The fishing village was small. It was decorated by a wide patch of palm trees and wooden racks used to dry fishing nets. Graced by the gentle sea breeze, the women sat around and mended their fishing nets while the children played chase on the sandy shore. It was a tranquil and beautiful scenery, almost like it was out of this world.
A group of armed personnel entered the village. Their emergence had alerted its inhabitants, quickly disturbing the peace. The women quickly ushered their children into the house and locked the doors.
The unwelcomed intruders were none other than Xia Lei and the members of the Chinese Zodiac Battle Team. They had managed to escape Gaza and entered the outskirts to reach this remote fishing village.
Xia Lei scanned all the houses lining the beach. He noticed women who were kneeling on their prayer mats, asking their god for protection. There were no fixed-line phones here and Xia Lei had not found anyone using their phones to report the abnormality either.
Xia Lei shifted his gaze into the ocean where he saw a small cargo ship anchored to the harbour of the fishing village. The flag of Egypt flew proudly on top while its sides were painted with the logo of the company. He activated his X-ray vision and checked the ship. Fortunately, no one suspicious was lurking around the boat.
As he observed the cargo ship, a speedboat came zooming over the water surface from the same direction. The person behind its wheel was Sa’im’s woman, Yaada.
A smirk found its way onto Xia Lei’s lips. Sa’im was right. All of his women were indeed skilful assistants. He led the Chinese Zodiac Battle team members towards the harbour. It was a naturally formed one that would allow easy access to smaller fishing boats and speedboats. Due to the fact that the waters around it were comparatively shallow, cargo ships could not enter this area.
Yaada’s speed boat arrived at the harbour. She waved at Sa’im and the man ran over with extended arms. Truly, Sa’im had played his character as a romantic man to its fullest.
Xia Lei turned around and watched the sky. There were no drones in sight. Currently, the armed militia was the least of his concerns. They did not possess any capability for a battle on the sea. However, Israel… Israel was an issue. If the drones had found them at a time like this, they were as good as dead.
Xia Lei allowed himself to sigh in relief after finding no drones tailing them. But as he prepared to peel his eyes away and board the speedboat, one of the doors to the village houses opened. A child peeked his head from the back of the door, a handphone in his grip.
Xia Lei’s heart plummeted instantly, quickly locking his eyes on the child’s lips.
Poof! A bullet was lodged into the child’s skull. The handphone in his palms fell to the ground as his small body slumped backwards.
Xia Lei’s gaze fell on the phone. At that moment, his heart felt like it was stabbed with countless needles. Everything felt awful.
It wasn’t a real device. It was just a mere toy.
Xia Lei peeled his sight away and turned to look at Qian Jun, who stood beside him.
Qian Jun was the one who had robbed life away from the child. He had noticed the phone in the child’s grip through the iron sight on the gust assault rifle. His first response was that the child was an informant to the Gaza Strip armed group or even the Mossad. Which was why Qian Jun had decided to shoot the child.
The man in question placed down his assault rifle and boarded the speedboat without offering any explanation.
Xia Lei’s lip twitched, but no words were produced. While this shouldn’t have happened, Xia Lei could not blame Qian Jun. No one could’ve known that the phone was just a toy one hundred metres away. If the child was truly an informant to Mossad, he and the Chinese Zodiac Battle Team would be in deep trouble. Judging from that perspective, Qian Jun wasn't wrong. On the contrary, he had done what a warrior should do.
In war, cruelty was not uncommon.
The best example of this would be the Arab Spring Movement launched by America in the Middle East. The American banner was to bring freedom and Peace to the Arabs of the land but it was actually a mere guise for war. The American bombers had terrorized their sky and killed many innocents.
Xia Lei too boarded the speedboat. This was not the time for such sentiments or to show empathy. To survive in a war meant more than this.
Yaada drove the speedboat back to the cargo ship swiftly. After the speedboat was brought up to the cargo ship, she tossed a lifebuoy into the water below.
Sa’im and Yaada embraced. They peppered each other with kisses and said sweet nothings.
The members of the Chinese Zodiac Battle Team would rather die than watch the exchange.
They quickly left to check the cargo ship.
Xia Lei did not turn to leave. The man waited for them to be separated before he came to Yaada and brought out the cash he had inside his bag. The thick stashes of cash had totalled up to three hundred thousand USD.
“Boss, what are you doing?” Sa’im tilted his head in confusion. “There’s no need to pay her.”
Xia Lei hushed him. “It’s not for her.” He turned to face Yaada. “Yaada, that child… He’s not an informant. Please take this money to his family as compensation.”
A smile bloomed across Yaada’s lips. “I will, Sir. You’re a kind person.”
