108: Chapter 108 Encountering a Sandstorm

At seven in the morning, before dawn, the courtyard gate of the "Desert Solitary Smoke" guesthouse was struck with a "thump, thump, thump."

Chen Fan had not slept all night. After storing that giant meteorite into the space jade pendant last night, he immediately treated it with an Amplification-enhanced strong oxidizing agent.

But the process was more complex than he had anticipated—those dark green biofilms were extremely tenacious; even when soaked in a high-concentration oxidizing agent, they still squirmed, trying to cling to the container walls. In the end, Chen Fan had to apply Amplification to the oxidizing agent three consecutive times to completely dissolve and inactivate the biofilm.

By the time he finished, it was already four in the morning. Chen Fan simply didn't sleep, sitting cross-legged in the courtyard and beginning to absorb the Star Core energy from the meteorite.

When the knocking sounded, Chen Fan had just completed a round of absorption. He opened his eyes, the dark gold flowing light deep in his pupils slowly fading away, and stood up to open the door.

Three people stood outside: Zhao Mingyuan and two fully armed soldiers. They were driving a military jeep, with empty boxes piled on the vehicle.

"Mr. Chen, sorry to disturb you." Zhao Mingyuan immediately apologized. "We've come to collect the disinfectant. After you left, two more people who were attacked by infected animals were brought in."

Chen Fan nodded and stepped aside: "It's in the vehicle, follow me."

In the backyard, the trunk of the mengshi off-road vehicle was open, with bottles of Amplification-enhanced mineral water neatly stacked inside.

Zhao Mingyuan picked up a bottle, unscrewed the cap, took a light sniff, and his eyes lit up: "This is the smell. After researcher Fu Dong's wound was rinsed yesterday, it had this fresh ozone scent." He turned to signal the soldiers, "Load it all up, handle with care."

The two soldiers began moving the items. The loading was complete.

Zhao Mingyuan shook hands with Chen Fan to say goodbye: "Mr. Chen, thank you very much. Please be careful when going out these next few days... The Gobi Desert weather warning says a strong sandstorm might hit in the evening; if you encounter it, find a place to hide as soon as possible."

"Understood."

After seeing off Zhao Mingyuan and his group, Chen Fan went back inside for a quick wash and ate some dry rations. Looking toward the Northwest through the window, heavy gray-yellow clouds were gathering above the horizon; it was indeed not a good sign.

But he still had tasks today.

Yesterday, he had only collected meteorites from eight spots, while Xiao Zhi's scan showed at least twenty more Star Core signal sources within a fifty-kilometer radius. The sandstorm wouldn't arrive until evening, so he still had most of the day.

At exactly eight o'clock, Chen Fan drove out.

The temperature in the Gobi Desert was pleasant in the early morning, and the air was fresh. He efficiently shuttled between the marked points according to the route planned by Xiao Zhi.

The ninth marking point was on the shaded side of a Yardang mound; the meteorite was only the size of a fist, but its purity was extremely high. After absorbing it, Chen Fan felt his mental power increase significantly.

The tenth spot was located in a dried-up ancient riverbed, where the meteorite was half-buried in pebbles, with several animal skeletons scattered nearby—judging by the skeletal structure, they were Gobi antelopes that had died after being infected.

The eleventh, the twelfth... by two in the afternoon, Chen Fan had already absorbed meteorites from sixteen marking points. His strength grew at a visible rate: his Energy Vision range expanded to a radius of fifteen hundred meters, his total mental power reached five times the baseline value, and his various bodily functions were greatly enhanced.

Almost simultaneously, Chen Fan's Energy Vision captured those three figures.

They rushed out from behind a sand dune in the Northwest, moving so fast they left afterimages behind them. Those weren't wolves; they were infected camels, and their movement speed had become very fast after mutation.

Chen Fan gripped his entrenching tool and assumed a combat stance.

