.
"Welcome back, what did you find?"
"Nope."
Wanda, who had realized that she was emitting a nameless fire, exhaled deeply, but the irritation in her heart could not be lost, and when she saw the war-torn children on the street, she couldn't help but think of herself and her brother.
At almost the same age, their lives changed dramatically, when they were illiterate, but they already knew life.
After several adjustments, Wanda finally managed to calm her mood, and then brought together the information she had inquired about.
"In fact, the information about the Ten Rings Gang is clear to almost everyone here, they are almost the cancer of this country!
They burned and looted, almost all evil, they robbed the Red Cross of supplies, killed civilians, plundered children and resources, and assassinated government officials with the intention of affecting the functioning of the country!
Because of their presence, several complete families could not be found throughout Afghanistan. "
Speaking of this, Wanda's mood became heavier, and her voice became low.
"Just now I saw people on the edge of the city who fled here after being attacked by them, their faces numb and calmly scattered, but I could feel their broken feelings..."
Hearing Wanda's narration, Peter raised his eyebrows, and then said softly:
"To the point."
Wanda's mood, which had not yet been completely calmed, became irritable again with Peter's understated reply.
She looked at Peter's back with a cold face, and after a while she said coldly:
"Their leader is a man named Raza, this is not a secret, everyone here knows him, but he is not the leader of the Ten Rings, he is at most the leader of one of the branches of the Ten Rings, but his power is very large, they control almost half of the resources of the entire Afghanistan."
Wanda quietly waited for Peter's next instructions after recounting all the information she had heard, but after a few seconds of silence, she couldn't help but ask:
"Why are you inquiring about the Ten Rings Gang? Are you going to do so-called 'heroic activities' here as well? "
Wanda's tone was a little mocking, but anyone could hear the expectation in her tone, but unfortunately Peter could not respond.
"I came to work with them."
With Peter's soft reply, Wanda's eyes suddenly became cold, she did not continue to wait for Peter's next instructions, turned and left Peter's guest room, if she continued to stay here, she was afraid that she couldn't help but take out the revolver given to her by the other party and shoot him in the head.
Wanda rushed out of the room angrily, and when she left, she slammed the door and made a loud "bang".
Peter was not surprised by Wanda's reaction, but he couldn't catch up to comfort his "sister", he knew exactly how Wanda was feeling at this time, and because of this, he understood that no words of his could comfort Wanda in the slightest.
No one can save these people, and no one can save the city.
Peter turned his head and continued to look at the devastated city.
Despite being in a bizarre comic world, Afghanistan's fate has not changed in the slightest.
Like the city Peter used to know, it was rife with war and poverty.
Afghanistan has many mountains and little rain, the Hindu Kush Mountains split the country in the north and south, the summer is hot and the winter is cold, the rainfall is not enough to support large-scale agriculture, the industry is weak, and the underground mineral deposits are very rich, but they are basically undeveloped.
What is even more deadly is its relative geographical location, it is located in the middle of the Eurasian continent, there is no access to the sea, it is completely locked on the high slopes of the loess, bordering six countries, and is in the place of four battles where soldiers must fight.
History has been trampled by major powers in turn, almost without stopping, either as a springboard or as a buffer zone of influence, but because the territory is full of mountains, the people are particularly stubborn and very difficult to conquer.
The capital, Kabul, was often occupied, but the rebels hid in the mountains to fight guerrillas, and even the strongest weapons were like hitting cotton, and tanks were not as good as donkeys.
In modern times, the three hegemons of Britain, the Soviet Union and the United States have tried to control Afghanistan, but the final result is not very good, and Afghanistan has thus received the name of "Graveyard of Empires",
When you think about it, this name actually carries a strong tragic color, dragging down the enemy and burying itself at the same time.
All this has given rise to organizations like the Ten Rings Gang, which are at best private armed groups and, more directly, terrorists.
But there will be no superheroes born in this land to save the world, and Peter does not intend to be their superhero.
