Sabha

After Draco told Khalifa Haftar's former soldiers that they were now his soldiers, they all clapped their hands together and bowed their heads repeatedly .

Based on what the female scientist was saying, they were happy to serve such a "strong and charismatic leader".

After Draco had taught the soldiers a lesson for daring to stop him, there were still five alive.

He instructed these five to collect their supplies and join his convoy.

He watched as the soldiers collected the weapons from their fallen comrades and loaded them into their armored vehicles.

Three of his new soldiers went in one vehicle and the last two went in another one.

However, when Draco's newly enlarged convoy was about to head out, he heard the sound of banging coming from somewhere. 

When he focused on the source of the sound, it sounded like something was slamming against metal.

He looked over to the flipped over vehicle a short distance away, and then became sure of it.

Walking up to the vehicle, the sounds of banging become even more clear.

"Whose in there?" Draco shouted out, curious about who could have survived such a thrashing.

Draco didn't know what he was expecting, but for some reason the muffled voice that sounded off from within the car sounded familiar.

"Hey!! Help meeee! I'm stuck in here!" A female voice screamed, continuing to bang on the vehicle's door.  

Draco frowned to himself as he walked up to the car and grabbed the armored vehicle's door with two hands.

He heaved and the door began to creak and bend, eventually snapping off from the car completely.

Once he saw who was inside the flipped vehicle, Draco's mouth was left hanging agape.

This was because there was a person tied up with metal chains inside the back seat! 

Seeing the person's white hair and black clothing, they were the last person Draco expected to see. 

"Dracooo, oh my god it's you! You saved me!" Snow said, tears falling down her reddened cheeks. 

"What the hell are you doing in there?!" Draco asked, genuinely confused on how they could have ended up in this predicament.

"T-those brutes! They took turns.. trying to shoot me! Once they realized they couldn't kill me they tied me up and threw me in here." she said in between sobs.

Draco shook his head as he reached into the vehicle to drag Snow out. 

Seeing the large metal chains that bound her petite figure, he almost wanted to burst out laughing.

He grabbed the chain and strained his muscles, promptly breaking Snow free from her restraints.

Snow shook herself loose from the metal chains, and then ran up to Draco to embrace him in a tight hug.

"You saved me again! I'll never forget this Draco." she said, rubbing her cheeks against Draco's chest.

Draco didn't know how to respond to this, so he simply patted Snow on the head.

"There, there." Draco said, a reassuring smile on his lips.

Snow eventually stopped crying, and Draco led her back to his convoy.

"Come with me in my vehicle, we're getting out of here." Draco told her.

He certainly didn't expect to find Snow under these circumstances, but he knew that he couldn't just leave her here. 

Draco also took the chance to change into a fresh set of clothes he had found in one of the vehicles. It was a set of tan colored robes, and they fit loosely over his body as he put them on.

After Snow had gotten into the passenger seat of his vehicle, Draco climbed back onto his machine gun.

He would talk to Snow later to figure out what exactly had happened to her, but for now they had to leave this area.

'It looks like the sun will set in a few hours, we need to cross that desert while we still can.' Draco thought.

He smacked the top of his vehicle, signaling his driver to begin driving.

Draco's convoy moved out, heading out of the jungle and into the desert ahead.

There were no more roads after they had left the jungle, and the convoy proceeded in single file with Draco and his researchers in the back.

As they drove Draco kept his eyes on their surroundings, but all he could see for miles was seemingly endless sand dunes.

The heat in the desert was almost unbearable, but his enhanced body allowed him to withstand the sun's scorching heat as he sat above his vehicle.

They drove for nearly an hour straight before having to stop, for apparently one of the vehicles had run out of fuel.

Luckily the soldiers Draco had recruited had extra gasoline, so they refueled the vehicles while Draco checked up on the researchers.

The researchers were apparently all dehydrated, so he had one of the soldiers fetch them some water.

Seeing his new soldiers happily follow all of his orders, Draco thought that he could get used to this.

Snow was taking a nap in the passenger seat of his vehicle, and the female researcher had told him that she had asked her a million questions before falling asleep.

The researcher also told Draco that her name was Amber, and that they were grateful Draco had taken them from Khalifa Haftar's compound.

Draco didn't want to get their hopes up, so he told them that he still had uses for her and her team.

Amber understood though, for she seemed to bear no ill-will towards Draco.

Eventually, the vehicles were refueled, and the convoy resumed their journey.

The convoy drove through the desert for another two hours before the sun began to set, but Draco could finally make out a city in the distance.

As they got closer he was able to make out more details, and he saw that the city was filled with blocky buildings made from white stones.

There was also a tall stone wall surrounding the city, and it looked to have a strong military presence.

'This is likely the city of Sabha that Amber had mentioned earlier. I've never seen a city like this.' Draco thought, looking at the city's strange buildings.

Amber informed Draco that they would likely have to bribe the guards before they would be granted entry, so he prepared some money for that purpose.

Draco's convoy arrived before the gates, and sure enough they were stopped by a squad of armed soldiers.

The gate was flanked by two armored vehicles, and a small outpost was stationed outside of the gate. 

A few soldiers walked up to the convoy, so Draco and Amber got out of their vehicle to begin negotiations.

Seeing that Draco was the leader of the convoy, the lead soldier addressed him.

He spoke to Draco in a language that sounded like the Arabic they used in the Khalid Dynasty, so Draco turned to Amber to translate for him.

"He is asking us to state our purpose here." Amber said. 

Draco smiled when he heard that, for he had already come up with an excuse. 

"Tell them that we are arms dealers, and that we have weapons to trade from Khalifa Haftars compound." Draco said, using his best businessman smile.

Draco's researchers were all white, and his soldiers were dark-skinned. He figured that they could pass as foreign traders with a crew of hired local guards.

When the soldier heard the name of the infamous Khalifa Haftar, his eyes widened.

He said something to one of the other soldiers before turning back to Draco and responding.

Amber had a perturbed expression when she heard him, "He says that they will grant us passage under one condition. We must help them deal with a group of desert bandits that have been terrorizing the city."

When Draco heard this he frowned, for he wasn't eager to be dragged into this city's conflict. 

"Ask them if they will be willing to accept a generous amount of cash instead." Draco asked.

However, when Amber said this the soldier simply shook his head. 

"They don't need money, only fighters." Amber told Draco.

Realizing he had no other choice, Draco sighed.

"Tell them we'll help, but we need food and lodging for the night." Draco replied.

When the soldier heard this he nodded his head and smiled, turning to the other soldiers to relay orders.

The city's gates promptly opened up to Draco's convoy, and two soldiers got into a truck to lead Draco's group into the city.

As they drove into the city, Draco wondered what kind of place Sabha was, considering that it could survive in such a harsh desert.