Thirty-five hours later, Kano City, Nigeria.

Kano City was a thousand-year-old city in Nigeria that held long histories and numerous places of interest. It was a famous tourist city in the country, a desert port in West Africa and a bustling trading centre. Although Nigeria was plagued by war, it was still relatively safe in the city as the Nigerian government forces guarded it. However, for safety’s sake, Xia Lei had gotten Shentu Tianyin a set of female Muslim clothing.

It consisted of a black robe, black headscarf and a black face veil. Even Shentu Tianyin’s eyes were shielded, which helped reduce all risks of exposure to the lowest.

Xia Lei too had changed into a set of male Muslim clothing. He looked like an Arabian from the Middle East with the ensemble of a white robe, brown headcloth and a pair of aviator sunglasses.

The four off-road vehicles wove through the city, finally stopping in front of an old building.

Xia Lei got out of the car and told Said, “You all may go back now. Be careful on your trip home.”

“Huh?” Said did not expect that the job would be over as soon as they reached Kano City from Cameroon.

Xia Lei offered no explanation. He went straight for the boot to retrieve his and Shentu Tianyin’s luggage.

Said had not left yet. “Mister Song, I thought we’d be staying longer to help the preaching. This place is messy. You and your girlfriend will not be safe here.”

At this moment, a blonde woman with sapphire eyes exited the old building.

As soon as Said took notice of her, he quickly drew a cross and strode forward. He bent over, held her palm up and kissed the back of her hand. His sincere expression throughout the process felt like he had met the Pope himself.

This blonde woman was none other than Giovanna, who had been waiting in Nigeria. She was the lead figure among the Relief Society’s four saintesses and the head knight of the Relief Society’s armed knights. Said was nothing but a person-in-charge looking after a small branch and a lowly pastor. In his eyes, a figure like Giovanna was equivalent to the Pope. One would wonder how Said would react if he found out that the ‘Mister Song Jiang’ he had looked after the past few days was the founder of the Holy Thunder Church.

“Go back, Cameroon and the brothers you’ve brought along needs you,” Giovanna uttered without a hint of emotion. “You’ve completed your mission.”

“Oh, honourable saint and head knight, we shall take leave now.” Said turned around, climbed into the car and drove away. The youngsters he had brought along mirrored him and took off following his lead. Giovanna’s words held more authority over Xia Lei’s. After all, Xia Lei was a reincarnated god in their minds and they believed that they would not be bestowed with a chance to see him. Giovanna, on the other hand, was a well-known figure in charge of all operations and the entire Relief Society.

After Said and his men were out of sight, Giovanna quickly rushed over and pried the luggage handles out of Xia Lei’s grip. She regarded him with the utmost respect, “Master, this way please.”

When the Chinese Zodiac Battle Team members were around, the female knights would call Xia Lei ‘boss’. But when they were alone, the knights were more willing to call him their ‘master’. They were Xia Lei’s knights and regarding him as their ‘master’ was more befitting for their tradition and oath.

Xia Lei made no comment and followed her into the building.

Though Shentu Tianyin was a little weirded out by it, she did not ask.

The old historical building was actually a housing property. The owner of the house wasn’t here but Rosa, Theresa and Stella were present along with some of the core members of the Relief Society. Evidently, the building was a temporary stronghold for the Relief Society in Kano City.

“We’ve received weapons from Prince Harifah. Our people are gathered outside the city.” As soon as they entered the living room, Giovanna dove into the topic directly. “We have gathered one hundred people, all of which are retired soldiers with rich battle experience.”

Rosa reported, “Prince Harifah had sent over enough weapons to arm two hundred people. If there’s a need, we can continue arming the members of the Relief Society. However, that would require more time.”

Xia Lei replied, “One hundred retired soldiers is more than enough. Store the extra weapons and gear. Tell me more about the Alliance Mine. Have you managed to find anything new?”

Theresa rolled out a map of Kano City and its surrounding regions on the coffee table. Upon inspection, there was a spot on the print that was circled with a red pen. It was a jungle patch that had a mountain. The area was labelled in English as ‘The Jungle of No Return’ and ‘Alliance Mine’ respectively.

Theresa pointed at the mountain within the red circle. “This is where our target, Alliance Mine, is. To get there, we need to go through the Jungle of No Return.”

Stella uttered, “This place has a legend. According to the locals, a faerie tribe lives in the jungle and anyone who enters it would be lost. Eventually, they’d die. No one has ever made it out alive, hence the ‘No Return’.”

Xia Lei was a little taken aback. “Is it real?”

Stella laughed a little. “Of course not. I harvested a basket full of mushrooms from the jungle yesterday.”

“...”

