On the Gobi Desert, the sandstorm was intensifying, and the distant sky seemed stained with a murky rust color.

Once calling himself the "Desert Emperor," Old Scorpion now felt like he was about to croak. Surrounded by a kill formation closing in from all four directions, his face twisted in rage—crack!—he crushed the megaphone in his hand.

Just moments ago, he had taunted Hu Lushou three times. Who would've thought it’d be his turn to get slapped in the face three times over?

Old Scorpion now understood clearly—this wasn't a spur-of-the-moment trap. The other side had meticulously planned all of this, with the sole purpose of wiping them out.

Bone Dragon looked ashen, glancing repeatedly at the convoys closing in from every direction. The air was thick with the stench of despair.

“Old Scorpion, what do we do? We’re screwed this time!”

Staring at the horizon where the sand rolled in like waves, Old Scorpion suddenly growled:

“We’re not screwed!”

He grabbed Bone Dragon, and in the next second, the surrounding sand surged toward him like a living creature, swirling up around them and rushing off at high speed toward Shashekou. Despite his obese and stocky build, Old Scorpion had a high-level ability—he could control desert sands!

From above, a Thunder Falcon-2000 drone captured his movements. Lin Xian, hiding behind a vehicle below, narrowed his eyes.

“So that’s his ability…”

Even though Old Scorpion and his gang were cornered, Lin Xian remained cautious. After all, any Sand Raider boss had to be strong—possibly with abilities no one even knew about. Take Red Eagle earlier, for example. He wasn’t like KIKI’s type;

Lin and the others had no clear way to counter him. With a headwind blowing, it was likely that Red Eagle had used that trick to reverse-kill a bunch of people before—definitely not some second-rate thug.

That’s why Wang Wan had planned a full encirclement and was waiting for Qian Dele, Fire Bro, and Monica to arrive and snipe him from a distance—minimizing friendly casualties.

Before seeing Old Scorpion’s ability, Shu Qin had relaxed a little. Sand manipulation? That was low-tier stuff—no wonder he could only act tough in Wang Wan's region.

“Take him down!”

Shu Qin gave the order. Immediately, the squad members and top fighters like Xiao Lou and Liang Lei made their moves. Shu Qin and KIKI glided across the battlefield, chasing the surge of sand.

Woooo—dozens of Thunder Falcon drones formed a tight circle around Wang Wan, flying slowly as they locked onto the yellow sand and launched a barrage of pulse rays!

Whoosh! Whoosh!

Multiple red beams blasted into the shifting sands, triggering explosions. But Old Scorpion and Wang Wan had concealed themselves so deeply within the sand that even life detectors couldn’t lock onto them—a sign of extreme cunning.

“Fire Bro, A Qing—heads up! The enemy leader is heading your way!”

Bzzt bzzt—

“Copy that!”

The largest group of vehicles was closing in from Shashekou, with Telekinesis and Lin Xian executing a direct pincer. Just then, a fiery meteor streaked slowly across the sky. Hearing Shu Qin’s voice through her comms, Wang Wan zeroed in on a shifting mound of sand in the Gobi.

No hesitation—she surged forward, one hand igniting into flames, and shouted:

“Divine: Brahma Flame Sword!”

Boom!

A narrow stream of flames shot down like a meteor strike, slamming into the moving sand mound. In an instant, a giant fireball erupted, blasting the sand apart in a violent shockwave.

Just then, a white blur shot out of the blast crater, hurtling straight toward Fire Bro.

He hadn’t expected anything to jump out so fast. Instinctively, he raised both arms—blasting flames forward.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

Meanwhile, other squad members were closing in. From the sky, it looked like Fire Bro’s flames had been parted like a wall, and his body was sent flying backward. The white blur that had been blocked by the flames began spiraling, lost momentum, and crashed to the ground.

Lin Xian, rushing over, narrowed his eyes. The object was a bone-spiked ball—Bone Dragon, wrapped in a power suit, had turned into a rolling death sphere and was spinning away at high speed.

Lu Xingchen, hovering above, looked at his hand. The spinning spikes had carved deep grooves into his power armor’s gauntlet.

“D*mn, that was close. Good thing Brother Lin reminded me to suit up, or I’d be down a hand.”

Having spotted Bone Dragon, Lin Xian immediately locked onto Old Scorpion’s position. His Black Hawk Armor’s targeting system swept the area. Near the blast crater, a mound of sand suddenly bolted toward Rust Ridge—right where Monica and A Bai’s convoy was approaching.

