Chapter 556: The Amazing Spider
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
The wild animals in Dual Forest were all scared away by the gigantic newcomer. In the end, Ye Chong and his crew crossed Dual Forest without being challenged by any of the native creatures. Xuan Ning felt annoyed, for he had just learned how to maneuver the Spider's weapons system.
The shooters who were following the Spider suddenly found themselves travelling all the way across Dual Forest. Most of them had never ventured deep into Dual Forest, for the place was home to many vicious animals. It was simply too dangerous for them! Now that they had actually crossed the entire Dual Forest, all the shooters felt excited. They had all run with all they got just to keep up with the Spider in the past few days. The weaker shooters were left behind long ago.
Xuan Ning frowned, "What's with their foolishness? Staying alive is more important than satisfying their curiosity."
Ye Chong and Sha Ya understood him. The shooters were able to reach so far inside here because of their Spider, and not their own strength. Once they were no longer under the protection of their Spider, the dangers of the place would surely overwhelm them.
Ye Chong and his team did not have time to care for their survival. These shooters must now make their way back to Yedda City by crossing the entire Dual Forest again. Xuan Ning and Sha Ya both knew that only shooters of at least Level 6 could survive the journey. Of all the shooters following behind them, only a few were that skilled.
Xuan Ning saw Ye Chong's eyes lingered on him. He said to Ye Chong, "Forget about them. We should be on our way. Shooters who cannot think calmly are foolish. We're not their babysitter."
Sha Ya threw a pitiful glance at the low level shooters. They had realized the situation they were in now, and had started to panic.
The three of them did not stay behind to help. They would not delay their expedition because of these shooters.
Without the Spider, crossing the entire Dual Forest would take around 20 days. Even capable shooters like Xuan Ning and Sha Ya would take that long. This was because the only way to travel was by foot. Besides, in order to avoid the territories of the vicious native animals, they had to make detours and risk losing their way.
On the other hand, Ye Chong and his team sat inside the Spider's pilot cabin, enjoying their drinks and sporadic conversation while the Spider made its way through Dual Forest. It took only five days to complete the journey. Along the way, the Spider stormed through anything in its path. Xuan Ning was astounded by the sight of all the animals that practically leaped out of their way. Once, the Spider unknowingly crashed into the home of a flock of sharpbeak cuckoos. Over a hundred sharpbeak cuckoos scattered to the skies, making for an impressive spectacle.
Even the larger animals were cautious around the huge spider, for they had never seen it before. They stayed back and did not initiate any contact. Hence, the Spider carried its three passengers and led the group of low level shooters behind it across the entire Dual Forest.
Once they exited Dual Forest, the environment around them transformed quickly.
There was less foliage. The air was dryer. The ground composition turned sandy.
On the third day after leaving Dual Forest, there was not a tree in sight. The ground was flat. The wind bellowed. There were no plants, no humans, no animals - it was a wasteland. This was the Desert.
The wind grew stronger and stronger, kicking up tiny rocks that hit on the Spider. Cling! Clang! The graveled terrain was a picture of desolation. The uninteresting surrounding was uninspiring.
Nevertheless, Xuan Ning was sitting up straight and looked serious. "I think a sandstorm is coming."
Beside him, Sha Ya shared the same thought. "Agreed."
Ye Chong heard them. He focused on the holographic screen and keyed in a series of commands. Xuan Ning approached him and asked curiously, "What are you doing?"
"Releasing the Hummingbirds." Ye Chong answered without looking up.
"Hummingbirds? What are they?" Xuan Ning thought he was just like some curious child who could not help asking questions.
Ye Chong continued keying in the commands. "Hummingbirds are small surveillance devices that can increase surveillance coverage area."
"I see."
Four Hummingbirds were released from the Spider into the outside world. They headed straight for the skies.
The Hummingbirds transmitted their video feed onto the screens. Despite the strong wind, the Hummingbirds maintained steady flight and provided clear images of their surroundings.
"D*mn it!" Sha Ya and Xuan Ning cursed simultaneously.
On the screen, the sky had darkened some distance away from them. The sandstorm cast a dark shadow on the ground. The most dangerous thing in the Desert was not the large army of sandscorpions or the vicious sandlizards, but the natural phenomenon known as the sandstorm. Strong winds could lift huge rocks into the air. If hit by any of them, the result would be nothing short of a swift death.
Even if someone could avoid being smashed by huge rocks, they would not be able to avoid the sand flying all around them. If unlucky, they would find themselves buried deep under tons of sand, something not uncommon in the Desert.
Ye Chong and his team had not even reached the heart of the Desert when this sandstorm hit them. They were most unfortunate.
Just then, the video feed shook. Ye Chong quickly ordered the Hummingbirds to return, but by then he had already lost one Hummingbird to the sandstorm.
There was only one thing left to do now.
The huge spider raced across the empty desert wasteland, with a massive sandstorm close on its tail.
The Spider was not fast, and the sandstorm caught up quickly. Its passengers were now witness to a powerful force of Nature.
Bam bam bam! Rocks and pebbles rained down on the Spider's armor. Larger rocks would shake the pilot cabin. Not even a Level 9 shooter can survive the sandstorm. Xuan Ning felt unsettled by this realization.
