Make France Great Again-Chapter 881 - 772: A Despairing Gap

Under the earnest persuasion of the Old Chief, the tribal populace reluctantly followed his instructions to deliver game to the soldiers at the mine.

To prevent any conflict due to language barriers, the Old Chief specifically ordered his grandson Bongo Entuya to go personally.

Before departing, the Old Chief repeatedly instructed Bongo Entuya to maintain a respectful attitude towards the soldiers and officers at the open-air mine. 𝘧𝓇ℯ𝑒𝓌𝑒𝑏𝓃𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝒸ℴ𝓂

Bongo Entuya displayed a look of impatience on his face and waved his hand at the Old Chief, saying, "I know! I know!"

"Don’t forget!" the Old Chief nagged Bongo Entuya again, as he watched him head towards the open-air mine.

After a long journey lasting over three hours, Bongo Entuya and the tribal soldiers accompanying him finally arrived near the open-air mine.

As Bongo Entuya was about to approach the mine, a squad of soldiers blocked their way and inquired in Croatian where they were going.

Bongo Entuya stared at the soldiers, baffled, as he had learned French and couldn’t understand their gibberish.

Realizing the situation, the soldier switched to broken French to ask Bongo Entuya what his purpose was here.

"I’m from the Enthuya Tribe. My grandfather sent me here to deliver some things to you!" Bongo Entuya pointed to the game on the cart, responding to the soldier, "These are the animals we hunted, all sent to you now!"

Perhaps due to Bongo Entuya’s French being laden with local flavor, and the Croatian soldiers only having learned a smattering of French, they couldn’t comprehend what Bongo Entuya was saying.

The soldiers decided to call over their officer, Andre Milanovic. First, they gestured to Bongo Entuya not to leave, and then one of the soldiers ran towards the mine.

Watching the soldier’s back as he left, Bongo Entuya deduced that they probably went to get someone who could speak French to communicate with him.

Thinking of this, Bongo Entuya couldn’t help but smirk at the absurdity of two different nations having to follow another nation’s orders to get things done.

After a while, Andre Milanovic appeared before Bongo Entuya.

"I’m Bongo Entuya, the grandson of the chief from the Entuya Race!" Bongo Entuya introduced himself once again in French to Andre Milanovic.

"I know!" Andre Milanovic nodded and then glanced at the cart behind Bongo Entuya, saying, "Are the game on your cart for us?"

Bongo Entuya nodded, "That’s right! These are gifts from my grandfather to you!"

"Please thank your chief for me!" Andre Milanovic signaled his soldiers to take the gifts from the Entuya Tribe back.

The soldiers took over Bongo Entuya’s cart and brought the game back to the open-air mine.

"If there’s nothing else, I’ll be going now!" Having completed his task, Bongo Entuya bid farewell to Andre Milanovic.

Andre Milanovic looked at the distant sunset and shook his head, saying to Bongo Entuya, "Why not stay overnight and return to the tribe tomorrow?"

Bongo Entuya hesitated for a moment before nodding to Andre Milanovic, "Okay!"

"Please!"

At the invitation of Andre Milanovic, Bongo Entuya accompanied him into the open-air camp.

Seeing the tents and smelling the aroma of coffee in the air at the open-air mine, Bongo Entuya displayed a shocked expression: "You sleep here at night?"

"Where else?" Andre Milanovic responded with a smile, then under Bongo Entuya’s curious gaze, he pulled out a pack of cigarettes from his pocket.

"What’s this?" Bongo Entuya inquired.

Andre Milanovic pointed at the cigarettes and replied to Bongo Entuya, "Cigarettes! For refreshing the mind!"

With that, Andre Milanovic pulled out one and lit it with a match.

Watching Andre Milanovic’s blissful expression and the white smoke rings he blew out, Bongo Entuya couldn’t help but feel a bit tempted.

"What? Do you want to try?" Andre Milanovic noticed Bongo Entuya’s interest.

"No!" Bongo Entuya shook his head in refusal, yet his gaze still sneaked a glance at Andre Milanovic’s pocket where the cigarettes were.

Seeing this, Andre Milanovic immediately pulled out a cigarette, took one, and inserted it into Bongo Entuya’s hand.

"I..." Bongo Entuya tried to refuse the cigarette but was held by Andre Milanovic with a pat on the shoulder, "Come on, kid, smoke it!"

