1209 Sudden Attack (1/2)

Not long after, the sleepy desert was suddenly replaced by lush crops and date palm trees, and the farms on both sides of the road were planted with peanuts, wheat, cotton, corn, and other crops, including mint.

Egypt was rich in mint, and it could also be exported to China. In China, the mint was further processed into cooling balm before being re-exported back to Egypt. Egyptians especially enjoyed the cooling balm, but strangely, no one thought of making it a national product.

They'd reached the Faiyum Oasis.

Zhang Zian slowed down and decided to stop and rest for a while here. He would have his lunch here as well. After all, this would be the last...city before reaching the oasis—if a permanent population of 20,000 was considered a city.

The road was still very long, and he was the only driver. No one else could replace him so that he could rest. The long-term fatigue of driving was dangerous and not good for one's physical or mental health. It was said that sitting in the driver's seat for a long time also placed undue pressure on the prostate. He did not want to have severe issues with his prostate without using it much, peeing uncontrollably wherever he went...

Faiyum was one of the oldest cities in Egypt, but there were not many tourists visiting it. Most tourists rushed by it while heading towards the Black and White Desert.

It was no wonder that there weren't any attractions of particular interest here, the most famous being the Whale Valley.

Just like how the colorful eggs of the whales were presented in ”Assassin's Creed: Origins,” the Faiyum Oasis had been a vast ocean a few million years ago. With the passing of time and the retreat of sea waters, the oasis had slowly risen above sea level and become land. Much of the marine life that had died here became precious fossils, especially the colorful whale fossils.

However, unlike dinosaur fossils, the average person was not that interested in whale fossils. After all, the whale had not gone entirely extinct, and it was still possible to see live ones. Thus, only professional archaeologists and the rare occasional tourist visited this place.

In fact, many people visited Egypt without a good reason. After truly being in Egypt, they discovered that it was a boring place. They usually painted the narrative that it would be a pity not to visit such a historic place but always followed by saying that they would not, however, come a second time.

Egypt was not known for its natural beauty. The most important sites were man-made. At first glance, the temples of various sizes looked nice, new and very appealing. However, if one saw too many, it would be easy to get bored of them quickly. Most temples had the same shape and an interior that mirrored the others.

Without much knowledge about Egypt's past, it was difficult to see past just the name of the place. Yet there were many Egyptian gods, and the relationships between the gods were complicated. It made one wonder how many tourists actually did any form of reading before visiting these places.

The Whale Valley was a popular destination for archaeologists. Recently, some of them had found a fossil that was reasonably intact. The fullness of the fossil allowed them to plot out the evolutionary journey of the whale more precisely, much like Professor Wei Kang's efforts to find the missing link in the evolution of domestic cats.

Today's inland areas of Egypt were still relatively cloudless. They did not deviate much from zero annual precipitation.

Zhang Zian parked the car on the side of the road. He planned to find a place where no one was around so that he could relieve himself. The elfins also wanted to get out of the car and stretch.

When he got off the bus, he immediately felt the intensity of the sun. He thought he had adapted to the sun in Egypt, but he realized now that such a thought was naive.

For unknown reasons, the sun at Faiyum was more intense than anywhere else. The sun's rays felt like they put weight on people and made it difficult for anyone to breathe. More drastically, Richard was out only for a split second before wanting to get back into the car.

”Hey! This is way too hot! This must be at least 60 degrees!”