Taxes are only within machine gun range!

Chapter 204 Brick them up!
Looking at the 12.7mm caliber bullet, which was as thick as a small water pipe, the priest finally dared not say anything, but he could not hide the anger on his face and in his eyes.

Damn it, who is this guy?
When he got back, he was determined to have the Earth Mother curse him severely, so that he would suffer the same fate as those damned gold prospectors, with his flesh falling off piece by piece and his eyeballs popping out in the blink of an eye, causing him to die a painful death!
No, not after we go back, but later!

The priest looked at the sheriff beside him before carefully speaking, "Sheriff, as the person in charge of maintaining order in the entire town, shouldn't you first ask about the origins of these people?"

Brandon stepped forward, his voice cold but filled with pride: "No need to ask! Standing before you is the great 'Hell Tax Collector,' understand? Your only job is to obey his orders unconditionally!"

Milton: "..."

Even though the faces of these people were obscured, the sheriff had already roughly guessed who they were. It was just that the town was too isolated, and these people from the so-called "Primitive Trash Cult" were probably mentally unstable, which was why he couldn't guess.

In this area, only Milton can send so many helicopters at once!

So the sheriff didn't seem very surprised.

But upon hearing this nickname, the priest's resentment lessened considerably, his murderous eyes instantly cleared, and he involuntarily took a step back, kicking the bowl of Death Vinaigrette on the ground.

Even his arrogant tone from just now carried a hint of nervousness.

"You, you're the 'Hell Tax Collector'?!"

Milton took a deep breath and said in an extremely cold tone, "Yes, that's me."

"So obey my orders immediately. Everyone go home. If you don't have a home, go to a hotel. The military will cover the expenses."

"If no action is taken within 10 seconds, it will be considered as intentionally spreading contamination, and the military has the right to execute him on the spot."

Upon hearing this, the crowd that had been watching the spectacle and who had initially believed the priest's ramblings scattered in all directions, running wildly towards their homes.

During the incident, someone accidentally kicked over the small altar.

They might not disbelieve the priest's words, but they believed Milton's bullets even more.

Disobeying Mother Earth might mean missing out on the legendary Ark in 2012, but disobeying Milton could mean he'd tear anyone to shreds in the next second!

Which one is scarier is obvious.

Seeing the people scatter, Milton turned around, looked at the sheriff, and nodded approvingly.

"Good, tell me your name."

Residents in this environment and culture more or less believe in strange things, and the police are no exception. But this sheriff is clearly not that kind of person; perhaps he is a useful talent.

A strange excitement and longing flashed in the sheriff's eyes, but he still stood up straight: "Reporting, 'Hell Tax Collector'! My name is Riley Carlisle, and I am the sheriff of the local police department! I have five years of experience!"

He is a 30-year-old man, about 180cm tall, with firm muscles, broad shoulders and back, thick, sword-like eyebrows and deep-set eyes, a distinct jawline, and a slight stubble.

Milton considered it for a moment, then nodded: "Very good. Take your men to my helicopter to collect the equipment, and at the same time monitor the Geiger counter. If you don't know how to use it, my men will teach you."

“I need to question every resident in the town. I need clues, and you should be someone the locals trust.”

Lai nodded vigorously and said, "Understood!"

Milton waved his hand and said to Brandon and Flora's group, "Let's go, let's continue dealing with the core contamination, as soon as possible."

The planned procedure for handling this incident was simple: first, the lightly armed personnel from the helicopter would take the lead in quickly locating the core, which was also the fixed and immovable core contaminated area.

Once it was found, the convoy that followed, carrying even heavier equipment and supplies, arrived around the same time.

Under various protective measures, the waste is solidified as quickly as possible, while also monitoring whether the water is contaminated. If it is contaminated, a permanent isolation zone covering the water area needs to be demarcated.

Yes, the only option is permanent isolation, waiting for the power of time to wear everything down.

Milton spoke again: "First, search the town. If you find radiation levels that exceed the natural background level, which is 0.3 μSv/h, then track it."

Generally speaking, the indoor radiation dose is 0.1 μSv/h, and the outdoor natural radiation dose is 0.3 μSv/h. Exceeding this dose indicates that something is wrong.

If the value exceeds 50 μSv/h, it will lead to a slight decrease in blood cells, and there is a high possibility of radiation sickness.

Exposure to 1000 μSv/h for one hour will trigger acute radiation sickness...

In the core area of ​​such nuclear waste, that is, within 10 meters of the radioactive source, the radiation level could potentially surge to over 1 Sv/h, equivalent to 1000000 μSv/h. If someone approaches without any protection, they will die within seconds.