The three camels stopped abruptly thirty meters away from him, surrounding him in a triangular formation. They didn't attack immediately, but instead pointed those two black-hole-like "eye sockets" at Chen Fan, their heads turning slightly as if observing and evaluating.

Then, the one in the middle pointed toward the mengshi off-road vehicle behind Chen Fan and let out an extremely piercing screech, similar to metal grinding.

Was it conveying a command?

The other two immediately took action—they didn't pounce on Chen Fan, but instead split to the left and right, attempting to circle around and attack the vehicle from behind.

Clear objectives, distinct tactics.

Chen Fan's heart sank. These guys' intelligence levels had also increased.

"Xiao Zhi, prioritize protecting the vehicle!"

The Waterdrop instantly accelerated.

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

Three massive bodies crashed to the ground.

Chen Fan panted heavily, looking at the corpses on the ground. The battle had only lasted one second.

Chen Fan clearly felt that the mutants seemed to have become smarter.

Chen Fan himself walked over to the Basalt and began digging up the meteorite underneath. This meteorite wasn't large, only about the size of a basketball, but its purity was extremely high.

He quickly finished absorbing the energy, threw the meteorite remains back into the pit, and prepared to evacuate.

But at the moment he turned around, the sky and earth suddenly changed color.

The sky, which had been clear just a moment ago, suddenly saw a massive yellow-brown wall rising between heaven and earth in the Northwest. That wasn't a cloud; it was sand—billions of tons of dust were being swept up by the gale, forming a sand wall hundreds of meters high, advancing toward this direction at an alarming speed.

The sandstorm had arrived. And it was at least three hours earlier than Zhao Mingyuan had predicted.

The gale arrived first, the swept-up sand and stones hitting the car body like bullets with a clinking sound. Visibility plummeted from several kilometers to less than fifty meters in seconds.

"Get in the car!" Chen Fan pulled open the car door, and Xiao Zhi followed closely behind.

The mengshi off-road vehicle started, its wheels swaying violently in the gale. Chen Fan gripped the steering wheel tightly and floored the accelerator, racing toward the Southeast—the opposite direction of the incoming sandstorm.

But the speed of the sand wall's advance was too fast. In the rearview mirror, that massive yellow-brown wall devouring heaven and earth drew closer and closer: two hundred meters, one hundred meters, fifty meters... "Xiao Zhi, calculate the escape probability!"

[Current vehicle speed is eighty kilometers per hour, the sandstorm's front is moving at one hundred and twenty kilometers per hour, estimated to be overtaken in two minutes and seventeen seconds. It is recommended to find cover for shelter.]

Cover? In this flat Gobi Desert, where was there any cover?

Chen Fan's gaze swept rapidly and suddenly saw a faint, protruding dark shadow to the front-right—it was a group of Yardang mounds!

HeTurn the steering wheel sharply，The off-road vehicle traced a thrilling arc in the strong winds.，Rushing towards that mound。

Just as the car rushed into the depression between the mounds, the sand wall arrived.

The world fell into a chaotic, murky yellow.

The gale howled past the roof, sand and stones hitting the car body and windows like a torrential rain, making a dense pitter-patter sound. Visibility dropped to zero, with nothing but churning, thick, inseparable dust outside the windows. The car body shook violently in the wind, as if it could be overturned at any moment.

Chen Fan turned off the engine and turned on the internal circulation system. But fine dust still seeped in through the gaps, quickly accumulating a thin layer on the dashboard.

"Xiao Zhi, monitor the external environment."

[Wind speed is thirty-five meters per second, visibility is less than one meter, and the dust concentration in the air exceeds five thousand milligrams per cubic meter. The sandstorm is expected to last three to five hours.]

Three to five hours... Chen Fan leaned back against the seat and closed his eyes. Now, he could only wait.

Outside the car, the roar of the sandstorm was like the collective howling of ten thousand beasts. And within that roar, Chen Fan seemed to hear another sound—

It was very faint, like something was crying out.