Nuke Miko: Chronicles of America

Now even boring rural places like Missouri and Kansas have mysteriously reappeared and magic has come.

However, New Orleans, the famous city of vampires and the capital of witchcraft in the United States, has neither vampires nor witchcraft. "

As a native of Louisiana, the red-necked girl Dolores was also disappointed by this, rubbing her forehead in the scorching midsummer evening wind and muttering, "...hehe, this is really a completely unfunny joke, presumably It will definitely disappoint occult lovers."

"...On the plus side, at least New Orleans doesn't have to worry about a magical version of Resident Evil breaking out! We all know that those voodoo black witches play with all kinds of corpses and bones, and curse people Expert!" Miss Freya, the manager, said with a curl of her lips.

"...Indeed, the scene where the black witch drives a group of skeletons through the streets, frightening people and extorting protection fees is not good at all."

Abby, the disease witch from Thailand, nodded and agreed, "...not to mention the kind of flying human head with a string of intestines and internal organs hanging from it... Thinking about such a thing flying around on the top of the head, I want to Vomited." She showed a nauseous expression, and her delicate face seemed to be wrinkled.

"...Uh, a string of viscera hanging under the flying head? Such a disgusting thing...

Well, it should be your flying headman from Thailand, right?These black person voodoo in New Orleans don't do that. "

Ma Tong blinked and interjected to correct, "...on the contrary, if the voodoo sect can really get out their living dead and establish a company, it is estimated that it will become a hot spot in the financial investment industry immediately, and it will attract people in no time. Come to countless venture capital, become the new economic growth point of the United States!"

"... Voodoo zombies? The magic version of the zombie perpetual motion machine?"

Akiyama Megumi thought for a while, then nodded in approval, "...this thing really suits the appetite of black-hearted capitalists!"

——The most famous rumor of voodoo religion, in addition to impaling a curse on a voodoo doll, is to perform the secret technique of resurrection, so that the dead can climb out of the coffin, and then resurrected in the state of a zombie (also known as a resurrected corpse), and continue to have no complaints or regrets Continue to work, be used as a slave by the master, and never stop, never drink water, never talk, just keep working for the master... It is really more comfortable to use than a living slave!

This is simply the perpetual motion animal that black-hearted capitalists all over the world dream of!

If it does not affect work efficiency, it is estimated that all capitalists would like to replace their employees with zombies who do not need to be paid!

What?Morality?law?It sounds funny.

Do you speak morally to a regime that takes the initiative to secretly drop germ bombs on its own cities and deliberately create a large plague?

As long as it can make money and be profitable, the ruling class in the United States is absolutely not afraid to create a biochemical crisis in the country!

Of course, it is understandable for Resident Evil to evolve into a zombie apocalypse based on their arrogant and arrogant manner.

"...Okay, that's the end of the gossip! Since at midnight, when the magic power is the strongest, under the light of the mysterious red moon, the range covered by the aura can only expand to this point, so my journey can only end here. There's no need to go to New Orleans, fifty kilometers to the southeast."

Glancing at the shadowy and uninhabited forests, wetlands and swamps on both sides of the road, the voters of Talona, ​​the goddess of poison and plague, Abby, the witch of disease, said, "... Next, I plan to turn around and go north to see Minnesota and South Dakota. State and Nebraska magic coverage, preaching in hospitals, pharmacies, medical schools and state run drug spots there, getting the right people to believe in our Lord.

Maybe even cross the border to see Canada - so don't miss it, sweet little fox!Get in touch if you have time! "

She winked at Megumi Akiyama prettyly, blew a kiss casually, jumped into her RV, turned around and headed north.

Immediately afterwards, Sister Salma, who led the succubus, also bid farewell to Akiyama Megumi and the others—because their bodies and souls had been changed, and these succubus ladies could not adapt to the magic-free space without magic power. Nor can they cross the dividing line between the extraordinary world and the non-demon world.

What's more terrible is that it is the midnight of the red moon with the strongest magic power, and the indescribable mysterious border has only expanded to this wilderness.

If we waited until the time passed, when the sun rose and the magic power shrunk, even this place would probably become a magic-free area with the ebb of the magic power.

