Chapter 313: Death Sahara (5)

One hour earlier.

The vast sea of sand stretched without end. The Harmattan was at its most ferocious, the sky so dark it could have passed for night, the wind wailing like something grief-stricken and wild. Blood and bodies would be buried under flying sand within moments.

Even the animals that had lived in this desert for generations dared not face such natural force; they sheltered deep in burrows beneath the sand or took refuge in the remnants of ancient ruins. The crumbling old city ahead was exactly such a shelter for many desert creatures. Most of it had been swallowed by wind and sand, leaving only two or three collapsed earthen fortresses with barely their upper portions still visible above the dunes.

It wasn’t just desert animals that could hide here. A person bent low could just about squeeze inside and take shelter from the wind and sand. The group of West District werewolves lying in ambush here had reached the same conclusion.

They had come to set an ambush and found themselves ambushed instead. Wang Pengpai and his group moved like bandits, killing and seizing the position in one motion. They cut down the ones who came at them and tied up the ones who surrendered immediately, and it turned out this entire group was Tourists rather than Tour Guides.

“We really weren’t trying to ambush you!”

Once taken captive, the West District Tourists were extraordinarily forthcoming with their intelligence, holding nothing back whatsoever. It was probably connected to the more mercenary nature of West District Tour Guide alliances and Tourist tour teams. They had none of the “family” concept that Shepherds fostered, and none of the “die for your Tour Guide, guard every secret to the last” conditioning that came with being heavily manipulated. When it came to staying alive, every one of them was highly motivated.

And they genuinely had been planning to ambush Wang Pengpai’s group. This vehicle had An Xuefeng in it; they were not tired of living.

“We, we thought you’d be afraid of the Harmattan and would definitely come here to shelter.”

The captured werewolves were aggrieved.

It was only a Harmattan, after all. There was no way Return would shelter inside ruins. The werewolves had tried to think against type, and ended up trapping themselves in the process.

“Ha ha.”

Wang Pengpai’s smile didn’t reach his eyes. Thinking against type? Afraid of the Harmattan and taking shelter because of it?

All rubbish.

“These werewolves are really something.”

Wang Pengpai came back outside after the interrogation was done and complained with feeling.

“Tch. Thought they’d catch us off guard.”

The reason Wang Pengpai’s group had taken the detour to this ancient city in the first place was because “An Xuefeng” had sensed a Latitude 30 Degrees presence here.

Very likely a crack leading into the Death Sahara.

“These werewolves eating sand to guard this spot were probably here for exactly that.”

Mao Xiao Le said, flat and cold.

“Kill them all?”

“Keep a few. They might be useful.”

“An Xuefeng” said evenly. The werewolves here were nothing special in terms of strength; Mao Xiao Le alone was more than enough to handle them without “An Xuefeng” needing to lift a finger.

In truth it was fine that he didn’t. The reason Wang Yushu had been able to impersonate An Xuefeng so convincingly for this long without slipping up was his second orange title, Doppelganger, which was in the same category as his Replicator title.

Same-category titles were rare, and typically came with an orange title at the head of a chain of purple, deep blue, and blue titles beneath it. Having two orange titles of the same category was extraordinarily uncommon. Wang Yushu’s Replicator and Doppelganger had come from an extremely difficult multi-stage title quest, and when Wang Yushu had nearly died in the process, Mao Xiao Le had happened to be on the same team by chance and pulled him through.

Replicator allowed him to copy objects; Doppelganger allowed him to imitate people, and given a core item belonging to the target, he could even reproduce some of their unique talents and perception abilities. An Xuefeng had lent Wang Yushu the Pyramid, his Latitude 30 Degrees token, and with it Wang Yushu could project something of An Xuefeng’s Latitude 30 Degrees presence and sense traces of Latitude 30 Degrees energy, much as An Xuefeng himself could.

Sustaining something of this caliber was enormously taxing. Fortunately, with Yin-Yang Butterfly and Mao Xiao Le as the actual fighting force, “An Xuefeng” could simply stand there as an imposing fixture.

Wang Pengpai relayed the interrogation results.

