Chapter 2 Along the way, the gods are no more
This is indeed a very temperamental "big" sister.
Clarke, who turned around, was immediately attracted by her exaggerated figure.
From his point of view, his gaze fell on the other man's chest, which was wearing a sleeveless black vest.
At least 36D!
As a veteran driver who has read countless films in his previous life, Clark immediately came up with the answer in his heart.
However, his gaze also succeeded in making the "big" sister dissatisfied, if it weren't for Clark's age and the fact that she was still a child, she would have kicked and broken the other party's ribs.
The "big" sister raised a beautiful brow, opened her characteristic plump lips, and said, "Angelina Jolie? My sister, my name is Laura Crawford, but it's not Angelina. ”
Hearing this, Clark looked away to see the full picture of the other party.
The khaki canvas jacket and trousers are sturdy and durable, blocking the scorching Cairo sun, but not the bumpy and proud figure.
The long braids hang down the back of the head, making it look very capable.
Coupled with the slender body full of strength, and the wheat-colored skin that peeks out from the neckline and cuffs, it can be judged that this big sister named Laura Crawford must be an experienced and athletic explorer.
Laura Crawford?!
Hiss~ It turned out to be the leader of the adventure game, one of the leaders in the 3D area, no wonder she looks so similar to the Hollywood big-mouthed female star.
It's just that how did she suddenly come to Egypt, is it preparing to carry out "archaeological" activities here?
Clark's loss of mind caused the famous female historian to lose interest in him completely.
Sure enough, neither men nor boys are a good thing!
Laura, who secretly despised herself in her heart, took her salute and walked straight out of the airport.
And at this time, Clark came back to his senses after Hermione was dissatisfied with him.
"Angelina? Hehe, this is really an old-fashioned pick-up technique, you see that people don't pay attention to you. Hermione pouted, mocking him.
"Why," Clark quickly explained, "she really looks like an American movie star I know, and that star's name is Angelina." ”
"The ghost only believes you, you go find your Angelina!"
Hermione snapped the tour guide shut down, thrust it into her backpack, and after knocking Clark off the shoulder, she strode after Mrs. Weasley and them.
As she walked, she lowered her head, and unsurprisingly, she saw her toes, which made Hermione even more depressed.
"I'm telling you true, Neville." Clark looked at Neville again.
The other party forced a smile and nodded, "I believe you, Clark, but it's true that people don't call Angelina." ”
Well, it's all already like this, what else can Clark say?
In this way, a group of them made a noisy exit from customs, and Bill Weasley, who had come to pick up the airport, was already waiting at the exit.
"Mom, I'm here!"
Just like when Clark met him a few years ago, it seems that the experience of working at Gringotts in Egypt has not changed Bill much.
Today, he is still dressed coolly.
His long hair was tied back in a ponytail, and he wore an earring on his ear that looked like a small fan.
The tall man wore a sky-blue tunic that was not the bloated garment of wizarding robes, but a denim jacket that resembled a Muggle casual jacket.
However, the coat was adorned with all sorts of amulets and metal chains, steel nails, and pieces of iron.
Such an avant-garde look, paired with his pair of dragon leather martin boots, will not look out of place even when going to a rock concert.
"It's Bill!" Ron shouted happily and waved his hand vigorously.
Mrs. Weasley stepped forward and hugged her eldest son tightly, much to Bill's embarrassment.
"Okay Mom, you're making me almost out of breath."
He broke free of Mrs. Weasley's embrace, greeted his brothers, and winked at his little sister Ginny, who gave him a sweet smile back.
After catching up with his relatives, Bill turned his gaze to the three Clarks, who were standing aside.
"How are you? Clark, these two are your friends? Bill greeted them warmly.
Clark hurriedly introduced him, "Bill, this is my good friend Hermione Granger, and this is Neville Longbottom. ”
"Hello, Bill!" Hermione and Neville greeted him politely.
Everyone gathered together and walked out of the airport terminal under Bill's leadership.
"Let's go to where we live first and put down our prostration...... Eh, what about your prostrutions? It was only then that Bill noticed that their hands were empty, and they didn't even salute.
"I brought this with me, so I don't have to bother so much." Clark raised the magic suitcase in his hand.
Bill glanced enviously at his suitcase, "That's handy." ”
"Okay, then I'll show you the scenery of Cairo!" Bill said as he led them to the side of the road outside the airport.
"You know, in Egypt, wizards don't use broomsticks to fly, they usually use magic carpets.
However, this is Muggle territory, and although Egypt's Ministry of Magic officials don't care much, they still have to be careful about the impact. ”
The group stood in front of a white van parked on the side of the road.
It was a six-seater car that was rare in the UK, with the paint on the exterior peeling off and looking very old.
Bill happily helped them open the car door, "Come on, in order to pick you up, I specially borrowed this car from the company, and there is enough space inside!" ”
The space inside is really huge.
Clark and the others all got into the minivan, and it wasn't crowded, and it was clear that, like Mr. Weasley's flying car, the van had been subjected to a traceless telescopic charm.
And compared to the dilapidated appearance of the van, the interior of the car is at least clean and tidy.
Clark, Neville, Ron, Fred, George, and Percy sat comfortably side by side in the back row.
Hermione, the Weasleys, and Ginny sat in the second row, and the seat had been magically lengthened to resemble a bench in the park, and the soft seats were extremely comfortable.
Bill Weasley sat in the co-pilot's seat, and his Gringotts colleague McHamed was in charge of driving.
This is a typical Arab, with a high nose, deep sunken eyes, high brow bones, tanned skin, tall and thin, with a large beard and a white turban on his head.
