Hunter of Mysterious Creature

Chapter 688 - 8: Sand-Buried Behemoth (Part 2)

"Did the Dubhe Tower and the Federation Government take any measures?"

"I don't know the specifics. After I retrieved the meme sample and completed the mission report, I was granted a two-month vacation." Candle Dragon shook his head, "I only know that afterward, the Dubhe Tower dispatched multiple exploration teams to the Taklamakan Region, but as for their experiences... you should be able to find out in the mainframe."

"I'll check it out when I have the time." Sun Hang nodded. For those particularly highly classified information, it can't be found through the networked database of the Dubhe Tower. Those things either exist in safes as physical documents or are stored in an area within the mainframe completely isolated from the network. To review these materials, one would have to return to the Source Palace.

"But the one thing I can confirm is that the Dubhe Tower subsequently lowered the threat priority of the sand worms," Candle Dragon said. "My direct superior told me that based on the investigation and research by Dubhe Tower, the probability of sand worms entering the Federation territory from the Taklamakan Region is basically zero."

"Is it because they only like to stay in the desert?" Sun Hang speculated.

"I don't know... but that country, Egypt, has indeed been completely turned into a vast desert by them."

"Isn't over ninety-five percent of Egypt's territory already desert?" Sun Hang said.

Earlier, he had seen a mummy exhibit in the Tianfu City Museum, accompanied by a detailed introduction to the country of Egypt, where a particular passage left a deep impression on him.

"Ninety-five percent of Egypt's territory is desert, with only five percent in the Nile Valley and Delta Region being non-desert. On this five percent of land, ninety-seven percent of the country's population and agricultural activities are concentrated."

"I mean the Nile River Basin, that remaining five percent," Candle Dragon said. "Wherever the sand worms pass, all oases turn into desert, even city ruins are gradually swallowed by the desert—as they devour everything their mouthparts come into contact with and excrete it as sand."

"Tsk, these mysterious creatures are the number one enemy of desertification control projects," Sun Hang complained.

"Before the Taklamakan Region fell, the Federation had actually made significant progress in desert control in the area, with the vegetation coverage in the Hexi Corridor reaching twenty percent... but when I went there, all I could see was barren Gobi Desert and boundless sand." Candle Dragon said.

"Speaking of which, I'm more interested in the situation over in Egypt." Sun Hang said, "Tell me about that country's... 'War of National Destruction.'"

"There was no such thing as a war of national destruction." Candle Dragon sighed. "Even with aid from the Hezhong States and the European Union, the Egyptians had no power to resist against the sand worms. They could only watch helplessly as one city after another was flattened by the sand worms, from Nasser Lake all the way to the Nile Delta."

"Are all weapons ineffective against the sand worms? What about nuclear weapons?" Sun Hang asked, "This sparsely populated desert area seems the most suitable for using nuclear weapons, right?"

"They tried, but it was largely ineffective. The sand worms' regenerative abilities are exceptionally strong. Without a direct hit, nuclear weapons have a hard time killing them. They only need to burrow underground, drastically reducing the lethal capacity of nuclear weapons... As for the Hunters and conventional weapons, to be honest, many injuries considered fatal to an elephant might not even be a scratch for them."

"Furthermore, at that time, the number of Mysterious Creature Hunters in Egypt was very few, just under a hundred." Candle Dragon continued. "Cairo announced its abandonment when more than one-third of the Nile Delta was surrendered, and the government officials and wealthy individuals fled to Europe. As for the refugees stranded in the Nile Delta Region, they were..."

Candle Dragon didn't continue, but even if he didn't say it, Sun Hang could guess the fate of those refugees.

To the south lies endless desert, a no man's land, and to the north is the Mediterranean Sea, with numerous mysterious creatures emerging from the deep sea rampaging in the southern areas of Europe and the north coast of Africa. Attempting to cross the Mediterranean by boat is nearly impossible.

The refugees' only way out is to cross the Suez Canal, traverse the Sinai Peninsula, and seek refuge in the Central Asia Region... but this escape route requires passing through one desert after another. These deserts are extremely barren, lacking the rich resources and productiveness of the Nile River Valley. It's as difficult as ascending to the heavens for the refugees to rely on their own strength to cross them.

"Do you think there could still be surviving humans in Egypt now?" Sun Hang suddenly had a rather whimsical thought and asked.

"It's not impossible." Candle Dragon thought for a few seconds before nodding his head, "More than ninety percent of the monsters that crawled out of the Mediterranean Sea are attacking the Europe Region, with relatively fewer disturbances on the north coast of Africa. Apart from the sand worms, the frequency of other mysterious creatures appearing in the Sahara Region is very low... precisely because of this, although many cities were destroyed, many refugees survived and flooded into the Nile Delta Region... As long as large-scale human settlements aren't built, they shouldn't attract sand worm attacks... So given this, perhaps there truly are survivors in the northern region of Africa."

"As long as no other mysterious creatures subsequently appear in that region and the problem of survival resources is resolved... rebuilding a home there should be easier than in other Surrendered Areas, right?" Sun Hang said.

"That's easier said, but those two conditions you mentioned are hard to satisfy already." Candle Dragon shook his head again, "The few remaining oases in the Sahara Desert have been mostly destroyed by the sand worms... I can hardly imagine how those survivors are going to live."

"We'll consider this question when we get to Egypt, not even the sand worms are a priority concern for now... Our most critical issue at the moment is—how can we get to Egypt." Sun Hang said, "How far have exploration teams from Dubhe Tower ventured into the Surrendered Areas?"

"As far as I know, the furthest is the Ural Mountain Region of the Old Siberian Federation, which is commonly known as the border of the Eurasian continent."

"How did they get there?"

"Generally, for Surrendered Areas close to the border, we use ground transportation vehicles. As for further distances, the risk of crossing the Surrendered Areas with aircraft is extremely high, so they should use near-space drop methods."

"Near-space drop?"

"That means sending people into space using rockets, and then aiming at a target location, breaking through the atmosphere, and parachuting down." Candle Dragon said. "This method can avoid most mysterious creatures within the Surrendered Areas, but it does have two problems."

"Which two problems?"

"The first problem, the Surrendered Area cannot be observed, so relying on old data for positioning could easily result in errors, and it's possible that where there once was a plain, there is now an abyss. The second problem is that there are powerful anomalies on near-space orbital trajectories, such as..."

"Twin Balloons?" Sun Hang recalled that experience.

"Yes... but the trajectories of anomalies in near-space can be predicted, as it doesn't belong to areas that cannot be observed. Moreover, the anomalies on near-space orbits don't have a strong desire to attack humans. As long as the calculations are precise enough, the rocket and drop pods can completely avoid them."

"Not a strong desire to attack? Are you sure?"