Lin Xian frowned. In the distance, a full-blown sandstorm was rolling in from Shashekou. Old Scorpion was clearly trying to slip past Shu Qin and Monica and escape into the storm!

“Shu Qin! Monica! Cut him off!”

Both Shu Qin and Lü Chang stopped their vehicles. Their power suits revved up to full capacity. Like cheetahs, they sprinted across the desert toward the sand mound.

“I’ll flank left. You take right!”

Shu Qin ran low to the ground, gun in one hand, blade in the other. The two split up. As they closed in, Shu Qin hurled her steel blade, while Lü Chang sent her spinning electric blade flying—a horizontal and vertical cross aimed to block all escape paths.

Schwing!

Sensing danger, Old Scorpion burst from the sand, flinging up a cloud of dust. He raised his armored arms to block Shu Qin’s blade and summoned a shell of hardened sand behind him to catch Lü Chang’s weapon. Then, with a sweeping gesture, a barrage of sand spikes surged forward like a tidal wave!

Bang! Bang!

Shu Qin fired her Remington shotgun twice. Both dodged the sand spikes in midair.

The sand wall blocked the shotgun pellets. Old Scorpion then summoned another wall and charged forward. The sand beneath him writhed, forming two massive arms that lunged to grab Shu Qin and Lü Chang.

“Die!!”

Old Scorpion roared. But before the sand arms could crush them—ZZZAP!

A laser beam sliced through the sand hands. A sonic blade followed, shredding the sand shield into molten slag.

Startled by the sudden counterattack, Old Scorpion flung up a massive sand blast.

BOOM!

Sand exploded in every direction as he dove back underground, fleeing once more toward Rust Ridge.

Meanwhile, Bone Dragon, now a spinning death ball, rolled across the Gobi faster than most vehicles. Ning Jing and her team immediately turned their vehicles around to give chase.

“Xiao Qing!”

Ning Jing shouted while driving, glancing at her passenger.

Without a word, Xiao Qing leapt out of the window and climbed onto the roof. Her grappling hook launcher locked onto Bone Dragon’s path—thunk!—the hook embedded into a weathered stone ahead.

With a twist of her wrist, the launcher began reeling her in fast. Xiao Qing soared into the air, blasting forward with incredible speed, closing in on Hu Lushou mid-escape. While still airborne, she kicked her legs back, and the booster thrusters on her power suit's legs ignited, allowing her to dash seven times through the air—landing right behind Wang Wanya.

In the same breath, she raised her gunblade and slashed!

The slicing airwave was so sharp it cut straight through the flying sand. With a clang, a row of spikes along Hu Lushou’s back were shaved clean off.

“Hyaah!”

Hu Lushou twisted his body, launching the remaining bone spikes behind him like a meteor shower.

“Fire Fist!”

BOOM!

Before the spikes could land, a wave of flames swept them away. Lu Xingchen charged in, flames roaring across his suit.

“You scum! You’re not getting away!”

Xiao Qing's eyes reflected the blazing red flames. She glanced at Lu Xingchen, then fired her grappling line again and burst forward, her fierce momentum targeting the fleeing Bone Dragon.

Lu Xingchen was stunned for a moment—this girl was even more eager to steal the spotlight than he was. But then he grinned, sped up, and gathered a massive fireball in his right hand before slamming it down:

“Divine: Flameburst Star!”

BOOM!

A tremendous explosion erupted in front of Bone Dragon, flinging him high into the air. Just then, a dark silhouette flashed in—a reversed grip, and then—

“Arc Reaver!”

Xiao Qing murmured her made-up move name under her breath.

But Lu Xingchen, with sharp ears, heard her.

“Hmm?”

Schwing!

A single slash cleaved through Bone Dragon’s spinning armor, slicing off his entire left arm along with his power suit.

“Aaaaah!!”

Bone Dragon screamed, crashing into the ground.

“Arc Reaver, huh? Nice name.”

Lu Xingchen landed beside her and commented with genuine admiration.

Xiao Qing’s face darkened slightly, glancing away awkwardly—clearly not wanting others to hear her made-up move names. But every time she whispered one, she still thought it sounded cool.

Meanwhile, Bone Dragon could only curse the heavens. What the hll are these people? Where did this freak show come from?* Flame gods, blade-wielding freaks, armored suits getting slashed in half—was this still Blue Planet or some post-apocalyptic nightmare?

