Chapter 243 – Tanis – Sandstorm
I took a quick breather outside the museum and looked at the surrounding geography.
“It’s over there.”
After comparing the compass and the map, I pointed in one direction and Solaver nodded.
It was a vast wasteland that stretched out endlessly. It’s like seeing a flatter Grand Canyon.
Following my gesture, our expedition group formed a formation and went down the hill.
The road still continued close to the forest with grass and dirt and the occasional odd tree, but the further down it went, the more dry the ground became.
“The spaceship must be swarming with them by now. “I tried so hard to clean it.”
“Well, cleaning is done by robots. There’s no need for me to go through any trouble, just order it again and that’s it.”
It would be infuriating for those involved in cleaning to hear this, but fortunately the robot does not know anger. It is truly the best robot.
“Artemis would be more sad than that. “I thought it was more valuable loot than anything I’ve ever gotten.”
I remember him jumping up and down in front of me and liking it. It’s a gesture that she doesn’t show often, considering she’s polite and has a lot of money.
“Artemis will get through it just fine even without me, no, even if I’m away. “It’s just that being in such a far away place makes me realize even more how important she is.”
“Well, even if you search the entire universe, you won’t be able to find a helper of her size.”
“She has been with me ever since I entered the shelter. From simple tasks such as repairing a broken serving robot or replacing a shorted electrical wire, to tasks such as restoring a shelter or going on an external expedition. Her voice was always with me. “Whether it’s nagging, condescending, or combat support.”
I paused for a moment and looked around.
“Artemis.”
I called her name on the other side of the universe, but of course there was no answer. Nothing can be heard except the sound of the wind and the cries of unidentified native creatures.
“But now it is calm. When I call her name, she makes noises but doesn’t answer. I think I took it for granted that it was connected so much that I didn’t realize the size of the empty space.”
After finishing the downhill, we reached the beginning of the wasteland.
[Camouflage engaged.]
The moment the stalker robots entered the rocky area, a change occurred.
Like the mimic octopus, its body surface took on a shape similar to the surrounding rocks. Not only the color but also the texture.
It is a technology imitated by studying the skin of Assembler, a mutant infectious agent with the ability to rebuild the body.
The neat exterior changed into a dull, angular, and rough appearance. However, the defensive ability remains the same.
The same effect occurred to me the moment I reached there. When it comes to camouflage ability, my suit is actually superior.
Flap! Along with the sound, I could see Solaver wrapping himself in a camouflage poncho.
This prescription was given because there was no time to develop and modify protective clothing suitable for his biological mechanisms and body. For something that was made hastily, it had a surprisingly good camouflage effect.
“If the situation arises, just leave me.”
He said, adjusting his poncho.
“The subsequent route and code of conduct are all entered into the PDA. “I don’t want to get in the way of something that won’t be of any help in battle.”
“Don’t say that. “We all survive together.”
I said while touching the head of an eco robot passing by.
“Including these guys.”
“I just want you to prepare your mind. “We don’t know what variables there will be in our path, so we shouldn’t stiffen up in a situation where every second is lost.”
“If the situation were the opposite, you wouldn’t abandon me, right?”
Solar Ber shook his head with a straight face at the joke.
“If such a situation comes, I will risk my life to save you.”
“That’s touching.”
“At the same time, it’s practical. What good would it be if I secured the vaccine alone? Artemis’ help is desperately needed for its mass production and distribution. “If I abandon you, what do you think will happen to her?”
“Well, he would be very angry.”
“Angry? Haha!”
He laughed heartily.
“That’s like purifying hell into a sauna. “Whether before or after we get the vaccine, your presence is absolutely critical.”
It’s Artemis without me… According to Rose and Chrollo, she’s very fearful and cold-hearted, but it’s hard to imagine as I’m used to her usual calm and proud appearance.
“I tried to cultivate a relationship with her with all my might, but it didn’t work out.”
“It’s because you keep trying to drag me to dangerous places.”
“Even taking that into account, I have never seen anyone hit her as hard as she did in my career as a diplomat.”
Solaver tied the cloth up to her mouth. Echo and Charlie were already waiting for us far ahead.
The wasteland we are walking through now is desolate no matter where you look. And the wind did not stop even for a single moment.
“Thank God I’m wearing a closed suit. “If it had been an ordinary military uniform, there would have been a lot of sand grains in the cracks of the clothes by now.”
When the memory of being ambushed for several days in the desert of the Middle East came to mind, I automatically shuddered.
Only those who have experienced it know the feeling of sand filling up from her chest to her toes.
