[Brezil — State of Roraima — BR-174]
With a land area of over 8.5 million square kilometers and a population of over two hundred million people, the Federative Republic of Brezil was the largest country in South Gamerica. While it had the twelfth largest economy in the world, its GDP per capita was only around nine thousand dollars—too low in comparison to most advanced countries. Brezil was part of BRICS, and for a long while, had managed to maintain an impressive rate of economic growth. In recent years, however, it had been going through a slump, even experiencing periods of recession and negative growth.
The political scene had also been thrown into turmoil after a large scandal involving a prominent oil tycoon had come to light. People had sought a strong leader in these times of low economic growth and corruption. This political climate had allowed one man to rise in power.
In January 2019, the far-right politician Joaquín Borges came into office. As soon as he started his term, he pushed his free-market agenda, giving maximum priority to implementing economic policies. He also made headlines due to his radical statements; he celebrated past dictatorships, referring to these years as “glorious times,” and explained that women should not be paid as much as men as they could get pregnant. Such statements were criticized by many in Brezil, but this did not stop Borges from securing passionate supporters.
“Demon King? Don’t make me laugh! He’s just a delusional terrorist!” Borges yelled.
After Venisuela fell into Joker’s hands and Nicolai Clyde officially took office, Borges addressed the rest of the world, harshly condemning the country. Although the EU wasn’t usually receptive to this kind of vulgar attitude, it vocally supported Brezil this time around. The saying “the enemy of your enemy is your friend,” was truly accurate. Japan also showed support for Brezil, publicly condemning Venisuela.
Although Borges was very vocal about the situation, it wasn’t clear whether he intended to strongly oppose Venisuela. He had ordered the Brezilian diplomats stationed in Venisuela to come back and closed off the border, but that was about it. The main reason for this apparent inaction was that moving the army was not a very pragmatic choice in Brezil’s situation. In fact, attacking Venisuela in the midst of its economic collapse did not have any benefits. It wasn’t even assured that Borges would emerge victorious if he did engage in an armed conflict because the Brezilian army wasn’t all that well equipped in the first place.
A country the size of Brezil had no choice but to spend tremendous amounts on its military. Conscription was mandatory for Brezilian men, and the army was 198,000 men strong. The navy and air force effectively had to be added to get the full number of soldiers. Due to this, the military budget of Brezil was around twenty-eight billion dollars when its GDP was around 1.885 trillion dollars. Most of that amount was spent on personnel expenses, so the army was constantly suffering from a lack of funds.
This was part of the reason Venisuela’s blitzkrieg tactics and speedy invasion of Colombian had given Brezil a huge shock. With monsters thrown into the mix, it became possible to fight a modern-day army without having to spend huge amounts of money. Keeping them in their card form most of the time almost meant that spending money on food and transportation wasn’t necessary. Every country that struggled with financing their army, Brezil included, naturally wanted to incorporate monsters into their own forces. Yet, an obstacle stood in their way. They had no way to materialize monster cards above ground.
Only those who have earned the dungeon Buster title can materialize monsters outside of the dungeons.
Right as Brezil was about to belatedly start nurturing dungeon adventurers who could fulfill this condition, the Colombian tragedy repeated itself once again.
“What are these buses doing here?”
The BR-174 was a federal highway that went through Boa Vista—the capital of the State of Roraima, located in the northern part of Brezil—and ended at the Venisuelan border. In September of 2020, that border had been strictly closed off, and several units of the Brezilian army were guarding the area. One Brezilian soldier noticed three buses heading toward the barricade and was slightly puzzled at the sight. They stopped two hundred meters away from the border’s checkpoint, and several armed men stepped out. The Brezilian soldier immediately raised the alarm.
“Finally here... Well, shall we start?” Joker said, getting off the bus and leisurely watching the Brezilian soldiers hurriedly pointing their guns at him.
Joker threw down his cigarette and spread out a deck of cards as though he were about to do a magic trick. Monsters appeared on the cards, and the soldiers were sent flying. A popping noise sounded as a despairing sight greeted the poor soldiers. Gigantic wolves, one-eyed giants armed with clubs, and wyverns fell upon their enemies.
“These guys are soldiers. They should be ready to face death at any time. Finish them all off,” Joker ordered. “Don’t kill the civilians in Boa Vista, though. They’re to stay alive and continue to diligently pay their taxes for us.”
“Boss, please wear a bulletproof vest at the very least!” one of his underlings said, handing him the vest.
Joker ignored him. He was a Species Limit Breaker. He wouldn’t die so easily, even if he did suffer some bullet wounds. If he ended up dying here, though, it would just mean he wasn’t all that strong anyway, so that wouldn’t matter.
“You guys should be careful instead. Don’t go getting killed off in such a place. I still have much to show you all. Follow me!” he said, stepping casually toward the border, his men behind him.