As for the Geiger counter for monitoring radiation levels?
It's been off the charts for ages.

At this level of radiation, many devices, including cameras, are unusable, and the only way to complete the curing work is by relying on machinery and manpower.

Brandon, carrying an incredibly heavy set of equipment, searched the area bit by bit, then asked, "Boss, what do we do after we find the source of the radiation?"

"No one, even with the strictest protection, can stay in the core area for more than 2 hours. Take potassium iodide and Prussian blue in advance, inject granulocyte colony-stimulating factor after the mission, and immediately decontaminate after evacuation. Haven't we already said that?"

Brandon swallowed hard. "Boss, I mean, how do we pour concrete in the area closer to the source of pollution than the core area?"

Milton paused for a moment, then said, "Minimize the stay as much as possible."

"One minute?"

“No, the mission time is to be controlled within 10 seconds.” Milton shook his head. “Work in pairs and use long-arm tools to handle it remotely as much as possible. Radiation intensity is inversely proportional to the square of the distance; even a little distance can make a big difference in the effect.”

10 seconds.

Flora couldn't help but say, "Isn't that just rushing over at full speed, digging a shovelful, and then turning around and running for your life?"

“Yes,” Milton nodded. “And even so, it’s still very dangerous, and there’s a high chance of getting acute radiation sickness.”

"Lopez, that beast... Arsu, that beast, he's the president of this country! How could he do such a thing?!"

Flora also chimed in, "Actually, I think the lowest-cost approach is to ignore this awful place, relocate the entire town, and designate a large surrounding area as a restricted zone, prohibiting anyone from entering."

“You’ve already collected taxes from others.” Milton glanced at them. “You should take some responsibility. Telling others to get lost when there’s a problem isn’t the right attitude to solve problems.”

"..."

The team split up and operated for a while when the numbers on the Geiger counter suddenly jumped.

Everyone looked down and found that the reading had jumped to 0.5 μSv/h.

Not long after, the town's sheriff, Riley, also reported the news he had received via radio.

There was a strange excitement in his voice: "'Hell Tax Collector' Mr.?"

"Report directly if anything happens."

“My colleagues and I made an emergency visit and found out a little bit.” Riley spoke quickly. “It’s about a two-hour walk northeast of the town. Someone said they had seen the gold prospectors’ camp there.”

"All the gold prospectors died, and three of them had visited a local clinic. The doctor there said the patients did appear to be carrying 'amulet's, but he couldn't tell what they were made of."

Milton's voice was calm: "Understood. Continue the investigation and report any leads immediately."

"receive……"

After ending his call with Riley, Milton immediately began mobilizing everyone and heading in the direction indicated by the clues.

"Flora, you're in charge of notifying the convoy to head in this direction."

"If the reading is too high, we will stop and wait for the convoy to deliver stronger protective equipment before continuing."

Flora nodded, then exclaimed, "That's a huge financial blow. You must have spent at least a million dollars this time."

“It doesn’t matter. When my army enters Guatemala City, I will make President Arzu pay a hundredfold.” Milton said expressionlessly. “I will prepare a guillotine for him. I will make him the Central American version of Louis XVI, and let his shameful joke circulate in this country and this region for the rest of his life.”

"Ruthless enough, I like it!"

Click, click... da da da da da!

Everyone was already familiar with the ticking sound of the Geiger counter, but suddenly, its sound changed!

It finally started to get urgent!
Milton immediately stopped in his tracks: "Alright, let's wait here for reinforcements."

After some time, Milton finally heard the roar of the convoy.

It was a very, very large convoy—some were transporting lead sheets to make makeshift shelters, some were hauling concrete, some were carrying protective gear, some were carrying emergency medical supplies, and many more were transporting people.

The fact that a new task force needs to be formed every 10 seconds means that a very, very large number of people will be required to carry out this death mission!
Fortunately, the location of the radiation source is relatively fixed, and the lead plate only needs to be placed facing the direction of the radiation source to block a large amount of gamma rays.

“Luckily, there’s a panel where we can use points to redeem these equipment and materials… otherwise, if we had to wait for imports, this land would probably be completely rotten by now.” Milton watched the convoy approach and the soldiers continue their advance towards the target location under protection, and nodded. “Lopez and Arsu certainly didn’t expect that I could react so quickly and control the dangers of the nuclear leak in such a short time.”

The plan to pollute a large area of ​​Milton's occupied territory has failed.

The convoy continued forward, and on the muddy path, the group finally spotted the gold prospectors' camp and the abandoned tools nearby.

The ticking of the Geiger counter accelerated once again, turning into a dense, crisp "crackling" sound!

"Mr. 'Hell Tax Collector,' moderately contaminated zone!"