Charlie, who occasionally flew a drone to scout out the surrounding situation, also took the drone back. This was because the wind was strong and anything higher than that could cause the drone to malfunction.
“This is a tailwind. Sometimes when a storm comes, it becomes a hellish environment.”
“Thanks to you, aren’t we moving around quite peacefully now? “Infectious agents would have been swept away periodically.”
My gaze landed on the remains of Walker buried in the rocky area.
He must have fallen head first from a high place, so his head was broken, and his neck bones were broken. It appears that he was probably swept away by a storm.
“If we don’t want to end up like that, we need to move quickly.”
If you check the map, there is a place to use as a supply base about 5 km away.
It is said to be a base for search and command when a mass escape or rebellion occurs on a planet.
“There are facilities there that I can support as an operator. I could be a lot more helpful than following you around as a bundle of luggage.”
Since this is a planet developed as a water conservatory, useful bases are scattered in the form of a point organization.
From the beginning, we were worried about the violent welcome from the infectious agents, but our current situation is progressing closer to marching training.
[2 km to target point.]
Charlie reported while examining the detection system.
And slowly, traces of the spread of infection began to appear one by one. The first is the remains of a spaceship.
The destroyed spacecraft body was roughly the size of a van. Burnt seats can be seen beyond the torn section.
[No biological reaction.]
The robots carefully took their steps while aiming their guns.
Because it fell on a rocky area, its shape was left behind. If it had fallen on a sandy area, it would have been buried without a trace by now.
[Go forward.]
“I hope we can reach this without incident.”
But it seems there is no god on this planet who will listen to my prayers.
[Discovered multiple potential ambush points ahead.]
Destroyed containers and wreckage of crashed planes large and small were seen everywhere.
“Why are there so many things that have fallen?”
“If you try to imagine the causes, there are no limits.”
“Roughly anything.”
“On this planet, there are limited flight routes and times due to storms. But what can you do if monsters are chasing you? “I’ll just have to launch it and take a look.”
It is too vast to go around, and its outskirts are blocked by cliffs. Not only that.
[The wind is getting stronger.]
As Charlie reported, there are signs that a sandstorm is gradually approaching. The sound made by sand grains hitting the chute is different.
When I started out, I could see quite far away, but now everything is becoming hazy.
After careful consideration, I opened my mouth.
“We will force a breakthrough.”
We quickened our pace even further.
Every time I take a step, the ringing sound becomes unnecessarily loud. It seemed like infectious agents would appear around us at any moment, as if surrounding us.
[500M to target point.]
A very large rocky mountain was visible ahead. In the middle of it, there is an artificial structure that looks like it was built by carving out a larger natural cave.
Smooth. The moment when that one word comes into your head.
“Keeeeek-!”
A walker emerged from a chunk of rubble. They are the Sornen tribe.
As the base is muscular and 2 meters tall, the level of pressure is different from the guys we face on Earth.
Immediately, the muzzle burst into flames, and the man’s entire chest exploded, falling behind the rubble and disappearing.
One after another, the sandy ground 4 meters next to me exploded, and another guy jumped out from there.
I reflexively turned my gun on the guy, but I couldn’t see his upper body properly because of the flying sand and stone fragments, so I aimed for his lower body.
Bang!
The 5.56 mm explosive shell exploded and the man’s entire left leg was cut off. His right leg is half severed and shaky in the aftermath.
Of course, he’s not the type of person to die like this.
Even though he is crippled, he crawls towards me with a burning obsession for killing.
“Kwauuu-!”
Just as he was about to finish, another guy came running out of the hazy sandstorm behind him.
A muscular monster over 2 m tall sprints at full speed, truly incredible speed! It reached close to me in an instant.
Pow!
When I fired before making an evasive maneuver, it disappeared completely into the chest that was running toward me. The body was thrown to the ground as if diving, and the sand rose up about 2 meters.
I took aim at the guy I had maimed again. But in that one second, the situation changed.
The one who had lost his leg was in a headstand with both hands on the ground, and two tentacles made of bone and flesh appeared from the cross-section of the leg.
Sigh!
One of them cut through the wind and came towards me.
It’s fast!
– Gooooong!!!
Immediately the world slowed down.
I can capture a grain of sand passing before my eyes or a pebble bouncing off the visor.
My whole body’s nerves boil and my body moves quickly, half a frame at a time, in a slow world.
As if ignoring God’s playback rules and fast-forwarding a video, I felt pressure throughout my body as I took each step ahead of the world.
But it can be endured. If before the muscle strengthening procedure it felt like I was moving in the deep sea, now it feels like I am much closer to the surface.
