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Chapter 220: Chapter 26, Episode 14: The Syria-Ruman Plan

“Wait, all humans have something they desire. How are we called humans if we don’t care for each other? I did an obvious thing. It’s not something worth praising.”

He felt as though the skin on his face would fall off if he heard more. Black Mamba interrupted Bakri in embarrassment. If Ombuti hadn’t trained him to stay still, he would have long fled the place.

“That’s it. Our family was threatened endlessly, simply because we’re part of the Orthodox. Ddu-bai-buru-pa, sir, you helped someone you just met without conditions. Jesus is great because he reaches out to those who are weak and lonely. Ddu-bai-buru-pa, sir, there’s no need to think about the kind of person you are. As a fellow human, I’m awed by you.”

“Oh, f***ing hell...” Black Mamba muttered, overwhelmed by Bakri’s conviction.

He tried so hard not to become a slave, but there were people who insisted on becoming his slave. What kind of irony was this!

“Hm!”

Someone made a sound outside of the office. Old man Alli walked in after taking off his shoes. Black Mamba stood up and immediately offered him his seat.

“I’m sorry for interrupting your conversation,” he spoke in fluent French.

Black Mamba blinked.

“I love my wife and daughter-in-law, but women’s mouths are not to be trusted. I purposely pretended as though I didn’t understand French. Please understand, apostle, sir.”

Black Mamba smiled bitterly. It seemed as though the stereotype that women’s mouths were as light as reeds were the same in both western and southern hemispheres.

“I understand, and I am not an apostle.”

“I’m sorry. If you’re uncomfortable with the title, I’ll call you Sir Ddu-bai-buru-pa like my son does.”

“I don’t care what you call me. Listening in on people’s conversations, even if they’re your family, is considered rude.”

“I apologize once more, sir. It is sinful, but in a matter of great importance that concerns my family, I had to listen. I may doubt all the humans in the world, but I trust my son. He is a firm believer and a child with a special degree of justice and loyalty. This entire situation was caused by his nature to confront injustice and firm loyalty. He lost generations worth of wealth and honor and ended up in some countryside far away due to the corrupt government and secular sects. Please accept my son. No, please accept us, the Eastern Orthodox Christians. I don’t know when those Shabiha b*stards will humiliate my daughter-in-law and harm my grandchildren. I am thankful to still be alive. Please, at least help my son and grandchildren, so that they can be free from the wolves and lead normal lives.”

“Ha, my God!” Black Mamba instinctively exclaimed in pity.

Many people in the world lived in harsh conditions. Those were conditions that cannot be resolved by oneself. Wasn’t that why he had sent Ombuti and Edel to the eastern regions of the Sahel?

His teacher had said that he was blessed with connections. New relationships kept forming. Bakri called himself a coward, but he was braver than anyone else. Bakri was someone who had protected his fellow Christians, risking his death. He was someone who didn’t make a move due to his love for his family. People would call him a righteous person. Black Mamba decided to move Bakri’s family to Chad’s lands.

“Bakri, I, Dong-bang-bull-pae, am planning to make an autonomous district in northern Africa. It will be a land where humans respect each other, a land that gives each person their due reward for their hard work, a land that provides equal opportunity to all, and a land without discrimination, bias, or privilege. Will you follow?”

“I’ll follow you, Sir Ddu-bai-buru-pa,” he immediately answered.

Bakri and old man Alli kneeled on the floor.

“There is something you must keep in mind if you want to accompany me.”

“We will listen, sir.”

“Bakri, you are a deacon who leads the Syrian Orthodox Church’s Christians. Look at Israel. They could have lived alongside one another if they shared, just a cheek’s worth, with the Palestinians. Palestinians have suffered enough pain from losing their country. Look at their privileged mindset. How selfish and arrogant they are despite knowing the amount of pain they have inflicted. Do you believe that your religion and associated organization are right while other religions, like Christianity and Islam, are wrong? Aren’t you overwhelmed by the idea that only your religious ideals are right, and therefore you’re above all others? Have you ever thought of releasing your restrained anger and grudges on those weaker than you? Ask your soul. Aren’t you embarrassed by yourself?”

Bakri and old man Alli were too embarrassed to raise their eyes. The man before them wasn’t the young man who had laughed and enjoyed himself on the dining table, a moment ago. Danger seeped out of him. A voice as majestic as a lion had embedded its meaning into their heads. “Aren’t you embarrassed by yourself?” His last question made their heart pound. He was questioning them in the language of souls.