Milton, behind the lead plate, glanced at the Geiger counter in his hand and said, "Keep pushing forward, find where the gold miners are digging... This godforsaken place, no ordinary person could find it. It must be that Arsu knew I would be interrogating the lobbying group, so he deliberately leaked the information, hoping someone could dig up the scrap and take it around to pollute my territory."

“Arsu will stop at nothing to drain my funds, my manpower and resources, and destroy my tax revenue... all to buy time to unite with other warlords and to convert the funds in my hands into weapons.” “This man is more powerful and more vicious than Lopez; he must be eliminated.”

Flora nodded in agreement: "No wonder he could become president in a country like this."

Following the clues, they walked forward for a while, and finally the digging point—a mud pit—came into view.

A cry of alarm rang out: "The counter has gone mad! First, it made a crackling sound that blended into a 'hissing' white noise, then it immediately escalated into a piercing buzzing sound! It sounds like...like high-voltage electricity?"

"The value... why isn't the value changing?"

"Nonsense! Of course the values ​​haven't changed. The radiation levels here are off the charts. We can't go any further. Let's back up a bit and build a makeshift safe house using lead plates!"

"Pour out the concrete, and prepare for the mission as 'The Godfather' taught us!"

"Hurry up, hurry up! Wasting even a second here is a crime!"

"..."

Click...

At this moment, reporter Olya, also wearing a hazmat suit, pressed the shutter of her camera—even her camera was protected, otherwise she might not have been able to take a good picture.

The soldiers worked efficiently and without disorder, completing all the preliminary preparations and setting up a buffer zone with strict disinfection equipment before approaching Milton.

"'The Godfather,' everything is ready. Is there anything I've forgotten?"

In a moment, these soldiers will risk their lives to deal with the source of pollution at that excavation site in the distance.

Milton paused for a second, then said, “This is a very dangerous, very dangerous mission. You could very well die, and even if you survive, you might suffer from a disease that will stay with you for the rest of your lives. Let me repeat, my men will never be ‘sacrificed.’ Those who are afraid still have the chance to back down.”

One of the soldiers suddenly burst into laughter: "'Godfather' sir, your army saved my child, and now that I've become part of your army, it's only natural that I must go and save other people's children!"

“You came when the enemy was massacring our village.”

“‘Godfather’, do you know how many people here owe you a life, or even several lives? If we don’t take on a mere suicide mission, are you the one who should take on it?”

“I believe that even if I die in the line of duty, my children and family will be treated as promised, and that is enough, sir.”

"We are not a cesspool nation!"

Milton then looked at the unit that had crumbled at the first sign of trouble, the one that hadn't even bothered to pick up a gun when Milton's army approached, and asked, "And you?"

"'Godfather,' we're not afraid of death, we're just afraid of dying in vain!"

"First group, go!"

After saying this, two soldiers stepped forward and, as planned, each picked up a shovel, scooped up the concrete from the cart, took a deep breath, accelerated, and ran at full speed towards the excavation point!
Although they were not well-educated, the emergency science education they received during this period taught them that the area was filled with pollution and invisible rays, that people who came near the place had died tragically, and that even with lead-lined chemical protective suits, they might still suffer a "curse" that would follow them for life.

In an environment with almost zero contact with nuclear contamination, even lead plates may develop cracks, and chemical protective suits may become brittle in a short period of time!
But I still went ahead without hesitation.

Flora stared blankly at the scene: "Weren't they... supposed to collapse at the first sign of trouble? Why?"

“Actually, many people don’t ask for much,” Milton replied. “If you treat them as human beings, they will give you unexpected rewards. Lopez obviously didn’t do that.”

In just a couple of sentences, the two who had been on the mission first had already run back and started a thorough disinfection, while hiding behind the lead plate.

Milton took a look from a distance and saw no adverse reactions, thankfully...

"Mr. 'The Godfather'!"

Just then, a soldier who was on guard duty on the perimeter and would be carrying out a dangerous mission later rushed over.

"explain."

"A group of strange people came in and tried to come in, but we stopped them. Would you like to go and take a look?"

In environments with high ionizing radiation, various electronic components are easily damaged or malfunction. This is actually the principle behind the so-called "EMP" in many movies, where dropping one can cause various electronic devices to stop working.

High-energy ionizing radiation can generate electromagnetic pulses, or EMPs, which can interfere with communication frequencies and cause signal interruption or distortion.

Unfortunately, the only way to generate an electromagnetic pulse that can disable various electronic components, especially military-grade electronic components, in a short time is through high-yield nuclear weapons.

Expecting to cripple the enemy's electronic equipment by simply throwing something at them is basically nonsense.