“They’re stationed at the Eye of the Sahara, a hundred or two hundred of them, mostly Tourists with a smaller number of Tour Guides. Besides the Werewolf Alliance, there are other Tour Guides present as well. Word is that Blood Wolf Rex and the Blood Baron are both there holding the position.”

Consistent with Bai Xiaosheng’s earlier analysis.

“The pact between the Werewolf Alliance and the Butcher Alliance is fragile.”

Bai Xiaosheng said, his tone unaffected.

“The Butcher Alliance has most likely identified the method for bringing multiple people into the Death Sahara’s core zone.”

“Is that actually possible?”

Wang Pengpai was skeptical. Dreamchaser had spent years mastering something the West District Butcher Alliance had managed to replicate with only a partial token? Bai Xiaosheng never said things like this without reason.

“Zhang Xingcang’s group has entered the scenic spot.”

Bai Xiaosheng glanced at the livestream. There were camera feeds on their five, and also on Zhang Xingcang and “Wan Xiangchun” inside the scenic route. Given that, Wei Xun and Half-Life Daoist, who had been traveling with them, had presumably entered as well.

The Harmattan was most likely a natural survival-type scenic spot, probably lasting three to five days. Zhang Xingcang and “Wan Xiangchun” could enter the Death Sahara most quickly; Half-Life Daoist and Wei Xun would normally spend several days clearing the scenic spot, or at minimum half a day. With Wei Xun’s methods, once they were inside the scenic spot, there would almost certainly be dedicated camera time on them.

Bai Xiaosheng thought this through and formed a plan. After a brief exchange, the group of five split up. “An Xuefeng,” Yin-Yang Butterfly, and Mao Xiao Le went straight for the Eye of the Sahara to start cutting people down; Wang Pengpai and Bai Xiaosheng stayed to hold this position for the time being.

“I’m not suited for direct combat, after all.”

Bai Xiaosheng said calmly.

Staying here should produce the least compelling footage by any measure. The Agency preferred action to stillness; unless it was something like lying in wait for the Puppeteer, even Yin-Yang Butterfly killing chickens would make better broadcast material than standing in place. That meant the seven interesting camera feeds would almost certainly go to the other seven people, which was exactly what Bai Xiaosheng wanted. He intended to take the opportunity to do something else.

Why could the West District Butcher Alliance bring people into the Death Sahara?

That was what Bai Xiaosheng needed to understand.

Sure enough, once the group separated, just as Bai Xiaosheng had predicted, the feeds on him and Wang Pengpai vanished quickly, replaced by feeds on Wei Xun and Zhang Xingcang.

And then—

“What the hell? How did they end up mixed in with Zhang Xingcang??”

Wang Pengpai was stunned. Bai Xiaosheng fell silent and watched the livestream as Half-Life Daoist carried Wei Xun on his back and ran from the giant resurrection grass alongside Zhang Xingcang. Yes, both Wei Xun and Zhang Xingcang were on camera, and the scene was nothing at all like what Bai Xiaosheng had envisioned.

It had been barely a quarter of an hour.

Bai Xiaosheng reflected that his perspective had been too narrow. He silently expanded his perspective, then began applying his disguise.

“Fei, you’re starting already?”

Wang Pengpai had been watching the livestream with his heart in his throat and turned to find Bai Xiaosheng had already made himself up to look like Wei Xun. He nearly did a double take.

“You, you’re disguising yourself as me?”

After Wang Yushu’s cover had been blown, people knew Return members all had a disguise-related title or two. Bai Xiaosheng, who had worked as a forensic examiner before entering the Agency, held the purple title Laying Out the Dead, which was specifically for applying makeup to corpses and worked equally well on himself. Aside from making him look somewhat corpse-like when done, the resemblance was otherwise entirely convincing.

Combined with supporting titles like Deception, Bearing, and Bone Shrinking, Bai Xiaosheng had quietly impersonated more than a few people over the years.

Long years as teammates had given them a natural understanding of each other’s thinking. When Bai Xiaosheng said he would stay behind with Wang Pengpai, Wang Pengpai had assumed Bai Xiaosheng intended to disguise himself as him. Once in disguise, the probability of being caught on the Agency’s livestream was high; as long as Wang Pengpai himself stayed quiet and didn’t draw attention, the disguised Bai Xiaosheng would be what appeared on screen in Wang Pengpai’s place.

