The Gobi Desert, which looks like a flat river on the land of North Africa, is actually hidden in large and small rocky platforms and natural rift valleys.

In Libya with the Turk. On the southern border of Nice, a large area of low hills and rocky mountains stand on the barren Gobi Desert, the product of tens of thousands of years of geological movements, which has become a natural barrier between the two African countries.

Between these rocky mountains, there are hidden passages, some of which are rifts formed by natural weathering, and some of which are ancient rivers that date back thousands of years. Before the development of aerial reconnaissance, these roads were completely unknown to the world, and only the elders of the nearby nomadic tribes would know about the existence of these secret passages, which were regarded as secrets in the clan, and could only be passed on by word of mouth from father to son, not by words and maps. However, after the greedy European colonizers carved up the land, the original tribes were either driven to live elsewhere, or simply disappeared into the depths of the yellow sand. The old rules have lost their binding force, and more and more people have become aware of the existence of these roads, creating a succession of smugglers.

The goods smuggled across the border were diverse, most of which were heavily taxed or forbidden by the colonists, ranging from precious gems to precious metals, weapons and ammunition to various ancient narcotics, as well as expensive spices, silks and ivory products, which were supplied to European colonists and more to various nomadic tribes, large and small.

The most popular smuggled goods were the seductive Persian slave girls and the Arab dancing girls, and the slave trade was still the most prosperous on the North African continent at that time. Although the European colonizers legally forbade this kind of trade, how many of them could really resist the temptation of money and the corruption of women, these Arab profiteers, but they were known for being good at seeing the needle and using all kinds of means.

With great profits comes great risks, and with the law of the jungle is the only law in this wasteland far from civilization, and with the prosperity of the smuggling industry, an equally old industry also prospers, and the story of Alibaba and the Forty Thieves is played out several times a week in this land.

And under normal circumstances, it is often the side of the forty thieves who wins, and Alibaba is lucky enough to leave a life, but most of the time it will disappear in this land along with the precious goods it carries.

To protect themselves, both smuggling caravans and ordinary travelers began to arm themselves. After the end of the war in Europe, cheap and high-quality European weapons became a very hot commodity, and a large number of European arms dealers with military backgrounds came here to sell their accumulated obsolete goods.

"Although it is a model that has been eliminated by the French Army, the rifling is very new, and the bolt is not worn, so it is a good weapon." Julian sat in the shade of a date palm tree, wiping down a Bettier MLE1907 rifle that Abdul had gotten from the black market.

In front of him, a piece of felt cloth was spread out, on which the disassembled bolt parts were neatly arranged.

"Weapons are like women, what you do to her, she will repay you. As long as you insist on careful maintenance every day, there will be no malfunction when you use it, and the sand and dust in this place is too strong, so you must wipe it carefully, so that the life of the weapon will be longer. Julian put the firing pin back in the bolt and showed the curious Bassaimu how to match the shoots.

"I have this." Basaimu patted the holster on his waist, which contained a British-made Webley pistol, which in Julian's opinion might have been a little too big for the child.

"It's a good gun, I can teach you how to take care of it." Julian didn't want to break the child's self-confidence, and besides, it was none of his business to say what weapons the child liked to use.

Although the Spring of the Loire is called a spring, it is actually a very rare pool in the desert, not very large, but it has a surface of twenty or thirty square meters. Less than 500 meters on one side of the waterhole is a towering cliff, which may be the reason why this waterhole has survived until now, with most of the dust storms and hot winds coming from the desert direction.

Once part of an ancient river channel, millions of years ago it was a lush rainforest where countless ancient species thrived, and the long-term flow of water cut through the rocky foundation, which over time turned into mulberry fields, and the riverbed is now a valley deeply embedded in the rocks for countless caravans of travelers.

A variety of tropical plants grow along the waterhole, the most abundant of which is the famous date palm tree in North Africa, which many people would confuse with palm trees, but it is understandable that they are also in the same family. Historically, the symbol of the German Afrika Korps should be a date palm tree, after all, this distinctive plant can be seen everywhere in North Africa.

Abdul set up a makeshift tent away from the bushes, with a stone fire pit by other travelers and dead branches and horse dung that could be used as fuel.

If you want to ask what is most lacking in the Gobi, in addition to the water source is the fuel that can be used for heating, I am afraid that there are not a few trees in a radius of dozens of miles, and the average traveler will collect livestock manure as fuel.

Abdul lit a bonfire and began to boil water, the gray smoke from the fire was not very noticeable up close, but in the distance on the cliff, a pillar of gray-white smoke could be clearly seen standing high in the turquoise sky.

At this moment, on the rocky mountain in the distance, a pair of eagle-like sharp eyes were staring at the small oasis under the tightly wrapped Arabian turban.

"Are you sure that's what we're looking for? A man plus an old man with an underage cub? I warn you al-Bashir, this time we have taken a big risk, and if I find out that you are deceiving me, Allah is above, and I swear to dig out your heart and liver with my own hands. Mehanid lifted his face towel and said coldly to the man kneeling in front of him.

