"Ladies and gentlemen, wouldn’t you like to taste the Mediterranean beauties?" Jasons turned to the others, noting several eager men, and, pleased, he laughed. Then, leaning over to whisper into the model’s ear, two scantily-clad women stood and began to pour wine for everyone.
"Are you a fool? They don’t understand Italian or English." Lu Fan threw his fork onto his plate and called over a waiter to order another plate of pasta.
Jasons blinked, his face turning red, feeling humiliated by a loli. He could not stay there any longer and hurriedly left.
At six in the afternoon, the Bohemian docked at Egypt’s Alexandria Port. The group would stay here for the night, waiting for a guide and replenishing supplies, before heading southwest to Siwa Oasis. According to Jasons, the information about the Golden Scarab was in the hands of a local archaeology enthusiast.
"You mean tomb raider, don’t you?" Lu Fan was spot on. In Egypt, tomb raiding is more common than theft. This was due to the fact that the pharaohs had built so many tombs, and any accompanying burial goods could solve one’s financial problems for a decade or more.
After arranging accommodations for everyone, Squad Captain George sought out Tang Zheng.
"The boss wants you to select a few people to go with us to get the equipment. You guys can’t be thinking of treasure hunting empty-handed, can you?" George and six muscular men stood behind him. There were also two women in black tank tops chewing gum and provocatively staring at Tang Zheng, their hands resting on the pistol holsters on their thighs.
"Lu Fan, Dantai, Qin Yan, come with me." Tang Zheng kept the key combatants and ordered, "Be careful and get some rest early."
"Uncle is the best!" Lu Fan, who had been lying on the bed reading a book about Egyptian history, jumped down and ran up to him. She leap onto Tang Zheng’s back and planted a kiss on him.
The foreign soldiers looked at Tang Zheng with strange expressions, now seeing him as a certifiable lolicon. Their disdain was undisguised.
"I want to go too." Chen Hong volunteered, earning a rebuke from Pang Meiqin for being foolish. Conserving energy was crucial. Look at how clever Yu Manli was, already asleep.
"Go to sleep, don’t leave the inn without my orders." Tang Zheng drew his pistol, checked it with an expert touch, and gave a slight intimidating warning to the group of professional soldiers.
"The moon in Egypt isn’t very round either!" Standing in the middle of the street, Lu Fan tilted her head back to gaze at the stars. "For a port city, it sure looks run-down."
"Egypt has seen better days recently. If there’s no protest, there are rebel forces wreaking havoc. Unemployed people occasionally rob to feed their families, so tourists should be careful and avoid roaming around needlessly." George explained as he hailed a taxi.
There were quite a few taxis waiting for passengers outside the four-star inn. The group of thirteen took six taxis and arrived at a nightclub twenty minutes later.
The economic crisis swept through the already poverty-stricken Africa. However, as a crucial port city, the citizens of Alexandria could still find some work.
The club was bustling, and wherever you went, there was no shortage of people eager to live life to the fullest. As Tang Zheng and his group walked in, they were hit with a humid wave of perfume, sweat, and alcohol. George’s men cheered and plunged into the crowd to chat up the ladies.
"Wait here for a little while." Having checked his watch, George led Tang Zheng and the others towards the bar. "What’ll it be? My treat."
"Maotai." Tang Zheng’s request stumped George, who subsequently made a bitter laugh, "I doubt they have it."
"Hennessy." Dantai casually picked a brand and leaned on the bar.
Onstage, four foreign girls clad only in bikinis, their bodies slick with oil and glistening under the laser lights, writhed around a steel pole. Their alluring act provoked whistles and jeers from the crowd.
Less than ten minutes in, six men had already tried to chat up Qin Yan. The beauty of an exotic Eastern woman was quite the draw.
After being curtly dismissed by Qin Yan, they didn’t linger and briskly left, leaving Lu Fan disappointed as she was hoping for a chance to fight someone.