Therefore, since it has been determined that it is impossible to open a branch in New Orleans, these succubi have to leave immediately, turn around to the northwest states of Texas, Oklahoma, and Maryland to inspect the environment, and decide whether to open a branch according to the situation.

In this way, watching these uninvited travel companions turn around in an instant and leave one after another, leaving only her own solitary green leather car parked by the side of the road, although Akiyama Megumi knows that there will always be differences in the journey, But I still couldn't help feeling a little melancholy and dazed.

Until Dolores, the guide and chief bag-carrying girl, asked Akiyama Megumi what to do next, whether to go to her family's rice farm first.

Huicai Akiyama came back from the daze, and waved his hand, "...There is no rush, we are here, let's go to New Orleans first!"

sex

So, after bidding farewell to the disease witch Abby and the succubus, Akiyama Megumi's green leather car continued to drive southeast along the highway on the wetlands of the Mississippi River Delta.Soon, the caravan passed through the boundary of aura and entered the ordinary world without magic.

Although according to common sense, the deltas located at the mouths of great rivers are generally densely populated places-such as the Netherlands lowlands at the mouth of the Rhine, Bangladesh in the Ganges Delta, and the Nile Delta in Egypt, as well as the Pearl River Delta and the Pearl River Delta in China. The two major urban agglomerations in the Yangtze River Delta.

However, the Mississippi River Delta in the United States is not densely populated, and still retains a large area of ​​undeveloped swamps and forests.Even in the outskirts of New Orleans, vast barren swamps and dense forests growing in wetlands can be seen everywhere, and there are even crocodiles.

The reason is that the history of civilization in the United States is too short to carry out a comprehensive transformation of the geographical environment around the city.

It should be noted that although the loose and fertile soil on the big river delta is very suitable for agricultural production, the geographical location where the rivers meet and the river-sea combined transport is a natural transportation hub.But at the same time, people living in the delta must also bear the disasters of frequent floods and tidal waves.

In order to turn the delta into a golden rice bowl where drought and flood are guaranteed, human beings have to dig canals, drain swamps, build dams, and plan reservoirs bit by bit. They spend countless time and energy, and shed countless blood and sweat to transform nature and turn harm into profit. , really make good use of the fertile soil of the delta.

For example, the most affluent place in the south of the Yangtze River in China, if counted from the era of the Liangzhu civilization, it took the local ancestors three to four thousand years to transform the desolate Yangtze River Delta into its later prosperous and prosperous appearance... the same In fact, the Dutch developed the Rhine Delta, the Bangladeshis developed the Ganges Delta, and the Vietnamese developed the Mekong Delta. It also took hundreds or even thousands of years, with the efforts of N generations.

In contrast, the development of the Americans in the Mississippi River Delta was too late, and there were too many lessons to be made up.

This is not something that modern industrial technology can quickly make up for. We can only patiently spend time cultivating the land and repairing the earth.

To make matters worse, the climate and precipitation of the North American continent have always been as cloudy and unpredictable as menopausal women. Once God goes crazy, whether it is a summer rainstorm or a hurricane lands, half of the land in the Mississippi River Delta will be soaked in water. bathing in water...

Seeing that the development of the delta is so difficult, and the principle of great flatness in the north is much easier to cultivate, the United States, which has not had much population pressure so far, is even less bothered to make a big move against the Mississippi River delta—wait until the day when the population density of the United States catches up with India. Bar.

Therefore, compared with other major rivers, the delta at the mouth of the Mississippi has maintained more of the natural features before the arrival of humans.

In this way, under the night of the red moon, Megumi Akiyama's green leather car drove through the vast swamps and forests, and finally greeted the rising sun, and slowly drove into the north coast of the Caribbean Sea, between the mouth of the Mississippi River and Pontcharte. New Orleans between Grace Lakes.

It has to be said that although the city of New Orleans has a great reputation, it always gives people a sense of loss that "it's just that" when they really enter it.

——The outer neighborhoods of this city, like Detroit and Milwaukee in the rust belt, present the appearance of a run-down industrial city, full of abandoned factories and dusty apartment buildings, and green belts overgrown with weeds , wildly growing bushes, and bleak and dilapidated street scenes.