However, Milton is now experiencing what it's like to take an EMP shot like in the movies—where communication used to be done simply by radio, now soldiers have to run to report.

"Who goes there?" Milton frowned. "Didn't I tell you there's severe pollution here? Aren't you afraid of dying?"

“Yes, it’s a group of people dressed in strange clothes.” The soldier scratched his head. “Maybe they’re related to some religion? Uh, and there’s a girl too, the one you took to the hospital earlier.”

No?

Here we go again? Didn't we already warn you?!
Milton's decision not to directly and violently deal with these strange local cults out of rational and realistic considerations does not mean they can continue to challenge his bottom line.

"What religion are they?" Milton asked calmly. "How dare they? Why aren't they afraid of 12.7mm?"

"Call it, call it, primitive voodoo cult."

Upon hearing this name, Milton fell silent again—good heavens, it was an old friend?
When recruiting teammates in Malakan Town, there was a group of strange mercenaries who also believed in this religion before Flora's team was interviewed!
Later, this group of mercenaries was hired by the old stationmaster to deal with him, but they were all wiped out.

“Alright, Brandon, you take charge.” Milton nodded. “The rest of you, follow me—our warriors are fighting desperately at the front, while some insects are constantly causing trouble at the back.”

The others quickly followed.

Milton stopped abruptly, looked at the people following behind him, and asked, "You just followed like that? Where's the stuff?"

The soldier paused for a moment, then asked cautiously, "What is that?"

“I just said, this trashy Earth Mother, no, Earth Bitch, if she dares to talk nonsense to me again, I’ll have her and her followers eat 12.7mm caliber API.” Milton explained seriously, “I am the head of the military government and the head of the local government, and I must be honest and trustworthy.”

"Bring the M2 Browning heavy machine gun and switch to armor-piercing incendiary rounds."

"Then, come with me."

The soldiers were initially a little afraid and hesitant about this sorcery, but after thinking about it carefully, it didn't seem as scary as the "Hell Tax Collector," so they immediately straightened their backs and nodded vigorously: "Yes! Understood!"

Soon, a truck carrying a heavy machine gun set off and returned to the outskirts of Mullulham.

At this moment, several people dressed as priests and believers were surrounding a girl whose face was streaked with tears, who looked anxious and pained, and they were talking incessantly with serious expressions.

"Your father has blasphemed Mother Earth..."

"Atonement!"

"Everyone is sinful; it's ingrained in our blood. Only piety offers a sliver of hope..."

"..."

boom!
Milton immediately drew his gun and shot the rambling priest in the head.

“I have already warned you, and it seems I was far too lenient.”

Upon hearing Milton's voice, the girl's face still showed pain, but her unease vanished in an instant.

Another priest, watching in shock and rage as a large spray of blood erupted from the believer's head and he collapsed before his eyes, raised his staff and pointed it in Milton's direction: "You? You dared to defile the Earth Mother's tomb with blasphemous things, and you even dared to use violence against Her people?!"

The soldier, who had initially been somewhat insecure due to the priest's intimidating rhetoric, glanced at the "Hell Tax Collector" beside him and instantly felt a surge of security. Even his voice rang with pride: "So what? Standing before you is the great, invincible 'Hell Tax Collector,' unafraid of the bitches! Even if the bitches are here, even if Jesus comes, they still have to pay taxes, understand?!"

The priest had never heard such blasphemous words before, and was nearly driven mad with rage: "You...you!"

"Enough with the nonsense." Milton's expression was icy. He raised his hand. "Kill him..."

"Wait! Milton, I know you, I recognize you!" The priest was truly surprised that Milton was actually the kind of madman who would shoot at the slightest provocation, and that he treated their primitive voodoo cult the same as everyone else. He was also anxious. "You're new here. You want to take over this land, but do you know how many of our followers there are, and how widely they are spread out?!"

"You have offended us. If you start a war with us, it's the same as starting a civil war!"

"If you want your territory to be safe and secure, and if you want your rule to be stable, you must cooperate with us and have our support."

"Perhaps the Church doesn't have Lopez's weapons, but the Church possesses power far greater than weapons. If you dare to fire today, countless people will rise up against you on your territory tomorrow, and war will reignite on your land. You'd better calm down and think it over carefully!"

The priest said confidently.

Milton listened quietly the whole time and nodded.

The priest was then satisfied: "Very good, now come here and listen..."

Milton ignored him and turned to look at Flora beside him: "What are you standing there for? Open fire! Remember to collect their body parts later and put them in the concrete along with his... what the hell bitch."

The next instant, the M2 Browning spat out flames.

bang bang bang! ! !
P.S.: I'll update tomorrow.

(End of this chapter)