Though Bongo Entuya disliked Andre Milanovic calling him ’kid,’ he still placed the cigarette in his mouth as instructed.

Andre Milanovic then lit the cigarette for Bongo Entuya. As the cigarette was lit, Bongo Entuya immediately felt a choking sensation rush into his nostrils. He held the cigarette in his hand, coughing twice fiercely.

Andre Milanovic watched Bongo Entuya’s awkward state and burst into laughter.

"Not good at all to smoke!" Bongo Entuya said slightly annoyed to Andre Milanovic.

"That’s because you don’t know how to smoke!" Andre Milanovic retorted, then explained the technique of smoking to Bongo Entuya.

Bongo Entuya followed Andre Milanovic’s technique and took a few more puffs. After several coughing fits, Bongo Entuya finally learned to smoke.

However, the cigarette burned out due to Bongo Entuya’s repeated practice.

Looking at the cigarette with the butt remaining, Bongo Entuya wanted to ask Andre Milanovic for another one but felt embarrassed.

Seeing Bongo Entuya’s awkwardness, Andre Milanovic immediately tossed another cigarette to Bongo Entuya, saying, "Here you go, kid, have another one!"

Bongo Entuya caught the cigarette Andre Milanovic handed over and then said, "Thank you."

The cigarette was lit again, and Bongo Entuya’s expression gradually blended with Andre Milanovic’s.

Then Andre Milanovic asked Entuya, "Do you know how this cigarette is made?"

Bongo Entuya shook his head at Andre Milanovic. Andre Milanovic told Bongo Entuya that making a cigarette isn’t hard; the difficulty is in mass-producing them.

Mass production means having many people who don’t hunt or farm full-time but focus on cigarette making.

These people provide the whole society with something to kill time.

Hearing this, Bongo Entuya thought of his own tribe’s struggles; they haven’t even solved the food issue, let alone having these things.

Later, Andre Milanovic shared with Bongo Entuya the French Army’s daily menu.

[Breakfast: Porridge/Coffee, Chocolate/Bread

Lunch: Roasted chicken, roasted potatoes, thick cassava soup

Dinner: Lamb bones with vegetables, bread]

After hearing this, Bongo Entuya showed a shocked expression again.

At the same time, he felt a sense of despair inside.

He always thought the tribe’s gap with them was just numbers and weapons.

Now it seems the differences are probably far more than that.

"Honestly, you all met a good Governor!" Andre Milanovic took another drag from the cigarette butt and sighed, "If it were the Governors from our country, you would have been hanged long ago for being disobedient."

"Your country?" Bongo Entuya asked curiously, looking at Andre Milanovic.

"I’m not French, but Croatian!" Andre Milanovic shrugged at Bongo Entuya.

Unfamiliar with Europe, Bongo Entuya still looked confused at Andre Milanovic.

Andre Milanovic also realized his mistake, sighed, and said to Bongo Entuya, "Forget it! It’s hard to explain to you; just consider me as someone loyal to the Governor’s Mansion like your tribe. Our country loves to hang those with rebellious thoughts!

Back then, I was almost hanged by our King!"

"How did you escape then?" Bongo Entuya asked again.

"It was because I was lucky!" Andre Milanovic said in a playful tone, "Thankfully, our Monarch was merciful and didn’t hang us but imprisoned us instead!

Then, as it happened, the King of France needed people, so we were sent to the French Foreign Legion, following Governor Jerome Patterson to come here."

"What kind of person is Governor Jerome Patterson?" Bongo Entuya asked curiously.

Andre Milanovic threw the burned-out cigarette on the ground, thought for a moment, then said to Bongo Entuya, "I can only say, the Governor is a kind and excellent military man!

His character doesn’t really suit managing the Governor’s Mansion, but fortunately, there’s Secretary Rastigne to assist him!"

"What kind of person is Secretary Rastigne then?" Bongo Entuya asked again.

Andre Milanovic answered without hesitation, "Secretary Rastigne is someone full of cunning. Anyone he’s set his sights on can’t escape unscathed!"

Bongo Entuya shivered inexplicably after listening.

Meanwhile, in Libreville, while conducting interviews, Rastigne suddenly felt an itch in his nose and couldn’t help but sneeze.

"Alright, next!"