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墨書 Inktalez
They had been walking for an unknown amount of time, and according to the map, they were on the right track. However, they encountered a strange phenomenon: all their compasses had malfunctioned. No matter which direction they tried to go, the compasses consistently pointed in the same direction—south.
“Damn it! Damn it! Damn it! The compass is broken!” Duan Shuai exclaimed as he threw the compass from his hand in frustration.
At that moment, the others in the group were not faring much better. They had been walking for several hours without a drop of water. Although they all understood the importance of water in the desert, there were strict rules about when they could drink it. Unless it was absolutely necessary, they were not allowed to drink until they could no longer bear their thirst. If they gave in to their thirst too soon, their single water bottle would run dry quickly. The group found a shady spot beneath a cactus and sat down.
The autumn sunlight was increasingly harsh; surprisingly, it was just as intense as summer's rays. Many felt as if their bodies were losing moisture under the relentless sun. Freyr picked up a rock and struck it against another until he found a sharp edge. He then smashed the spines off the cactus behind him and dug deep to extract the moist flesh inside.
Seeing this, others followed suit, eagerly digging into the cactus flesh. Although it was somewhat sour and bitter, it provided some much-needed moisture to keep them alive. Even those who were usually picky about food devoured it hungrily.
Afterward.
“It seems we’ve run into trouble,” Freyr said. “It’s not that the compass is broken; this area is known as the Death Triangle, a magnetic interference zone. Mechanical devices struggle to function here, including our compasses. Look at those strange stones—aren’t they marked as danger zones on the map?”
Freyr frowned as he noticed something odd ahead: a series of neatly arranged dark shapes that were clearly stone formations. For some reason, their compasses kept pointing toward that direction. He quickly gathered everyone to explain while picking up the compass from the ground.
Duan Shuai suddenly realized and nodded. “That’s exactly it! Those must be monopole magnets—an ancient magnetic formation that releases strong magnetic forces during specific time periods. It’s likely happening right now. We have similar occurrences back home, but our stones are singular in form and lose their magnetism after a while.”
Freyr shook his head in frustration. “That won’t work; just because we’re safe now doesn’t mean we’ll be safe later. We need to get out of this desert before nightfall. While these formations can affect our compasses, we still have a map to guide us out. Fortunately, this map marks place names and indicates areas where predators are commonly found. Let’s go; we’ve rested enough.”
“Things don’t look good,” said a man holding a sniper rifle suddenly, causing everyone’s expressions to turn serious. Behind him was another man slumped over his shoulder. They exchanged worried glances before lifting the covering off the man’s body, revealing something shocking that made them gasp.
“Blue skin?”
Someone screamed at that moment, prompting Freyr to step forward and cover the figure again before turning back to ask, “What happened to Nosty? He looks like he’s been poisoned—was he bitten by a snake?”
The man named Froth sighed softly before handing Nosty over to his good friend Aeros to carry him on his back. Once he turned back around, he pulled Freyr aside for a private conversation while the others watched curiously. Their exchange grew heated as if they were arguing but quickly ended with them shaking hands in reconciliation.
“Alright, let’s keep moving.”
Freyr let out a faint sigh, pretending that nothing was wrong. They passed through the magnetic matrix, glancing back momentarily at the images of stone figures standing on the matrix. Each figure had wide eyes, some appeared anxious, others wore a half-smile, and a few had faces twisted in jealousy. In short, they were strange stone figures. After a few seconds, the group continued on their way.
After walking for a considerable distance, Duan Shuai suddenly sighed and said, "It seems that the farther we go, the stronger the magnetic force becomes. Our compass has finally returned to normal. Let's drink some water and eat something before we continue. It's unfortunate; if we don't eat, the women in our group won't be able to keep going."
Freyr turned back with an impatient expression and shot a cold glance at Duan Shuai before changing his tone. "Sorry, I was too anxious. We've been walking all morning, and I forced you all to keep going. Let's eat something and take a break for a while before we continue."
Many people were already quite exhausted, sitting on the ground. Some took off their shoes and poured a little water from their canteens over their feet to cool down. Water should not be wasted at this time, but they had to do it to relieve their legs a bit. They took out some compressed food packs and ate sparingly, trying to avoid choking by taking small bites.
To conserve energy, they lay on the ground and dozed off for a bit.