In fact, in a sense, these so-called mujahideen, these terrorists are the superheroes of this country, and Peter played this time... Probably the villain...
Peter closed his eyes and looked at each crow's field of vision, while the crow standing on a tree stump on the edge of the city suddenly raised its head and turned to look at the end of the horizon.
There was a cloud gathered there, the dust stirred up by the marching troops, and through the smoke, you could faintly see the logo of the Ten Rings Gang printed on the front cover of the jeep driving at the front.
The convoy of two or three off-road jeeps rushed straight towards the city, as if paying no attention to the Afghan government forces.
Peter nodded slightly.
He understood that this squad was probably coming for him, and that was his purpose.
Even if he hasn't read the comics, he has a general understanding of the Ten Rings Gang after watching the movie, at least much more information than Wanda, an outsider, who has no clue to ask around, and the reason why he sent Wanda out to find out the news of the Ten Rings Gang is precisely to attract the attention of the Ten Rings Gang.
As for the follow-up ...
If you can communicate, then find a way to trade with him, trade the intelligence detected by the crow to the Ten Rings Gang, leak Tony Stark's whereabouts, and let the Ten Rings Gang capture him according to the original plot.
But if he can't communicate, he can only try to hide for a few days, continue to attract the attention of the Ten Rings Gang, and then lure the Ten Rings Gang's troops to approach Tony Stark's convoy after Tony Stark's arrival.
It's just that Peter is not completely sure of these two schemes, and can only take one step at a time.
Then he looked into the distance, but actually looked at the system page.
At this time, he still had 813 points in his balance.
And this is already the balance he has used.
Originally, Diane was supposed to pay 1513 points of gold, but this time she deliberately subsidized enough gold to exchange for 200 points.
This time, however, Peter doesn't plan to use points for the lottery, but to upgrade existing skills and expand the inventory.
Now that his abilities are rich enough, he now needs to precipitate, adapt to existing forces to find his own new way of fighting, and it is safer for Peter to continue to upgrade existing abilities than new abilities.
Without hesitation, Peter chose to upgrade the power of the Demon Hunter.
Originally, Peter also considered upgrading the ability of Starlight or the power of the Hidden Demon Ram.
It's just that the former has already upgraded once, and the number of points required for another upgrade has reached 1900 points, while the latter, as an SSR-level ability, requires 1500 points for the first upgrade.
And the ability of the demon hunter that only needs 600 points to upgrade is naturally more cost-effective.
Peter has already completed the upgrade during the flight, and this time the improvement is also very comprehensive.
This enhancement directly improved Peter's physical fitness again, his anti-poison ability was raised to a higher level, and some poisons now not only did not harm him, but even had some buffs.
And the effect of several French and Indian upgrades surprised Peter even more.
As an Alpha Seal, which is known for its ability to fly, repel and disarm enemies, it now has a more powerful shockwave, and its range has been further expanded, and it can choose whether to deal a certain amount of damage depending on the level of the input mana.
The Seal of Igny, which can deal fire damage, has the least boost.
It can only continuously release a stream of fire by continuously entering mana, transforming into a humanoid flamethrower.
As Peter's favorite Aden, the French seal is the most ascensed.
It is now not only much more widespread, but also can directly absorb the kinetic energy of projectiles passing through the range of France and India, which means that Peter can even raise his hand to make the bullet stand still in front of him when facing a bullet with a smaller caliber like Neo in The Matrix.
The Kunn Fayin, who provides defensive capabilities, can now create a large shield by continuously entering mana, which is an additional means of covering his teammates.
The Seal of Axie, which can affect the enemy's mind, allows an enemy to change his cognition for a short time, and will consider himself an ally for a few seconds or a minute, depending on the enemy's willpower.
For this trip to Afghanistan, these improvements are undoubtedly what Peter needs most.
Peter slowly got up from his seat, he had adjusted the best part of what he could.
And next... I don't know whether to distort fate or put it back on track...
He wants to fulfill his "prophecy", make things go the way they should, make illusory dreams come true, and make Tony Stark the one he remembers... Iron Man...
