Richest Rag-picker

Chapter 468: Chapter 440: The Special Reward Arrives

A scientist in a white lab coat spoke, immediately drawing everyone’s attention.

All eyes turned to the large, red exclamation mark on the computer screen, and everyone’s heart sank.

But unlike the scientists from the Ugly Country who had lost their composure, this group handled it remarkably well.

No one panicked, clutching their heads and screaming, ’Oh my God!’

Instead, they sprang into action. Everyone returned to their stations and began rapidly tapping away at their keyboards, sending out a flurry of commands.

Soon, satellite surveillance data appeared on their computer screens.

Once they saw the unknown celestial body’s trajectory and calculated its final point of impact, everyone let out a collective sigh of relief.

"Phew, thank goodness. The meteorite is projected to land in the heart of the Taklamakan Desert, located in the Southern Xinjiang Tarim Basin."

That’s right. Based on the trajectory data from the satellites, the meteorite’s final impact point would almost certainly be the Taklamakan Desert.

This was a blessing in disguise. All that mattered was that the meteorite avoided densely populated areas.

After calculating this, the scientists immediately reported their findings to their superiors, explaining the situation in detail.

Huaxia’s leadership also breathed a long sigh of relief upon receiving the news.

The Taklamakan Desert is vast, spanning 330,000 square kilometers. Even if a meteorite did strike there, as long as it wasn’t excessively large, the damage would likely be minimal and wouldn’t have a significant impact on Huaxia.

Of course, the asteroid was still too far from Earth to determine its exact size. For now, all anyone could do was pray it wasn’t too large.

This was why everyone was optimistically referring to it as a meteorite.

At the direction of the lead researcher, the relevant departments immediately began mobilizing personnel and making emergency preparations.

Personnel stationed around the Taklamakan Desert also received the news immediately and went on high alert.

...

Back inside the astronomical agency in the Ugly Country.

After a period of utter chaos, they finally calmed down. They began furiously tapping at their keyboards, sending out strings of commands. But when the satellite data returned, they were all stunned into silence.

It was the same scientist who had first spotted the asteroid. Staring intently at the computer screen, she spoke in a tone of disbelief:

"Oh, my God, this is just wonderful! The asteroid isn’t heading for us! According to the trajectory calculations, it’s heading for Huaxia!"

Her exclamation drew the attention of those nearby. As they looked at the screen displaying the predicted impact zone, happy smiles bloomed on all their faces.

Meanwhile, far away in South Africa, Fang Chenyi stood on the deck of a ship, gazing up at the sky with a heart full of anxiety and unease.

’This damn system... it’s not really going to give me an asteroid as a reward, is it? Holy crap, if this thing actually hits Earth, I’ll be the villain of the entire world.’

He muttered to himself, his eyes continuously scanning the heavens.

Suddenly, a meteor streaked across the distant sky. But this one was different from any he had seen before.

The others had always been distant streaks across the firmament, but this one... this one was coming straight for Earth!

"Holy shit! It’s actually happening!"

The meteor was incredibly fast, vanishing from sight in the blink of an eye.

At that same moment, a system notification chimed in his mind.

[Reward delivered. Please retrieve it at your convenience, Master. Note: This special reward is time-limited. If not claimed within one month, the special item reward function will be permanently disabled for you. Please proceed to the delivery location to claim it as soon as possible. The coordinates have been placed in your storage pouch for retrieval.]

The notification was quite long, and hearing it gave Fang Chenyi a massive headache.

’What the hell? Was that meteor I just saw really the special reward from the system?’

’And I have to go get it myself? With a time limit? If I don’t claim it within a month, I lose the chance to get special rewards forever?’

’This damn system is getting more and more ridiculous.’

After the system notification ended, Fang Chenyi couldn’t help but start complaining.

Even as he grumbled, he reached into his storage pouch and started rummaging around.

A moment later, he pulled out a map.

He took it out and saw it was a topographical map of a desert. In the upper-right corner was the name: "Taklamakan Desert."

Fang Chenyi’s head throbbed again at the sight.

’The special reward was delivered to a desert? And the Taklamakan Desert, of all places.’

’I’ve heard people call that place the Sea of Death. In other words, once you go in, you don’t come out.’

’It’s a true no-man’s-land.’

From his school days, Fang Chenyi recalled facts about the place.

The Taklamakan Desert was located in the center of the Tarim Basin in Southern Xinjiang. It was, in fact, the largest desert in Huaxia. Not only that, but it was also the tenth largest in the world.

The Taklamakan Desert was also the world’s second-largest shifting sand desert. It stretched for nearly a thousand kilometers and covered an area of at least 330,000 square kilometers.

Humans couldn’t survive in that desert; only camels and desert wolves could. Even attempting to cross it required immense preparation, and success was never guaranteed.

Of course, Fang Chenyi had also heard many legends about the Taklamakan Desert.

These included the legend of the Ancient Loulan Kingdom.

Legend says that the Ancient Loulan Kingdom, once a stop on the Silk Road, vanished overnight.

The exact reason why remains a mystery to this day.

’And now the system wanted him to go to a place like that.’

’Wasn’t this damn system just screwing with me?’

On top of that, the system had only given him one month.

He counted on his fingers. Even if he set out right this second, he wasn’t sure he could even reach the center of the desert within a month.

It was an impossible mission.

But then he remembered that if he didn’t retrieve that unknown asteroid, he would never get another special reward.

Fang Chenyi could only sigh in resignation. "What a miserable life..."

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