By the afternoon, the air had finally cleared up a bit, no longer choked with floating dust like it had been in the morning.
"Class S, Lu Bai, eliminated. Twenty points deducted, hunting points cleared."
Lu Bai, that name sounds a bit familiar... But someone is still getting eliminated at this time?
Wang Tianwei kept her ears perked up as she trekked through the desert, waiting for a long time, but no further announcements came.
Got it. If he wasn't unlucky enough to run into a star beast alone, he must have bumped into Huang Yan or Jian Jingyu!
Yama Chao's methods were still too wild... though it was beyond her expectations that all three of them could hold out until now.
After all, she had ten years of foundational training under her belt. It was impossible for those two to have that too, right!?
And her dad... exactly when did he donate two buildings to the school!?
Since the start of the freshman training, she hadn't had the time to think about it. Once she got out, she definitely had to ask him about it...
During the latter half of today's journey, Wang Tianwei didn't encounter any danger; she didn't even see a single mutant beast.
However, since she had enough food, her craving for snakes and scorpions wasn't that high anyway.
In the evening, sitting in front of the campfire, she flipped the potatoes she was roasting.
Wang Tianwei stared at the food in deep thought. It was really strange! Did the route she chose perfectly avoid the areas where potatoes grew?
Why did everyone else have this durable and filling food in their backpacks, yet she was the only one who hadn't found a single one?
Once roasted, the potatoes gave off bursts of aroma. Wang Tianwei blew on them as she peeled off the outermost skin, then took small bites until she finished a whole potato.
During the day, she had used a roasted scorpion to scare Yuan Lei. That chubby kid had shrieked like a crowing rooster!
But later, he kicked that scorpion to who-knows-where, and it couldn't be found! It made her lose a bit of protein for nothing...
Looking up at the moon hanging in the midair, she figured tomorrow should be good weather.
However, good weather in the desert meant it would be extremely hot... She'd better go to sleep early and wake up early to hit the road.
She was finally going to leave this hellhole!
The surroundings were very quiet. Wang Tianwei sprayed two circles of repellent as usual, went back into her tent, lay down, and closed her eyes.
Ninth Military District.
Yi Shao had just come out from his shower.
In the live broadcast, the freshmen of Qilin Military Academy were gradually resting.
The final night...
Yi Shao shook his head and poured himself a cup of warm water.
These students still didn't understand the principal's methods... The final night was the most suitable time for a sneak attack.
The freshmen were just about as "pure" as he was when he first entered the school, which reminded him of his own school days. Unknowingly, so much time had passed...
While sleeping, Wang Tianwei vaguely felt something was wrong. It seemed like something was sucking on her tent?
Shining the light from her small watch, she saw that the sand outside had already risen. There was indeed something dragging her tent down!
She immediately put on her shoes, grabbed her laser gun, and unzipped the tent to look. Countless things resembling "enoki mushrooms" were growing out of the sand, dragging her tent downward!
"What is this!?"
The rented frying pan, left outside because it hadn't been washed, now only had half of its handle exposed above the ground!
"Buzz!"
Wang Tianwei didn't hesitate to fire at these tentacle-like things.
A row of fine threads was burned off, twisting as if they felt pain, but then they started growing back again!
Seeing this, Wang Tianwei immediately returned to the tent to salvage her backpack and sleeping bag. After coming out again, she held down the trigger, firing at the spots where the tentacles were growing.
A few exclamations also came from the distance. Above her head, a rescue aircraft deactivated its stealth mode and flew towards that direction. It seemed she wasn't the only one under attack.
These things hadn't shown any particular aggressiveness so far; as long as one kept moving, they wouldn't get hooked.
Wang Tianwei tore and pulled, snatching her tent back from the pile of small tentacles.
After carefully examining one of the uprooted tentacles with her watch's built-in flashlight, Wang Tianwei tightened her backpack, turned her head, and started sprinting!
She knew what this thing was!
A star beast—a Sandworm...
Those tentacle-like fine threads were a part of its body!
Sandworms were best at using these small tentacles to unknowingly drag people beneath the sand to suffocate them, and then absorb nutrients from their bodies.
For it to reach here and attack her meant the main body was already very close!
With so many tentacles, just how big was this Sandworm!?
But this kind of star beast was territorial. As long as she escaped its hunting range, it shouldn't be a big problem!
With every step Wang Tianwei took, something was trying to stop her. Before long, the soles of her shoes felt as sticky as if they were coated in glue...
"Class B, Fei Chengping, eliminated."
"Class S, Dodd, eliminated. Twenty points deducted, hunting points cleared."
"Class A, Miao Tong, eliminated. Hunting points cleared."
"..."
The broadcasts continued to announce names. Wang Tianwei already saw teachers wearing mechas bringing students back to the aircraft.
With just a momentary distraction, she tripped over the things beneath her feet!
The moment her upper body touched the ground, she immediately bounced back up. The tentacles didn't even have time to grab her tightly!
Firing a barrage into the sand, Wang Tianwei bypassed this area and started running forward again!
More and more classmates were fleeing for their lives around her!
After the initial panic, everyone remembered the characteristics of the Sandworm. There was no clear direction in the dark, but seeing one person running, the others followed suit!
Wang Tianwei gritted her teeth and persevered, feeling she had sprinted for at least two thousand meters! Her speed had dropped slightly compared to before.
Panting sounds surrounded her. Just as she was about to look back to see if she had run out of range, her ears caught a half-hoarse female voice.
"Don't look back! Watch the road!"
It was the red-haired little bear! So she hadn't surpassed her by too much!
During the day, Zhang Lyra had hesitated repeatedly but still took the medicine Wang Tianwei gave her. Based on the intelligence she had, no matter how she thought about it, she felt this person had no reason to harm her...
After taking the medicine, she indeed felt much better. Her body didn't hurt as much, and her strength had recovered quite a bit, though her voice hadn't fully healed yet.
When night came, it was more like her home turf.
Others might not be able to see clearly what was behind them, but her vision in the dark was excellent!
Originally, only the small tentacles growing out of the ground could be seen, but now the main body of the adult worm behind them had already emerged and was arching its way out!
And those arm-thick tentacles were bursting out of the nearby sand, coiling around!
Danger was everywhere!
Wang Tianwei acutely sensed a change in the sand beneath her feet. It wasn't just this piece of land... the entire sand dune was sinking!
Just how big was the main body of that Sandworm!?
Hearing Zhang Lyra's words, no one dared to waste time looking back. Everyone used all their strength to continue running forward.
At some unknown point, several mechas with their eye lights on were all hovering in midair, watching their direction. Wang Tianwei noticed that the flashy golden mecha from yesterday was among them!
"It's the rescue teachers!"
Someone in the crowd shouted.
Wang Tianwei almost instantly concluded, 'This monster must be very difficult to deal with!'
Sure enough, a silvery-white mecha charged toward their rear without any hesitation!
It quickly returned carrying a student and boarded the aircraft.
The entire process took less than twenty seconds... but that teacher merely snatched the student back, showing absolutely no intention of fighting back!
Wang Tianwei gritted her teeth.
He wasn't leaving her a single opening to exploit!
