Sun Hang stepped on the sand beneath his feet, and compared to the desert he remembered, the sand here was extremely fluid. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to call it flowing sand, as one step would plunge him deep. It’s no wonder Mr. Ouyang’s team was stuck at this technical challenge.
Sun Hang, weighing over 130 pounds, could feel his feet and legs constantly sinking while standing on this shifting dune. He had to construct a fungal mesh at his feet, hundreds of times larger than the sole area, to decrease the pressure to a level that wouldn’t sink into the flowing sand.
However, the return rocket weighs hundreds of tons, and finding a sufficiently stable support point in such terrain is difficult under limited conditions.
Over 90% of Egypt’s land area is desert, but Cairo is not.
The Nile River is called the mother river of Egypt because, as once the world’s longest river, it truly nurtured and nourished the human civilization along its banks as a source of life.
The banks of the Nile River can be said to be the most fertile lands in the entire North African region, and Cairo, located on the Nile River mouth delta, is the most brilliant jewel of this fertile land.
It’s a pity that now the jewel has turned into a handful of yellow sand, and the mother river has long dried up, with even the valleys completely buried.
Sun Hang bent down, scooped up a handful of sand, and as he tilted his palm, the sand quickly slipped away, with not even the grains stuck between the palm lines left on his hand.
Clearly, this sand is not the same as regular sand.
"Strictly speaking, this sand is not naturally formed; it belongs to the excrement of the Sinking Sand Giant Worm." The main brain seemed to notice the doubt within Sun Hang’s heart and proactively explained, "The Sinking Sand Giant Worm devours everything it touches, then converts it into this substance similar to sand grains and expels it."
Upon hearing that what he just grabbed was actually the ’feces’ of the Sinking Sand Giant Worm, Sun Hang disdainfully wiped his hand on his pants.
"The Candle Dragon told me that the Sinking Sand Giant Worm has some characteristics of an earthworm, so besides being severed and multiplying, this excretion of sand is also one of its traits?"
"It is," the main brain replied, "The sand expelled by the Sinking Sand Giant Worm is over ten times smoother than the average sand grain’s surface. Such low friction turns this desert into a swamp-like area. According to the final footage from the drone, the ruins of Cairo’s construction initially sank into the flowing sand depths, then were digested by the Sinking Sand Giant Worm, becoming part of the desert."
"Literal ’Desert Sea’." Sun Hang nodded with heartfelt emotion, but at the same time, he suddenly felt a slight vibration on the ground—though very subtle, it was indeed real.
"Is the Phantom Train back? Or is it the Sinking Sand Giant Worm?"
"Currently analyzing the seismic data... Analysis complete, the seismic source is 49 kilometers away, with a depth of 1700 meters, moving in a non-linear path towards the west-northwest at 23 degrees to 27 degrees... The probability of it being a Sinking Sand Giant Worm is over 99%! Please conceal all traces! Suppress your presence!"
As Sun Hang completely concealed his presence, a military binocular suddenly appeared in his hand, directed towards the seismic source.
Twenty seconds later, a massive tubular worm breached the sand surface, shooting skyward, swallowing a cunning bird gliding at an altitude of 300 meters.
Then, the tubular worm rapidly curved in the air, lunged towards the ground, burrowing effortlessly into the depths of the Desert Sea.
The entire hunting process took less than three seconds.
"Honestly, I doubt..." Sun Hang muttered, "Does the nutrients provided by this prey even cover the energy required for a jump like that?"
"In terms of energy, this hunt is definitely a negative-yield behavior, but the Sinking Sand Giant Worm’s energy supply organs are very similar to nuclear fusion reactors, theoretically granting them nearly unlimited energy." The main brain responded, "Besides environmental transformation, the primary purpose of the Sinking Sand Giant Worm’s hunting behavior is meme acquisition."
"They also possess Taotie abilities?" Sun Hang froze for a moment, wondering if these creatures shared some similarities with him?
"Currently, no collected information can prove the Sinking Sand Giant Worm absorbs other mysterious creature memes, but they are indeed influenced by mysterious creature memes, generating behavior similar to phototaxis in insects." The main brain stated, "This was recorded in the First Mysterious Creature War in Egypt."
"Tell me more."
"The Battle of Alexandria." The main brain said, "Alexandria is the second-largest city in Egypt, west of the Nile River Mouth, and Egypt’s largest port city. Seventeen days before Alexandria fell, the coalition detected over a hundred Sinking Sand Giant Worms moving towards Alexandria, deciding to gather forces on the western route at a city yet unfallen, Nobaria. Initially, the giant worms’ movement path did not change, but when a plane full of Mysterious Creature Hunters landed at Nobaria airport, all the giant worms turned instantly, charging towards Nobaria like sharks smelling blood."
"And then?"
"The coalition commander made a decisive order for all hunters to board and leave immediately, but it was too late, and Nobaria could not escape destruction; tens of thousands of gathered troops perished entirely within the city."
"But that doesn’t necessarily prove that the Sinking Sand Giant Worms were definitely attracted by the hunters, right? Assuming these big creatures have considerable intelligence, they could have been feigning ignorance initially, waiting for the coalition to gather forces adequately before suddenly switching attack directions... Such occurrences are not uncommon in war history, are they?" Sun Hang questioned.
"Yes, initially, some coalition high-ranking figures also believed so." The main brain stated, "But subsequent battles showed the Sinking Sand Giant Worms were indeed affected by mysterious creature memes—in the Battle of Cairo, a troop less than a hundred kilometers away, but without any deployed Mysterious Creature Hunters, were completely ignored by them until this troop actively began attacking the Sinking Sand Giant Worms, at which point the worms sent a small portion to respond while the remaining ones continued advancing towards Cairo... Because in Cairo, nearly all Egyptian mysterious creature hunters were gathered; for the Sinking Sand Giant Worms, this attack target had the highest priority."
"What if all hunters and infected are evacuated from Egypt?" Sun Hang thought of a solution, "Wouldn’t these worms then quiet down?"
"As long as there are people, mysterious creatures and infected will always appear, this is unavoidable."
"I suddenly feel that the behavior of the Sinking Sand Giant Worm, rather than hunting, seems more like clearing threats within their territory." Sun Hang pondered, "All non-similar mysterious creatures or infected are perceived as threats by them, and eradicating these threats is the highest priority in their action logic."
[P.S. The recent updates have been lacking, partly due to changes in the full attendance rules and preparing a new book, and also due to some health issues, experiencing unexplained low fever every night for nearly three weeks, feeling fatigue and chills, and facing significant mental stress. I visited the hospital several times but couldn’t find the problem; blood routine tests and inflammation indicators are all normal. The doctor suggests further observation or a comprehensive hospital check-up later, hoping it turns out to be a false alarm.]