Mercenary Black Mamba

There wasn’t a single country where government officials were not criticized. The subject of their services was the citizens. It was impossible to satisfy all individuals and organizations bound under the title of a country. Not even God could satisfy every human. Whether they performed well or poorly, they were bound to receive criticism.

All French officials had a salary rate lower than that of private companies. The salary of officials continued to decrease as the right party grew influential. As a consequence, the first line of officials grew lazy and spiteful. The French military police’s law enforcement was known to be severe and violent. The right party criticized their actions as aggressive attitudes, a result of their pent-up stress. Every individual judged situations by their own standard.

The reason why Black Mamba grew to despise civil officials was because of the corrupted police and investigators, the lawyer who took bribes and didn’t defend him properly, and the officials who fabricated his documents.

Whoosh whoosh—

With every movement of his arms and legs, the sound of air exploding could be heard. Black Mamba’s body moved quickly. Although he was invisible, dents could be seen all over the grass. The air density around Black Mamba increased.

Whoosh—

The dense air exploded in a rush.

Black Mamba entered the door after briefly exercising with the 36 forbidden practices. Steam rose from his tanned body—his shorts being the only piece of clothing on him. His body had left Hae Young’s friend, Ms. Chui, drooling and commenting about how David’s statue couldn’t compare.

Beautiful! No, powerful.

Edel’s eyes were glued on his body, which was glowing with sweat. It was an inverted triangular upper body without a single fat, paired with defined muscle lines that revealed each one of his veins like wire cords—that kind of extreme body could only exist in one’s imagination.

She hadn’t known that the body hidden behind those clothes was so sturdy. She felt goosebumps rising on her back when sweat rolled down the lines of his muscles. Edel’s toe curled unknowingly.

Crazy b****. Why did you sleep when you were planning to take a nap?

She blamed herself for losing to sleep, but it was too late. What could have possibly been a historical night for her had already passed. Her heart wouldn’t have been this empty had she heard any words of affection.

“What are you doing? Go wash up!” Edel, whose face was flushed, shouted.

Beads of sweat gathered on his back as he made his way to the shower. For some reason, they looked sweet. She wanted to suck on them with her lips. She followed him unconsciously with a towel in hand. Black Mamba suddenly turned around. Surprised, Edel immediately hid the towel behind her back.

“Rudrey, there will be guests. Don’t work yourself too hard and leave the petit dejeuner[1] to the chef.”

Disappointment filled Edel’s eyes. She had lost her opportunity to approach him naturally.

“Alright, but I’ll make Dubai’s kimchi-jjigae myself.”

Damn!

He wanted to cry. He didn’t want to face the greasy kimchi-jjigae and the smelly jollof that tasted like sand once more. He missed the fresh toran soup, sweet bean paste soup, and the sour kimchi that Jin Soon used to make for him.

The Falcon, which had departed Hyères Airport, concluded its non-stop night flight. Three Jeeps rushed toward the Falcon as soon as it landed on the runway. Jamal’s group got onto the Jeep without a chance to regain their bearings and were immediately transported to Wakil Commerce Company.

“Ya Ilahi, Sir Ddu-bai-buru-pa!”

“Mahdi!”

Jamal’s group hurried out of the Jeep once they saw Black mamba. Four men and two women kneeled on the floor and raised their arms.

“May Sir Ddu-bai-buru-pa be eternal. I am here as per your order.”

Where did this group of outcasts come from?

Ombuti’s expression turned serious. A strong contender for his position had appeared.

“You had a difficult time coming over. Is life in France to your satisfaction?”

“There is no problem. We can only be grateful for your grace, Sir Ddu-bai-buru-pa. Our brothers begin the day with a song to praise you, Sir Ddu-bai-buru-pa.”

Embarrassed by Mohammad’s words, Black Mamba immediately moved on to another topic.

“Why are you singing? Bassel, you’ve got a beautiful face and body. You were hiding a treasure underneath that niqab, weren’t you? It’s nice taking off that wrap around your body, isn’t it?”

“Yes, it’s all because of Sir Ddu-bai-buru-pa’s grace.”

Bassel’s face turned red like a ripe date. She barely managed to answer before lowering her head. Jamal’s group was decked in marine military uniforms. In a rush, Ariba had handed them uniforms from the storage to wear. Bassel, whose body was exposed more than before, felt restless.

“You can wear pants, shorts, and sleeveless shirts from now on. Beauty is God’s gift. Everyone should appreciate beauty. Not revealing and hiding it away is a sin.”

Black Mamba didn’t know the consequences of conveying words half-jokingly. He had forgotten that back then, he was Ddu-bai-buru-pa instead of Dong-bang-bull-pae.