So why had he made himself up as Wei Xun? Was Wei Xun even still on the livestream? If two Wei Xuns appeared at once, anyone watching would know something was wrong.

“Wei Xun will enter the Sahara shortly.”

Bai Xiaosheng said with certainty.

“He, Zhang Xingcang, and Half-Life Daoist will very likely all go in.”

Once inside, Wei Xun would almost certainly use the Mutual Aid Alliance’s Rule Seven to block the Agency’s observation. Rule Seven was something Wang Pengpai also knew about to some degree, given that An Xuefeng had received it by chance. Blocking the Agency’s observation was in fact the core of the plan they had built for this entire trip.

Wang Pengpai was still uncertain.

“He and Half-Life Daoist will most likely be together, which means any feed on Half-Life Daoist will inevitably show Wei Xun too.”

And besides, Wei Xun would also… ahem, ahem. If, if he was Bing-1, using the block was possible, but from the looks of things Wei Xun was still concealing that point. Would he voluntarily expose it?

“If they only land on the Sahara’s outermost grey sand layer, or even a few layers deeper, the probability of Wei Xun still appearing in the broadcast remains high.”

Bai Xiaosheng had already finished his disguise. After adjusting his height, he looked exactly like Wei Xun apart from being slightly pallid, and his voice was a convincing match too.

“My assessment is that he will be separated from Half-Life Daoist and will surface in the Death Sahara’s ninth layer or the core zone, possibly together with the Dreamchaser dragon egg.”

If that happened, Wei Xun would absolutely block the Agency’s observation.

Wang Pengpai was already exclaiming in disbelief.

“That can’t possibly happen!”

Hearing his reaction, Bai Xiaosheng showed one of his rare expressions, the corner of his mouth ticking upward slightly.

“I also think the probability is very low.”

He just happened to believe it would happen anyway.

“Expand your perspective. We improvise when the moment comes.”

Bai Xiaosheng only had time to give Wang Pengpai that one warning before the livestream erupted into upheaval. Zhang Xingcang produced the golden sand; all three of them went into the Death Sahara. And precisely as Bai Xiaosheng had predicted, Wei Xun was not with Half-Life Daoist.

Wei Xun vanished. His livestream feed went dark.

Watching this, Wang Pengpai felt a genuine moment of alarm, followed by the strange and unsettling calm of “Bai Xiaosheng was right.” The instant Wei Xun’s feed went dark, there was a thud, and the “Wei Xun” standing before Wang Pengpai dropped straight to the ground, rolling in the sand and looking thoroughly bedraggled.

The performance had begun. Seeing the livestream camera shift to this new “Wei Xun,” Wang Pengpai quickly put on an expression of shock and concern, as though “Wei Xun” had appeared in front of him out of nowhere, and conveniently, this ancient city ruin happened to have a crack where the Sahara connected to the outside.

Golden sand transfer, Wei Xun a new Tourist, enters the Sahara and gets immediately expelled back out, landing right in front of him. Bai Xiaosheng’s logic was entirely sound. And it would help conceal the fact that Wei Xun’s livestream feed had gone dark so suddenly. Wang Pengpai had a new appreciation for Bai Xiaosheng’s mind.

Wang Pengpai threw himself into a chaotic performance with the groggily reviving “Wei Xun,” while Bai Xiaosheng quietly pursued his own plan. After resting enough to recover his energy, at the moment when Zhang Xingcang and Half-Life Daoist were forcing their way through the red sand desert, Bai Xiaosheng seized his opportunity and went to take a look at the few werewolves, feigning casual curiosity.

Then, as the Death Sahara’s instability worsened, the ancient ruins began shaking violently. Wang Pengpai rushed to observe the crack, conveniently “overlooking” the “Wei Xun” on the ground.

And then “wouldn’t you know it,” those few werewolves took advantage of the chaos to break free of their restraints and carry “Wei Xun” off. Wang Pengpai “panicked” and swore a blue streak, and was just working out how to pursue them in a plausibly ineffective way that would let the werewolves succeed in hauling “Wei Xun” back to their main camp, when Zhang Xingcang and Half-Life Daoist came through the ancient ruins’ crack and emerged right there.

