Pet King

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio  Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

Alexandria Harbor was basically located in the center of the road between the Port of Mersa Matruh and Cairo. After a similar journey, Zhang Zian and the elfins finally arrived there.

The Port of Mersa Matruh was totally a tourist city. There were only around 15,000 locals living there. In China, this would be considered a small town. Perhaps some bigger villages would have a larger population than this place.

If you wanted to visit the inner parts of Egypt and historic sites, the hot summer would certainly be inconvenient for the journey, but in the Port of Mersa Matruh, summer was the peak season of tourism here. The number of tourists far exceeded the local population, so all the hotels would be full. Fortunately, summer and Ramadan were just beginning, so there weren’t so many tourists.

The tourists here were mainly Egyptians and Europeans. Asian tourists were extremely rare because there were only beautiful beaches here. If it was just for stepping on the beach and swimming, there was no need to come all the way to Egypt.

According to legend, the establishment of the Port of Mersa Matruh was also related to Alexander the Great, who had ordered some of his men to build the town when he passed by on his way to visit the Amun Temple in the Oasis of Siva.

Zhang Zian followed the map and guide for tourists and drove along the shoreline.

By Egyptian standards, the streets of this small city were surprisingly clean and tidy—so clean that it did not feel like Egypt. They had few vehicles and pedestrians, but when the sun went down and the bell that indicated breakfast rang, there would be as many hungry locals in the streets as in other cities.

“What a pretty beach!”

Zhang Zian stopped the car. A big U-shaped beach had appeared in front of their eyes.

They had to admit that the beaches in the Port of Mersa Matruh were much more beautiful than those in Binhai City. It was like seeing a beautiful, elegant, rich lady, and it amazed the elfins at first sight.

Old Time Tea exclaimed in admiration, “The color of the distant sea is quite different from that of the nearby sea. The sea nearby is the color of jade, the sea in the distance is like sapphire, and the yellow-white beach surrounds the bay like a jade belt… The wonder of creation! This is really an eye-opener for me!”

Just as Old Time Tea had described it, this beach had a touching beauty. Standing at a high altitude, the sea water was extremely clear, and they could even see the rise and fall of the seabed’s topography. The color of the sea water gradually transitioned from light green to dark blue.

Zhang Zian observed carefully for a moment and said, “The topography of the seabed here seems to be quite complicated. The irregular dark color in between the green and blue is the oceanic range—trenches and reef rocks that rise close to the sea surface and bulge out.”

This was the famous Agiba Beach. The beach was not very long, and there were not many tourists walking on it. There were cafes on the mountain cliffs to provide drinks for tourists. But very few people went swimming in the sea, and most of them were concentrated in shallow water. Only a few people snorkeled in deep water.

Zhang Zian looked at the deep colors in the sea from high up and felt a bit worried. They seemed to be hiding some kind of evil creature.

He said, “This part of the beach, while pretty, is not very suited for swimming.”

“Oh, why?” Old Time Tea asked, troubled.

“This…it’s a bit complicated to explain. Let’s first find a suitable beach to let Sihwa out before we talk.” Zhang Zian took a few photos for mementos, called the elfins to get in the car, and continued to drive onwards.

The famous beaches in the Port of Mersa Matruh were Agiba Beach and Gharam Beach. The latter meant “Beach of Love” in Arabic. These two public beaches were picturesque, but they were both places where tourists are concentrated. They were definitely not suitable for live broadcasting for Sihwa.

About 15 kilometers away from the city, there was another more unknown beach that people called “Cleopatra’s Bathroom.” As for whether she’d really bathed there, no one knew. It was more likely a method that the local people used to try to attract tourists.

When Zhang Zian reached the destination, he understood why this beach was not very famous.

Unlike Agiba Beach, with its delicate white sand and magnificent and magical water color, the beach where Cleopatra’s bathroom was located was totally unsuitable for ordinary people to swim. There was no sand on the shore—only strange rocks, reefs, and rugged shallows.

But at every famous tourist beach, there must be sand, and the sand must be gently submerged in the sea. The sea could not be too deep. Unfortunately, none of those conditions were met here.

The seawater was very beautiful, but it was not as pretty as Agiba Beach’s. The water was deeper, and the light blue and dark blue sea water was interlaced. There were large submerged reefs under the surface.

The wind was very strong, and so were the waves. The waves crashed against the reef rocks at the sandy area near the sea over and over again.

Seeing such scenery, Zhang Zian was 99% sure that the rumors that Cleopatra had bathed here were false. Instead of the picturesque Agiba Beach or Gharam Beach, she’d come to swim on this windy and dangerous beach? Had Cleopatra been tired of living?

Of course, the greatest advantage here was that there was not a visitor in sight, and the cafe on the shore seemed to have delayed its opening due to Ramadan. For the time being, Zhang Zian’s car was the only car on the big beach.

“We’ll do it here.”

He got out of the car, took out a folding parasol and several folding chairs from the car trunk, and set them up at a place where the land was relatively flat. He had rented these from local vendors as he passed Agiba Beach.

Fina, Old Time Tea, and Pi took one chair each and stayed in a cool place to admire the sea.

Vladimir could not rest even for a moment and ran off again to find the stray cats nearby.

With an umbrella to shade the sun, Zhang Zian released Snowy Lionet. This was the first time that it had come outdoors in Egypt. Once it came out, it squeezed into the same chair as Fina.

“Galaxy, how about we go into the water to play hide and seek?”

Zhang Zian sat down on a rock and began to take off his shoes and socks.

“Meow… Going into the water?” Galaxy timidly watched the blue water, shrinking away from it and not going forward. Although it liked playing hide-and-seek, it didn’t think it could play in the water.

“Well, let’s not go too far out. It’s dangerous in deep waters. We’ll only play here in the shallows,” Zhang Zian said. “I’ve just taken a look at it. The water on the shore is very shallow.” He laughed. “You can go and try it.”

Galaxy carefully ran near the water and extended his head to look into the water. The surface of the water reflected its face, so clear it was like a mirror.

It stretched out a forepaw and tried to stretch it into the water. As soon as it touched the surface of the water, it pulled back. The ripple of the sea made its reflection ripple.

The warm yet cooling water gave it a very novel experience.

The first time, it was new to it. The second time, it would be used to it. With the first-time interaction over, it had more courage, and it reached out its forepaw again, pressing it onto the reef rock underwater.

The sea water here could only cover the feet of an adult.