A tentacle with a hook-like piece of bone narrowly pierced the space where my neck was.
And the muzzle of my gun was pointed at the forehead of the guy standing on his head.
He also glared at me with burning eyes, but that was all he could do in the slow time.
Kirik.
In a slow world, even the sound of the trigger being pulled can be heard clearly.
Kwaang!
Walker’s head was smashed and his arms, which were on the ground, lost strength.
The tentacles extending from the arms, upper body, and legs fell helplessly onto the sandy floor.
I eased off the gas and looked around.
[Clear!]
[No damage to allies.]
There were four corpses lying around the stalker robots.
I touched my neck and saw the corpse right in front of me. If there had not been an accelerated procedure, he would have died an absurd and unexpected death from the beginning.
Their faint cries can be heard from all directions.
It may seem like it’s ringing from within the destroyed rubble, or it may sound like it’s coming from the ground, or it may sound like it’s coming from beyond the border of that vague sandstorm.
Everywhere except where we are, tearing cries of hatred and desire form harmony.
But the direction is clearly towards us. That wasn’t the only problem.
Beep!
The instrument Charlie was holding also sounded an alarm.
[Storm warning. Storm warning. Expected power: 9,100 newtons.]
“9,100?”
“Look over there.”
Solaver pointed in one direction to me who was dumbfounded.
A brown tsunami was rolling in as if it was covering a huge rocky mountain in the distance. It was a sandstorm of enormous scale.
It’s like watching a huge tsunami that engulfs the Himalayas in a disaster movie you saw before.
“I didn’t notice it in advance because it was moving from behind the mountains. Hurry up!”
Rumbling!
There was even lightning. White flashes spread out like an explosion in a brown storm. If you catch up with that, you will definitely be screwed.
-Kyaooooo!
Of course, it’s the same if we get caught up by the infectious agents that are chasing us from all directions.
Humans cannot be faster than the wind. We ran hard, but we were already within the influence of the sandstorm. The world became murky in an instant.
“In line formation!”
The clock is getting worse, so if it scatters, it’s the end.
The sky quickly darkened, and small stones gradually began to mix among the flying sand grains.
“Keeeeek-!”
“Oh, get out of here!”
Poop!
When I threw a kick with my weight at the suddenly appearing walker, it floated away and disappeared beyond the sandstorm.
Dead or alive, we will never face each other again.
Rumbling!
A flash of lightning brightened the dark world trapped in the sand for an instant.
“Damn it.”
The veil hidden by the sandstorm was lifted, and the shapes of numerous infectious agents appeared. No matter how small you count it, the number is 100 units. We were in the middle of it.
“I guess I should be thankful for the sandstorm.”
“The story of life is Saeongjimaraj.”
“You really put an end to studying the Earth!”
Now it’s hard to keep running. We were definitely swallowed up in the sandstorm’s territory.
However, the attacks of infectious agents have also become less frequent.
“Keeeeek-!”
Of course, that doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist at all.
When only three attack, one of them falls and disappears into the storm before it can reach us. The other two are just good targets as they stagger and approach slowly.
It is difficult to aim accurately due to poor visibility, but it is not necessary to shoot accurately.
Whether you hit the arm or the ground near your foot, boom! With the sound, they lost their balance and tumbled into the storm.
“Kaaaaa-!”
As if we hadn’t gotten tired of it, another walker came running behind us. The blurry shape was close to 3 meters long, and even the roar was on a different level from that of an ordinary walker.
The moment I aimed the gun, thinking that I had caught it wrongly and that it was my job due to the angle.
[Bow!]
The leader alpha shouted.
I immediately fell flat, and so did old Solaver who was following me.
An iron plate large enough for about four people to lie side by side passed over me with a bloody sound. Is it a fragment of the outer wall of a spaceship?
Whoa, whoa!
There was an exciting sound as the steel plate collided with the 3-meter monster that was chasing me.
The rag-like monster and the iron plate fly to the other side of the sky and disappear.
“Kids will be very happy to see this scene.”
I turned my head and accelerated toward the first supply base that was just around the corner. The storm is getting stronger.
Flash!
When the second lightning struck, the shapes of the walkers revealed were such that I didn’t want to count them anymore.
[Arrived at the target point!]
The leading alpha shouted.
[Beware of the rear.]
Charlie, who arrived later, turned towards me and shouted.
I couldn’t hear properly because I was drowned out by the howling sounds of the infected, the roar of the storm, and the noise of the sand and gravel crashing like crazy.
But soon, I felt my feet, which had been stepping on sand and dirt, suddenly touch a hard, polished surface.
We have reached our first destination.