In addition, similar to the composition of citizens in Detroit, from the streets of New Orleans, the population of the entire city is obviously dominated by blacks, accounting for the vast majority. Not to mention that there are very few Asian faces, even whites are in the minority here. At first glance, it is easy to mistake it for Africa.

But after entering the core old city of New Orleans and the [French Quarter] with the most tourist attractions, the painting style suddenly changed, as if it suddenly became colorful and bustling: those exquisite French colonists left behind The old house looks quite romantic.Open-air cafes can be seen everywhere on the roadside, and there are all kinds of street performers, sending cheerful and warm music to the ears of every visitor.

A richly decorated retro carriage set off from St. Louis Cathedral, carrying curious tourists through the city.

The jingling trams on the street add a bit of the classical style of the [-]th century.

However, although the street scene in the French Quarter of New Orleans is very interesting, it is very torturous for the driving Akiyama Megumi and his party.

Because, the level of infrastructure in this city is really...uh, it is not flattering, generally speaking, it is too old.

Except for the highways entering New Orleans, which are barely maintained, there is no smooth road in the entire city.

Even the wide six-lane road has a pothole or a bump in the road from time to time.As for ordinary two-lane small roads, they can no longer be called highways, but can only be called "various large and small pits connected to each other", and the bumps are so bumpy that people doubt life.

But if you look carefully at the banyan trees and phoenix trees that have grown on both sides of the street for more than 100 years, the branches can be connected in the middle, and you can see the sunlight through the gaps in the branches and leaves, and sprinkle on the old streets with potholes. old French house...

Then, a sense of historical vicissitudes and profound cultural heritage that is difficult to find in other American cities will arise spontaneously.

How should I put it, if it weren't for the fact that most of the people who haunt New Orleans are black, maybe there is an illusion of wandering the streets of Paris.

Uh, no, the current genuine Paris is also full of blacks and mulattos, and it is almost becoming a black city.

It can be seen that the former French cultural areas in the world have either been blackened or are in the process of blackening.

Perhaps, French civilization will eventually evolve into a black civilization?

PS: I watched a World War II TV series today, in which there was a super unlucky platoon leader who was stunned by shells in the trenches and didn't wake up when he charged, so when the battle ended, he was found unconscious behind him, and he didn't have much trouble Injured, the military police decided that he was pretending to be unconscious for fear of death, and was to be shot.

Uh, was the enforcement of military law on the battlefield really so rigid at that time?Didn't take into account that someone might be blown unconscious?

Chapter 230: The Price of Meat is Soaring, and Chicken Fever, Swine Fever, and Cow Fever are Exploding!

As the birthplace of American voodoo culture, in the oldest French Quarter in New Orleans, you can see strange small shops on the theme of voodoo everywhere—the windows and shelves are full of various masks and voodoo dolls, as well as sunscreens. Dried bat specimens, feline nails, small skulls made from bones, small pieces of snake skin, herbs made from datura flowers, animal intestines, hearts, kidneys, etc. soaked in large glass bottles...

Well, how should I say it?There is quite a sense of déjà vu that broke into the wizarding world of "Harry Potter" and wandered the black market in the gloomy Knockturn Alley.

Compared with the eerie things mentioned above, the most famous voodoo dolls in New Orleans are not so scary to look at, but rather cute.

——Different from the grass figurines used to cast curses in East Asian countries, these voodoo dolls in New Orleans are generally made of colorful, round heads and round brains. In Akiyama Hui’s opinion, they are simply It's no different from a child's favorite toy.

More importantly, they have no curse effect at all: the aura of the city is gone, how can the witches cast a curse?

Speaking of it, the term "voodoo" itself contains the slander of black culture by traditional white American culture.

Then it was misrepresented by some Chinese translators who didn't know what it meant, and it got worse.

In the end, in the eyes of Chinese people who don't know the details, this religion is both "witch" and "poison". poison, or concoct some weird medicinal soups and powders to cheat money.

But in fact, the word "voodoo" is a transliteration of VOODOO, and its meaning is very simple: "gods".

"Voodoo" is not evil, nor is it sinister, it means "the religion of the gods".