“Be careful,” reminded Xia Lei.
Yaada simply nodded, turned around, and plunged into the water below.
Following that, the cargo ship began its journey towards Egypt.
The members of the Zodiac Team had completed their routine check of the cargo ship very quickly. A majority of the sailors on board were from an Asian third world country. The shipowner was an Iraqi. Yaada had utilized the relationship between Sa’im and the shipowner to handle the arrangements for their retreat.
At the moment, Sa’im and the shipowner were chatting in the captain’s deck. The other members of the Zodiac Team hid away their weapons and changed into sailor uniforms, blending into the crowd on board.
Xia Lei found himself on the stern deck after everything was settled.
Qian Jun was also on the stern deck, peering ahead into the direction of Israel. He had suffered for years on that piece of land. Now, he had finally gained his freedom. This feeling he felt deeply at the moment was only reserved for himself.
Xia Lei walked over and joined him. They stood shoulder to shoulder, looking into the direction of Israel. All Xia Lei could think of was the pyramid and all of the mysterious happenings that surrounded it.
The two men stood in silence, reminiscing the past quietly.
Until Xia Lei disrupted the quietness. “That child… He was holding a toy phone, it wasn’t real.”
Qian Jun replied, “Yeah, I know. After I shot him, your expression fell. That was when I knew I killed someone by mistake.”
Xia Lei offered Qian Jun a smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes. “I’m not trying to reprimand you but I hoped you would consider the situation before acting.”
Qian Jun nodded.
“Alright, let’s talk about us.” Xia Lei cleared his throat. “You promised that you’ll tell me everything if we leave Gaza alive.”
Qian Jun shifted his gaze away from faraway and plopped himself onto the floor of the deck.
Xia Lei was a little surprised but joined him on the floor anyway.
“Your father…” Talking about it was difficult. Qian Jun inhaled deeply, reorganized his thoughts and continued, “The last time I stopped at my encounter with your father. Let’s continue from there.”
Xia Lei was hopeful, his silence urging the tattooed man to carry on.
“Your father has given me a mission. He wanted me to head to Jerusalem, learn Hebrew and familiarize myself with the environment. It was weird at the time but I had no reason to question it. So that’s how I came to Jerusalem. I’ve stepped foot on every street and visited every ancient ruin site. One year later, my mastery of Hebrew had achieved the level of being able to carry a decent conversation with the Jews. It was then that your father gave me another mission…”
“Your father presented to me a human face mask and disguised me as a student. It was a student in the Archaeology Department of the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. I killed the student and replaced him. I went to school but not to study. Your father had intended me to get close to Professor Mark…”
Professor Mark… Xia Lei remembered who he was. In the grainy footage supplied by the late archaeologist, George, Mark’s life had ended with a headshot given by Qian Jun himself.
Xia Lei interjected him. “My father had you pretend to be one of his students but you’ve never studied this field before. How were you able to trick a professor?”
Qian Jun answered, “I wore spy bugs to get all the information I needed. When Professor Mark asked me questions in class, your father would have someone pass me the right answer through the spy bug. This was why I was able to perform like a stellar student and earn Professor Mark’s fondness. Two months later, I joined one of Professor Mark’s research projects…”
“He was in need of assistants and me with my astounding academic results and unique opinions was what he needed. I became his assistant and earned permission to enter his office.”
Xia Lei was impatient at this point. “Was the pyramid part of his research project?”
There was a beat of silence before Qian Jun replied, “That isn’t a pyramid. It just so happened to look like one.”
Xia Lei was surprised. “Then what is it?”
“No one knows what its real name is but Professor Mark had referred to it as the Grave of Prometheus.”
Prometheus, the God of Intelligence in Greek mythology. He had created mankind and taught humans about utilizing fire and farming techniques. What was it based on for Professor Mark to regard it as the Grave of Prometheus?
Xia Lei couldn’t help but occupy his mind with such thoughts.
Qian Jun did not let the silence drag on. “But that name was given only towards the end of the research. When I joined them, Professor Mark was in the process of finding a number of clues from a pile of ancient historical scrolls.”
“What was he looking for?”
“Clues regarding the tomb.” Qian Jun continued to narrate, “His project had been ongoing for more than thirty years, meaning that he had begun working on it in his youth. At that time, he wasn’t even a professor yet. He had collected and studied the information alone. Most of his income was spent on this project. Things only took a better turn after he became a professor at Hebrew University. Honestly, I was recruited at the last phases of the project. From what I’ve read from his collection of ancient scrolls and clues, the most important clue of all was… the crystal skull.”
Xia Lei’s heart thundered, its tremors pulsating against his ribs.