Chapter 85

The scorching light illuminated the vast sea of sand, the extreme heat distorting the surrounding air as if it were a mirage. Lin believed that no living creature could survive in such an environment, yet those giant worms never stopped moving.

Lin's flyers followed them for a considerable distance, a place where the spire forest was no longer visible. No matter which direction they looked, it was an endless desert. The air contained almost no moisture, and the ground was barren except for the occasional strangely shaped stone.

The worms never secreted large amounts of digestive fluid to try to digest the Leviathans inside them. Lin thought they might be conserving their internal moisture for the long journey.

The temperature of the sand was extremely high. Lin had tried to let a flyer touch the sand, and the heat was so intense that it could instantly kill the cells inside. Even at a height of over ten meters above the ground, the heat wave could be felt.

But the three worms continued to move forward, using their heads to cut through the sand like a large fish surfacing in water. Lin didn't know why they exposed their heads; it would probably be cooler to stay under the sand.

Where were they going? To the center of the desert? And they seemed to know the route well, while this was Lin's first time venturing so deep into the land.

The Leviathans inside the worms didn't feel the heat; they might have some special heat-resistant ability.

Although the worms could withstand it, Lin's flyers found it difficult to resist the heat wave. Lin had to rapidly repair and alter the cells inside them. Fortunately, the air was relatively cooler, so Lin had enough time to evolve a heat-resistant ability before they died from the heat.

But this was only temporary. The flyers' internal nutrients were running low, and constant repairs and evolution required a lot of nutrients. If they couldn't find a cooler place soon...

The intense heat wave made Lin's thoughts feel dizzy. Some flyers were already unable to resist and were falling. Lin immediately had the surrounding flyers surround and decompose them to prevent the loss of nutrients.

Fortunately, most of the flyers were fine. Although the cells that Lin used to form them were identical, there were always some differences between individuals, some stronger and some weaker. Lin didn't know why.

The current heat wave was entirely due to the light of day. Perhaps it would be better at night.

Lin began to notice that the three worms' speed had slowed. Were they also affected by the heat?

After flying for a while, Lin found that the worms' speed had indeed slowed significantly. Eventually, they stopped and burrowed into the sand, becoming completely still.

What were they doing? Resting?

Lin was puzzled, but suddenly a dark shadow entered her field of vision.

The flyers' eyes were modeled after dragonflies, so their field of vision was quite wide. They saw a large flying creature approaching.

A giant dragonfly?

A huge dragonfly rushed over, starting from a distance of over a hundred meters from the flyers. In an instant, it reached the flyers, grabbed one, and flew away at an extremely fast speed.

Lin felt the flyer being torn apart by countless sharp blades. It was quickly shredded.

The dragonfly didn't seem satisfied after eating one flyer and came back again. Lin immediately had all the flyers scatter. The dragonfly successfully caught another flyer and quickly ate it.

However, after eating that flyer, the dragonfly still wasn't satisfied and wanted to catch more flyers.

But now it found that the surrounding flyers were gone.

The scattered flyers were now resting on the sand. They had the ability to change color, and by blending in with the desert, the dragonfly couldn't detect them.

But there was a problem: the surface of the desert was too hot. Lin's flyers couldn't stay on the sand for long. After standing on the sand for a while, Lin felt some of the cells in their legs start to die.

The dragonfly, however, continued to hover in the air, which was quite troublesome... If this continued, they wouldn't be able to hold out. It might be better to let it eat some of them to minimize the loss...

Suddenly, the dragonfly seemed to sense something and flew away instantly.

Lin immediately had the flyers leave the sand to avoid being "cooked." However, Lin was very puzzled by the dragonfly's departure. It didn't seem to have given up because it couldn't find prey, but rather as if it was avoiding something...

'Boom...'

A loud noise came from the distance, confirming Lin's worries. The flyers flew to a higher position, and Lin could see a brownish-yellow fog covering the entire desert to the north. It was dozens of meters high, possibly over a hundred kilometers wide, and was rolling and rumbling as it approached.

It wasn't ordinary fog but was likely composed of countless grains of sand... a sandstorm!

The word suddenly popped into Lin's mind. She now understood why the worms had burrowed into the sand.

What to do? The Leviathans inside the worms should be safe, but the flyers might be completely wiped out.

There was no other choice. Lin had all the flyers fly in the opposite direction at their fastest speed. The speed of the sandstorm wasn't very fast, and Lin believed they should be able to escape.

However, not long after the flyers started flying, Lin noticed that the sandstorm suddenly stopped, as if it had run out of energy. The gathered sand dispersed and disappeared in a short time, as if it had never been there.

What a poor endurance! It's far from comparable to a tsunami.

After the sandstorm stopped, the worms emerged from the sand and continued moving in the same direction.

The desert journey continued. The flyers followed the worms through the sea of sand, and nothing particularly noteworthy happened until the daylight slowly faded.

The flyers' nutrients were running low, and Lin was considering whether to decompose some of them. She didn't know how far the worms would go.

The desert at night was the complete opposite of the daytime. The temperature was so low that it could almost freeze water. In the cool night air, the worms moved much faster, but Lin still didn't know where they were going.

Lin discovered that the flyers could rest on the worms' heads. Because they were so small, the worms didn't seem to notice, which saved a lot of energy.

However, the night would soon pass, and daylight would come again. The worms continued to move forward without stopping, showing remarkable endurance. Although their speed of movement and attack was very slow, they never stopped.

The flyers couldn't stay on the worms during the day; their shells became extremely hot, even hotter than the sand. However, it seemed that their internal systems were unaffected.

Relying on their special heat-resistant ability, they moved through the desert. But the journey was too long. Another day and night passed, and Lin had already decomposed many flyers. Now only five remained.

Another day and night passed, and Lin was left with only three flyers. They were severely damaged, and the worms' condition was also poor. One of the worms that had eaten the Leviathan was gone, and the other two had burrowed into the sand. Lin didn't know if they were dead or had gone somewhere else.

Now, only one worm was moving forward.

The Leviathans' nutrients were sufficient to last for a long time, but even with the death of the worm's two companions, Lin couldn't kill this worm and emerge. Otherwise, she would be lost in the vast desert, not knowing which way to go.

The worm also became weaker, and its speed slowed. Lin suspected it might die there.

If that happened, the Leviathans would be trapped in the desert.

However, after another day and night, the worm's endurance surprised Lin. It continued to move forward, and Lin's last flyer finally saw something other than the desert.

Hundreds of meters away in the desert, a large area of green appeared.

Is that... water?

Lin could clearly smell the scent of water coming from that direction...

...

Thank you to ~Aqi~ and ~godmorgan~ for your support!

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