The air in Cairo's Old Town was filled with the pungent smell of burning plastic.
Most of the buildings here had exposed brick walls, and many didn't even have a finished roof. This reminded Song Heping of the past when rural folks would often build the main structure of a house, move in, and only finish the exterior and interior once they saved a bit more money.
Nora Aus told Song Heping that the reason for the unfinished roofs and cement walls here was not due to poverty, but because such buildings bypass local laws. As long as a building is not fully completed, it is exempt from taxes.
A military vehicle appeared at the street corner ahead. Two soldiers with guns were scanning every passerby under the rusty iron roof.
Egypt hasn't had good public security in recent years. Numerous factions are secretly active, occasionally causing attacks that leave those in power jittery and force them to implement military measures.
"Stay natural, walk by, don't stare at them,"
Nura's hand pressed down on his shoulder. For now, they were pretending to be a couple.
Sweat seeped through the palm of this Bedouin woman, which could be felt even through his T-shirt.
A week ago, after the village was attacked, Nura instructed her people to leave the village and live in the desert to ensure their safety.
For many, living in the desert seemed unimaginable.
But for the Bedouin people, this was just another familiar way of surviving.
In the Z regions of East and North Africa, many deserts are home to Bedouin tribes.
They seem to be out of sync with the times, adopting a reclusive way of life to maintain their most ancient lifestyles and cultures, much like ascetics in the modern era.
Sara also left the small team.
Once she recovered from her injuries, she came to bid farewell to Song Heping.
Song Heping didn't ask for her reasons.
After all, Sara's identity was very special; some things are better left unasked as asking won't yield results.
From then on, Song Heping led Nura, Jiang Feng, and Antonov southward.
They planned to head to Somalia.
After all, Abdul, the culprit of the village massacre, had already fled back to Somalia.
In Nura's view, she could never be at peace until Abdul was killed; the hatred was too deep.
For Song Heping, he considered more aspects.
Killing Abdul was primarily a show of defiance against Mossad and the CIA.
Although these intelligence agencies were powerful and feared by many,
Song Heping was no ordinary person.
His temperament is to thrive in confrontation.
If someone tries to kill him, he would never sit idly by.
Counterattacking, in Song Heping's view, was the better strategy.
Given that retreat was no longer an option, he decided to roll up his sleeves and engage with the CIA and Mossad in Africa.
As the great man said, "Fight as long as you need to, fight until total victory."
Of course, victory seemed far off at that moment; what Song Heping needed most was a fake passport.
The fake identity that Sara arranged for them had already been used, and they could no longer use it anywhere in Africa.
Song Heping called Henry, who was far away in Russia, to have him—an ex-British military intelligence officer—arrange for another.
Africa has always been referred to as the backyard of Britain and France.
It's a reference to how the colonial territories of these two long-standing European countries controlled most of Africa during the colonial period.
With the post-WWII rise of the "colonial independence movement," many African countries gradually declared independence from Britain and Gaul, yet the elite classes cultivated by these former rulers through various means over centuries remained, serving as a means to control these countries.
During his time in the British intelligence department, Henry was often stationed in Africa, becoming familiar with the region and establishing numerous contacts.
This was why he chose to return to Africa after retiring and went to work as an intelligence broker in Morocco due to his financial needs.
Through Henry's connections, Song Heping needed to go to Cairo's Old Town and find a man named Senid.
Senid had previously worked in Egypt's border management department, specializing in technical verification, thus being very skilled at identifying document authenticity.
However, Senid's wife was very fertile; each time she got pregnant, she would have a child, and she bore him seven children in total.
As a result, Senid's meager government salary was insufficiently stretched.
He had to find side jobs.
It's said that those by the mountain live off the mountain and those by the water live off the water.
Senid chose the path of creating fake documents, excelling in it for almost twenty years, earning the nickname "Expert" within the industry.
During urgent situations in Africa, Henry would sometimes collaborate with Senid to create fake documents necessary for missions.
Henry told Song Heping that despite Britain's numerous intelligence departments, Senid's expertise in making fake Egyptian identities was unmatched. This was largely due to his role in the Egyptian border management department, where he occasionally accessed material copies of genuine documents and became extremely proficient in Egypt's anti-counterfeiting techniques and materials.
Most impressively, the documents he created couldn't just pass as real—they could also have identity information embedded in the system, meaning simple checks would show them as valid unless an in-depth investigation was conducted, making the identity real.
Since they were all currently undocumented and Egypt's strict social control measures were in place, Song Heping only took Nura with him, leaving Jiang Feng and Antonov at a small hotel to await news.
Navigating through countless alleys, following the map, Song Heping finally reached his destination.