(End of chapter)
Wanda had never set foot in Afghanistan in her life, or before Diane invited her siblings, she and her brother had never left the city where they lived.
Although she has learned about countries with similar destinies to her own city on television and on various materials countless times, she still felt a strong shock when she actually saw it.
The sky here is dark and desolate, and no matter where you are, you can occasionally hear explosions in the air.
As the capital of Afghanistan, Kabul is already the most prosperous city, but on the periphery of the city, you can hardly feel the evolution of the times, even if the time here has stopped in the nineteenth century, Wanda can believe it.
The city is flanked on three sides by barren sand dunes stretching to the end of the sky, and the land rises into large stretches of hard dwarf foothills, overgrown with drought-tolerant desert palms and cacti, their roots digging deep into the sand and sucking up water, and only this strong plant is qualified to survive in this desert.
The houses on the periphery are crooked, the lower parts are almost made of dirt, while the upper parts are made of mud bricks dried by the scorching sun.
Whenever explosions were heard in the distance, dust and rubble fell from the cracks like fine light yarn.
More houses had large "skylights" on their roofs, ankle-deep sand on the so-called floors, and only the cracked walls on all four sides still standing.
And the wide streets leading to the run-down city were crowded with hundreds of people.
The shriveled old men of the appearance of wise men sat under the porch smoking pipes, and the fragrant smoke steamed like a mist.
The city's markets are drowned in color and noise, the air is filled with strong smells, the arched canvas awnings next to each other cover almost the entire street, and the sound of fierce bargaining, mixed with the pungent smell of spices and roasted meat, can be heard everywhere.
Wanda parked her dilapidated car for less than five hundred dollars on the side of the road and slowly walked through the bazaar, searching for what she needed, and she was now able to ignore the boasting of the vendors around her and the pleas of the family and children, and she struggled to squeeze a way through the crowd.
But someone grabbed her robe and pulled her to a stall that sold items that Wanda loathed.
Worn guns and ammunition were openly sold on filthy stalls, and Wanda could even see the wooden handles of several rifles stained with black blood that had been soaked in wood.
Probably to show that the gun can still be used, a stall owner "snapped" an AK-74 and then aimed ... No, it's not so much about aiming, it's actually just looking in an empty direction and pulling the trigger at random.
With a low "click" sound, several scalding shells fell to the ground, while a few unkempt street urchins ignored the pain, picked up the shells with sand, and then gathered together to display the loot they had just obtained.
But hundreds of people in the bazaar did not respond to the gunfire, and they still gathered together, forming clouds and sweating into rain.
They talk and laugh loudly at great speed, bargain, gamble and swear, etc. and so on.
Wanda, a foreigner, always thinks they have been arguing when he sees this scene.
This is the first time she has seen such a hot and unrestrained customs.
It wasn't until Wanda gradually moved to the center of the city that things got better, but even here it's hard to see the metropolis.
There are no high-rise buildings, no sophisticated crowds, only a few exquisite houses and hotels in the very core of the city, but that is not for the local residents either.
Wanda sighed, she carefully looked around, and then with a little inexplicable shame stepped into a hotel that was already very exquisite and luxurious compared to the city, but she did not notice that the urchins she had just met in the market were running around in the alley not far away, and the faces in the shadow of the hood were whispering.
After a brief exchange, one of the children ran straight to a tavern, where only five soldiers were stumbling in and out of the tavern.
Wanda avoided the welcome of the front desk clerk with a dull mood, did not choose the elevator, but climbed the stairs layer by layer because of the depression in her heart.
When Wanda arrived at Peter's guest room with a slight breath and saw her titular brother sitting leisurely in front of the window, he was freely observing the ruined city with a drink that was considered a luxury in the city, and her depression turned to irritation.
With a bit of anger, she threw a bag of newly purchased supplies on the wooden table, and the table immediately made an overwhelmed crunching sound.
Peter didn't reply.
"Welcome back, what did you find?"
"Nope."
