The sun was like fire, and the scorching sun overhead seemed to scorch the whole earth, because there was not a trace of wind, and the sand on the ground was silently motionless, and it seemed that it was too sunburned by this ghost weather, even if one foot stepped on it, the pale yellow fine sand was just squeezed to both sides to form a shallow footprint, and then the next foot on it would leave a new mark.

In front of you is a vast rolling desert, and the layers of sand dunes that stretch into the distance like waves always seem to lure travelers to its depths, and behind each high dune there seems to be a new world, but in fact if you keep walking, you will find that those places are forever dry, and when you find that you have gone too deep into this terrible land of despair, there is no hope of escape.

Deserts have been strange and terrifying places since ancient times, and even the bravest and most experienced travelers in the world's largest desert must be careful not to take a wrong step, or they will be left forever in this barren land, falling victim to the hand of nature's life.

A group of travelers marched slowly along the ridge of a hill, so tightly wrapped that no one dared to leave their skin bare on such a hot day at noon, if it would not take long for them to sunburn and peel their skin.

The caravan was no small group, herds of camels escorted by dozens of men, and the bells tinkled in a montonous tinkle in the frighteningly silent silence.

A small man in the procession was huddled between the two humps of a camel, and like his companions, he was wrapped in a very disguised manner, showing nothing but a pair of eyes.

"We will soon be at the well of Sabaro, and life will be better there," said a tall, thin man riding a mighty Arabian horse, as he walked briskly from the side of the procession, past several camels carrying heavy boxes, and walked side by side beside the little man.

His horse looked refreshed and did not show any fatigue from the heat.

In fact, horses have more rights than people in the desert, and horses are always the first to drink water when needed, and if there is not enough water, the leader of the team will leave the water for the horses to drink, because experienced travelers know that as long as there are horses, there is hope.

"How far are we?" As if because of the weather, the little man's voice sounded a little low and hoarse, his eyes exposed outside the turban quickly swept over the man, as if he was guessing the man's thoughts, but seeing the man take off the water bladder from the saddle, the little man hesitated, or took it and lifted the turban and drank, after a few sips he seemed to recover some energy, looking at the man he cleared his throat and asked, "How far are we to get there?" ”

Perhaps because of the water, the sound sounded much mellower.

It's a woman.

"It's almost time we get to the Sabaro Well, which is the closest oasis in the desert to Matru, where we can rest and then the rest of the road will be much easier."

The tall man took the water bladder handed back by the woman, picked up the face towel and drank it, his dark skin reflected a layer of sweat beads, showing a healthy color, seeing the woman looking at him, the man opened his mouth and smiled with his teeth exposed, but when he saw the woman, he immediately turned away from his face and stopped looking at him, and the man shrugged his shoulders helplessly.

"If I asked you why a young woman like you came to such a place, you probably wouldn't tell me," the tall man was very talkative, and although he noticed that the other party didn't seem to want to talk to him much, he still talked to the woman with great interest, "I can see that you are a woman with a background, just look at the people you bring to know that you are not simple, but I still don't understand, is it that all the men there are dead, and you actually want a woman to come forward." ”

The woman's eyes wandered and glanced at the man in front of her, this person was the guide she had spent a lot of money to hire someone, in such a desert, without these experienced locals to guide the way, once lost, even a whole army would be swallowed up silently, so in order to be able to get through the desert safely, they found the locals who were most familiar with it.

"We're in business, and as you said, all the men in my family are dead." The woman's answer stunned the guide, and the look in his eyes began to hesitate as he looked at her, and after a few words he immediately found a reason to hurry his horse forward, as if he were hiding from the plague.

There was a smug smile in the woman's eyes, and while all of them relied on this guide to lead the way, she knew that she couldn't fully trust this man, that this was a place far from home, and that she was on a mission that could affect the fate of an empire.

The top of the sand dunes, which was blurred by the heat of the ground, seemed to have a strange color, and the striking green in the dry and desperate yellow everywhere stood out.

The woman heard the shouts at the front of the procession, and after a long journey, at this moment of sight of the green, all of them could not help but let out a sigh, and some of them got off their camels or horses, knelt on the ground and prayed excitedly, but the woman did not follow them, because she did not have the same beliefs as these people.

As she took off her thick turban, Lady Connie revealed her pretty face, which looked a little gray from her travels in the desert, but her eyes, which had been tired and a little listless, instantly refreshed at this moment.

