Chapter 1

The scorching sun baked the earth, as well as the sparse weeds swaying in the sea breeze. Li Lan walked on the road already covered with sand and gravel, closely wrapped in a layer of black cloth, while keeping a watchful eye on his surroundings. The hands hidden under the black clothes tightly gripped a pistol, and the heavy pockets of his coat were filled with rifle bullets. The black fabric, under the intense heat of the sun, made every step Li Lan took extremely uncomfortable, with sweat already gathering at the corners of his eyes, the only part of his face exposed. Li Lan really wanted to tear off the black cloth wrapped around his body, throw it on the ground, and stomp on it fiercely. But he didn't dare to do so, because his skin was too conspicuous in this place. If the locals saw him, the pistol in his hand might instantly become a death warrant. Even if the locals weren't particularly hostile to people with yellow skin, Li Lan didn't dare to risk his life to verify old hearsay. This was a vast, desertified plain, with the occasional sound of waves reminding people that the sea was not far away. After half an hour of trekking, a distant group of camels became faintly visible. Seeing this, Li Lan drank the last mouthful of fresh water from his water bag. "Clatter! Clatter!..." A rapid sound of hooves approached, and a black man, exuding an African aura, rode a horse toward Li Lan. Without a warm greeting, he raised the scratched AK-47 on his horse, aiming the muzzle at Li Lan, and started to speak in a rapid, incomprehensible language. Although to Li Lan, all black people seemed to look alike, he immediately recognized the black man on the horse. Without hesitation, Li Lan pulled down the cloth wrapped around his head, revealing a delicate East Asian face, and said in simple English, "Muhammad, my friend, it's me." Muhammad also recognized Li Lan, lowered his gun, dismounted, and walked over happily, patting Li Lan's shoulder and laughing, while gesturing and speaking in broken English, "I'm glad to see you, my friend." Li Lan was also happy, patted the other's shoulder, and wrapped his face again, then followed the man to a dilapidated village not far away, entering the only small house made of cement in the area. This was a village of less than a hundred people, with Muhammad's house being the only one made of cement, while the other villagers lived in wooden shacks, some of which were just thick cardboard houses. It didn't look like a village but more like a refugee camp. Once inside, Li Lan took the fresh water handed to him by Muhammad and drank it greedily. Muhammad, on the side, said anxiously, "Friend from China, have you brought the goods?" As a wealthy man in the area, Muhammad owned over a hundred camels and frequently traded in the nearby city of Bosaso. He had also studied at a university in East Africa in his youth, so his English was passable. Li Lan had met him three days ago, and since Muhammad was the only one in the village who could communicate with him, and because Muhammad had the food Li Lan needed, Li Lan had been coming every day to trade goods for food. "The same as yesterday, twenty rifle bullets for ten dollars' worth of food." Listening to the somewhat awkward English, Li Lan took out twenty bullets from his pocket, still smelling of oil. Muhammad carefully inspected each of the bullets Li Lan had handed over. After the inspection, he gave Li Lan a thumbs up and said frankly, "My friend, very good, all new bullets. These bullets can be sold for twenty-five dollars at the market." "Of course, the goods I bring are always good," Li Lan said confidently. "Wait for me, my friend!" Muhammad carefully put away the bullets and went into the inner room. After a while, he came out with a package in his hand. "This is what you want. The camel milk and camel meat are the freshest. There's also banana steamed rice and cornbread I made this morning." Taking the package and hearing Muhammad's words, Li Lan replied, "Thank you very much." "Hehe!" Muhammad seemed excited by Li Lan's gratitude and said, "Li, you should know that I am a Muslim. Although I am not a qualified believer, we Muslims love to help friends who come from afar and are in trouble. Your Chinese people once helped us Somalis build railways, so I am more willing to help you. If you were French, no matter how many bullets you brought, I wouldn't give you food." "We Chinese also value friendship. I will bring more bullets tomorrow. My friend, I have to go now." Although Muhammad seemed to treat him well, Li Lan didn't want to stay in this place without security for too long. "Goodbye, my friend." Muhammad took out a water bag and handed it to Li Lan. "Goodbye!" Accompanied by Muhammad, Li Lan left the village, said goodbye to him, and watched Muhammad continue to take care of his camels. Li Lan hid the bag of food under his black robe and walked on the "way home." When the camel herd was no longer visible behind him, Li Lan finally breathed a sigh of relief. Don't be fooled by the friendly conversation just now; they had only known each other for a short time, and Li Lan had been on guard the whole time. The safety of the pistol under the black robe was always on. If the other party made any unexpected move, Li Lan wouldn't hesitate to act first. Trading twenty bullets for a day's worth of food was a risky move out of necessity. This was East Africa, this was Somalia, where food was the most scarce resource. On his first trip here, he had been prepared to be robbed, but fortunately, the people he met were not completely devoid of moral principles. Although the food obtained by trading twenty bullets was not much, in a country with an average income of less than $500 and no industrial base, twenty bullets could be sold for $25, which was a decent income. However, Li Lan didn't care too much about these details. Because to sell these bullets at such a price, one had to go to the big city market, and coming to this place already made Li Lan nervous. The city was currently a no-go zone for Li Lan. He shouldn't enter the city until he had his own armed force. Walking alone on the desertified plain, Li Lan had already adapted to this loneliness. Since childhood, Li Lan had lived alone, with no family, and loneliness was nothing new to him. An accident brought him to Somalia, and he felt lonely again. However, he enjoyed this loneliness. Because it was quiet, and in the silence, he could think clearly about many things. Sometimes, Li Lan felt that life was a thoroughly evil deception. Small, insignificant lies, under the ruthless crushing of the years, formed a vast web of lies. Growing up in an orphanage, he was always told not to lie, but to survive in this world, one had to learn to lie first. This was contradictory but clearly revealed human nature. There were always many voices in his ears telling him: to be the top student, to get into a prestigious university, to earn a lot of money, to have a house and a car, to have children and a family, to work hard for the family. Thus, life passed in a daze. If you were willing to stop and think, you would find that there was always an invisible force and inertia pulling you along, leading you all the way to the end. The world was getting busier, but it formed a solid circle, layer upon layer of barriers. From the day each person was born with consciousness, they were destined to be busy and run around in circles, with no time to stop and ask themselves: why? Because once you stop, you will be overtaken and cruelly abandoned by the fast-paced life. So no one could escape. Unless one day, you could stand at the peak and look down on everything. Sometimes, Li Lan even wondered if the existence of this world was a conspiracy, and the powerful conspirators behind the scenes were trying to numb everyone's mind with a world of material desires, making people believe that life was just birth, aging, illness, and death, a tedious and short yet long process. If everyone's life was a conspiracy, then the conspirator was undoubtedly a true strongman, weaving a vast web of illusions filled with human desires, using human greed to control the world. Who could possess such a grand vision? In the past, Li Lan didn't dare to think about it, as he believed he didn't have the capital. Blind arrogance would ultimately bury oneself. Now, Li Lan was confident that the idea of becoming such a supreme ruler and controlling the world was worthy of being his goal. This was somewhat arrogant, but what could he do? Whether you were arrogant or not, you couldn't escape death. Life was only this one, not to make you feel worthy of yourself, but to make you feel worthy of this cruel life game that might pass in a few decades. Pessimistic people lament the impermanence and brevity of life, while optimistic people laugh and sing about life as a play, year after year. In the end, one's mindset determines everything, including one's fate. And now, what Li Lan had to do was to survive in Somalia, a place where killings were never lacking. PS: A new book can't do without the support of many new and old readers, so please don't forget to add it to your collection and give it a recommendation.