Chapter 15: The Slaughter in the Sands

At the entrance to the desert, staff members from the Hunter Association had already been waiting for some time. Once all the participants for the assessment had arrived, the chief examiner, Yi Yeyu, also joined them.

“Now, please cooperate with our staff as they inspect your storage spaces,” Yi Yeyu announced, nodding to the twelve staff members standing by.

The twelve began their inspections, checking each participant’s storage space one by one.

“No weaponry, offensive, defensive, or auxiliary equipment above the Black Iron rank may be carried. All potions, except for healing ones, including hemotoxin potions or any that can cause toxic reactions in the body, are forbidden. Any equipment that has been poisoned must be thoroughly cleaned before use. If you refuse to cooperate, your gear will be temporarily confiscated,” she continued.

“Furthermore, no food or water may be brought along. All climbing assistance devices are also prohibited…”

Yi Yeyu strode before the group, loudly announcing the categories of items that were not allowed.

The twelve staff members moved through the crowd, quickly uncovering a considerable amount. Most of what they found were food and water. Some tried to smuggle bronze-level equipment and were discovered, and a few had applied hemotoxin to their weapons, which were promptly cleaned with antidote. Even Lin Huang had his stored food and water uncovered; his military water bottle was nearly confiscated until he emptied it in front of everyone, which satisfied the staff.

Lin Huang’s armor-piercing explosive rounds were also found. The staff brought them to Yi Yeyu for inspection before returning them to him. Yi Yeyu saw that these were ordinary firearms, barely reaching bronze-level attack power even at close range, and since there were only ten rounds, she did not make things difficult for him.

When the staff returned his explosive rounds, Lin Huang finally breathed a sigh of relief. This was one of his means of self-defense; he was reluctant to part with it.

Once the inspection was complete, it was already past nine o’clock.

When all the staff confirmed nothing had been overlooked and handed out emergency rescue devices to everyone present, Yi Yeyu spoke again.

“We will safeguard the items confiscated from you. Once the assessment is over, they will be returned to you intact.”

“The current time is 9:23 in the morning. I’m giving you seven extra minutes. Anyone who reaches the destination by 9:30 a.m. fifteen days from now will pass this assessment.”

“Before the official start of the assessment, I have one final piece of bad news. During the assessment, the network connection, communication, and map navigation functions of your Emperor’s Heart Ring will all be disabled. Only the item storage function will remain active.”

Her words triggered another wave of groans and complaints. Even Lin Huang hadn’t expected to be outmaneuvered by this woman in the end.

Yi Yeyu, as the chief examiner, seemed to delight in the chorus of laments. The corners of her lips curled up slightly. “Now, I officially declare the assessment has begun!”

As soon as she finished, a few participants bolted forward at once. Many others, still groaning, quickly followed suit.

Lin Huang, the weakest in the group and the slowest, did not attempt to run like the others. Instead, he walked at a normal pace, following them. The chubby fellow called out a greeting and jogged off with the crowd.

Lin Huang didn’t keep up for long; soon, he couldn’t see anyone ahead. Still, he didn’t quicken his pace, continuing steadily onward.

Watching Lin Huang’s distant figure, Yi Yeyu shook her head. “I thought this kid might have something special about him, but he really is just an ordinary person. At this pace, forty kilometers a day would be impressive for him. With a fifteen-day deadline, he’ll be lucky to cover half the distance.”

The reason Lin Huang didn’t keep up wasn’t because he didn’t want to, but because he couldn’t. He was just an ordinary person; his physical strength and endurance were nothing like those of Black Iron rank individuals. If he kept pace with them, he’d exhaust himself within half a day in this harsh desert environment, and would be forced to quit the assessment.

When Yi Yeyu had announced the assessment area and content that morning, Lin Huang had begun searching online for maps and information about the Crimson Sand Desert, quickly formulating a battle plan in his mind.

Fifteen days—he had to reserve at least two for climbing the snow mountain, leaving a maximum of thirteen days to traverse the 1,500 kilometers of desert. That meant he’d have to walk over 115 kilometers per day, not even accounting for time spent searching for food and water.

Lin Huang knew well that the desert was not flat terrain. He had traveled in deserts on Earth before. An ordinary person’s speed in the desert was at most four kilometers per hour; few could manage five kilometers per hour for any sustained period. Moreover, he needed to rest at night; walking forty or fifty kilometers a day was already his limit. In fifteen days, he’d barely manage half the journey at best.

Black Iron rank experts had bodies many times stronger than ordinary people, with exceptional stamina and endurance. They might be able to run a hundred kilometers a day. For Lin Huang, that was impossible.

Thus, Lin Huang set his sights on certain native desert monsters, especially those swift enough to serve as mounts.

Thanks to his ability to accumulate card fragments and summon monsters, he had already made plans and memorized the locations of several monster bases. Though collecting card fragments would cost some time, the native desert creatures moved far faster than humans of the same rank, and the lost time would surely be offset by their speed.

Before long, Lin Huang’s route diverged from the rest of the group. His destination wasn’t the finish line, but a Sand Butcher base he had pinpointed on the map.

Sand Butchers were a branch of giant humanoids—massive, corpulent creatures who fed on various forms of flesh. Their appearance was somewhat human-like, walking upright on two legs, but more akin to malformed beings. Some had two or three heads; others, though possessing only one, had extra mouths or eyes.

A Black Iron-ranked Sand Butcher stood at least five meters tall, with some reaching ten meters, and their strength far surpassed even human Black Iron rank experts, their attack power astonishing. In truth, they weren’t Lin Huang’s first choice for transportation.

He targeted them because they were social creatures; he needed to hunt many quickly to gather enough fragments to assemble a complete monster card. Most importantly, their base was very close to the A entrance of the Crimson Sand Desert.

Following his planned route, Lin Huang walked for most of the day without a sip of water, finally arriving at the Sand Butcher base as dusk was falling. He knew well that this spot was also a water source—just a short distance from the base lay a freshwater lake.

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[Thanks to “Editor’s Words,” “Mountain That Isn’t Too High,” “Who Are You Kissing,” “tanyaangel,” and “Tang Clan Chaos God” for your generous rewards.]