Sensing death closing in, Bone Dragon saw that Lu Xingchen and Xiao Qing were talking instead of finishing him off. Realizing this might be his only chance, he began to roll up again—hoping to escape into the sandstorm.

But just as he began curling into a ball—

WHAM!

A woman dropped from above, grabbed him by the collar, and raised her fist.

BOOOOM!

The punch hit him like a hundred-ton truck. His power armor shattered, and his organs ruptured on the spot.

“Pffft... f** you all…*”

Bone Dragon spat blood, glaring at the beautiful woman in front of him.

“If I’d caught you first… I would’ve wrecked you…”

He didn’t even know what to say for his last words—his brain just short-circuited.

Ning Jing’s expression was cold as ice. She casually flung him to the ground and stomped on his head, crushing it.

“What were you two chatting about?”

She looked at Lu Xingchen and Xiao Qing.

“Move. We’ve still got one more to take down.”

Lu Xingchen frowned at the corpse, frustrated that he hadn’t been ruthless enough. Next time, burn them to ash.

----------------------------------------

Back on Old Scorpion’s side—Lin Xian and KIKI saw that A Bai’s laser hadn’t taken him out. Their expressions turned grim.

The sandstorm was arriving fast. Visibility dropped. The wind howled louder, at first tossing scattered sand pebbles against the rocks with pitter-patter—then escalating into a roar of sand striking like razor blades.

Monica, in her rose-red power suit, streaked across the horizon. Whoosh whoosh!—two invisible sonic blades sliced deep grooves into the desert floor. Old Scorpion darted through the sand, dodging continuously.

Lin Xian launched several drones forward. The targeting system locked in.

Twenty Thunder Falcon drones unleashed their pulse rays simultaneously.

BOOM!

The sand dune exploded. The fat man, Old Scorpion, was flung into the air and crashed to the ground.

“KIKI!”

KIKI prepared to grab him with telekinesis. Lin Xian raised his hand to fire the Kinetic Cannon.

But Old Scorpion suddenly sprang from the sand and tossed a disk-like device toward Shu Qin and Lü Chang. It vibrated with a strange frequency and trembled violently on the ground.

Lin Xian’s instincts kicked in.

“Back! Fall back!”

Shu Qin and Lü Chang sensed something wrong and retreated—but the ground was rippling like quicksand. KIKI used her powers to yank both of them upward.

BOOM!

From beneath the surface, dozens of monstrous tentacles erupted—reaching for them.

“Watch out!”

Whoosh whoosh whoosh!

Their power suits’ boosters ignited. With KIKI’s help, they blasted into the air—dodging the deadly grasp by inches.

Zzzap!

A laser beam swept across, severing the entire row of tentacles. A Bai had arrived.

But now the ground shook violently. Pebbles rattled. Something terrifying was rumbling underground.

“Careful!”

KIKI shouted to Lin Xian while helping Shu Qin land.

“Everyone, fall back!”

Lin Xian was alarmed. That disk wasn’t just bait—it was a trigger. He quickly scanned the device and devoured it remotely using his power. Then he switched to the Gravity Lens—he couldn’t risk triggering a Dark Mark with a full-on cannon blast.

“You think you can hide?!”

High in the sky, space twisted. A concentrated solar beam swept across the desert, slashing toward the escaping sand mound.

Gravitational Solar Ray!

A beam as thick as a barrel burned a molten trench across the desert. Whatever monster had been hiding underground was vaporized. The violent tremors ceased. The sand mound split open—

“Aaaah!!”

Old Scorpion screamed. His body tumbled out, legs and lower torso incinerated—leaving just a bloated upper body rolling across the sand.

“Don’t kill me! I’ve got vital intel—I’ll trade it for my life!”

Desperate now, he clung to his last hope.

Suddenly, the mutated tentacles retreated back underground.

“What intel?” Lin Xian asked coldly through the storm.

“It’s... it’s top secret! About the Federation... there’s a treasure... in the dead zone…”

As he spoke, he secretly triggered a deadly explosive hidden in his prosthetic finger—wired to a toxin bomb inside his gut.

As the others approached, he heard the soft countdown ticking from inside—and grinned maniacally.

If I’m dying, you all are going down with me!

