Chapter 367 - Infiltrating Egypt (1)
During the African Expanse, which united the various nations of Africa, the nations on the south part of Africa was in opposition to the many countries in central Africa. Those on the north faced the threat of Egypt, which has suddenly grown into a level that it could contend with the more advanced nation of the world.
Most of North Africa came in conflict with Egypt and had requested an agreement with the nations in Central Africa that both parties would not attack each other but focus on their corresponding enemy.
Central Africa lost, and the South took over. At that time, Egypt was expanding on all fronts challenging the other nations in the North African continent and the nations in the Caliphates.
By the time South Africa won their conquest, the Northern Countries immediately surrendered as they were already losing. Libya, Tunisia, and parts of Algeria had already been conquered. Egypt was expanding its conquest to the nearby nations.
With the surrender of many nations neighboring Egypt to the African nation, Egypt stopped its conquest and entered neutrality. It was here that the Caliphate and African nations went to war and solidified the hatred that the two countries had up to the present age. The African Expanse couldn\'t attack Egypt, nor could it conquer the Caliphate area.
Even though the African Expanse had ended, Africa remained the largest and most populous united force among all alliances in the world. Though conflicts would erupt between a state or two, Africa remained united.
And so, when Chad and Niger declared that their sudden desire to be independent, it confused the entire world.
Stranger still was the immediate action that the Desert Empire pursued. Shortly after its establishment, a protest organized by various groups of people and supported by the government occurred at the borders of Egypt.
It was an extraordinary development that even the African Nation couldn\'t understand why the Desert Empire would set its sights on Egypt!
The border that divided Egypt from Chad and Niger had protesters. It was a strange scene that confused even the experts and former residents of these two states.
How was it possible that the entire nation would act in unison and even follow with one accord a riot that comprised almost all residents of the nearby city?
The protest continued, and even the foreign correspondents of news around the world couldn\'t make heads or tails of the claims as to why Egypt should \'pay.\' Some claimed it was due to unusual experiments that were happening as to how the locust of Egypt began to eat their crops.
Some claimed that Egypt was manipulating the sand through their tech to cause the crops to die.
Others were even stranger.
"So, what exactly has Egypt done to you and your family?" A reporter asked.
"They stole my dreams and my childhood! How dare they?!" A young teenager who is wearing the uniform of a prestigious elite school in Niger was shown.
"How have they stolen your dreams and childhood?"
"By being the nation that is secretly spurring the Caliphates to have a war on us!" A nearby student erupted.
"They are the reason why Niger and Chad rebelled! We have become a meat shield between the African Nations and Egypt! A state used to block Egypt\'s malicious techs that are destroying our crops, shortening our lifespan, and even creating diseases!"
"Right! It\'s not just a locust! But frog! Lice! And all those other things! The water sources we have are now even poisoned!" Another native yelled.
The reporters were confused, and even when they checked claims and conspiracy theories that have existed over the past decades, none of those claims were remotely similar to the shocking accusations that the nations of Chad and Niger had regarding Egypt.
No one could tell where these claims were coming from and why they suddenly erupted and convinced many people.
Arthur and his team observed the status from a nearby military base. A crowd of people had gathered at the border of Chad and Egypt.
"Amazing..." Gardo praised. His face and the contours of his body were different. He had worn a strange skin-tight suit that Lennox quickly developed on one of his bases.
"As expected of the Tyrant Empress. With a single word from her, the citizens are driven mad. This is a power that eclipses any Programmed Slave technology." Lowengren added.
The other members of the Council were nearby. Just like Gardo, they all had different faces and body structures due to the suit they wore.
"This is what impressed you? Not the fact that she just met the leaders of Chad and Niger a few hours ago and has controlled the entire nation to rebel against Africa?" Vender asked.
"Those leaders personally met the Tyrant Empress. That is understandable. But these people haven\'t! They are just called and affected by her whispers and calls in that dream world." Lowengren explained.
"Which is why we have to leave now. The longer we stay here, the more we could be affected by the Tyrant Empress. Alean... I\'m counting on you to time the exact moment we make the teleport." Arthur said.
"Don\'t worry. I\'ll help you teleport near the border wall and escape."
"Alright. Harker, you have to take the lead. Our entry must be captivating, and you must draw everyone\'s attention. Once that happens, Lowengren, your lies are necessary. Vender, shut up. Don\'t speak until we tell you to. Gardo, you will be the first to attack the Egyptian soldiers."
"Are you sure they are there? All I see is a blank and empty wilderness."
"It\'s there. That\'s their version of mirage. They created some form of reflective light that makes us see a blank empty spot. But in reality, that spot in the border should be surrounded by soldiers now."
"So you\'re certain that we have an audience to see our entry?" Harker confirmed.
"Yes. The Tyrant Empress protesters managed to create so many that the people stretch about a kilometer wide. Even the Chad and Niger soldiers are having a hard time stopping them from slipping through. With such a crowd, Egypt will definitely deploy soldiers. And we can almost be certain that Aragarians will be among them."
"Oh... Too bad I can\'t extend or focus my Realm..." Gardo sighed.