“Sir Ddu-bai-buru-pa, I, Bakri, suffer from anxiety when I hear anything concerning heathens. That word is always associated with the definition of a massacre, which is full of hate and prejudice. This is the same for Islam and Christianity. Joshua said to the Lord in the presence of Israelites: Sun, stand still over Gibeon, so the sun stood still, till the nation avenged itself on its enemies. This text is from Joshua 10. It shows the poisonous, self-righteous, selfishness of the mind. How can God interfere in the fights of men and erase others? If that is true, then God is only Israel’s God. In that situation, God was created to reassure humans. If God is truly like that, then I, Bakri, will abandon God. I will consider your words as gospel, Sir Ddu-bai-buru-pa. Sir Ddu-bai-buru-pa, you are not God’s apostle, but the incarnation of fire and human. I, Bakri, will no longer cling to God. I will abide by your endless greed, Sir Ddu-bai-buru-pa. I will create a world where there is no discrimination, racism, or privilege. I want to create a peaceful world that rewards hard work for my sons and daughters. I want to be a man who is not embarrassed by himself.”

“Yes. I may be old, but I also want to work until my bones turn to dust. So, consider your desires granted, Sir Ddu-bai-buru-pa. I will not build a wall in my heart against anyone, whether they are of different ethnicities, religions, or wealth.”

Bakri and the old man’s eyes were burning with passion.

“I believe that life is the process of one discovering the conditions of being human. Humans must be responsible for another person’s life, no matter who it may be. It is their own.”

“Oh, those are amazing words. We will try our best.”

“No one is above or below anybody else. Old man, don’t you consider me your family? Don’t say things like slavery, servitude, or any other horrible words. Ali Jadir, Bakri Jadir—brothers, I’m in your care.”

Black Mamba stood up and bowed. Ali and Bakri leaped to their feet and grabbed Black Mamba’s hands to draw him closer.

“Ooh, thank you. On behalf of my family and brothers, I thank you, Sir Ddu-bai-buru-pa. We will live happily as Sir Ddu-bai-buru-pa’s slaves.”

“Alli Jadir, Bakri Jadir, with this, I’ll accept you as my family.”

Black Mamba raised Alli and Bakir from their bent stances. With this, he earned intelligent men that were well-versed in the fields of history and religion. A smile crept up. Bakri could measure up to Ombuti, perhaps be an even better butler than him. Having more talented people by his side was ideal if he was planning to create an autonomous district.

Suddenly, he worried about the lackey. Sun WooHyun was a straightforward person who liked to brag. He wasn’t as stupid as Emil, but he was the type of person who could be manipulated.

Humans evolved while facing a crisis. That was how he had become himself. That was also the reason why he had sent Sun WooHyun to the Samaria Farm alone.

Still, he worried. He had trampled all over the guy to get him to his senses, but a corner of his heart was feeling restless.

He should be doing well.

Far away in Africa, there was a man who couldn’t sleep. He called for Akra and asked her to clean his ears.

Wakil must be chewing me out, right? I’m in trouble. I will be severely scolded by Ombuti.

His ears tickled even more from his worries.

“Bakri, I must meet your cousin, Mohammad.”

“Mohammad will be overjoyed to greet you, Sir Ddu-bai-buru-pa. We can only move at night, however.”

“What if we moved now?”

“The Mukhabarat’s surveillance structure has no loopholes. The Mukhabarat and Shabiha have eyes everywhere. A foreigner can be spotted immediately. We also have no idea who the informants are.”

“Huh, they keep on eye on this mountain village from out far?”

“We have more locals than it looks. There are five villages near Maydanki Lake, including Sharran and Gobelaka. Around 20,000 locals live here. There are 130 Mukhabarat members, and 10 percent of them are Shabiha and informants, which makes up 2,000 in total.”

“Wow!” Black Mamba breathed rapidly.

It was unimaginable that 10 percent of the population were gang members and informants. Even during Al Capo’s reign, Chicago wasn’t that bad.

“The Mukhabarat in charge of the Gobelaka district is the worst of all of them. There is a man called Azar of the Kurd tribe, and he wields the sword very well.”

“Uses the sword well?”

He recalled the two men he had buried above the river’s flow. The middle-aged man had used the knife skillfully.

“Is Azar a middle-aged man who wore a tobe? He had a black wart on top of his eyebrow.”

“Hm, it’s the b*stard, yes. How did you know?”