He smiled and said hello to Clark and the others, then started the engine and drove away from the airport towards the city center.
Bill's hotel is located near the Pyramids on the southwestern outskirts of Cairo, opposite the international airport northeast of Cairo, and they need to pass through most of the city.
And as the van hit the road, the historic ancient city of Cairo was slowly unfolded in front of them.
The city of Nahas, near Cairo International Airport, is a well-known area for the wealthy, and the people who can settle here are small businessmen and officials with little assets.
So walk along the clean road, lined with manicured date palm trees and a variety of private cars that look good.
However, as the van drove towards the city center, the clean and tidy scene outside the window gradually faded, and the face hidden under Cairo's modern skin was gradually revealed.
First of all, they experienced the peculiarity of Cairo - endless congestion!
As a transportation hub in Europe, Asia and Africa, Cairo has always been the largest commercial hub in the entire Arab region.
The main reason for this is that the local social stability is much higher than that of neighboring countries, so the population of Cairo has been growing at an annual rate of 5-10%.
However, with the gradual growth of the population, the modernization of Cairo's city center has been stagnant. The most obvious manifestation of this is the lack of urban planning, the general chaos and narrowness of the streets, and the poor infrastructure.
Clark and his entourage struggled through the narrow and crowded streets of the city center, and along the way, they were surprised to find that most of the streets of Cairo were unattended.
Every driver driving on the highway is like a Schumacher who has not made his debut, overtaking, other cars, plugging, colliding, and almost having fun.
The Arab guy who drove for them, Al Mahmoud, was also a master of the game, always finding his way forward on congested roads and completing tasks by almost a small margin that was visible to the naked eye.
Of course, sometimes even if there is no gap, he can make a miracle and squeeze out a way.
Clark finally knew where the deflated marks on the van's shell came from.
Because everyone drove in disorder, it formed a spectacle, that is, everyone understood each other, even if there was a collision, there were few car owners to stop and fight, at most to make an international general gesture, and then they left.
In the process of this difficult journey, everyone in the car saw it.
The congested and cluttered roads are lined with shanty stalls selling fruits, groceries, snacks and souvenirs, encroaching on the boundaries of the road with impunity.
Navigating through the clutter of stalls and traffic jams are locals in wide-sleeved robes and white scarves, as well as shabby motorcycles, loose three-wheelers, old donkeys and even mules and horses.
If you look further, the center of Cairo, far from the rich and the pyramid areas, looks like a huge construction site full of noise, squalor and backwardness.
On both sides of the street, unfinished buildings with no ceilings can be seen almost everywhere, because the people here believe that the continued prosperity of their families will create new requirements for their living space.
Egypt's unique tax law, which charges heavy taxes on private houses once they are built, also means that most Egyptians do not cap their houses.
After the next generation is born, they will add one or more floors to their own buildings, so that in Egypt, the construction of houses will always be in the present tense.
But Cairo, which is so fragmented, chaotic and disorderly, is a place where rich people from all over Africa want to settle.
Those dilapidated buildings, with no architectural qualifications at all, and no design at all, are the paradise that the poorest people in Egypt yearn for.
Even for these wizards from England, this kind of downtown Cairo has a different kind of charm.
"This is Cairo, the place where magic originated, Diagon Alley has only one street, but there is such a large urban area here that is the same as Diagon Alley."
Ron, who had been looking out the window, couldn't help but exclaim, and George and Fred, who were sitting next to him, shared the same opinion.
"No, I think it's cooler than Diagon Alley, it's like it's a mysterious place full of Tumbledown Alley."
The twin brothers' words allowed Mrs. Weasley to catch the loophole, "George, Fred, when did you go to Tumbledown Alley, didn't I say you weren't allowed to go there!" ”
Looking at the noisy and frolicking crowd, Clark and Hermione could only look at each other and smile bitterly.
Perhaps for wizards who are affected by the magic of chaos and still advocate chaos and disorder in their bones, the center of Cairo in front of them is indeed no problem, and it is even a little pleasing to the eye.
But for a person like Clark, who had been to the Muggle world and had experienced rapid economic and social development in his previous life, the scene in front of him was undoubtedly synonymous with poverty and backwardness.
Maybe he shouldn't have expected anything more from this place in the first place.
Not every ancient civilization can be as prosperous as the Chinese civilization, which has been passed down endlessly, and has gone through ups and downs, but also has a great rejuvenation!
Even the modern buildings in the city and the pyramids outside the city stand on this land, and the ancient Egyptians have been extinct.
Now living in this ancient land is the Arabs who hold the Qur'an and pout their butts, and the gods of ancient Egypt have become history and relics, just like their pyramids.
The culture of the city is disconnected, and it has never been their task for the new owners to recreate the glory of an ancient civilization, because the history of this ancient civilization has nothing to do with them.
Even if they worship the gods for eight hours a day, they are not worshipping the gods of ancient Egypt.
Clark suddenly understood why the gods of the Golden Age had disappeared into the long river of history.
Perhaps the connection between those gods and humans was even closer than he thought.
When civilization is gone, when faith is gone, even the oldest Cairo has no trace of the existence of the gods.
Tourists from all over the world, who only have one plane at a time, come here to see the strangeness.
In the face of such magical realism, even Clark did not know what to say for a while.
It's just that the soul of the traverser suddenly reminded him of the distant Eastern civilization, which is now slowly but surely rising step by step.
They did not rely on any savior, nor did they rely on gods and emperors, perhaps when the gods are no longer there, human beings can truly grasp their own happiness and create the miracle of civilization.
"So, this is the best time for mankind!"
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