"Venerable Mehanaid, the sword of Allah, how dare I deceive you, this is the news that I finally heard from the mouth of that Italian nobleman, and there will be absolutely no mistake. These were smugglers disguised as travelers, carrying a shipment of jewelry from Moroccan pirates to be sold in Tripoli. That's why these Italians will enter the Gobi, and they want to intercept this precious treasure halfway. Bashir bowed his head respectfully, his right hand on his chest, and showed his innocence and innocence to the tough bandit leader.

"It was I Bashir who personally brought them to your territory, and it was also the poison I put in the food I gave them, and if the matter is revealed, I am also the prisoner that the Italians want to capture the most, and I am taking more risks than everyone here, how can I joke with my future and my life, respected Mehanaid." Bashir lifted his face with an aggrieved expression.

"Well, if your information is correct, then I, Mehannaid, will definitely not be stingy with those who have merit, you will get your share of it, and I will give you another 10% as a reward." Mehannaid's face was still gloomy, but the corners of his mouth were slightly curled, which was already a very kind smile in front of his subordinates.

The Arab bandits present and al-Bashir were twenty-seven men. Among the many desert bandits active on the border between Nice and Libya are already considered medium-sized bands.

Boss Selder. Hashem. Once the heir of a Papal tribe, the young Mehanaid, like the standard Arab tragedy, fell victim to the tribal power struggle. Deprived of his status and possessions, Mehanaid was expelled from his tribe and has since lived on the streets, becoming an abominable outcast.

He was only twelve years old at the time, and he was moving around the French neighborhood with a group of young beggars of the same age, and it was there that he was lucky enough to meet an old sergeant of the French Foreign Legion. The sergeant was looking for a handmaid, and the Papar boy was so attracted to him that he took him in and took him into the camp of the French Foreign Legion.

Mehannad grew up in the Foreign Legion until the age of seventeen, where he learned skilled combat skills from foreign veterans. After the veteran sergeant returned home, young Mehanid secretly left the barracks one day with two rifles, and began his life full of blood and killing. He first returned to the tribe where he was born and killed all the relatives and tribal elders who participated in the framing of him, which was a break with his past in what he thought was the right way.

In the days that followed, he became a lone horse thief and had been fighting in Libya against the Turg. The wilderness activities on the border of Nice, because of their outstanding marksmanship and mastery of various combat skills, not only have they never been caught by the authorities, but they have also been able to organize arrests from time to time. The Nice police suffered several big losses and became a legendary figure in the limelight for a while.

It was then that he realized that his personal abilities were limited after all, so he began to recruit his subordinates and formed a desert bandit gang that only obeyed his personal orders.

The man in front of him, al-Bashir, is a new member of the gang who has only recently joined the gang, and this man is tasked with being the gang's eyeliner in Libya, working as a waiter in a hotel in a border town, where he selects fat sheep for the gang, and by the way, buys some daily necessities for everyone and is responsible for selling the stolen goods.

It was a very lucrative position, and it took Bashir a long time to gain Mehanaid's trust, and at the same time to endure a lot of hardships to pass the test of his fellow bandits.

"Chief, if al-Bashir's information is indeed correct, then the people below can't stay alive." The third leader of the gang, Farhad, reminded in a whisper.

"I always felt that something was wrong, and I had an ominous premonition like last time." Mehannaid frowned, his hand stroking the handle of his ivory knife at his waist.

"The time in the village of Benialal? Do you think this is also a trap? Farhad asked.

"I don't know, the Italians are all dead, I didn't find anything in their luggage related to this incident in Bashirti, they are more like they came out on some military mission, not like some private operation as he said." Mehannad brushed his manicured beard from his chin.

"Bashir is lying?"

"It's uncertain yet, the Italian nobleman who led the tour is missing, maybe he has important documents with him."

"Do you want to go back and search again, as long as you leave two people to keep an eye on these fat sheep, they won't be able to run anywhere anyway." Farhad suggested.

"No, that nobleman has been poisoned, he must have died in some corner, and we don't have the time and energy to search that area. Now the only choice is to believe al-Bashir's words, close the deal as soon as possible, and then go to Morocco to hide for a while. "Mehannaid has made up his mind, which means that nothing will change.

The leader of the sand thieves rebuttoned his face scarf, walked up to his subordinates, drew the saber from his waist and raised it high, and then nodded silently.

Everyone bowed to their chests and greeted the chief, then turned and stepped into their respective mounts, and no one spoke the whole time, and the silent bandits skillfully harnessed their small Arabian horses and galloped along the rugged mountain path towards the oasis at the foot of the mountain.

PS: The full chapter has been updated, and this chapter will give readers 600 words for genuine subscriptions.

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Continue to start issuing anti-theft chapters.,If you see the words at the end of the chapter (not refreshed),Then it's still an anti-theft chapter.,

If the parentheses and the words in it are gone, it is the complete chapter that has been updated.

The results of the last three chapters are very obvious, and the public chapter has one-third less subscriptions than the anti-theft chapter, and this is the answer that the data gives me.

In order to protect the rights and interests of genuine readers and myself, the current anti-theft measures will continue, which may bring trouble to some readers, so I can only ask these book friends to understand.

Asking for a monthly pass, asking for a recommendation ticket, the author needs everyone's support. (To be continued.) )