"Sabaro's Well......" Mrs. Conneo looked at the oasis looming in the distance, and she couldn't help but be secretly excited, she knew that there was finally hope for this difficult and long journey.

The tall guide came again, but this time he was far away from Lady Connie, and when he had finished speaking, he hurried away, and the corners of Lady Connie's mouth could not help but show a hint of mockery at the corner of his mouth as if he were fleeing.

She knew that the guide must have been frightened, after all, there were people who were considered ominous people here about the woman who cursed the whole family to death, especially since the appearance of a woman named Jarrah Dur hundreds of years ago, where widowed or dead fathers and brothers were considered the embodiment of bad omen.

Connieo didn't think there was anything wrong with being seen as the embodiment of the omen, which would at least save her a lot of trouble, and she felt that it would also allow her to command her team more effectively, because even among their own people, there were those who thought that a woman was not enough for such a big task.

It's just that Connie has a lot of confidence in herself, whether in Constantinople or Italy, she comes and goes very smoothly, she believes that the vast majority of men and women in this world are not as knowledgeable as her, maybe only the Count of Montina, he seems to be a really well-informed person, because according to Alexander, after sending many people to the East to keep tempting, Mrs. Connie was surprised to find that although Alexander had not been to the East, But he pinpointed a very formidable enemy behind the Ottomans.

The ambition of the Persians and the excessively young but unusually enterprising Ismaili surprised Lady Conneo, who, while unexpectedly being so familiar with Alexander's situation in a pagan country thousands of miles away, also actively approached the Safavid Order, who were also pagan but apparently the sworn enemies of the Ottomans, and was again surprised to find that this pagan order was not only very powerful, but also their leader, a boy who was only 13 years old, But she already had a lot of experience in warfare that she knew that the European aristocracy did not have.

At least when she heard that this young man, who could only be described as a child, had taught the Ottoman Sultan's agents in the East a harsh lesson, she suddenly realized that maybe this long trip would really have an unexpected reward.

While contacting the remnants of the forces of Bayezid II's brother Cem, Lady Coneor began to make frequent contact with the Persians, and at Alexander's behest, she tried to sell firearms to the Safavids, who seemed to be so confident in their own strength that they were arrogant, that they could improve their fighting power.

The process was not easy, and the Persians seemed to be too stubborn, convinced that their heavy cavalry in armor inlaid with iron and thick leather was invincible, and some of them even openly mocked the soldiers who hid in the ranks with firearms as cowards and cowards, and they proved their invincibility of their swords and guns in successive battles rather than being too lazy to be famous, which made Lady Conneo's progress slow and fruitless with the Persians for a time.

This helpless situation even made Conio a little disappointed, until something unexpected happened, and the situation changed.

Bayezid II's expedition, which had to be terminated due to an accidental injury, not only affected the Ottomans' advance in Europe, but also the Sultan's wounded wounded quickly weakened his power over the empire.

The Sultan's two sons saw the opportunity and realized that their brother might do something to him in advance, so after losing the Sultan's strong suppression, they began to openly form factions within the empire, and even directly clashed with the armies of the two sides in some places.

It was at this time that Bayezid II's eldest son, Ahmet, in order to increase his strength, sent an army to attack the Karamanites in the eastern part of the empire, who were allied with his brother Selim.

The war, which was supposed to take place a few years later, was prematurely wounded by Bayezid II, and although the Karamans were still doomed to defeat, the Persians further east were shocked by the great power of the Ottoman army's sharp firearms in this war, and the Karamanes, who were as invincible as they were, in front of these weapons.

Ismaili I, the head of the Safavid Order, who had always been regarded as a child by Alexander, took the initiative to summon Conio, whom he had been of little interest to, and after seeing the power of the firearms she brought, Ismaili I finally decided to consider talking to those from Europe about business.

This is how Conio began to work between the Persians, the remnants of Jem, and Alexander, and after countless temptations, arguments, bargains, and even a dangerous escape due to refusal, Connie finally negotiated the first deal for both parties.

And the participants in this deal were not only Persians and Alexander as far away as Italy.

"The Earl wants me to work for him, but that doesn't necessarily mean he's working for me," thought Madame Conneo, who thought with some smugness, knowing that Alexander seemed to have something to do with some of the Ottoman magnates, otherwise they would have known that no one would be willing to pay such a large sum of money for the first business, just thinking about the risks of transporting goods to and from the Mediterranean.