Wanda, who had realized that she was emitting a nameless fire, exhaled deeply, but the irritation in her heart could not be lost, and when she saw the war-torn children on the street, she couldn't help but think of herself and her brother.
At almost the same age, their lives changed dramatically, when they were illiterate, but they already knew life.
After several adjustments, Wanda finally managed to calm her mood, and then brought together the information she had inquired about.
"In fact, the information about the Ten Rings Gang is clear to almost everyone here, they are almost the cancer of this country!
They burned and looted, almost all evil, they robbed the Red Cross of supplies, killed civilians, plundered children and resources, and assassinated government officials with the intention of affecting the functioning of the country!
Because of their presence, several complete families could not be found throughout Afghanistan. "
Speaking of this, Wanda's mood became heavier, and her voice became low.
"Just now I saw people on the edge of the city who fled here after being attacked by them, their faces numb and calmly scattered, but I could feel their broken feelings..."
Hearing Wanda's narration, Peter raised his eyebrows, and then said softly:
"To the point."
Wanda's mood, which had not yet been completely calmed, became irritable again with Peter's understated reply.
She looked at Peter's back with a cold face, and after a while she said coldly:
"Their leader is a man named Raza, this is not a secret, everyone here knows him, but he is not the leader of the Ten Rings, he is at most the leader of one of the branches of the Ten Rings, but his power is very large, they control almost half of the resources of the entire Afghanistan."
Wanda quietly waited for Peter's next instructions after recounting all the information she had heard, but after a few seconds of silence, she couldn't help but ask:
"Why are you inquiring about the Ten Rings Gang? Are you going to do so-called 'heroic activities' here as well? "
Wanda's tone was a little mocking, but anyone could hear the expectation in her tone, but unfortunately Peter could not respond.
"I came to work with them."
With Peter's soft reply, Wanda's eyes suddenly became cold, she did not continue to wait for Peter's next instructions, turned and left Peter's guest room, if she continued to stay here, she was afraid that she couldn't help but take out the revolver given to her by the other party and shoot him in the head.
Wanda rushed out of the room angrily, and when she left, she slammed the door and made a loud "bang".
Peter was not surprised by Wanda's reaction, but he couldn't catch up to comfort his "sister", he knew exactly how Wanda was feeling at this time, and because of this, he understood that no words of his could comfort Wanda in the slightest.
No one can save these people, and no one can save the city.
Peter turned his head and continued to look at the devastated city.
Despite being in a bizarre comic world, Afghanistan's fate has not changed in the slightest.
Like the city Peter used to know, it was rife with war and poverty.
Afghanistan has many mountains and little rain, the Hindu Kush Mountains split the country in the north and south, the summer is hot and the winter is cold, the rainfall is not enough to support large-scale agriculture, the industry is weak, and the underground mineral deposits are very rich, but they are basically undeveloped.
What is even more deadly is its relative geographical location, it is located in the middle of the Eurasian continent, there is no access to the sea, it is completely locked on the high slopes of the loess, bordering six countries, and is in the place of four battles where soldiers must fight.
History has been trampled by major powers in turn, almost without stopping, either as a springboard or as a buffer zone of influence, but because the territory is full of mountains, the people are particularly stubborn and very difficult to conquer.
The capital, Kabul, was often occupied, but the rebels hid in the mountains to fight guerrillas, and even the strongest weapons were like hitting cotton, and tanks were not as good as donkeys.
In modern times, the three hegemons of Britain, the Soviet Union and the United States have tried to control Afghanistan, but the final result is not very good, and Afghanistan has thus received the name of "Graveyard of Empires",
When you think about it, this name actually carries a strong tragic color, dragging down the enemy and burying itself at the same time.
All this has given rise to organizations like the Ten Rings Gang, which are at best private armed groups and, more directly, terrorists.
But there will be no superheroes born in this land to save the world, and Peter does not intend to be their superhero.
In fact, in a sense, these so-called mujahideen, these terrorists are the superheroes of this country, and Peter played this time... Probably the villain...