“Act, I’m officer Majed from the Deuxieme Rep’s transportation team. Is there any problem with the goods, sir?”

A soldier in his early 40s, who had his officer badge on his clothes, executed a flawless salute.

“Officer Majed, you did a good job. There is no problem with the goods.”

“It’s an honor to meet the gulbeig special military advisor, sir.”

Black Mamba’s face creased.

Damn b*stard!

One who chased gold—what kind of comedic nickname was that? As though it was a reply, officer Majed’s face turned red. It was the face of someone who was trying to hold back his laughter desperately.

“Good job, officer. You can rest with the drivers in the break room.”

The house employee guided the mercenaries into the building. Black Mamba introduced Ombuti.

“This is Boss Al Aman Ombuti, first servant to myself, Ddu-bai-buru-pa. Ombuti is the boss of Wakil Commerce Company and Ddu-bai-buru-pa’s representative Aklankuru. I hope you will support him well.”

“We will do our best,” the group replied together and lowered their heads.

Ombuti’s face brightened up. His eyes lit up, and his chin raised. He was in an extremely happy mood the whole day. He didn’t know that such a day would come.

Fly, fly! I’m flying!

Wakil had officially announced him as his servant. The life that had been ruined by the FROLINAT took an extreme turn. Wakil had pulled him out of hell and even given him wings. His soul soared as though there were wings.

“No, wakil deserves loyalty. We’re all a family who serves wakil. I hope you treat me well, too.”

Ombuti exuded the aura of a second-in-command. Ombuti was someone who came to grow into his power when he stayed by Black Mamba’s side.

“This person is Dr. Edel, a doctor. She’s a beauty, but you can live longer if you don’t see her so often.”

“Rudrey Edel. I’m Dubai’s friend.”

Edel was slightly disappointed. While she hadn’t expected him to call her his lover, couldn’t he have introduced her as a friend at least? She accented the word “friend.”

“Wakil, why don’t we have breakfast first?” Ombuti initiated, attempting to control the crowd.

“I called you all over because I found a land where we can all live in.”

There was silence.

Jamal’s group stopped moving. Six pairs of eyes instantly looked at Black Mamba. Silence surrounded the table.

“The location is north of Ennedi Plateau. The autonomous region is about five times the size of Hatay. I’ve named the country where you will all live in, Novatopia.”

“Yes, hoorah Sir Ddu-bai-buru-pa!”

“Hooray for Novatopia!”

“Ddu-bai-buru-pa-hu Akbar!”

Jamal’s group jumped to their feet and hugged one another while shouting. Bassel and Aishe jumped with them, tears rolling down their faces. Breakfast had turned chaotic. Despite not understanding the exact situation, Edel started tearing up from making out what she could of the conversation.

Dubai, who are you truly? You’re the supernova here. The more you shine, the more I hurt. Is this the greed of a woman?

Edel’s sighs grew deeper. She had planned to take a nap but had fallen asleep instead. She couldn’t convey a single word from the mountain of words she had prepared, which worsened the situation.

“It’s a barren land for now. Using your strength, you will all have to plant trees and crops in the dry land. Are you prepared?”

“We swear to God that we’re Sir Ddu-bai-buru-pa’s slaves. Even death will not be able to change our minds. God is on our side. We fear nothing.”

“Bismillah!”

“We will follow Sir Ddu-bai-buru-pa in God’s name!” Ibrahim, the oldest of the group, stepped up and swore as their representative.

“Novatopia is a land without discrimination and privileges. I won’t discriminate against anyone who’s persecuted or anyone who needs a place to stay. Look at the person beside you. There are Christians, Orthodox, Muslims, Whites, Asians, Blacks, and Arabs. Remember, being different isn’t wrong. Before thinking that God’s on your side, consider whether you’re on God’s side,” Black Mamba said, explaining the Avatamsaka Sutra’s philosophy.

“Ah!”

Everyone in the room exclaimed. Edel was shocked. The sentence “Before thinking that God’s on your side, consider whether you’re on God’s side” rang in her head like a bell.

He was right. Thinking that God was on anybody’s side might cause all kinds of religious problems due to the self-entitled perspectives. Even in life, there were arguments about who’s right and who’s wrong. A conversation could only begin when one recognized another. Only with conversation could one understand another.

Edel’s eyes, which were directed at Black Mamba, sparkled like stars. He was like an iron tower that wouldn’t waver when there was lightning or a storm. He wasn’t simply a warrior. He was an enforcer of philosophies. There was a reason why people, whoever he met, followed him.