In other words, voodoo in New Orleans is essentially a "polytheism" that is the opposite of Western monotheism.

In other words, it is the "animism" that existed in the early days of any civilization, a kind of folk belief formed here.

The black slaves from Africa in the Age of Discovery brought the primitive fetishism beliefs of their tribes from Africa, holding a pile of bones and wool balls as artifacts, and then fused some Christian elements and other mythological content in the Americas. Eventually it became voodoo.

You can understand it as a large collection of various mountain gods such as the Temple of the Town God, the Temple of the Mountain, the Temple of Guan Gong, the Temple of the God of Wealth, etc., or the myths of ancient Greece, Rome, and ancient Nordics, and you can even regard it as is the African-American version of Japanese Shintoism.

Its core idea is: there is not only one God in this world, but many, many gods!

In short, this is a hodgepodge of polytheism started by an African in the Americas, nothing more.

As for the most famous curses of voodoo... this should belong to the basic content of all polytheisms in the world.

For example, Megumi Akiyama, as a Japanese priestess, also knows how to draw curses in circles!

In the same way, even Buddhism, which claims to save all living beings, has all kinds of incredible methods of cursing. For example, when warlords fought in medieval Japan, the princes of various walks of life would often organize monks to hold cursing ceremonies before sending troops, cursing the enemy to drink cold water. teeth and the like.

As for offering sacrifices, it doesn't matter. Which temple in China does not need to kill pigs and sheep when offering sacrifices to gods, and put pigs' heads, sheep's heads, and cow's heads on it?

In general, black voodoo in New Orleans is no better than other polytheisms in terms of cursing and sacrifice.

However, New Orleans, the cultural center of voodoo, is located in the [Bible Belt] in the southern United States. It is surrounded by a group of devout white American traditional Christians. Faced with such a polytheistic belief that violates their common sense of monotheism, it is natural and instinctive to comprehensively use public opinion. stigmatization.

Specifically, it is to desperately promote voodoo doll curses and poisons, as well as cruel blood sacrifices, but hide other positive things without mentioning them. During the European Religious Wars, European whites also attacked each other. And Protestantism throwing sewage at each other.

This is the original source of voodoo's various underworld reputations, which is the same as the witch-hunting movement in medieval Europe.

Later, in the [-]th century, Americans' Christian beliefs were impacted by various modern trends of thought, and they themselves were not very pious.

However, the various mysterious rituals of voodoo have become common scary themes in Hollywood horror films. As a result, relying on the soft power of the golden age of the United States, it has further spread the negative image of voodoo. became a world-renowned cult.

Next, the New Orleans authorities discovered the important cultural heritage value (commercial value) of voodoo, and immediately took it as a treasure, and made a lot of publicity for the development of tourism, which became more and more mysterious...Come on, in most people's minds , Voodoo has completely turned into a horror movie style.

Of course, in the hearts of most people, the voodoo in New Orleans is actually something similar to Harry Potter's magic.

Vendors who sell voodoo dolls mostly read these messy and contradictory "new myths" as fantasy novels.

But there are always some fanatics who are very keen on these mysterious things, and really put their minds into it.

This year just happened to catch up with the revival of aura in the North American continent, and the mysterious arrival, so many lovers of voodoo culture in New Orleans, professional or amateur writers of horror themes, as well as witches and fortune tellers who make a living by it, suddenly became more and more excited. He tossed vigorously.

When Megumi Akiyama and others passed the famous scenic spot in New Orleans, the Tomb of the Voodoo Queen, they encountered a lively religious parade.

—Marie Laveau, queen of voodoo, is the most famous voodoo celebrity in New Orleans history.

This black witch was born in the [-]th century. Her story has been passed down to perfection. It is said that her ancestors were originally descendants of a black wizard family in Africa.Marie Laveau's mother and grandmother were well-known priestesses among the blacks of Haiti.

Later, the island of Haiti first became independent from French rule, and then fell into continuous civil strife in the early nineteenth century. Local residents fled to escape the war.Marie Laveau also moved to New Orleans from Haiti and soon became a leader in the local black community.