The Death Sahara’s disturbance and the violence of these two forcing their way through were directly connected. Bai Xiaosheng had estimated this from the start, and Wang Pengpai had to admit he really hadn’t thought they’d come out through this same crack.

Zhang Xingcang came through and immediately blocked the Agency’s observation, saying urgently:

“Dreamchaser egg is gone! I still can’t reach him!”

Dreamchaser egg was missing?

Wang Pengpai’s first reaction was alarm, quickly followed by an internal nod. Dreamchaser egg was missing too, which meant it was most likely with Wei Xun right now.

No wonder Zhang Xingcang was this agitated. He had raced through the Sahara without revealing a single thing on the livestream, iron-nerved throughout. This was absolutely something that could not be allowed to leak out. Half-Life Daoist, on the other hand, had just announced to the world “Where’s Wei Xun?!”

Wang Pengpai glanced at the livestream and found that the Mutual Aid Alliance’s observation block was genuinely extraordinary. Zhang Xingcang’s feed, and even Half-Life Daoist’s image where he stood closest to Zhang Xingcang, had blurred into an indistinct mass, their words replaced by an inaudible static.

“Wei Xun has also disappeared!”

Half-Life Daoist added immediately after.

“Wei Xun has been kidnapped by the Werewolf Alliance!”

Wang Pengpai slapped his thigh.

“I was just about to go after them, were you watching the livestream in there?”

“In a place as dangerous as the Death Sahara, there’s no watching livestreams. And all electronic devices stop working in the red sand desert.”

Zhang Xingcang said. The moment they had entered, they had dropped straight into a dangerous pit in the red sand desert, a barren stretch of dark red pitted earth, cratered and desolate as a Martian landscape. An Xuefeng had mentioned to Wei Xun before that the Death Sahara was in essence a collection of the Sahara’s most dangerous scenic spots compressed into one.

This particular dark red terrain genuinely existed in the real Sahara, out near Zouerate in Mauritania. The dark red color of the land came from enormous iron ore deposits below; the high metal content created magnetic field anomalies capable of sending aircraft out of control. The legend of the pilot from The Little Prince making his forced landing in the Sahara was said to have occurred somewhere in this area.

Inside the Death Sahara’s red sand desert the danger was compounded: all electronics-adjacent tools and equipment were non-functional, and a terrifying swarm of metal-devouring ants arrived at fifteen-minute intervals. These mutated and contaminated ants were more fearsome than any Heaven-grade creature; when the swarm descended, it could strip any living thing to nothing, bone included, in seconds.

Beyond the swarms, there were enormous ancient anteater-type creatures that preyed exclusively on the ants. “Anteater” was only the name they had been given; in reality they were something else entirely, resembling masses of compacted mud with a slender snout harder than steel. No person could defend themselves against these things; no matter what cave or crevice they hid in, the creature would extract them like sucking jelly from a cup.

The pit they had landed in happened to be a metal-devouring ant nest currently being invaded by the ancient anteater creatures, with both sides in fierce combat, and the two of them had been dropped straight into the middle of it. With Dreamchaser present these creatures showed them no restraint whatsoever.

This was technically Zhang Xingcang’s first journey since coming back; Half-Life Daoist had also not been in a Latitude 30 Degrees-level journey for a long time. Despite their history of working together, both of them had a rough time against these creatures.

Zhang Xingcang was desperate to find Dreamchaser, so he and Half-Life Daoist burned their way through, going straight for the ant nest’s core and incinerating millions of metal-devouring ant eggs to enrage the ant queen and draw it out, ultimately killing it in a destructive breach-clear of the red sand desert before finding the Sahara crack and leaving. Afterward, finding his own rhythm, Half-Life Daoist had even taken the opportunity to pocket some ant eggs on the way; the metal-devouring ants were revolting to look at, but he had a feeling Wei Xun would love this kind of thing.

Wei Xun did love all kinds of large, ugly, hairy creatures.

“Wei Xun came back out? [Read on RanaTranslations🌸] Got taken by the Werewolf Alliance?”

Half-Life Daoist nearly gave chase on the spot, but something about Wang Pengpai’s account didn’t sit right with him. Why was his first instinct not to believe it?