"It's d*mn lucky that I didn't encounter a sandstorm last time. F*ck, no one can survive this." Xuan Ning could not help cursing. Ever since he reached Level 9, his personality had undergone a 180 degree change. He lost his rigidity and became more open and easygoing. Once upon a time, he would never have cursed openly like this. Ye Chong thought the behavior change was curious. None of the mentalist principles that Huang Baiyi had taught him said anything about personality changes.
Sha Ya looked nervous. "Yes, I was quite lucky too the few times I've been here. I never encountered a sandstorm before. It's highly unlikely for anyone to live through this."
The pilot cabin was hit again, and shook violently. Xuan Ning was nearly sent flying from his half lying position. He put his hands to his stomach and gritted his teeth, enduring the pain.
The screen informed them that the Spider was hit by a rock of over half a meter in diameter. Xuan Ning looked even more unsettled.
Ye Chong was expressionless. "The wind is too strong. We have to stay put and wait for the storm to pass."
"It's our only option." Xuan Ning and Sha Ya exchanged a look of helplessness. The Spider was shaking violently from the buffeting of the winds. Large rocks would hit them intermittently. It was impossible to travel in this condition.
Ye Chong keyed in a series of commands in the control console. Xuan Ning looked curiously at Ye Chong at the control console. Everytime Ye Chong did something at the controls, the Spider was bound to respond in some way. Xuan Ning thought that the Spider was full of surprises, just like its creator.
Whrr! A laser gun was activated outside the Spider. It fired eight times on the ground, leaving eight deep holes. The holes were arranged in two rows of four. Xuan Ning and Sha Ya were still trying to figure them out when the Spider stepped its legs into the holes. The Spider's body lowered as a result. The pilot cabin was lowered to the ground. The Spider's legs now had a tight grip on the ground. The holes were just deep enough for the joints of the legs to bend at the surface of the ground.
Creak creak creak! A grappling clamp came out from each of the leg's joints and sunk itself into the ground.
Suddenly, the pilot cabin stopped shaking. Despite the rocks raining down on the Spider, the pilot cabin did not move at all. The three passengers felt none of the violent shaking anymore.
"So you can do this too! This is neat!" Xuan Ning praised. The thought of Ye Chong giving him a Spider after they returned from Darkniss sent a jolt of euphoria through him.
"Sleep." Ye Chong did not care to indulge him. He switched off the lights in the pilot cabin, and all of a sudden they were shrouded into darkness.
Xuan Ning exclaimed in annoyance. "Why'd you turn off the lights? It's so dark."
Sha Ya was not used to being in the dark with someone else, much less with two men.
Just when she was about to speak up, Ye Chong's answer silenced her. "It's to conserve energy."
Xuan Ning complained, "Conserve energy? How much energy can you save like this?"
Ye Chong ignored him, and Xuan Ning soon quieted down.
The pilot cabin was dark and quiet. Its passengers were most likely asleep now.
The storm continued for a full day before it subsided. By then, the Spider was mostly buried under the sand, leaving only a small part of its back exposed. Even so, there was a thin layer of sand on its back.
Fortunately, Ye Chong had fitted a powerful engine for the Spider, or it would have been impossible for them to climb out of the sand. The Spider lifted its body, and all the sand was shaken off.
The Spider began to walk. There was a disc of about 1.5 meters in diameter at the end of each leg to prevent the machine from sinking into the sand.
With the help of these eight discs, the Spider moved quickly across the sandy terrain. The sandy mounds did not slow the machine down.
"Ohh, this is amazing!" Xuan Ning exclaimed in excitement. "Haha, when I get myself one of these, I am coming to Darkniss every year for vacation. This is so much fun!"
Ye Chong focused on the screen in front of him. He ignored Xuan Ning completely as he piloted the Spider on its way forward.
When the Spider reached the peak of a 100-meter tall sand dune, it brought its eight legs to the center and linked all the discs at its feet together to form a huge board. The Spider then glided down the dune on the board.
Sha Ya and Xuan Ning had never seen anything quite so interesting. The Spider was like a toy for them. Xuan Ning was jumping up and down like a little boy. On the contrary, Sha Ya's composure was more like a Level 9 shooter's.
The Spider travelled more easily and quickly on the sand dunes.
"If we follow this direction at our current speed, we will leave the Desert after roughly three days." Xuan Ning pointed to the front and said to Ye Chong. He still looked energetic, with a seemingly unlimited capacity for excitement. Sha Ya, on the other hand, was already over the initial phase of excitement.
Their luck seemed to have turned for the better after the sandstorm. Aside from the two sandlizards that had immediately took off after being surprised by their transport, they had encountered no other wild animals. Three more days, and they will be out of the Desert.
The Desert was a strange place, interspersed with drought regions and sandy regions. In the past few days, they had already crossed a few of them.
It was all sand and rocks, but Ye Chong still noticed the subtler details. The deeper they went, the more metal ores there were in the drought regions. He could see these metal ores now at their location. The ores were mostly soft and tiny. The sand was more fine as they went deeper into the Desert.
Ye Chong had the Hummingbirds outside throughout their journey. The holographic scanning system was disrupted, and could not provide enough scanning range and detail. Ye Chong had no other combat mode holographic scanning system aside from the ones on Celest and Moon King, but he did not want to use his mechs. Fortunately, the Hummingbirds provided him with some improvement in holographic scanning results.
However, they were soon running out of luck. According to the live feed from the Hummingbirds right now, there was a sea of sandscorpions in front, advancing towards them like a swathe of dark clouds.