Wei Ran muttered something, took the flashlight from the other person's hand, bent down and continued reading.
The second floor of the metal shelf was filled with various books. He randomly picked out one of them. Although Wei Ran couldn't understand what was written on the cover, after flipping through it, he was sure that it was
It is a book about anatomy.
Looking at Makar beside him, Wei Ran stuffed the book back into its original position, squatted down and looked at the third and bottom layer of the metal shelf.
Fortunately, there were finally no objects taken from humans on this floor, but Wei Ran frowned when he opened the dusty wooden box.
There are not many things in this wooden box, including a set of neatly stacked World War II American military uniforms without ranks or armbands, an American flag folded into a triangle, and in addition, there is a
An M1 Garand, a Japanese command knife, and a not too big photo frame were packed in a canvas gun bag.
In the photo saved in this photo frame, there is an American soldier in military uniform, and in his arms, there is a beautiful girl in a skirt. And the background of the photo is a port that seems to be parked with warships.
"There used to be a 1911 here."
Makar next to him reminded, "But the gun is now on Jack's waist."
"So...these human bones were brought back from the Pacific battlefield?"
"Probably"
Makar spread his hands, "Jack and I tried to contact Mr. Brown Jr. to inquire, but we didn't have his contact information."
Wei Ran nodded and stopped talking. He was even certain that 99% of these human bones came from the Japanese.
Although brats and fools wear the same pair of pants today, during World War II, especially after the Pearl Harbor incident, American soldiers really didn't treat brats as human beings.
In those days, it was really not a joke to give a kid's head as a gift, let alone the so-called straight male mentality. There were even rumors that even US President Roosevelt once received a letter opener made from a kid's shoulder blade.
But calm down and think about it, why do these things about using human heads as gifts all happen to American soldiers on the Pacific battlefield, but not on the battlefield with Germany?
Could it be that it happened that all the straight men and perverted soldiers were sent to the Pacific battlefield, and all the normal and polite soldiers were sent to the European battlefield?
Of course not. The main reason is that the kid bombing Pearl Harbor caused so much hatred, but it is only one of the main reasons.
Going back to his ancestors, this stupid American has been interested in collecting people's heads since he was fighting for territory with the Indians.
Although this hobby was later covered up by their self-proclaimed "civilized people", it was only covered up.
Coupled with their racial concepts of white supremacy, their desire not to fight at home, and the hatred accumulated at Pearl Harbor, the American soldiers in the Pacific battlefield naturally picked up the craftsmanship of their ancestors again.
Cutting off a person's head, boiling it in water to remove the bones, and then tying a pink bow and mailing it to the girl he liked. This overly skilled operation almost became a commonplace routine that frontline commanders tacitly approved of.
Having said that, the very practical reason and the only reason why this did not happen on the European battlefield is simply because the Germans have the same color skin as them.
When fighting Nazi Germany, even when facing the enemy troops in the concentration camps, the American soldiers could be shot dead at most, but no one would ever think of boiling their heads and taking them back as souvenirs.
But it was different when fighting the little Japanese on the uncivilized islands in the Pacific. From the bottom of their hearts, they did not regard the little Japanese in the trenches as human beings, so naturally they would not have any thoughts.
psychological burden and moral burden.
Even this kind of concept and habit still had a market until the end of World War II. If nothing else, just look at the various absurd behaviors of the US military stationed in Japan and even in South Korea in the years after the war.
On the other hand, nine out of ten American veterans who fought in the Pacific War received Japs heads as gifts. Perhaps it was a slander to them, but one or two out of ten would definitely be considered commonplace.
normal phenomenon.
For those American soldiers who were on business trips, the little devil's command knife, rifle and human skull or hand bones were definitely the coolest battlefield souvenirs of that era.
Especially during the hippie movement in the 1960s, those human bone souvenirs that sparked the spark of love between the hippie parents during the war were once again dug out of the garage or basement, polished, waxed, and put on display in a dignified manner.
The most prominent location in the room.
After some random thinking, Wei Ran roughly determined the origin of these human bones. After thinking for a moment, Wei Ran said, "Makar, this thing is really not suitable for showing to tourists. Although I'm sure most of them are very interested, this kind of thing is easy to give to tourists."
You're causing trouble."
"That's right..." Makar nodded with regret, "In this case, this dilapidated house will continue to be used as a warehouse here."
"The house could be renovated. Even a 19th-century western town bar would be nice."
Wei Ran gave the other party a random suggestion, then picked up the M1 Garand rifle in the wooden box and asked, "Makar, can you lend me this gun for two days?"
"It's been sitting here for a long time, and I'm not sure it still works."
Makar said in embarrassment, "You may not know, but if you fire a weapon that has not been used for a long time without maintenance and testing, there is a danger of exploding the chamber, and the recoil of this gun is also worse than the lever rifle I prepared for you.
It's bigger, and it's not as comfortable to use as you think."
"It doesn't matter"
Wei Ran said with a smile, "The most I can do is take pictures with it. I definitely won't actually shoot any bullets with it."
Hearing this, Makar immediately breathed a sigh of relief, "That's no problem, you can use it as you like. If you don't want to leave, it's okay to give this gun to you."
"Then I'm not welcome."
Before Wei Ran finished speaking, he had already carried the canvas bag containing the rifle in his hand. He pointed at the command knife still packed in the wooden box and reminded, "Makar, you might be able to sell that command knife for some money."
"Jack has found a buyer"
Makar shook his head helplessly, "If I hadn't insisted on leaving it here temporarily for you to see, I'm afraid he would have exchanged it for cash."
"What are you going to do with that skull?" Wei Ran asked, holding a gun and climbing up the ladder.
"Just keep it here," Makar said nonchalantly. "It's not mine anyway, but I guess Jack will find a good buyer for it."
"Can this be sold?" Wei Ran asked as he climbed up.
"This is the United States, let alone human bones, even living people can clearly put a price on them." Makar joked with a smile, "Of course, black people are not valuable."
"Fortunately there are no reporters around here," Wei Ran joked back as if following the trend.
“I should say it’s a good thing there are no black reporters here.”
Makar, who was the second to climb up, said seriously, "Otherwise, he will definitely be treated as prey and accidentally killed. After all, this is Texas after all. For black people, this place is actually as dangerous as it was a hundred years ago."
"
"So you are also a racist?" Wei Ran asked abruptly.
"Not me! In my eyes, the difference in skin color is as meaningless as the wrapping paper of candy. As long as the candy itself is sweet, what color does the wrapping paper outside make any difference?"
Makar walked out with Wei Ran and said calmly, "Most of the time, I don't even think that I am an American. In my mother's education since I was a child, I have always considered myself a Soviet, even though the Soviet Union has long been
It's no longer here, even though I never left the United States."
Ah...
Wei Ran couldn't help but sigh. For a moment, he didn't know whether to pity the black man or Makar, or whether to pity his mother, Gorman's wife Mrs. Uma. But the only thing he was sure of was that at least in the basement,
That forgotten skull is definitely not worthy of pity.
And the reason why he borrowed the rifle that he dug out of the basement was naturally not just to take photos, but also out of the great spirit of curiosity to master another language.
Although he still does not know which battle the original owner of the rifle participated in, let alone why he brought back the human skull, as long as Makar did not mistranslate the string of English written on the skull just now
, as long as the person who wrote that string of English words did not lie, then he should not face too much danger this time.
Thinking of this, Wei Ran didn't wait for Makar to re-fix the wooden door that he had kicked down. He already took the gun bag and eagerly turned over and got on the horse.
For now, the only thing he needs to consider is where to find a place that is safe enough and will not be disturbed to concentrate on his career.
