Survival of the Nation: My luck was a tiny bit worse.

Marcus seems to automatically trigger his passive commentary skills:

"High altitude, low rainfall, and high evaporation create a unique landform. It's characterized by large diurnal temperature variations, strong winds, and sparse vegetation. Ultraviolet radiation is stronger here, sandstorms are more frequent, and—see those wavy sand dunes in the distance?"

Everyone looked in the direction he was pointing.

On the horizon, a stretch of golden sand dunes gleamed dazzlingly in the sunlight.

The dunes have smooth, sharp lines, like marks left by some giant claw.

"The sand dunes are moving very fast."

Marcus continued reading.

"Because the wind force on the plateau is five to ten times that of the forest area. The golden layer on the surface of the dunes is not the natural color of the sand; I guess it is some kind of mineral. Walking in this kind of terrain, it is easy to lose your way and easy to fall into the cracks under the dunes."

Alexander chuckled. "How do you know everything?"

"Because my major involves dealing with geological environments. Desert engineering is much more complex than ordinary engineering, involving foundation treatment, wind and sand protection, temperature deformation—"

Ou Yun and Leng Ruolan whispered to each other:

"Is Brother Chen going to be banned?"

"Oh? What do you mean?"

"Look, this guy seems to have a different personality from Brother Chen!"

"Big brother, I just turned on the communication stone and haven't turned it off yet."

"..."

*

We still have to go out; just waiting around isn't a solution.

Leng Ruolan took out a bundle of rope and several iron rings from her backpack.

"Let's tie everyone together with safety ropes."

She sighed.

"The dunes are ten meters apart. The surface of the dunes looks solid, but there are likely cavities underneath. It's not a big deal if someone falls in; they can be pulled out with a rope."

The cavity below could be tens or even hundreds of meters deep. But without a rope, people who fall in will keep sliding down, and there's a possibility that more and more will fall—like dumplings being dropped into a pot, one after another.

Marcus nodded, pointing to a patch of sand not far away.

There were several white bones scattered on it, the shape of which looked like the ribs of some kind of large quadruped, but judging from the size, the animal must have been at least three meters tall when it was alive.

"The fracture surface of the bone is very fresh, not caused by weathering, but from a fall. This indicates that it collapsed onto the surface of the sand dune and fell into the cavity, and after it died, its body was turned up by the sand."

Ou Yun said, "I know this. This kind of terrain is called a sand trap, which is one of the most dangerous natural traps in the desert."

"Let's leave it at that then."

Leng Ruolan took the rope and the iron ring, first fastening the iron ring to her safety belt, then tossing the end of the rope to Ou Yun, and slowly revealing a smile.

"Dude, don't even think about freefalling here. The sand won't catch you."

"Don't worry, I've had enough fun today."

Ou Yun obediently fastened the iron ring to his waist.

"..."

Six people and two lynxes formed a long line by using safety ropes.

Leng Ruolan led the way, with Nanbei following beside her.

Then came the European Games, then Red Bean, then Marcus and Douglas side by side, and finally Alexander bringing up the rear.

They set foot on the first sand dune.

The sand felt completely different underfoot from the soil in the forest area—dry, loose, and with an unsettling feeling of sinking in.

Every step sank into our ankles, kicking up a small cloud of sand as we pulled our feet out. In less than ten minutes, everyone's boots were filled with sand.

The group walked on the sand dunes for more than an hour.

As the sun rose higher, the temperature became increasingly outrageous.

Marcus's thermometer showed that the ground temperature had reached 58 degrees Celsius and the air temperature was 45 degrees Celsius.

Although Ou Yun took out chilled juice from his spatial ring and distributed it to everyone, sweat still kept pouring down his face.

"This godforsaken place is even hotter than the summers back home..."

"You're from the Bear Country, how can that be the same? You have the Arctic Circle there," Douglas retorted.

"What's wrong with the Arctic Circle? The Arctic Circle is an integral part of our Bear Country!"

"I didn't say it wasn't..."

The two were exchanging sarcastic remarks.

Suddenly, Leng Ruolan in front raised her hand and made a stop gesture.

Everyone immediately fell silent.

There's something ahead.

Leng Ruolan lowered her voice, "There's something moving under the sand dunes."

Douglas immediately raised the scope of his precision rifle and looked in the direction she was pointing.

The surface of the dunes appeared calm, with golden sand grains reflecting a dazzling light in the sunlight.

But if you look closely, you can see an extremely fine ripple moving on the surface of the dune—like something moving beneath the sand.

The ripples were at least twenty meters long and moved slowly, but their direction was extremely clear—they were coming straight towards them.

"Holy crap...this scene looks familiar!"

"Sandworms? Sandworms??"

Douglas lowered the scope, his voice slightly strained.

"A mutated sandworm from the desert! I encountered a small one during my reconnaissance—that thing swims faster than a person can run under the sand, its mouthparts are full of barbs, and it can swallow a person whole!"

"How small?" Leng Ruolan asked.

"About... three meters long?"

Leng Ruolan glanced at the approaching ripple, then at Douglas.

"Is the smaller one you mentioned, the ripples, really this wide?"

"...No. That one is only a quarter of this size."

"So this one is four times bigger?"

"Not necessarily. It could be that they are similar in size, but swim at shallower depths, resulting in wider ripples—"

Before they finished speaking, a sand dune twenty meters in front of them suddenly exploded.

Boom!

The sand shot up like a fountain, and a huge, flesh-colored figure suddenly sprang out from beneath it.

A giant sandworm, comparable in size to a train, with a body diameter of at least three meters, ten meters of which is visible above the sand, and an unknown length buried beneath the sand.

Its head is a huge, round mouth, the inside of which is covered with spirally arranged barbs that gleam with a metallic sheen in the sunlight.

In the very center of the mouthparts is a black, spear-like tongue covered with fine barbs.

"Holy shit!"

Alexander was completely dumbfounded. "This is four times bigger?! This is forty times bigger!"

"Retreat! Everyone back up!"

Leng Ruolan shouted, "Don't disconnect the safety rope! Maintain distance!"

All six people stepped back at the same time.

But sandworms are much faster than them.

Its massive body moved smoothly through the sand, just like a fish in water.

In the blink of an eye, it had caught up to the rear of the group, and its huge mouth opened suddenly from under the sand, swallowing Alexander at the very back.