Wei Xun went into the Death Sahara and stirred up something enormous and then just came back out? And then got intercepted by the Werewolf Alliance? Was someone pulling his leg?

Half-Life Daoist checked the livestream and saw the genuine footage of Wei Xun being carried on a running werewolf’s back, riding the wolf across the open desert. The werewolves weren’t actually trying to harm Wei Xun; they just wanted an extra guarantee. The vast desert still made direction easy to lose, and the Harmattan made their outlines waver and shift, hard to pin down precisely.

Knowing Return’s strength meant they would be recaptured immediately, these wolves were running with their mouths foaming and still didn’t dare stop, fleeing while simultaneously protecting Wei Xun from the wind and sand. They were working themselves ragged in every sense.

And knowing they were on the livestream, the rather small and pretty little black wolf running alongside kept trying to comfort Wei Xun in halting, broken Mandarin.

“Werewolf, friendly, friend, friend!”

“East District, rising star Tourist, not bad! You and An, we werewolves, support!”

One of the wolves beside it, seeing this one struggling, took over and panted out a stream of English. The gist of it was:

“You’ve seen the Beijing Suburbs Funeral Palace journey, right? You know the Devil Merchant? He’s Werewolf Alliance, and he likes Bing-1, so all of us in the Werewolf Alliance support their relationship!”

We support Bing-1 and the Devil Merchant getting together! Which is why we support you and An Xuefeng!

Roughly that logic.

It was flattery as a pretext, but these werewolves had a sweet way with words, going on continuously about how perfectly An and Wei Xun suited each other, how An’s sweetheart was absolutely you, and so on.

“Wei Xun” had originally been subtly angling to extract information while playing along, but when the werewolves said this, Wei Xun dropped the pretense entirely and warned them with complete seriousness:

“Bing-1 and the Devil Merchant are absolutely not going to be together. He is not going to the West District. I have a very close relationship with Bing-1. There will not be any conflict between us because of… Captain An.”

His words left the werewolves completely at a loss.

What, what, what was that? What did that even mean?

It sounded like someone who knew something they shouldn’t?

The moment Half-Life Daoist heard this, he knew with absolute certainty that this was Wei Xun. Asked why, it would have to be intuition.

“Is An Xuefeng here? Any news of Dreamchaser?”

Seeing Half-Life Daoist checking the livestream, Zhang Xingcang rushed to look too, just in time to catch “Wan Xiangchun” in the Sahara’s ninth layer, surrounded by the scorched and burnt corpses of worms in every direction, the worm egg casings blackened and charred. “Wan Xiangchun” held a handful of sand.

Ninth layer sand.

Seeing the endless waves of worms still pressing their attack against him, half of Zhang Xingcang’s heart went cold. If the Dreamchaser egg had fallen into the ninth layer, the worms’ aggression would never be this intense. The ninth layer was one of the layers Dreamchaser had explored most thoroughly and controlled most firmly, having made multiple trips to collect sand.

If Dreamchaser wasn’t in the ninth layer, then the only possibility was the black desert.

“Captain Zhang, you have a deep bond with Dreamchaser, shouldn’t you be able to sense him?”

Wang Pengpai was just giving voice to his puzzlement when he saw the expression on Zhang Xingcang’s face, guilt and frustration written across it, and he stopped talking.

It was clear that Zhang Xingcang and Dreamchaser had not yet restored their deep-layer bond. Understandable enough; their rings had been destroyed by the Puppeteer. Rebuilding that deepest level of connection was not something that could be rushed.

“The fact that you can’t sense anything is itself good news.”

Wang Pengpai offered the reassurance. If something had truly happened to Dreamchaser, Zhang Xingcang’s mind would have collapsed into chaos and he would be severely injured already.

“We head to the Eye of the Sahara. Rescue Wei Xun first, then regroup with the captain.”

The Dreamchaser egg going missing was a major development, and their earlier plan needed to be adjusted accordingly.

The crack here had already been destroyed entirely by the Sahara’s instability and was no longer useful. No more hesitation; they got in the car and moved immediately. The “Wei Xun” who had just been carried off by werewolves was retrieved shortly after.

Bai Xiaosheng: ?