The ship's thousands of arquebuses, as well as a dozen or so guns, apparently freshly cast, were packed and loaded into ships and shipped straight from Naples, and after a short rest in Sicily and final arrangements, the ships loaded with these weapons and equipment sailed all the way to the eastern shore of the Mediterranean.

Their destination was Matrouh on the Egyptian coast, a small port about 120 miles away from the famous port of Alexandria.

The reason why the more convenient place of Alexandria was not chosen was because the cargo was too special, and for the sake of prudence, Ashulk, who participated in the voyage, did not want the weapons of this ship to fall into the hands of the Mamluks.

It has been 250 years since a favorite concubine named Jarrah Dur plotted to seize the descendants of the Ayyubid dynasty of Assaladin and then married the slave-turned-Forbidden commander to establish the Mamluk dynasty.

The Mamluk dynasty is now facing a great threat from the Ottomans, after a series of battles with the Ottoman army, the Mamluk dynasty in Egypt has lost many important areas, although Ashulk does not care who lives and dies in the Sultan's family, but he is worried that if the weapons are left in the hands of the Mamluks, once the Ottomans know about it, they may find out that he is involved.

Therefore, according to his intentions, the place where the business was settled was arranged in the relatively secluded port of Matru, which was inaccessible because of its inaccessibility on the edge of the desert, but because of this, as long as the goods left the port and landed, they would not be easily discovered.

It was the first time Connie had been to Matru, even though she was the daughter of a traveler who had crossed most of the Anatolian Plateau from Persia, then Jerusalem and Beirut, and then through a terrible desert, which still gave Connieo the illusion that she had gone from one edge of the world to the other.

The Sabaro Well is the name of an oasis that is famous for its six underground wells that do not dry up all year round, and because of the abundance of groundwater, it is the most valuable oasis in the desert.

The Sabaro Well Oasis has a small earthen city, which is garrisoned by an Egyptian local judge and his guards, according to the laws of the Mamluks, this judge has all the powers to arrest, judge, and execute, and it can be said that this person is the master of the Sabaro Oasis.

Conio had paid the guide handsomely, and she had decided not to let the man show her the way when she returned, not so much that she had already made a note of how to go, but because she was worried that the guide might reveal their whereabouts.

Along the way, she had noticed that the guide was very interested in their origins, and had been inquiring about them, which made Conio careful, and she guessed that this man was unlikely to be just curious, so he was either trying to find out that he was about to betray them to the Egyptians, or maybe he was scouting for the robbers like the Forty Thieves.

Although she had been contacted several times and knew that the ship had indeed been sent out by the Naples side as scheduled, Connieo was still very uneasy, knowing that the cargo on this ship was not just a batch of weapons or the precious stones and ivory and Persian carpets that the Persians traded, and that it would be one of the two key ways to plant nails behind the Ottomans.

The other way is to go directly through the Balkan Peninsula, from Moldova on the Black Sea to the south of the Black Sea to Persia.

It's just that there are already other candidates for that road according to Alexander, and for Connie, although this road through Egypt is obviously a big detour and not very safe, she prefers to choose this road to trade with people from Europe for her own reasons.

The guide was right, the road from the well of Sabaro to Matru was much easier, and Connie still did not show up, and it was indeed not suitable for a woman to show her head in Egypt, so she still hid in the group and was led by one of her men, and after a day's rest, she set off with some merchants who were also on their way to Matrou.

Because it was July, the hottest time of the year, even though the road was much better, when they finally felt the slightest breeze blowing, the travelers still let out fierce cheers again, and many even threw down their belongings and goods to climb to the heights, and then they stood on the high slopes where they could see the blue waves of the Mediterranean Sea in the distance and let out a cry of joy.

Connie saw the sea, too, and she saw the green of Matroux Harbour in the distance.

But what she didn't expect was that when she led the team to the port and found the Clark galleon called the "Former Days" according to the secret messages brought by the messengers in advance, she was startled by a person who got off the ship.

"Earl? How could it be you? Connie looked at Alexander, dressed in a loose sailor suit like a pagan, and couldn't help but be surprised.

"Don't be surprised, ma'am, I'm just taking a ride," Alexander replied with a smile as he looked at the exotic port, "I'm here to see relatives." ”