She had secretly laughed internally when uncle Ombuti mentioned Black’s potential of becoming a king. Black was an extraordinary person, but to become a king in the 20th century? That was a ridiculous notion. Still, now she had no choice but to accept the said notion. Dubai was someone who could be king 10 times and over.

Ombuti raised both of his arms to the sky. He announced in a loud voice, “Sir Ddu-bai-buru-pa has spoken. Being different is not wrong.”

“Being different is not wrong.”

Jamal’s group repeated after him as though they were reciting. Edel also followed them in a daze.

“Sir Ddu-bai-buru-pa has spoken. Before thinking that God is on our side, consider whether we’re on God’s side.”

“Before thinking that God is on our side, consider whether we’re on God’s side.”

Guided by the mood, even the workers who were setting the table chanted along with them.

“This is Novatopia’s first national law, addressed by Sir Ddu-bai-buru-pa. May everyone remember,” Ombuti announced solemnly.

“We will remember.” Jamal and the others lowered their heads at once.

Woah, that old man has legendary tact and speech ability. Despite uniting enemy armies with his tongue, Deng Zhi would have cried if he saw Ombuti because of his incompetence.

Black Mamba was impressed. Ombuti immediately controlled the crowd of different races and religions. Although he overstepped sometimes, he knew how to use people and when to step back or proceed. He was like the Three Kingdom’s Deng Zhi, whose abilities blossomed later.

“I have a lot to do. Ombuti, the Aklankuru, will take care of Novatopia’s advancements. Mohammad and Ibrahim, help Ombuti to advance the development and find more people to support him.”

“Yes, we’ll devote our souls to the cause.”

“Bassel, I want you to stay behind and help Rudrey. The remaining five of you need to go somewhere with me. Get ready.”

Black Mamba called Ombuti out separately to his room after the chaotic breakfast.

“Ombuti, are you planning to live out the rest of your life alone?”

“What do you mean?” Ombuti mumbled a reply at the unexpected question.

“Ombuti, you have a lot of work to do. A wife should take care of her man as he ages. Bassel is 24. Are you willing to take her as your wife?” Black mamba asked directly.

Bassel was considered a flawed woman in Syria’s grave society. While there was an age difference, Ombuti wasn’t a terrible potential husband.

“Egh!” Ombuti’s mouth hung open.

What kind of camel-jumping question was that? He had aged for nothing. Ombuti immediately recovered his mental state and lowered his head.

“If that is wakil’s intention, I will gladly follow. Although, I don’t know what Miss Bassel would think about this…”

Wakil’s words were like God’s words. He had to do what wakil asked. It had been eight years since his wife died, and he took his revenge. He did not dare dream about a woman who was at a blossoming age. In Arab, having an age difference wasn’t a problem in the first place.

“Bassel will agree. Call her over.”

“I thank wakil’s grace.”

Ombuti stood from his chair with a smile on his face.

Bassel walked in with fragrant coffee. Ombuti really was quick-witted. Black Mamba immediately began attacking. He wasn’t the kind who provided hints here and there.

“Bassel, do you remember what I said at Gobelaka Village?”

“Yes!” Bassel replied softly.

Her life in which she had been humiliated before was like darkness. Her own brother had attempted to kill her, and she hadn’t been willing to live. Sir Ddu-bai-buru-pa, who was sent by God, had given her hope and the will to live.

“I want to pair you with Ombuti. He is a noble from the Tuareg tribe who believes in monogamy. He is a lone man who has lost his wife. What do you think?”

“I’ll follow as you will, Sir Ddu-bai-buru-pa,” Bassel answered softly.

There was nothing to think about. That was what the apostle wanted.

“This isn’t about what I want, but what you want, Bassel. Stay here and help Dr. Edel. If you come to like Ombuti, we’ll plan a wedding. Will you do that?”

“I’ll follow as you will, Sir Ddu-bai-buru-pa,” Bassel said, raising her head to reveal a shy smile.

The warmness from the apostle’s heart filled her from within. She wanted to kiss his foot, but the apostle disliked grand motions of praise.

Hmm, it seems like there won’t be a problem. I’m no less than a Samshin grandmother.

Bassel’s smile improved his mood. Although it was ridiculous for a single man to matchmake other couples, arranging a wedding for a widower and a flawed woman was also a feat. His heart naturally swelled with pride.

“Wakil, we’re ready to leave,” Jamal reported with a Barrett tucked under his arm.

Mohammad, Ahmad, Ibrahim, and Aishe, who were dressed in khaki-colored marine uniforms, lined up with MP5s in hand. While there wasn’t a need for a gun, they were officers who’d become the backbone of Novatopia’s military and future trainers of Wakil Commerce Company’s guards.

[1] Breakfast.