Looking at Zhang Xingcang’s darkening expression, Bai Xiaosheng understood something and said nothing further, reporting in full everything the werewolves had said. The group readjusted, bringing along only the lead black wolf.

Driving straight to the Eye of the Sahara would take too long. The whole group simply entered every scenic spot they encountered along the way and forced their way through by sheer power, using the Agency’s system of moving between scenic spots as a method of leapfrogging forward. Half an hour later they reached the Eye of the Sahara’s scenic point.

At this moment, beside the desert wonder large enough to fit two New Yorks side by side, the ground was already soaked in blood. The Eye had become a bloody one.

******

What a comfortable life.

Yin-Yang Butterfly reflected, as a blood droplet still warm landed on his face. [Read on RanaTranslations🌸] One of his butterflies settled there and kissed his cheek lightly, drawing the droplet away.

As a Tour Guide, he had access to Agency privileges and had brought this carload of killers into the Sahara with speed. With Bai Xiaosheng on their side, Return’s guiding principle when facing enemies was: kill first, talk later.

It had been a long time since life was this simple.

Yin-Yang Butterfly let himself almost smile. A dozen vivid red butterflies swirled around him, fluttering in a dance like blood flowers blooming in the middle of slaughter.

One person, one blood-drinking blade, more than a dozen butterflies. Killing Werewolf Alliance Tour Guides, killing Werewolf Alliance Tourists, killing Butcher Tour Guides, killing the miscellaneous Tour Guides who had shown up to join the chaos.

Without the Weeping Medium, without the sun pendant, without Bing-1, without An Xuefeng’s presence in the mix, when had he last enjoyed something like this?

Yin-Yang Butterfly was nearly lost in it, and even Mao Xiao Le was looking almost tolerable. Mao Xiao Le was killing too, though slightly more restrained than Yin-Yang Butterfly; losing mental control and falling into indiscriminate slaughter was exactly his failure mode, and he absolutely could not let that happen. The spectacular kill count here was mostly Yin-Yang Butterfly’s work.

There was one person who was not joining in. A man with a powerfully built physique like a champion bodybuilder, a head of wild, bright red hair tumbling in every direction, wearing a snarling wolf mask, stood watching this scene coldly. The reddish-brown furry wolf ears on his head were pressed back flat with irritation, yet he made no move to intervene.

Because if he moved, An Xuefeng standing nearby as the commanding presence would absolutely kill him first. An Xuefeng hadn’t moved yet, Mao Xiao Le was killing with some restraint, and there was still room for negotiation.

Besides, Yin-Yang Butterfly was traveling with Return’s group; when the surrounding forces had tried to take him down together, Mao Xiao Le had simply not bothered to help them. If his people had been strong enough, killing Yin-Yang Butterfly would have been fine.

His people were just too weak.

And Yin-Yang Butterfly was fighting like a mad dog let off its chain. He was covered in wounds, barely holding back his alienated form, and still killing.

The good news was that the vast majority of those he was killing were West District Butcher Alliance people.

Blood Wolf Rex was actually watching with something like satisfaction at their expense. The West District Butcher Alliance had entered the Sahara first and left the Werewolf Alliance to block outsiders at the Eye of the Sahara. Absolute garbage. The idea of it was infuriating.

If he had known Return would come, he would never have taken this job.

“Baron, your West District Butcher Alliance people here have had about half of them killed.”

Rex laughed with open contempt and pulled all his werewolves entirely out of the combat circle. Having lost six or seven wolves to Yin-Yang Butterfly, this counted as “a show of good faith.”

“Return’s blade is quick to kill. You’re not nearly enough to cut your own throat with, and the Lizard Duke is here, nobody’s going to save you.”

“An Xuefeng’s” brow creased. That sentence from Rex had just revealed something significant.

The Lizard Duke had very likely already entered the depths of the Death Sahara.

The Werewolf Alliance and the Butcher Alliance were clearly each running their own calculations. The Butcher Alliance’s main force had entered the Death Sahara first and left the werewolves to guard the door; Rex was thoroughly fed up with it and had moved straight into a state of determined non-cooperation.

An Xuefeng didn’t even need to show his face; just conceal yourself and let the man dig his own grave.