According to historical records, Marie Laveau's job should be a midwife (stable woman), delivering babies for women.But with her stunning beauty and extremely powerful social skills, she insisted on turning her house into a party salon and religious sanctuary. Black people in New Orleans turned to her for advice on marriage affairs, family disputes, judicial issues, childbirth, Advice for finances, health and good luck.

According to legend, Marie Laveau is good at communicating with the souls of the dead, and is proficient in blessings, casting curses, and prophesying all kinds of witchcraft.She distributes amulets and potions to her followers, and holds mysterious religious ceremonies in her backyard and in city squares to unite hearts.

Curious white people often peeked at these ceremonies and reported what they saw in exaggerated stories.

Later, Marie Lavaux opened a beauty parlor and physiotherapist. With her knowledge of health preservation, she became close friends with many ladies who came to do hair, maintain skin and treat chronic diseases, and successfully entered the The upper-class circle of New Orleans white ladies.

——She is of the same era as Scarlett in "Gone with the Wind". Can you imagine a black witch talking and laughing happily in the mansion of the white slave owner, hugging her and being widely sought after?But Marie Laveau just did it!

People from other parts of the United States also heard that there was such a powerful witch in New Orleans, and they all came to visit her, making her famous.

Although the local racist newspaper lambasted her as a "notorious wizard, voodoo queen who reigns over ignorance and superstition",

But at the same time, Marie Laveau was considered a living saint by many admirers, calling her "one of the kindest women who ever lived."

When Marie Laveau died peacefully at the age of eighty, all of New Orleans mourned, black and white, in her lavish funeral, The New York Times thousands of miles away.Her obituary was issued with full of praise.

Even many years after her death, the legend of "Mary the Negro Witch from Haiti" still circulated in the streets and alleys of New Orleans.

The tomb of Marie Laveau, Queen of Voodoo, has naturally become a historical and tourist attraction in New Orleans, attracting many tourists every year, who come to offer coins, prayer beads, flowers, rum or candles, here Draw "XXX" on the wall to make a wish.

When Megumi Akiyama came here, he happened to see a grand religious procession starting from the cemetery of the voodoo queen Marie Lavaux.

——Among the loud and piercing music, many voodoo believers dressed in colorful clothes, wearing feathers and exaggerated jewelry, and some even painted their faces white to make them look like clowns, do it in front of the cemetery of the voodoo queen After praying, blowing and blowing all the way, set off towards the urban area.

Some people in the team are dressed as vampires, some are dressed as Saturday Baron and other voodoo gods, some are beating snare drums, some are holding fake skulls, some are carrying brooms and wearing pointed hats, some are carrying Halloween jack-o-lanterns, It's like a Halloween carnival.

All kinds of masks, including bird beak masks, dog head masks, cow face masks, etc., were worn on their faces, and some people made a hole in the mouth of the mask so that they could insert whistles or horns Go, so that you can whine from below.

The animals that are going to be slaughtered and sacrificed later, including a calf and two pigs, are also tied up and placed on an open sedan chair, and people are carried through the city swaggeringly. Amidst the noise, they are curiously looking at the scenery on the street , I don't know that the end is approaching.

The beautifully dressed little girls carried flower baskets and threw flower petals to the crowd as they walked, laughing and laughing, relaxed, cheerful and happy.

The little boys are a little bit harder. They need to use a stick to carry a small incense burner. The inner liner of this incense burner is burning charcoal. The spices are poured on top of the charcoal and then covered. In order to keep the charcoal fully in contact with the air, and to diffuse the smoke of burning spices as much as possible-this work obviously takes a lot of time, and several thin children soon became tired with straight eyes and pale faces.

There are still many people in the team carrying large crosses, or holding up portraits of Christian saints with flagpoles—in order to prevent the interference of European masters, the early black slave voodoo believers generally combined their primitive beliefs with the Holy See. saints merged together.So voodoo has absorbed a lot of Christian ritual elements. Christian figures often appear on the altars of voodoo, which looks like a heretical variant of Christianity.

But while the large gold-leafed cross looks dazzling, it's not usually mistaken for a Christian procession.

——There shouldn’t be any pastor who sings hymns in the style of rap, right?Uh, it should be like this, right?