"Being chosen as a member of the first expedition team, perhaps it’s a kind of luck," another team member whispered, "The further back we go, the survival probability upon boarding becomes smaller... at least we won’t suffer the fate of ’dying before the expedition even starts’. "
The issue of insufficient balance on the metro card only exists on the way from Chunming City to Egypt, but not on the return trip—each traffic card in the Chunming metro held by expedition team members has already been prepaid with a hundred thousand dollars. Even if they were to ride the metro every day for fun, it would take years before the money runs out.
"Haha, now the risk factor has turned around," a female team member dryly laughed twice and said, "A friend of mine who was selected into the expedition team training camp with me said the risks of the first expedition team were too high, and she’d rather not excel so much and be placed in subsequent batches... I wonder what she would think upon hearing this news."
"Thinking like that? Just drop out of the training camp," the previous speaker retorted disdainfully, "We all volunteered to join the expedition team; if she’s afraid of dying, there’s really no need to come to the training camp."
"She’s like me, a Free Hunter," the female team member shook her head, "Free Hunters don’t have ideals as noble as you people living off the government, we’re either in it for the money or some other benefit... she’s quite desperate for money, which is why she applied to attend the training."
Upon hearing this, Sun Hang couldn’t help but think of Cheng Ming.
(P.S. I’ll correct a mistake from the previous text here: the original personnel list of the expedition team should have been nine people. In the first Chapter of Volume 5, I accidentally left out Cheng Ming, but now that Chapter is locked and can’t be edited, so I can only supplement it here.)
"And you? Are you in it for money or some other thing?" Sun Hang asked as he looked at this female Hunter.
"I just want to see the outside world," the female Hunter replied.
Sun Hang glanced at her wheat-colored skin and mixed-race features, and opened the terminal to check her information.
"Is it because your ancestors were refugees who fled from Egypt to Xiazhou?" Sun Hang asked.
"Yes, when I was a child, my great-grandmother often told me what the land looked like before it was invaded by those bizarre entities... so I’ve always wanted to see it with my own eyes," the female Hunter shrugged, "I always thought I could only dream about it, but what I didn’t expect was that I would actually get this opportunity in my lifetime..."
"You may be disappointed," Sun Hang shook his head, "There is nothing but sand."
"Whether I’ll be disappointed or not, I need to see it to know," the female Hunter smiled, placing the large bag she was carrying on the ground. As soon as the bag fell, the objects inside made a crisp clattering sound.
Apart from Sun Hang, every member of the expedition team carried a large backpack and two large boxes of "luggage"—among the contents, there were essential survival supplies and scientific equipment, but the majority consisted of various modular "building materials."
After three days and nights of discussions by a professional team at Dubhe Tower, the design blueprints for the outpost were sent to Sun Hang’s inbox on the third night.
Unlike those fixed scientific research stations or outposts, this outpost was designed to be a mobile "land vessel."
Inspired perhaps by the "ship sails" Sun Hang saw, Dubhe Tower designed the outpost to be a sand vessel that could "sail" on the Desert Sea—it not only solved the problem of the low friction coefficient of the Desert Sea which made it difficult to set a fixed foundation, but also greatly enhanced flexibility and safety.
Once a Sinking Sand Giant Worm was detected nearby, the sand vessel could easily evade with all expedition members and equipment onboard—with multi-energy system support, the sand vessel’s theoretical maximum speed on the Desert Sea could even exceed 190 kilometers per hour. Moreover, when necessary, the sand vessel could sink beneath the Desert Sea, turning into a "Sand Submarine."
...
After half an hour’s journey, the ghost train burst out of the dunes and stopped in the endless Desert Sea.
No one had time to marvel at the environment outside the train. As soon as the doors opened, they quickly moved all their "luggage" off the train.
Under normal circumstances, if ordinary people directly stepped onto the surface of the Desert Sea, their feet would quickly sink as if they were stuck in a swamp. To solve this problem, the research department at Dubhe Tower developed a special gel in accordance with the characteristics of the Desert Sea. When sprayed on the Desert Sea, it temporarily sticks those low friction coefficient sand grains together, forming a footing area similar to an "ice cap on the sea."
Sun Hang was the last to leave the train carriage. After stepping onto the gel-bonded sand, the ghost train soon burrowed into the dunes and completely disappeared from everyone’s view.
Sun Hang raised his head to observe the position of the sun in the sky, which was almost at the same time as his last visit—one has to say, the ghost train is quite punctual.
"Just... tch," Sun Hang looked around and clicked his tongue lightly.
"What’s wrong?" The expedition team leader looked at Sun Hang, feeling slightly anxious.
Sun Hang was the only one among them who had been here before, and he was also the real top authority among this group of people—evn the leader of the expedition team had to unconditionally obey all of Sun Hang’s orders. In other words, until Sun Hang leaves on the ghost train after five and a half hours, he is the true leader of this expedition team.
"I have a feeling, this station is not the same as before," Sun Hang said.
"How did you figure that out?" asked the female Hunter of Egyptian descent, "As you said earlier, there’s nothing here but sand, and the distribution and shape of dunes change constantly... satellite positioning devices aren’t much use here... is this your ability?"
The dunes of the Desert Sea are like ocean waves, a gentle breeze can drastically alter them—the moment the group had been off the train for less than two minutes, the surrounding dunes had already shifted several times.
"No, it’s just pure intuition," Sun Hang shook his head, "If you insist on a reason, I can’t provide one."
"Then what should we do next?" asked the expedition team leader.
"Don’t ask me, you are the leader," Sun Hang shrugged, "You do your thing, don’t worry about me."
"According to the original plan, the scientific staff in the team will immediately start collecting environmental data, the combat personnel will be responsible for keeping watch, and the rest will begin assembling the sand vessel..." the expedition team leader continued, "As for you..."
"I do what I want," Sun Hang interjected, "I’m going to wander around but rest assured, I won’t go far."
"Okay," the expedition team leader nodded, "Please mind the remaining time, and make sure to return before the final deadline."
"I will."