“Even with Captain An here to kill me, I still can’t bring you in.”

The sound of a vehicle. Seeing more Return people arriving, the Blood Baron finally opened his mouth, and his words made Zhang Xingcang’s expression change sharply the moment Zhang Xingcang stepped out and heard them.

“The black desert’s annihilation period has already begun. It’s completely sealed right now. You’ll have to wait two hours for the annihilation period to pass before there’s any chance of getting in.”

Watching Zhang Xingcang, the Blood Baron added mildly:

“Of course, I have no way to enter. Captain Zhang may have a method…”

A skull-cracking sound of impact.

He hadn’t even finished his sentence before Zhang Xingcang, eyes gone blood-red, hit him with one punch and sent him spinning into a small bat.

The Blood Baron shattered into countless bats, and in the next instant they somehow used the force of Zhang Xingcang’s blow to catapult themselves away at tremendous speed. He was trying to escape.

The Blood Baron was dreaming. An orange-yellow long blade, a replica of the Return Journey Saber, appeared in an instant, wrapped in Latitude 30 Degrees presence, and pressed every last one of those bats flat against the ground.

“Since you know things, you have reason to stay alive.”

“An Xuefeng” said coldly.

“Yin-Yang Butterfly. Make him suffer.”

Several of the fluffy little bats showed expressions of pure terror at these words. The An Xuefeng of this moment looked to the Blood Baron like nothing short of a demon. Even Blood Wolf Rex, looking at the blood-soaked Yin-Yang Butterfly, felt the hair on the back of his neck rise with wariness. The gap between A-1 and Yi-2 was not nothing, but it wasn’t nothing to worry about either.

Nobody paid attention to the Tour Guides. Wang Pengpai went straight to Zhang Xingcang.

“Xingcang, what’s this annihilation period?”

The black desert annihilation period was something none of them had heard of before. Even with a close relationship with Dreamchaser, everyone kept their own secrets; certain lines you simply didn’t cross.

Right now, Zhang Xingcang’s eyes were completely red. He had lost his composure, which was rare for him, and looked close to breaking. His breathing was rapid, his voice hoarse, and when he spoke it trembled.

“The black desert is where Dreamchaser obtained the Sahara token. Only those possessing the token can enter.”

The fact that the Lizard Duke and his people could get in meant the black desert had been compromised and others could now access it.

But what really mattered was the annihilation period.

“The black desert’s annihilation means exactly what it sounds like. It gradually erases all life and vitality.”

The annihilation period was literally a state of dead silence. Under normal circumstances the black desert had no annihilation period; this was happening specifically because the token had been shattered among multiple holders and the Sahara was trying to rapidly identify a single authority to claim it.

During the annihilation period, the black desert sealed completely. Anyone holding a fragment of the Sahara token would be severely targeted, losing their vitality gradually while also being assailed by terrible contamination, creatures, and illusions. It was effectively a battle royale; whoever lasted the longest would be the winner.

The annihilation period only lasted two hours. If everyone managed to survive, another annihilation period would begin again after a short interval.

“I need to be with Dreamchaser.”

Zhang Xingcang drove his fingers hard into his hair. His greatest fear was the Dreamchaser egg sitting alone in the black desert without him; without his relief sessions, the egg would grow fragile, leaving Dreamchaser in the dream state dangerously susceptible to mental contamination and loss of control during the annihilation period.

Even the Lizard Duke and his people, holding token fragments, could only stay near the A-4 Infected’s position and were restricted in movement; the creatures of the black desert would very likely target a Dreamchaser egg that couldn’t move on its own.

This egg was the equivalent of a coordinate marker for Dreamchaser in the dream state. If the egg shattered, Dreamchaser would be lost in the dream forever.

A sharp crack.

Without warning, Zhang Xingcang hit himself hard across the face. He drew a deep breath and forcibly expelled every scrap of panic. He pulled himself back together rapidly. No, he could not fall apart. Calm, he needed to be calm; he had to find a way. Right now, Dreamchaser could only count on him.

“The annihilation period doesn’t make entry absolutely impossible.”

His mind was running at full speed. Suddenly Zhang Xingcang’s eyes lit up.

