Translator: Stellar Novels Editor: Stellar Novels
At first, Ma Lu thought he was seeing things or encountering a mirage, but as the sand dune got closer, its outline became clearer, kicking up rolling clouds of sand. It was obvious that this was no illusion.
This rare sight made Ma Lu click his tongue in amazement, and he couldn't help but stop to watch. However, as he observed, his expression gradually changed.
He realized that the moving sand dune seemed to be heading straight toward him.
A sense of foreboding rose in Ma Lu's heart.
Without further hesitation, he immediately broke into a sprint, racing towards the side of the sand dune. Ma Lu ran with the same determination he had during his college 1000-meter race, shooting forward like an arrow.
Just as he was about to run out of the dune's path, it suddenly sped up and turned, heading straight for him again.
Ma Lu was forced to change direction once more, but the same scenario played out again; the dune kept following him relentlessly.
By this point, Ma Lu was certain that the sand dune was coming directly for him, and it likely had malicious intent.
The distance between them closed rapidly in this chase, leaving less than a hundred meters between them.
Seeing that he couldn’t escape, Ma Lu gritted his teeth and decided to stop in his tracks, standing his ground.
He quickly reached into his pocket and pulled out a chip.
Unlike a regular casino chip, the back of this one bore a mysterious half-open, half-closed eye, while the front, where a denomination should be, was blank.
Ma Lu placed the chip horizontally between the second and third joints of his index finger, slightly bending his thumb. Then, with a quick flick of his thumb, he sent the chip spinning into the air.
With a soft buzzing sound, the blank chip flew straight up, spinning in the sky as it rose to its peak.
It paused for a moment at the highest point, then began to accelerate downward.
Ma Lu timed it perfectly and, as it fell to chest height, he reached out with his right hand and slapped the chip onto the back of his left hand.
When he lifted his palm, there was now a number where the blank space had been.
—29
Huh? Ma Lu felt his body but didn’t notice any changes. He looked around, but everything seemed the same as before.
When Old Wang had given him this chip, he said it was called "Fate’s Protection", one of the most powerful artifacts in the multiverse, capable of producing unexpected effects at critical moments.
However, Old Wang didn’t remember exactly what it did.
Now, with the sand dune chasing him to a dead end, Ma Lu could only place his hopes on this artifact.
But apart from a meaningless number, he had received nothing.
Meanwhile, the sand dune had arrived right in front of him.
Because of the two suns in the sky, Ma Lu wasn’t engulfed in its massive shadow, but a quick glance was enough to gauge just how enormous this dune was.
It was nearly thirty meters high and over a hundred meters wide.
However, just as it was about to collide with Ma Lu, the dune came to a halt. Then it began to "tremble," as countless grains of sand cascaded down its ridge, raising dust that nearly obscured the sky.
And what was beneath the sand dune finally revealed its true form—a huge, hideous head, somewhat resembling a bumphead parrotfish but even more grotesque.
Its gigantic mouth took up almost two-thirds of its head, and as it opened its jaws, Ma Lu caught sight of its teeth.
Compared to its massive mouth, the teeth were quite small, each less than half a meter long, but there were a lot of them—nearly a thousand in total.
Just as Ma Lu was contemplating whether he should use the chef's knife in his hand to end things himself before being turned into a pincushion, a series of beeping sounds suddenly rang in his ears. Ma Lu thought that "Fate’s Protection" had finally activated, but when he looked down, he saw it was actually a timely notification from the "Traveler's Wristband."
—Ding! Congratulations, you've discovered a 3-star ingredient, "Thousand-Toothed Sandfish." The "Thousand-Toothed Sandfish" entry has been unlocked in the catalog.
???
Ma Lu froze for half a second before remembering that the detection mode had been left on since the last time he activated it. Now it seemed to have picked up something again.
Who would have thought this little gadget had a sense of humor? Compared to the creature in front of him, it seemed more likely that he, not the creature, was closer to being defined as an ingredient.
The monster known as the "Thousand-Toothed Sandfish" seemed to agree, as it was preparing to eat him.
But just then, a mechanical spear crackling with electricity flew straight into its gaping mouth.
Ma Lu turned his head and saw a strangely shaped motorcycle speeding down from a nearby sand dune.
This motorcycle was at least twice the size of a regular one, with a much longer body. Its iron shell was covered in all sorts of dents and repair marks, making it look like it could fall apart at any moment.
But the most striking part was underneath the bike: instead of front and rear wheels, there was a continuous track, making the motorcycle better suited for travel on sand.
The rider of this steel beast was less than 1.7 meters tall, fully wrapped up, even with a face scarf and black goggles. As they got closer, they shouted to Ma Lu in a raspy voice.
"What are you standing there for? Run! I'll distract it for you!"
"Run where?"
Ma Lu's question stunned the rider for a moment. "Where’s your bike?"
Before Ma Lu could answer, the rider continued, "Get on! The Thousand-Toothed Sandfish is too big. The electric spear only distracted it; it won't paralyze it."
As if to prove the rider's point, the Thousand-Toothed Sandfish, now more enraged than ever, swung its massive head around, lips still crackling with electricity.
The rider didn’t slow down, instead twisting the throttle to the max, speeding past Ma Lu.
Ma Lu quickly understood and attempted a stylish leap onto the bike, but missed entirely.
Fortunately, in the critical moment, the rider reached out and grabbed Ma Lu by the collar, hoisting him into the air.
The bike's engine roared to full power, allowing them to narrowly escape the jaws of death.
The Thousand-Toothed Sandfish slammed its head into the ground with a loud thud, sending a rain of sand into the air.
This provided a perfect opportunity for the two to make their escape, but after covering some distance, the motorcycle began to slow down, and the rider kept glancing back.
By this time, Ma Lu had settled into the back seat, one arm wrapped around the small rider in front of him, while the other covered his nose and mouth. Seeing the motorcycle slow down, he asked in confusion.
"Why aren’t we moving?"
The small rider didn't answer, instead bringing the motorcycle to a stop.
Ma Lu then noticed that six more motorcycles had appeared on the surrounding sand dunes, rapidly closing in on their position.
"Don't speak," the small rider instructed.
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