Long Ming calmly gave the red-spotted giant monitor another look, then turned and ran forward.
It was the first time he had ever seen a monitor lizard of such enormous size, and its body was covered in red lumps. No matter how he looked at it, it did not seem like a normal creature.
Without firearms or other weapons in hand, there was no way they could beat it.
Just then, one of the players running at the very back suddenly let out a terrified cry.
“Help!”
Long Ming glanced back over his shoulder and saw the red-spotted giant monitor racing after them at astonishing speed. It opened its bloody maw, revealing rows of sharp fangs, and pounced straight onto the player who had fallen behind.
“Run!”
When everyone saw this, they ran forward with even greater desperation.
A chill rose in Long Ming’s heart as well. He abruptly sped up, overtaking one player after another.
“Ah!”
One player after another was caught by the red-spotted giant monitor, letting out despairing screams.
Although they clearly knew it was only a game, those heart-rending screams still made their hair stand on end.
Just then, Gu Yi, who was running ahead of Long Ming, suddenly stepped into empty ground. His left foot instantly sank into the quicksand, and his entire body tilted downward.
“Chen Wei, hurry and save me!”
Gu Yi immediately shouted to his companion.
At that moment, a tall, thin man about 1.8 meters in height, with a scar on his chin, immediately stopped. He reached out and grabbed Gu Yi’s hand, trying to forcibly pull him out.
Unfortunately, just as Chen Wei exerted his strength, one of his own feet sank in as well. With no point of leverage, he could not put any strength into it at all; instead, he was nearly dragged down by Gu Yi.
“Damn it, get over here and help!”
Chen Wei shouted at the other players they had only just met.
Unfortunately, those players had long since been scared out of their wits. They simply kept running forward with all their might.
When Gu Yi saw that Chen Wei was about to be dragged into the quicksand, he anxiously said to him,
“Chen Wei, let go.”
“Bullshit. Do I look like the kind of person who has no loyalty? If we die, we die together!”
Chen Wei clung tightly to Gu Yi without letting go, and the two of them sank bit by bit into the quicksand.
Seeing this, Long Ming was somewhat surprised. He had not expected these two fellows to be so loyal.
Just as the two of them thought they were going to meet their end here, an iron chain suddenly whipped down in front of them.
Gu Yi stared blankly at the iron chain before him, then reacted and reached out to grab it.
Long Ming and Chen Wei immediately exerted their strength at the same time and gave a fierce pull, instantly dragging Gu Yi out.
After saving Gu Yi, Long Ming did not stop. He continued running forward.
Seeing this, Chen Wei and Gu Yi also scrambled up in a fluster and fled for their lives.
A moment later, Long Ming and the others successfully shook off the red-spotted giant monitor. Everyone walked forward, panting heavily.
The group that had originally numbered around a hundred people now had only a few dozen left. The others had all scattered.
At this moment, Gu Yi and Chen Wei walked up beside Long Ming.
“Thanks, brother!”
Long Ming ignored the two of them and simply kept walking forward.
Seeing that Long Ming did not respond, Gu Yi and Chen Wei followed beside him in confusion and asked, puzzled,
“Brother, we’re thanking you. Why aren’t you replying?”
“What would I reply to you for? I’d rather save some strength for walking.”
“No, brother, I think there’s no need for you to keep walking. In weather this hot, we won’t get far. We might as well wait until night, when the temperature drops, then continue exploring.”
“Naive. In the desert, the temperature plummets at night. People can freeze to death.”
Long Ming continued walking forward expressionlessly.
Hearing Long Ming’s words, Gu Yi and Chen Wei froze for a moment. Then they came back to their senses and hurriedly followed.
“Brother, my name is Gu Yi. This is my brother Chen Wei. What should we call you?”
Gu Yi asked solicitously.
“Designation NO.841221.”
Long Ming replied coldly.
When Gu Yi heard Long Ming’s words, the corners of his mouth twitched. He then said with a chuckle,
“Aren’t you going to change your name? Or tell us your real name?”
Long Ming glanced at Gu Yi and simply ignored him, continuing forward.
Though Gu Yi had been given a soft rebuff, he did not lose heart and kept closely following Long Ming.
At this time, although many of the other players were so drained that they could barely walk, when they saw Long Ming still moving forward, they could only grit their teeth and follow.
Time passed bit by bit, and in the blink of an eye, evening arrived.
The scorching temperature gradually began to fall.
Long Ming felt increasingly uneasy. Given how arid this place was, the temperature might very well drop below freezing at night.
But this desert had also driven him to the edge of despair from walking.
Gu Yi and the others were even more exhausted, their vision nearly going black as they collapsed onto the sand dune.
“I can’t do this anymore. Even wilderness survival shouldn’t be this excessive, right?”
“Yeah! I can’t take it either. Just let me die.”
At this moment, Long Ming could no longer walk either. He lay straight down on the sand dune, panting continuously.
“Sigh—what kind of crappy game is this? Did we come in here to suffer?”
“I can’t even tell anymore whether we’re playing the game, or the game is playing us.”
Gu Yi and Chen Wei complained to Long Ming.
Unfortunately, Long Ming did not respond to them for a long time.
“Brother, why aren’t you saying anything? Do you dislike talking that much?”
Gu Yi turned to look at Long Ming in utter puzzlement. This was way too aloof.
Long Ming opened his cracked lips and replied irritably,
“What is there to say? I’m terribly thirsty. Aren’t you thirsty?”
“We are!”
“Then shut your mouths. Don’t keep talking endlessly beside me. Otherwise, go lie farther away.”
Long Ming truly could not be bothered to waste words with Gu Yi and Chen Wei.
He looked up at the stars gradually emerging in the sky, his mood extremely heavy.
Originally, he had come in full of enthusiasm, thinking that with his own talent, even if he could not thrive, he would at least be able to earn some money to get by. But he had never imagined that this game would turn out to be like this.
If they still could not find something and had to keep surviving in the wilderness, he might really end up reduced to begging.
Soon, time passed second by second, and the temperature grew colder and colder.
Long Ming was also terribly sleepy, his eyelids fighting to close. If he shut them now, there was a high chance he would never wake up.
However, at this moment, the grains of sand on the ground suddenly trembled slightly.
“Something’s wrong. There’s a situation!”
Long Ming’s eyes snapped open, and he issued a warning.
When Gu Yi and the others heard Long Ming’s words, they sprang up from the ground and looked around in terror, afraid that some ghostly thing would crawl out.
However, after a long while, nothing crawled out.
Just as everyone was confused, Gu Yi suddenly opened his mouth wide, pointed into the distance, and shouted in horror,
“Look over there!”
Long Ming and the others immediately climbed over the sand dune and raised their heads to look into the distance.
At the distant horizon, a colossal object flickering with specks of light was moving, and from time to time it emitted tremendous rumbling sounds.
“What the hell is that thing?”
“No idea!”
Many of the players muttered blankly.
Long Ming’s expression shifted repeatedly before he charged toward that moving colossus.
Seeing this, Gu Yi and the others all followed.
As the distance between them shortened, Long Ming and the others gradually got a clear look at it.
It was a dilapidated mobile fortress. The entire fortress was constructed from black metal. On its upper half stood interconnected steel buildings, with turrets erected along the edges and metal chimneys belching black smoke. Its bottom was fitted with special giant tracks.
The entire mobile fortress had suffered heavy damage, with breaches everywhere.