Dantai was handsome with an elegant manner, managing to hook up with a local woman in a matter of minutes. This earned the envious looks of the unsuccessful macho men around them.
"Your team members are impressive." George complimented, having heard Dantai enquiring about Queen Nefertari. He felt safer travelling with competent people.
"They’re not bad either. Is that guy going to use the bathroom with a prostitute?" Dantai almost burst into laughter, seeing a soldier walking off with a prostitute. "Getting a room at an inn isn’t that expensive, right?"
George gave a dry laugh, grateful to a waitress who changed the subject.
"Let’s go, The seller has arrived." George and his subordinates left the nightclub through the back door, led by the waitress. After traversing a pitch-dark path, they arrived at a warehouse full of containers.
The warehouse was dimly lit, casting menacing shadows. Tang Zheng, unaccustomed to these surroundings, started looking for potential hiding spots.
"Hold still and raise your hands." An unclear order in French echoed through the warehouse. Even though Tang Zheng didn’t fully understand it, the hostile intent was obvious. Being threatened by multiple guns would catch anyone off guard.
"Don’t react, they’re partners." George quickly stopped Tang Zheng. In a blink of an eye, three Eastern men had pulled out handguns, and while aiming at the other party, had dived behind the nearest wooden crate. The little Lolita was even holding two hand grenades, with the pins already pulled out.
Sweating profusely, George repeatedly gestured for everyone to keep their cool. One triggered grenade would cause an explosion. The little Lolita remained composed, shocking him. As a veteran soldier with sixteen years of war experience, he was embarrassed that his subordinates were outdone.
"What does this mean?" Dantai was annoyed. If it weren’t for fear of misunderstandings, he would have shot those people already. He despised being threatened at gunpoint.
George quickly mentioned a few names to the leader of the sellers, verifying their identities and convincing them to put away the firearms. Following that, they exited the warehouse.
"These are the items you wanted." The leader, draped in a blue headscarf and a long robe, led his men towards the northeast corner of the warehouse. They pried open several wooden boxes.
Rows of AK series firearms and vast amounts of yellow-orange bullets filled the boxes.
"AK500, good stuff." George admired, picked up a gun, pulled back the bolt to check it, suctioned the ammo clip, and tested it.
Dantai also wanted to try one of these weapons, which were obviously manufactured in this world, but he was stopped by the leader.
"Where’s the US dollars?" The leader stared at the black briefcase in the woman soldier’s hand.
"Give it to him." Hearing the signal from the captain, the woman soldier unlocked the handcuffs from her wrist and handed over the briefcase.
Stacks of green US dollars satisfied the leader. Tang Zheng and Lu Fan each picked a firearm to inspect, while Qin Yan was on guard against the seller. The other soldiers all had their hands at their waists, ready to draw their guns and fight. In Egypt, they couldn’t openly carry rifles around the city, or they would be invited to the local police station for a chat.
Jasons was wealthy and George had connections, hence procuring guns from anti-government militants wasn’t difficult. But due to the economic crisis, the seller wanted to stage a robbery on their occasional customers who were proficient in these dealings. As the leader walked away with the briefcase, several guns turned towards them, and fired without hesitation.
"Hide." Qin Yan was the first to sense danger and shot at two spotlights in the warehouse, plunging the place into darkness.
Various shouts and gunshots mixed together, along with the sounds of objects falling and bullets hitting people, painting a gruesome scene. For more chapters visit novel⚑fire.net
At the shout of ’hide’, Tang Zheng immediately reacted due to his excellent reflexes. He grabbed Lu Fan and took cover behind a nearby container—an ideal shelter.
"The enemies are so dumb, they should’ve cleared their firing lines in advance." Lu Fan remained calm, pulling out a night-vision device and putting it on. The enemies’ chaotic figures were instantly exposed.
PS, thank you everyone for your recommendation votes, you’re amazing! (To be continued. If you novel, feel free to vote up on qidan.com, your support is my greatest motivation.)