"Once we teleport closer, you should feel it. We can\'t use our techs because we don\'t know if they have the means to detect it. As you know, Egypt has one of the most sensitive tech detection techs. It even demanded the Americas to pay up nearly billions of Credits for spying on to them." Arthur explained.
"So we\'re going in blind. I just hope they won\'t shoot us." Vender sighed.
"Leave it to me. They will be so awestruck by our entrance that they would hesitate." Harker assured.
Joab Barak entered the room.
"Get ready. Arthur. Be careful. Try to find out what you can, and don\'t try to infiltrate and save your sister yet."
"I understand, Father."
"As I said... I am Lennox V-"
"I could never get used to calling you that. Besides, it\'s easier to call you father."
"Fine. The soldiers I\'ve set will now deploy the bombs, and many of the rioters will start running and throwing rocks. Time your teleportation properly."
"Alean... It\'s up to you." Arthur turned towards Alean.
"Get ready, guys. On my mark..." Alean smiled.
Suddenly, several small explosions using homemade materials happened around the border. The explosions were startling, and it opened a small path that caused a stampede of rioters running angrily towards the border wall that separated Chad and Niger.
The soldiers of Chad and Niger actually shot non-lethal rounds and tried to stop the angry horde from reaching the border of Egypt.
Tear Gases and various crowd-controlling weapons were used, and the rioting men were stopped.
No one noticed that one of the Unlocked soldiers dropped something. He was among the first set of Unlocked that the Tyrant Empress and Lennox created. And with the new and improved Timer Cube, the Unbecoming could now set when the cube would explode.
The crowds retreated, and the Desert Empire Soldiers were very angry. The protesters nearly reached the invisible border of Egypt. To the crowd\'s eyes, the border was just a small fence with no one behind it.
The soldiers shot those who managed to breach their perimeter, and all that ran towards Egypt\'s borders were shot down. Soon, the soldiers slowly dragged the protestors, who whimpered in pain.
As the same time, and the soldiers also attacked various reporters who were there. The soldiers shot the cameras of the reporters and began to harass any reporters that tried to record the entire commotion.
As the crowds were being pulled back by the Desert Empire soldiers, Arthur finally activated the teleportation tech at Alean\'s orders. Arthur stabbed a small triangle that was as big as the metal cubes.
A distortion occurred right in the deep underground, and the portal was opened.
Almost simultaneously, the metal cube planted by the Unlocked Soldier erupted and created a large dome of electricity.
The Egyptian soldiers were also stunned. The lightning energy was so strong that it attacked parts of the invisible border and undid some parts of the mirage that revealed many Exoskeletons standing on top of a four-meter wall.
"What\'s that?!" An Egyptian soldier panicked.
"Sarge!" Another soldier called.
As the power of Lennox created a large ball of lightning, the group stepped inside the portal. Unlike the previous teleportation that went for hundreds of kilometers and needed specially marked realm techs designed by the Realm King, this portal was much weaker as they needed only to travel for a few kilometers.
Alean and Arthur led the group. As with before, Alean and Arthur made sure that the group could safely travel. But Alean was having a hard time controlling everyone\'s movements.
As they traversed most of the terrain, Alean felt that she needed to stop. And so Alean began to retreat, careful to follow every step that she made when she went in the portal to retreat to the place they were before.
As Alean came out of the portal, her face was scarlet red.
"I\'m NEVER doing that again!" She cursed.
"To think I had to push dad\'s hairy behind to save him! Did it even work?! Those perverts can die for all I care!" Alean asked.
"See for yourself," Lennox revealed the video.
The Lightning explosion of that specific cube created a large gap in the middle. Even the Void Assassin would have a hard time teleporting to that area because the timing of when the explosion occurs and the exact location of the destination had to be so precise that doing the jump half a second earlier would have fried everyone.
But with Alean\'s Path, the timing of the jump was perfect. And as they entered, Arthur\'s calculations of when and where to end the teleportation allowed them to dive in the eye of the explosion.
As the group landed, they all knelt down.
The Egyptian soldiers and Exoskeletons all searched where the attack happened.
"Where is it? Who attacked us?" The Sargent demanded.
"We don\'t know! It just exploded out! Our sensors did not detect anything until a few seconds right before the explosion happened.
The lightning ball began to shrink and disperse. As it disappeared, five naked men were kneeling on the sand.
"And... stand," Harker whispered at a frequency and volume that only those nearby could hear.
With perfect robotic, synchronized movements, all five slowly stood up.
The Egyptian soldiers standing on top of the wall glanced down in amazement at the entrance.
The sheer coolness made them stop. The other soldiers also lost their breath at the shocking yet breathtaking entrance.
Suddenly one of the shorter naked men raised his arm and pointed at a soldier.
"Your clothes... give them to me."
"Take it from them." The man at the center of the five ordered.
"Yes, Pharaoh." The four others answered together.
"Shall we engage?" One of the men asked.
The Egyptians nearby could hear the conversation of the five. And they could not help but look at the man in the middle who the others called Pharaoh.
"Terminate them..."