Peter closed his eyes and looked at each crow's field of vision, while the crow standing on a tree stump on the edge of the city suddenly raised its head and turned to look at the end of the horizon.
There was a cloud gathered there, the dust stirred up by the marching troops, and through the smoke, you could faintly see the logo of the Ten Rings Gang printed on the front cover of the jeep driving at the front.
The convoy of two or three off-road jeeps rushed straight towards the city, as if paying no attention to the Afghan government forces.
Peter nodded slightly.
He understood that this squad was probably coming for him, and that was his purpose.
Even if he hasn't read the comics, he has a general understanding of the Ten Rings Gang after watching the movie, at least much more information than Wanda, an outsider, who has no clue to ask around, and the reason why he sent Wanda out to find out the news of the Ten Rings Gang is precisely to attract the attention of the Ten Rings Gang.
As for the follow-up ...
If you can communicate, then find a way to trade with him, trade the intelligence detected by the crow to the Ten Rings Gang, leak Tony Stark's whereabouts, and let the Ten Rings Gang capture him according to the original plot.
But if he can't communicate, he can only try to hide for a few days, continue to attract the attention of the Ten Rings Gang, and then lure the Ten Rings Gang's troops to approach Tony Stark's convoy after Tony Stark's arrival.
It's just that Peter is not completely sure of these two schemes, and can only take one step at a time.
Then he looked into the distance, but actually looked at the system page.
At this time, he still had 813 points in his balance.
And this is already the balance he has used.
Originally, Diane was supposed to pay 1513 points of gold, but this time she deliberately subsidized enough gold to exchange for 200 points.
This time, however, Peter doesn't plan to use points for the lottery, but to upgrade existing skills and expand the inventory.
Now that his abilities are rich enough, he now needs to precipitate, adapt to existing forces to find his own new way of fighting, and it is safer for Peter to continue to upgrade existing abilities than new abilities.
Without hesitation, Peter chose to upgrade the power of the Demon Hunter.
Originally, Peter also considered upgrading the ability of Starlight or the power of the Hidden Demon Ram.
It's just that the former has already upgraded once, and the number of points required for another upgrade has reached 1900 points, while the latter, as an SSR-level ability, requires 1500 points for the first upgrade.
And the ability of the demon hunter that only needs 600 points to upgrade is naturally more cost-effective.
Peter has already completed the upgrade during the flight, and this time the improvement is also very comprehensive.
This enhancement directly improved Peter's physical fitness again, his anti-poison ability was raised to a higher level, and some poisons now not only did not harm him, but even had some buffs.
And the effect of several French and Indian upgrades surprised Peter even more.
As an Alpha Seal, which is known for its ability to fly, repel and disarm enemies, it now has a more powerful shockwave, and its range has been further expanded, and it can choose whether to deal a certain amount of damage depending on the level of the input mana.
The Seal of Igny, which can deal fire damage, has the least boost.
It can only continuously release a stream of fire by continuously entering mana, transforming into a humanoid flamethrower.
As Peter's favorite Aden, the French seal is the most ascensed.
It is now not only much more widespread, but also can directly absorb the kinetic energy of projectiles passing through the range of France and India, which means that Peter can even raise his hand to make the bullet stand still in front of him when facing a bullet with a smaller caliber like Neo in The Matrix.
The Kunn Fayin, who provides defensive capabilities, can now create a large shield by continuously entering mana, which is an additional means of covering his teammates.
The Seal of Axie, which can affect the enemy's mind, allows an enemy to change his cognition for a short time, and will consider himself an ally for a few seconds or a minute, depending on the enemy's willpower.
For this trip to Afghanistan, these improvements are undoubtedly what Peter needs most.
Peter slowly got up from his seat, he had adjusted the best part of what he could.
And next... I don't know whether to distort fate or put it back on track...
He wants to fulfill his "prophecy", make things go the way they should, make illusory dreams come true, and make Tony Stark the one he remembers... Iron Man...
(End of chapter)
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