Chapter 360 - 173: Sandstorm

Chapter 360: Chapter 173: Sandstorm

Xu Mo checked the time. It was a little after four in the afternoon. The sandstorm had arrived faster than he expected.

As the sandstorm arrived, the sky grew completely dark.

It wasn’t the darkness of night, but an oppressive gloom, as if the entire world had been stuffed into a giant, yellow cloth sack. The sun was completely gone. From sky to ground, there was nothing but a murky yellow haze.

Sand danced in the wind, hammering against the car’s body with a dense, rattling sound. The entire vehicle trembled, swaying back and forth in the wind.

Xu Mo sat in the car, listening to the sounds outside. It was like someone was beating on the car door like a drum, or shaking the roof like maracas.

One hour, two hours, three hours...

He didn’t know how much time had passed, but the sky had turned completely black. The wind, however, continued to howl, and sand still pelted the windows. The sandstorm hadn’t passed.

Xu Mo leaned back in his seat and rested with his eyes closed.

Just then, Xu Mo suddenly felt a vibration coming from the ground.

It was faint at first, but the vibrations grew more and more distinct. It wasn’t caused by the wind, nor by the battering sand, but by something moving across the ground.

The vibrations were rhythmic, coming in pulses, as if something was hopping.

Xu Mo’s eyes snapped open. Something was approaching the SUV.

Old Zheng’s words flashed through Xu Mo’s mind: "Further on, you’ll encounter some things... I can’t really describe them, but they’re just... weird. Not sandworms, not zombies, something else. They’re bigger than sandworms, and more dangerous."

’Could it be one of the giant sandworms Old Zheng mentioned?’

The vibrations grew closer. Xu Mo could feel that it was very near.

Old Zheng had said to never get out of the car during a sandstorm. But he didn’t have a choice now. If he stayed put, what would he do if the giant sandworm rammed into him?

Xu Mo gritted his teeth and reached into the back seat for a weapon. Not the AK-47, nor the Triangular Spike, but the Barrett. If it was really something huge, only the Barrett could handle it.

He pushed open the car door, and a gale immediately flooded in. Xu Mo narrowed his eyes and looked in the direction of the vibrations, vaguely making out a massive silhouette not far away.

The creature was only about twenty to thirty meters from the SUV. It was at least two to three meters long, with a body more than half a meter in diameter. It was currently moving by hopping along the ground, and with every hop, the ground trembled.

’What the hell is this thing?’

Xu Mo frowned. The thing looked like a worm. Its body was cylindrical and segmented, with each segment squirming. Its hide was a yellowish-brown. Its head had no eyes, only a giant mouth filled with concentric rings of teeth, like a meat grinder.

It would coil its body up and then violently spring open, using the elastic force to leap forward. Each jump covered two to three meters. It looked like some kind of giant spring on the move.

Xu Mo immediately thought of the sandworms. This behemoth before him was an evolved version of a sandworm.

’A giant sandworm.’

The name flashed through Xu Mo’s mind. He was certain this creature was not of this world. Like the other mutated creatures with Crystal Cores in their heads, it was an invasive species.

The giant sandworm seemed to sense something. It stopped hopping and turned its head in Xu Mo’s direction. Although it had no eyes, it clearly possessed some kind of sensory ability that allowed it to detect prey.

Upon detecting Xu Mo’s presence, its mouth gaped open, revealing the rings of teeth, and it let out a sharp shriek.

Xu Mo raised the Barrett. At this range, he barely needed to aim.

BANG!

Even amidst the wind and sand, the report of the Barrett was exceptionally loud. The massive recoil slammed into Xu Mo’s shoulder, but he didn’t budge an inch.

The bullet tore from the barrel and struck the giant sandworm. Xu Mo saw its body shudder violently. A spurt of pale yellow fluid sprayed from its body, only to be instantly scattered by the gale.

The giant sandworm let out an even shriller shriek, its body twisting violently.

It began to hop even more frantically, charging straight for Xu Mo.

Xu Mo stood his ground, raised the Barrett, and pulled the trigger again.

BANG!

Another shot.

This one hit the giant sandworm square in the head. Its entire head exploded. The body went rigid, lost its balance in mid-air, and crashed heavily onto the sand.

But to Xu Mo’s amazement, it wasn’t dead yet. It writhed violently, sending sand flying everywhere.

Xu Mo walked over and put three more rounds into its body.

After the three shots, the giant sandworm finally stopped moving. It lay silently on the sand, all signs of life gone.

Seeing that the creature was completely still, Xu Mo drew the Triangular Spike from his waist, walked over, and carved into its head. Inside was a mess of sticky fluid and fragments of soft tissue. But unlike the smaller sandworms, there was a hard lump inside—a Crystal Core.

It was a pale yellow Crystal Core, smooth to the touch and warm in his hand. It felt similar to the dark red Crystal Core he had obtained in Mori Town, but the color was completely different.

This confirmed for Xu Mo that the smaller sandworms were also an invasive species. The only reason they didn’t have Crystal Cores was that their level was too low.

Xu Mo put away the Crystal Core, glanced at the giant sandworm’s corpse, and turned back toward the SUV.

Back in the car, Xu Mo leaned against the seat and let out a long breath.

The wind outside was still just as loud, but Xu Mo didn’t mind it as much anymore. He held the pale yellow Crystal Core, turned it over in his hand, and then put it in his backpack.

’What use are these Crystal Cores?’ Xu Mo still didn’t know. ’But since they exist, they must have some value. They might be useful later on.’

「...」

He didn’t know how much time had passed, but the sound of the wind began to fade. The furious howl became an angry roar, the roar a deep bellow, and then a rasping groan. The deafening noise gradually receded, becoming a low echo.

Then, slowly, the surroundings grew quiet. The wind stopped, the sand no longer battered the windows, and everything fell silent.

Xu Mo checked the time. Two in the morning.

Certain that the sandstorm had passed, Xu Mo closed his eyes to rest.

’Old Zheng said to wait until the sandstorm has completely stopped before going out. Even though the wind has died down, there must still be residual dust outside. Visibility is probably still low. It’s best to wait until dawn.’

A few more hours passed, and the sky began to brighten.

Xu Mo pushed open the car door, got out, and squinted at his surroundings. The contours of the dunes had completely changed. Some had been flattened, others piled higher. The entire desert looked as if it had been reshaped. The ground was covered in a fine layer of sand, like a fresh dusting of sand-snow.

The SUV was half-buried. Sand had piled up around the wheels, leaving only the top half exposed.

Xu Mo took a shovel from the trunk and started digging.

About ten minutes later, Xu Mo was driving southeast again.

Along the way, Xu Mo saw several corpses of giant sandworms. Some were buried in the sand with only a section exposed; some lay twisted on the dunes; others had been gnawed on by something, leaving only mangled remains.

Whenever he came across the body of a giant sandworm, Xu Mo would get out to check it. Without exception, the Crystal Cores in their heads were all gone.

「...」

The sun moved from the east to its zenith, and from its zenith to the west. The endless rolling dunes before him began to show some changes.

First, the colors in the distance changed, and then the silhouettes.

Seeing this, Xu Mo’s eyes lit up. It seemed he was finally about to leave the desert.