“Alright, enough jokes.” Giovanna’s expression was serious. “Master, we need to get past this jungle in order to reach Alliance Mine. However, a huge group of Boko Haram armed members are already stationed around this piece of land. They’ve destroyed the only tar road that goes through the jungle.”

Xia Lei’s eyes had already caught on the mentioned road on the map. According to the map’s scale, this road was about two hundred and ten kilometres long. It would take about two hours to get to the end of it via car. If they were made to walk, the journey would take at least a few days. After all, lugging along a huge number of weapons across the jungle was a different experience from walking normally.

“Master, you need to make a decision.” Rosa prompted, “Are you planning to bulldoze our way through the road or are we going to travel on foot through the forest?”

Xia Lei’s brows were knitted. He pondered for a moment before answering, “Driving would be much faster but we’d become targets to the Boko Haram’s ambush. If a battle were to break out, the mastermind behind Boko Haram, America, will be alerted. Perhaps they have already prepared a Tomahawk missile for us.”

“So you’re saying that we’ll need to travel on foot?” asked Theresa.

Xia Lei explained, “Walking through the forest with weapons will take at least two to three days. Plus, a lot of people and a lot of weapons are involved in this operation. A distance of more than two hundred kilometres and a journey of three days. There are plenty of factors that will give us out. If we’re found, the Boko Haram won’t be of much harm in comparison to what the Delta Force can do. They have armed helicopters that can hover over us dast. At that time, we’ll be facing threats from the rocket launchers of the Apache or Black Hawk helicopters.”

Giovanna threw her hands. “If neither driving nor walking will work, how are we supposed to get there?”

At this moment, Shentu Tianyin abruptly spoke up. “I heard this from our geologists that the Vientiane Group had plans to build a railway through the jungle. It was a strategy for Vientiane to save up on transportation costs. This was during my father’s era. He had provided a ten million yuan fund for the plan. However, due to overwhelming opposition from environmentalists, the railway plan was eventually called off.”

Xia Lei placed his attention on the map. He could not find any mark for a railway.

Shentu Tianyin seemed to have picked up on his confusion. She said, “Hubby, it’s an unfinished project. There’s no way you’d see it on the map. I vaguely remember that it was stopped halfway through construction.”

The four female knights stared at Shentu Tianyin oddly. Their interest was not piqued by the existence of a railroad but by what Shentu Tianyin had regarded Xia Lei------ ‘Hubby’!

“Jeez, this is the sixth woman that’s calling him hubby…” The four female knights thought in unison.

Their shift in expression went unnoticed by Xia Lei. He questioned, “Tianyin, do you remember where the railway is at? If it is half finished, we could at least shorten our journey through the journey by half.”

Shentu Tianyin racked her mind and looked a little troubled. “I vaguely remember seeing the railway’s map but I can’t seem to recall anything. I’ve never been to the site and this is the first time I…”

Giovanna urged, “Please try. This is really important for us.”

Shentu Tianyin continued to think but evidently to no avail. She felt increasingly bitter. She wished to help but she just couldn’t remember anything useful.

At that moment, something clicked in Xia Lei’s mind. The mysterious energy inside him was suddenly awakened and an energy field was generated. Its scope had enveloped the surrounding women and began interpreting the brainwaves and biological energies radiating off them. Soon, their thoughts flooded his brain in tandem.

“Our master is such a pervert. He’s married to five women and yet four children is not enough? I can’t believe he’s even getting involved with his ex-wife. He’s a failure to the male population,” thought Rosa.

“How big is his dick? Is he even able to satisfy six wives?” Theresa’s thoughts entered his mind.

“When will this discussion end? I really need to pee, I can’t hold it in any longer.” Stella’s thoughts held a bit more urgency.

“Is the railway on the east or the west?” Giovanna questioned in her mind.

Other than Giovanna, the thoughts of the other three knights had rendered Xia Lei speechless. So he brushed their inner voices aside and merged into Shentu Tianyin’s mind instead. Instantly, Shentu Tianyin’s brain felt like it was his. Her memories began to pour out and one minute later, a yellowing map was presented to Xia Lei. On that map, there was a railway that went through two-thirds of the Jungle of No Return…

Xia Lei’s energy field dissipated.

“Crap, I just can’t remember anything about it.” Shentu Tianyin was frustrated. “Just give me some time- No, let me make a call. There are files on it in my company and I can have someone bring it out to find out.”

Xia Lei quickly stopped her. “No. You can’t make calls. It’s the Americans we’re facing off, I’m afraid they’ve planted bugs in all of your company’s communication devices. One call from you will give your location away.”

“Then what should we do?” Shentu Tianyin was on edge.

Xia Lei said, “There’s no need to do anything else. I’ve already found out where the railway is.”

“Huh?” Surprised noises were elicited from the five women.

Xia Lei did not offer them an explanation. “Go prepare yourselves. We’ll leave the city tonight.”