Northern Darfur Region.
The safehouse, transformed from an abandoned rubber plantation, resembles a giant steamer, with the humid and hot air stagnating, heavily pressing down on everyone's lungs.
Outside the window, deep in the impenetrable tropical rainforest, the cicadas' intense noise forms a massive net of sound that makes one's scalp tingle.
Inside the house, the old fan, like a tractor, emits a tremor, making it seem like it might fall apart any second.
Sweat dripped down Song Heping's brow and landed on the thin ink spot at the edge of the Sen Republic's military map covering the entire table, smearing a small part of the map at the Nangita mining area.
It's been two days since he returned from Damascus. To avoid being detected by the British upon entering Sen Republic, this time Song Heping took a smuggling ship directly back to Ethiopia, then entered Sen Republic from Ethiopia, retracing the original route back to the Darfur region.