Freyr continued to move around, quickly covering the exposed legs of those resting with clothing. There were many snakes and scorpions around; exposed skin could lead to bites that would be fatal without an antiviral serum. He walked over to Aeros and generously handed over his canteen. "How is he? Is he alright? Let him sit up and drink some water."
Norsidi pulled down the cloth covering his head and said, "Thank you, I'm fine now. It was just an overload of my mental abilities that caused some backlash against my body. However, this condition won't last long; don't you see I'm doing much better now?"
"It seems that way. Just make sure to rest well. Even though you can't see, we still need your abilities to avoid dangerous predators. It looks like we've been neglecting your condition; from now on, just focus on resting and avoid taking any more risks."
Freyr smiled as he gently patted Norsidi's head and lightly touched his forehead. He seemed much better now and didn't have a fever. After a moment of relief, he turned to find a spot on the ground to pull out a map and admire it.
After some time, everyone got up on their own. After clearing away traces of their stay, they set off again. The journey continued without incident; everyone hoped nothing would happen. However, some surprises were unavoidable—like predators following them. In the desert, every powerful predator had its territory, but there were also weaker ones that had to hunt alone due to lack of strength. These weaker predators were usually vulnerable and could easily become prey for stronger ones.
As they looked back at the last row being ambushed, flesh torn away in an instant, Freyr and the others made a quick decision to deal with that predator immediately. They opened their eyes wide and stared for a moment before regaining their composure from the shock.
"It's not a Parasite Beast; consider yourselves lucky," Freyr warned. "Everyone else stay alert; many predators hide beneath the sand for surprise attacks. Some may even be creatures containing Deadly Poison—be careful not to fall into an ambush."
Before they could relax further, another writhing shadow appeared beneath the sand, followed by gunfire.
Freyr felt somewhat helpless and cursed inwardly; clearly this place was not yet home to those ferocious predators. Although encountering predators in the desert was unavoidable, everyone lined up with those with sharper eyesight giving signals and shouting commands as all their guns fired simultaneously.
The writhing shadow emerged from the sand—a three-headed Red-necked Cobra—a snake containing Deadly Poison and closely related to the Spectacled Cobra but also a hybrid venomous species. If bitten, there would only be time left for prayer. Just moments ago, one bullet had exploded one of its heads; that area was now bloodied and mangled—this was why the snake suddenly lunged out in fury.
“Undead-Class Predator!!”
Freyr was visibly astonished. Without a moment's hesitation, he swiftly drew his revolver. The so-called Undead-Class Predator was categorized between Normal Level, Danger Level, Undead level, Catastrophe Level, and Death-Class. As the top-tier Death-Class predator, it was a rare existence in the desert, typically equivalent to three or four Catastrophe Level predators. Most teams would be directly overwhelmed by it. However, while Undead level predators were classified in the third Danger Level, encountering one was still extremely dangerous. Normally, predators at the Normal Level or Danger Level could be avoided with some maneuvering, but Undead level predators were relentless beings that would not stop until they had slain their enemies.
The two mandibles of the creature visibly gathered toxins at an alarming rate, emitting a purple gem-like glow reminiscent of amethyst. The Two-Headed Snake concentrated its venom, and at the same time, a pool of black liquid splattered rapidly. The direction of its venom spray was aimed right at the crowd, and where the venom hit the sand, parts of it melted away as if a hot knife had sliced through butter. The range of its venom was extensive. At that moment, two gunshots rang out simultaneously—one from a Sniper Rifle and another clearly from a handgun. The sounds echoed one after the other as the heads of the Red Serpent were blown apart. At this moment, one head of the Red Serpent emerged again, evidently recovering significantly.
“We need to blow off all three heads at once to kill it completely! Who has a Sniper Rifle?” Freyr shouted.
“Leave it to me,” another man stepped forward with a cheerful demeanor. He had short black hair and always wore a charming smile. Optimistically, he took a step forward and revealed his weapon—a Rifle. He aimed carefully.
Freyr closed his eyes; he had met this man once before. If he was nearby, perhaps this team would definitely make it out alive.
“I’ll count down for you—uh, about twenty seconds until the third head grows back!”
“Once all three heads have regrown, fire together! You only get one chance; its venom is extremely dangerous—just one drop can dissolve bone.”
The three men found themselves engulfed in confusion, surrounded by a white void devoid of focus. However, to them, it felt like they had entered another realm. Those three heads were slowly growing in their sight at an agonizingly slow pace, cells and tissues forming bit by bit as those terrifying heads squeezed out from the wounds.
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