Black Mamba smiled. The world was small, after all. The b*stard he had killed at dawn was the b*stard they were talking about.

“I met the b*stard and a young man wearing a half-sleeved t-shirt at dawn. They are no longer breathing.”

“What!”

“How! Cough, cough,” both father and son exclaimed in surprise.

The old man was so surprised that he started coughing. Bakri and the old man raised their arms and kneeled on the ground loudly.

Thud—

“We praise you, Sir Ddu-bai-buru-pa! Evil has fallen off from this world with your grace on earth, Sir Ddu-bai-buru-pa! Azar is the same b*stard who ordered the Shabiha to kidnap Ahmad. The young man is Diav, and he’s a member of the Shabiha. Countless families have gone missing since Azar arrested them. God has sent you, our apostle, out of pity for our kind. You’ve saved our daughter and avenged our son’s death! We don’t know how to repay you. May you, the one who arrived in Lord’s name, be blessed!”

“Ugh, I can’t get used to this. The b*stard who kidnapped and killed Ahmad deserved to die. Bakri, there’s no such thing as blessings between families.”

“Oh, Lord, may you bless Sir Ddu-bai-buru-pa.”

Again, the blessing. Black Mamba gave up. It seemed as though Bakri couldn’t get rid of his habits even after he had sworn to abandon God.

“Go bring Mohammad. He should be overjoyed to hear this news. Diav’s the b*stard who mocked Bassel, after all,” Alli encouraged his son.

“I’ll go immediately. Sir Ddu-bai-buru-pa, please make yourself comfortable.”

Vrrrooom—

A bike’s motor rang as though it would break.

Less than an hour later, a strong 40-years-old man appeared with a tobe around his shoulders. Upon entering the study, the man immediately kneeled. Mohammad, who had heard the gist of everything that had happened from his beloved cousin Bakri, wasn’t hesitant at all.

“May Ddu-bai-buru-pa be blessed. I am Mohammad Jadir.”

“Mohammad, did anyone follow you?”

“Uh, no, sir.” Mohammad’s heart immediately sank as he understood the implication.

“There are two people 500 meters away. You were being followed.”

“500 meters? How?”

“I’m sorry, sir. What should we do?”

Mohammad’s exclamation was suspicious while Bakri’s was filled with guilt from the lack of precautions.

Boom—

He activated his dimensional sight. 500 meters away, a figure holding up a binocular appeared. Due to the distance, the details weren’t clear.

“There are two. They’re behind a rock as big as a car. There’s a large tree beside the rock.”

“Ah, batata tashor[1]!”

Mohammad was scared out of his wits. The rock that Sir Ddu-bai-buru-pa was referring to was a rock shaped like a potato. There was a large gum tree next to the rock. It was the place where he used to play with his friends during his youth. Bakri had been right. The man was a descended apostle. No, that wasn’t the problem.

Mohammad’s face turned yellow. His uncle’s family would get into trouble because of his carelessness. Mohammad wanted to die.

“There’s no need to worry. In fact, it worked out for the better. I’ll capture those b*stards and use them to locate Bakri’s enemies.” Black Mamba smiled.

Bakri’s face brightened while Mohammad couldn’t hide his anxiety.

Aleppo was Syria’s second-largest city after Damascus. Aleppo established its importance after the development of the northern regions’ oil fields. Sharran, located 50 kilometers away from Aleppo, was a concentrated target of the Mukhabarat. Moreover, there was a bomb assembly factory in Sharran. A stationary platoon had guarded the factory.

Many feared the Mukhabarat because there was no way to restrain them, whether by power or by law. There were many cases where they killed an innocent person and manipulated the evidence to accuse the victim of being a spy.

“Bakri, is there a place nearby where I can interrogate them?”

“There’s a jasmine hill 300 meters behind our house. There are remains on top of the hill which are predicted to be from the Mesopotamia period.”

“Won’t there be tourists around the remains, then?”

“Not at all. The castle made of bricks collapsed, revealing a creepy underground tunnel that was rumored to be haunted by ghosts. No one approaches the place.”

“That’s great. Two of you will wait at the entrance of the remains.”

“Ah!”

“What?!”

Bakri and Mohammad were surprised to the point that they couldn’t shout for their God. Sir Ddu-bai-buru-pa had disappeared even before he finished his sentence. They were bound to go mad. A person had disappeared right before their eyes, after all.

Bakri smiled and looked at Mohammad. Bakri was wearing an expression that seemed to say that he had made a point.

[1] Potato rock.