He cursed everything. After Apocalypse Day, he ruled the Western Gobi, killing and looting at will. Once a lowlife who gambled away his family, he’d built an empire—the Sand Scorpion Gang, pillaging at will, collecting weapons, and enslaving beautiful women.

And now, it was all gone. He hated these bastards for ruining his paradise.

“Treasure? What treasure?” KIKI asked curiously.

“Come closer, I’ll show you.” Old Scorpion’s grin widened as they approached.

“Haha… the treasure… is your tomb! DIE WITH ME!”

He raised both hands, laughing madly.

But nothing happened.

Ding~ A cheery chime came from his stomach instead.

“What’s your daddy’s daddy called?”

“Daddy’s daddy is Grandpa!”

Old Scorpion froze. That wasn't a bomb—it was an alarm clock.

Shu Qin appeared before him, pinning him down with force. The eerie song from his belly wiped the grin off his face.

“Waiting for your bomb to go off?”

Lin Xian walked over, expression cold. To someone like him, Old Scorpion’s hidden tech was like child’s play.

Before the detonation, Lin Xian had already devoured the explosive and replaced it with an alarm clock.

Old Scorpion’s pupils dilated. Looking at Lin Xian’s icy face, he felt true terror—for he didn’t even get to choose how he died.

“N-no… I really have a sec—”

ZAP ZAP ZAP!

Twenty Thunder Falcon drones fired together. The barrage of pulse beams turned him into a smoking husk.

Lin Xian stepped forward and devoured the Iron Union Emblem from Old Scorpion’s heart, created a fake, stuffed a new trigger device inside, and tossed it aside.

“Let whoever picks it up enjoy a surprise.”

“That scumbag was trying to take someone down with him,” KIKI muttered, tossing the corpse with telekinesis.

Monica whistled—and the bloated corpse burst into red mist.

“He could summon eerie entities?” Shu Qin asked, surprised.

“Not summon—bait,” Lin Xian said, narrowing his eyes at the blueprint inside his Mechanical Heart.

That disk was too advanced for mere raiders. Like the Iron Emblem, it had to come from a much higher power.

“We should fall back to the convoy,” Monica suggested. The sandstorm was nearly upon them.

“It’s over. Let’s regroup at Akesai. Once the storm passes, we’ll count our losses.”

The teams nodded and turned back.

At this point, the United Train had already arrived at Akesai Station, its colossal body—stretching over ten kilometers—resting across the vast expanse of the Gobi.

Inside the city, Hu Lushou, Chen Sixuan, Lu Zhao, and the others had just finished clearing out the remaining Sand Scorpions. Upon receiving Lin Xian’s update, they immediately began rallying all survivors to get back onto their vehicles and prepare for the incoming sandstorm.

“Captain Lin! There’ll be eerie entities in the storm—everyone must stay completely silent!”

Hu Lushou's voice came through the communicator, filled with urgency. He and Sun Chang quickly retreated into the nuclear shelter under the Black Rose Bar.

“Attention all units: once you’re inside the vehicles, avoid making any vibrations.”

Lin Xian had already scanned the resonance device earlier. Though he wasn’t entirely sure how it worked, he understood one thing—vibration might trigger danger.

Soon, including the Infinite Train, all members of the convoy had returned to their vehicles. Doors locked, windows sealed.

To ensure absolute safety, Lin Xian ordered every convoy to shut off all electronics—water purifiers, air conditioning, everything. The interior of the train fell into utter silence.

He walked into the cockpit and looked out through the armored viewpane.

The northeastern sky seemed to split open.

A towering sand wall, over a kilometer high, advanced relentlessly at 80 kilometers per hour. The cloud-churning crest rolled like a tsunami. At the wall’s base, debris—rocks, fuel barrels, wreckage—clattered loudly as they were swept forward.

This wasn’t wind anymore. It was solid air, like a wall of sandpaper grinding the world down. The sound of sand grating against rock intensified—from a soft buzz to a howl like a thousand blades, mingled with cries and wails no one could tell were real or imagined.

Then—

WHOOOOSH!!

The sandstorm collapsed like a curtain of night, engulfing the entire desert.

Far away, under a rock outcrop in a nearby canyon, a group of youths in sand masks stood silently. One of them looked toward the convoy in the distance, then tapped a recorder on his chest to start a new log. A deep voice filtered through his face mask:

“Timestamp: D-99. Region: Western Gobi, Bone Dragon sector. Forbidden Entity Detected. Temporary Designation: 0051. Subject: One Fire-Ability User…”