Chapter 287: Chapter 282: Death Desert
As Chen Pingchuan and the others emerged from the Space Gate, they were greeted by a scorching, dry wind. All around them stretched an endless desert. The yellow sand filled the sky, and the blazing sun hung high overhead. The sand underfoot was so hot it felt like it could melt the soles of their shoes.
"What kind of godforsaken place is this?" Porcupine frowned, struggling to lift his thigh out of the sand while dusting himself off.
"It’s obvious. We’ve arrived at one of the planet’s ten great forbidden zones—the Death Desert!" Liu Yaowu pushed up his glasses, his voice laced with tension and helplessness.
"The Death Desert?"
"You’ve got to be kidding. The Death Desert is at least a million kilometers away from the Southern Union, right?" Lu Jiaojiao’s eyes widened, a worried look on her face, but her words were a final, desperate protest.
"Are you questioning my professional judgment?" Liu Yaowu’s face flushed red as if he had suffered a great injustice.
"Everyone, don’t panic," Chen Pingchuan interrupted, his gaze firm as he scanned the surroundings. "Since we’re here, let’s find a way to survive. First, we need to find shelter from this sun and replenish our water. Then we can make a plan. We need to find a supply point!"
Chen Pingchuan didn’t use teleportation to leave, and his followers didn’t ask why. Everyone understood that performing such a long-distance spatial jump couldn’t be easy.
And so, the group trudged with difficulty through the scorching sand. An hour passed, but despite their speed, they still hadn’t escaped the desert. As far as the eye could see, there was only endless yellow sand.
"Boss, I can’t go on!"
"I can’t... You guys go ahead. I’ll just rest for a moment."
A look of fatigue crossed Porcupine’s face. Among the group, only he and Great Fierce Bear had such large builds. While their size was an advantage on normal terrain or in a fight, it was a liability here. In the desert, where every step sank deep into the ground, they had to expend far more energy than the others.
"Hang in there. Don’t be afraid," Chen Pingchuan said, walking over and pulling Porcupine to his feet, his eyes full of encouragement. "As a child of God, even if you die, God will resurrect you. I promise."
His composure gave everyone a measure of confidence. The group continued on their way. After another two hours, everyone—whether it was Porcupine, Great Fierce Bear, or the others—felt their stamina rapidly draining. Not only that, but perhaps due to the high sun, they all felt intensely thirsty.
Even Chen Pingchuan was no exception. He began to contemplate their chances of escaping the desert and concluded the odds were less than one percent. Along the way, he had learned the details of the Death Desert from Liu Yaowu.
The Death Desert was infamous for a reason. Even with today’s advanced technology, which allowed for real-time satellite positioning, the view here remained a desolate, hopeless yellow. This was the origin of its name. Its vast sea of sand radiated lethal heat under the scorching sun, and the searing sand made every step a struggle for any life that entered.
The environment was unimaginably harsh. The endless yellow sand blotted out the sky, and the ferocious winds constantly reshaped the dunes, making the terrain utterly unpredictable.
What was more bizarre was that conventional methods of finding one’s bearings failed completely here. Even looking up at the high sun was useless for determining east from west. There seemed to be some mysterious force in the desert that distorted the sunlight and interfered with any sense of direction.
Whether they were ability users or mechanical lifeforms, every explorer who had ventured into this region had ultimately perished. A lucky few had managed to escape, but they all emerged in a daze, having stumbled out of the death zone in a state of complete disorientation. Worse, each survivor had taken a completely different route, leaving no established path for others to follow.
This only added to the Death Desert’s air of mystery and danger, making it a forbidden zone of this world, a place that made all who heard of it recoil in fear.
Chen Pingchuan wiped nonexistent sweat from his forehead and moistened his dry lips. He felt reluctant to continue. After all, death is merely another restart in reality.
Suddenly, a shadow began moving swiftly over the distant dunes, as if something was approaching them.
"Boss, something’s up!" Wei Hao warned in a low voice. The group immediately grew vigilant, their gazes fixed on the distance.
As the shadow grew clearer, a giant sandworm revealed itself from behind a dune. The creature was covered in a hard, black shell. Its enormous maw was menacing and terrifying, lined with dozens of neat rows of teeth, and it dripped a nauseating mucus. It slithered across the sand, kicking up a cloud of dust.
"What is that monster!" Lilia exclaimed, her face filled with terror. It wasn’t the monster’s appearance that scared her, but the mucus, which triggered a visceral disgust.
"Don’t panic! Everyone, attack together!" Liu Yaowu shouted, instantly activating the super-powered machine gun on his exoskeletal armor. The red-hot muzzle flashed with a predatory, cold light.
He had consumed the least amount of energy in the group. While the others had been relying on their own abilities to move, he had been using his suit’s mechanical power, leaving him in much better condition than everyone else.
As the gunfire erupted, the others unleashed their respective abilities, launching into a fierce battle with the sandworm.
Unwilling to be outdone, Great Fierce Bear and Porcupine fought through their exhaustion and charged the sandworm with a roar. Great Fierce Bear leaped high into the air, his fist smashing down on the sandworm’s hard shell and sending a shower of sparks. Meanwhile, Porcupine tried to grapple the beast to restrict its movement.
Lu Jiaojiao moved nimbly, darting around the sandworm to find a weak spot. She lashed out with her dagger from time to time, but she couldn’t even pierce its tough hide, let alone inflict any fatal damage. The only effect was to draw a fraction of the sandworm’s attention.
Lilia fought to overcome her discomfort and focused her mind, using her telekinesis to try and disrupt the sandworm’s actions and slow its attacks. Wei Hao, at her side, manipulated the local gravity field, attempting to make the creature’s body heavier and limit its speed.
Liu Yaowu’s super-powered machine gun continued to spew fire as bullets rained down on the sandworm, leaving pockmarks on its shell.
However, the sandworm’s defense was incredibly strong. These attacks failed to cause significant harm and only served to fuel its rage.
The sandworm twisted in fury, its massive tail sweeping toward them like a thick iron rod, carrying immense force. Everyone scrambled to dodge, but Porcupine wasn’t fast enough. The tail struck him, sending him flying through the air before he crashed heavily onto a dune, kicking up a cloud of sand.