“Go to the Sahara’s ninth layer. We’re going to the worm nest.”

That monstrous worm creature had originally come from the Sahara’s ninth layer; given the nature of Abyss Insects, even if it had been forcibly drawn into the black desert, it would have left behind a tunnel leading from there into the black desert.

That tunnel had to be physical in some sense, existing somewhere between real and not-real, the kind of thing that might only be visible to someone severely contaminated. It didn’t matter. As long as they could find it, there was a chance of getting into the black desert.

Zhang Xingcang set his jaw, his eyes the color of blood.

Dreamchaser. Wait for me.

******

At this moment, in the black desert, fifteen meters below the sand, inside the false mouth formed by Baby Corn’s tendrils.

The Dreamchaser egg lay peacefully in Wei Xun’s arms, a calm and happy warmth emanating from it.

From the moment Wei Xun had noticed the Dreamchaser egg responding to him, he had kept it close and not set it down. He had also quickly noticed that the Dreamchaser egg was very weak, unable to transmit detailed information, and was continuing to weaken. The shell was growing dimmer, the energy inside it less pure, carrying an increasingly disordered quality, and it was gradually turning cold.

Wei Xun thought back to the warmth the Dreamchaser egg had held earlier. That warmth had probably not been from Zhang Xingcang’s body heat alone; it was likely representing something else as well. Zhang Xingcang had been carrying the egg on his person continuously, and Wei Xun suspected he had actually been providing ongoing relief and clearing contamination the whole time, given that the Dreamchaser egg now looked very much like something being slowly contaminated.

This put Wei Xun in a difficult position.

He was operating as a Tourist right now and couldn’t provide relief to Dreamchaser through a bond. The heavens close one door, they open another window. Wei Xun thought of the Weeping Medium and Yin-Yang Butterfly, and of the Puppeteer.

The Butcher Alliance was full of solitary Tour Guides, and highly alienated ones at that; so why had none of them lost their minds over all these years?

Yin-Yang Butterfly had mentioned something about this once, something related to the pure Abyss energy the Puppeteer released.

Could pure Abyss energy soothe a Tour Guide and provide something like relief?

Wei Xun checked the livestream, but saw only a blur; Zhang Xingcang had apparently blocked the Agency’s observation, making it impossible to see where he was. They had no way to leave right now. The inexplicable sense of foreboding in Wei Xun’s chest was growing stronger, the Dreamchaser egg’s condition was getting worse, and after thinking it over from every angle, Wei Xun decided he had to risk trying something.

Fortunately, the result was reassuring. Wei Xun cautiously took out the suit jacket, didn’t put it on fully but draped it over his shoulders, and then carefully released a small amount of pure Abyss energy.

The next instant, the Dreamchaser egg shifted in his hands, as though giving a small jump. [Read on RanaTranslations🌸] It rocked gently within his grasp, the motion uncertain and hesitant, with a hint of wariness. Perhaps some residual defensive instinct the Puppeteer had left in Dreamchaser?

But whatever its reasoning, this egg wasn’t particularly intelligent in its current form, and in this state, it was closer to its alienated nature and thus more Abyss-attuned. Very quickly the sense of crisis that the black desert pressed upon it outweighed any wariness toward the pure Abyss energy, and the Dreamchaser egg finally gave in, settling against Wei Xun’s chest, and grew warm again. It even transmitted a distinctly coaxing feeling toward Wei Xun, wanting more.

“It seems Dreamchaser and the great Insect haven’t finished deciding a winner yet.”

Wei Xun thought. The Dreamchaser egg’s craving for more power also directly reflected Dreamchaser’s own situation. The urgency was unlike anything he had felt before; something new might be happening in the black desert. Wei Xun was already sensing more and more of a bone-deep chill, and even Baby Corn had begun to grow restless and unsettled, wanting to burrow deeper into the sand layers, as though danger was being transmitted from somewhere deep in the black desert.

Surviving here on his own would be very difficult. Without hesitation, Wei Xun gave the Dreamchaser egg more pure Abyss energy, and at a visible rate the egg grew brighter.

At the same moment, deep in the black desert, the great Dreamchaser dragon that had been locked in battle with the great Insect for nearly a full day suddenly felt a surge of power.