Richest Rag-picker

Chapter 490: Chapter 462: The Ever-Increasing Temperature

Yellow sand blotted out the sky, ravaging the entire desert.

As everyone in the convoy watched, the sandstorm raged for nearly two hours before it finally began to subside.

Pushing open their car doors and jumping out, they looked up at the sky, now a pristine, washed-out blue. Not a trace of the sandstorm remained.

Of course, the new sand dunes that had appeared before them were proof that the sandstorm had indeed passed through.

"Oh, God. Thank you for watching over us."

Gazing at the surrounding dunes, which now towered dozens of meters high, the youth dropped to his knees and kowtowed to the heavens.

It was, without a doubt, a miracle. If they had been caught in that storm, their convoy would now be buried under more than ten meters of sand.

Escaping alive from beneath a dune of that size would have been impossible.

After getting out to survey the situation, Fang Chenyi and Qi Xiaotian conferred and decided to set off immediately.

Even though Fang Chenyi had the Sand-Stabilizing Pearl, it was best to avoid risks whenever possible.

For instance, they were now completely encircled by towering sand dunes, and climbing over them would be no easy task.

The youth, of course, felt the same way. He didn’t want to linger in this place for a moment longer.

They rested for a short while, took a drink of water, then climbed back into their vehicles and started the engines.

Fortunately, the performance of their Warrior vehicles was truly outstanding. Faced with the towering dunes, the trucks simply charged straight up them.

However, their luck didn’t last. Just as the first four vehicles made it over, the fifth one suddenly ran into trouble and got stuck in the sand.

This forced everyone to stop their vehicles again and walk over.

Seeing the Warrior’s tires buried deep in the sand, the group walked over and surrounded the vehicle.

Then, to the youth’s utter astonishment, these men simply lifted the vehicle out with their bare hands.

"My God! This truck weighs several tons! And just a dozen of them lifted it out so easily?"

Seeing his reaction, Qi Xiaotian walked up and casually patted the youth’s shoulder.

"Heh, no need to be so shocked."

Of course, for Fang Chenyi and his team, this was hardly surprising. It was just a truck that weighed a few tons, after all.

For a team of genetically modified individuals like them, it was nothing. He was confident that Vajra could have even pulled the truck out all by himself.

After that minor hiccup, the convoy continued on its way.

Finally, after another ten minutes or so, the vehicles reached the small, passable track they had been on before.

Perhaps it was because the area around this track was filled with various cacti, tumbleweeds of tangled vines, clumps of dry grass, and other unknown plants.

Even during a sandstorm, the location of this track was relatively safe.

Once they were back on the main road, the youth and everyone else breathed a long sigh of relief. They glanced at the sky. Although it was three in the afternoon, the scorching sun was still blazing mercilessly overhead. A glance at the in-car display showed the temperature was 43 degrees Celsius!

And that was inside the car with all the windows down. The temperature outside had to be even higher.

"Oh, Boss, we’re getting closer to the destination! Just 60 more kilometers and we’ll be there."

Around five in the afternoon, the youth pointed to the map for Fang Chenyi, his voice filled with excitement. It was as if he could already see his payment waving at him.

At his words, Fang Chenyi’s gaze also fell upon the map. Sure enough, the spot he had marked wasn’t far from their current position.

He couldn’t help but feel a surge of excitement as well.

He calculated the time. There were still seven days left before the one-month deadline. ’Looks like we have plenty of time to spare.’

But things are rarely as simple as they seem.

When the convoy had traveled nearly another five kilometers, they were forced to a halt.

The reason was simple: the temperature inside the cars had soared to nearly 52 degrees Celsius!

This was no longer a survivable temperature for a human being.

Even their medically enhanced bodies could no longer withstand such temperatures.

They were all stripped to the waist, but surprisingly little sweat dripped from their heads. It wasn’t that they weren’t hot—they had simply run out of sweat to shed.

Where before they had only been sipping water, they were now forced to rehydrate every single minute.

At this rate, their water supply wouldn’t last much longer.

With no other choice, everyone got out of the vehicles and gathered in the shade they provided.

Qi Xiaotian’s constitution was a bit better than the others, so he was still able to endure.

He approached Fang Chenyi and asked:

"Brother Fang, the others can’t take this heat anymore. And I’ve noticed something—the further in we go, the hotter it gets. The temperature has risen a full 5 degrees Celsius in just the last kilometer."

Fang Chenyi considered Qi Xiaotian’s words and realized he was right. The temperature had climbed from 30 degrees Celsius, to 35, to 40, and now to over 50.

The temperature really was rising bit by bit. And it was already approaching evening.

Logically, the temperature should have been getting lower, but the exact opposite was happening.

’Could this have something to do with the asteroid inside?’

Thinking about it, it was certainly possible. He observed his surroundings and noticed that even the cacti by the roadside were now starting to wither.

Clearly, even these drought-resistant plants, long accustomed to desert life, could no longer tolerate the heat.

It seemed this intense heat was not a permanent feature, but a recent development. This pointed directly to the asteroid.

Even Fang Chenyi himself hadn’t expected that the asteroid could generate such heat.

’Does that mean the temperature of the asteroid itself is even higher?’

"Here’s the plan, Xiaotian. You lead the team out of here. Find a spot with tolerable conditions and set up a temporary camp."

Qi Xiaotian nodded, but then he gave Fang Chenyi a puzzled look and asked:

"Then what about you, Brother Fang? Are you planning to keep going?"

Fang Chenyi nodded.

"Yes. I’m going to head in a bit further. This temperature has no effect on me."

Qi Xiaotian immediately replied:

"Then let me go with you. I can still... I can still handle this temperature."

But Fang Chenyi waved him off.

"No need. You should lead the others back. I wouldn’t feel right leaving the team to anyone else."

Qi Xiaotian looked like he wanted to say more, but Fang Chenyi waved his hand again, cutting him off before he could speak.

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