Benghazi

The Armored bus was still traveling through the Sahara Desert.

It was traveling at a moderate pace, and they had to stop to refuel every two hours. The large bus was a fuel-guzzler, and their fuel supplies were running low. 

Luckily, the city of Benghazi was just across the horizon. 

The city's tall walls stood against the blazing desert sun, and you could tell the city was massive even from where they were. 

Behind the city was a vast body of water, and according to his map this was the Mediterranean Sea. 

Most of Libya's cities were along the coast of this sea, and Libya's deserts all abruptly ended at its edges.

They had been driving for nearly six hours since Draco had killed the desert bandits. Now their destination was in view, and Draco estimated they were only around an hour away. 

Everyone in the bus had grown restless from sitting in the bus for hours on end with only short breaks in between. 

Draco took the time to organize everything in the bus. He wanted to make sure that his supplies were in order, and that his people knew what the plan was. 

Draco had taken the progenitor serum schematics and the documents he got from Saalim out of his cash box. 

He wanted to keep this on hand, in case the worst happened. He was already lucky these things weren't lost when Formica had made its first appearance. 

Draco took a moment to look over the documents he had gotten from Saalim back in the city of Sabha. 

One paper contained details about, 'Ghiath Bashar.' It had information about where to find him in the city, and what he specialized in. 

The other paper was Saalim's letter of recommendation. Without it, Saalim said Draco would not even have a chance to speak with the man. 

Draco didn't know how much the man's services would cost, but after losing the bulk of his treasures he doubted he had enough. 

He still felt anger in his heart when he thought back to all of the artifacts and gold he had lost under the desert's sand. 

However, the horn he had received from Formica more than made up for it. 

'If it comes down to it, I can use Formica to get anything I want for free. Except, I have to be careful. That giant progenitor could easily destroy everything.' he thought, looking at the bone-white horn in his hands. 

He smirked to himself, 'After all, a nuke usually leaves nothing behind.' 

Soon, the armored bus was approaching Benghazi city. Once the city came more into view, its features became more apparent. 

It had absolutely monumental stone walls. They surrounded the entire city like an impenetrable barrier, and Draco could hardly see past it. 

The buildings he could see past the wall were just as impressive as the wall itself. 

Draco spotted numerous towers that stood high above the wall, and beyond them was an even more impressive sight. 

A massive palace stood in the center of the city, it was so grand it put Saalim's little palace to shame. 

The palace was built with green stones and gilded with gold, and its golden domes shone brightly under the desert sun. 

Of course, it was nothing compared to the Khalid Dynasty's royal palace, but it was nonetheless still impressive. 

As the armored bus pulled up to the city's massive gates, they found themselves behind a long line of other vehicles awaiting entry into the city.

The city gates were open, and they were large enough to fit several cars side-by-side. 

Dozens of armed guards checked vehicles and did inspections as they waved the vehicles through the city's massive gates.

He also noticed a few powered guards among them, and they seemed to be of similar strength to the captains of Saalim's forces. 

As Draco's bus slowly crept towards the gate, he watched as the passengers of one vehicle got hauled out of their car and arrested. 

He wondered what had happened, perhaps the inspectors had found contraband in their vehicle.

Draco turned around to see that Amber had walked up to him.

"With this many passengers, we might have to bribe the city guards." she informed him. 

This made sense to Draco, the people he had seen get arrested had likely failed to provide a bribe.

With this in mind, Draco went to his box filled with cash and pulled out a few stacks of cash. 

He didn't know how much of a bribe would work, but he would try his luck with 20,000 dinars and then see if he needed more. 

This was over $4,000 in USD, and he figured it was more than suitable of a bribe for the guards to not ask any questions. 

Soon, Draco's vehicle was in front of the line. 

When the guards saw Draco's armored bus, a few powered guards came over and approached cautiously. 

This was to be expected, for the bus was covered in black armor and looked absolutely menacing. Only trouble came from a vehicle like this.

Draco opened up the door next to the driver seat, and one of the powered guards walked in. 

When the guard saw that Draco was also powered, he appraised Draco with interest. 

The guard began to speak to Draco in an Arabic language, so he turned to Amber for translation. 

"He's asking you to state your purpose here." she said.

Draco nodded, he had already prepared a cover story, "We are here for business. This is a trading vehicle, we are completing our trade route from Tobruk city." 

He had seen from his map that Tobruk was a city that was only a short distance east of here, so he figured this would be a good cover. 

The guard lifted an eyebrow when he heard Draco's explanation, but he said nothing. 

Seeing the guard looking at Draco expectantly, he realized what the man was waiting for. 

Draco went over to grab the stacks of dinars he had set aside.

After handing the guard the money, he flipped through the stacks and counted them up. 

The guard was evidently satisfied with this bribe, so he turned to leave the vehicle without saying anything. 

When Draco looked out of the bus' window he saw that they were now being waved through the gates. They had been granted entry permission. 

Draco heaved a sigh of relief, for he didn't want to start trouble before he had even gotten into the city. 

Addo drove the bus through the gates, and the city's interior came into view. 

Draco saw that Benghazi was vastly different from Sabha. 

The city had well paved roads, and its buildings were arranged in neat rows. Benghazi's buildings were mostly made of brick that was stained yellow from years of exposure to the sun. 

There were also high-rises, office buildings, and hotels in the distance. The city was obviously a hub for all types of business and commerce. 

The city streets were also filled with cars and foot traffic. Cars honked at each other as they navigated the busy roads, and passerbys stopped to stare at Draco's eye-catching vehicle. 

On the sides of the road stood a number of street vendors, all serving different meats of unknown origin. The trade-off for cheap street food was that you didn't ask questions about what animal you were eating.

Draco paid all of this no mind as he looked at the documents Saalim had given him. 

They said that Ghiath Bashar could be found on 'East Tharwa Blvd', but he had no clue how to get there in this huge city.

As they were driving down the main road, he found a general goods store off to the side. 

Draco instructed Addo to pull the vehicle into the store's parking lot. The bus was so large it had to squeeze through several honking cars to get there, and it took up half of the store's parking lot. 

Draco planned on stocking up on water and food supplies, and he would also use this chance to ask for directions. 

Draco got out of the vehicle with Addo and another one of his soldiers, and they walked up to the store through the parking lot.

However, when they were just in front of the store, they saw someone bust through the front door.

It was a behemeath of a man, and he was easily over 7 feet tall.

The man was wearing a mask, and he was running straight towards them while carrying a duffel bag on his back.