Richest Rag-picker

Chapter 493: Chapter 465: Arriving at the Destination

Ten kilometers... eight kilometers...

Soon, Fang Chenyi and Vajra had arrived at a spot just three kilometers from their destination on the map.

After cresting a massive sand dune, Fang Chenyi couldn’t help but marvel at the distant red glow that illuminated half the sky.

By now, the temperature had climbed to an outrageous level.

He didn’t know the exact temperature, but he could tell how high it was from the heat haze distorting the air.

Vajra was already panting heavily. Beads of sweat trickled from its head, turning into a puff of white steam the instant they hit the ground. Before the steam could even rise, it was baked into nothingness.

Fang Chenyi glanced at Vajra beside him.

"This must be the place. Don’t follow me any farther. The temperature is bound to be even higher up ahead. With your current strength, you definitely won’t be able to get close."

BZZZT.

As Fang Chenyi was speaking to Vajra, his attention was suddenly caught by a moving object in the distance.

Looking closer, he saw it was a small vehicle.

To be precise, it was a tracked exploration vehicle, the kind you often see driving on the moon in TV shows.

Clearly, some organization was using it to survey the area.

Vajra knew it couldn’t go any farther; this was the absolute limit of what it could endure.

Any farther, and it would just be a burden to Fang Chenyi.

So, it yelped twice at Fang Chenyi and plopped down on its rear, only to immediately jump back up with another howl.

The reason was simple: the ground was scorching hot.

Seeing Vajra’s sorry state, Fang Chenyi chuckled and shook his head.

"Ah, forget it. You’d better head back a little. I have no idea how long I’ll be gone this time. If it’s too long, you’ll never be able to hold out."

Vajra nodded, seeing the wisdom in his words, and immediately ran down the slope.

Even though it was just a single dune, the temperature difference between its peak and its base was like night and day.

After watching Vajra run off, Fang Chenyi turned his gaze back toward the distant, crimson-glowing area.

He broke into a run. At the same moment, on one of the exploration vehicles up ahead, a camera swiveled and locked directly onto the approaching Fang Chenyi.

Instantly, inside a temporary base on the outskirts of the Taklamakan Desert, a group of personnel sitting before their computers stared with wide, dumbfounded eyes.

"Report! C-Captain, you have to see this! Is that... a person running over here? And he’s not wearing a protective suit! My God, how is that possible? Oh, wait, at this temperature, it shouldn’t be possible even with a protective suit!"

As soon as he spoke, several others crowded around him. Upon seeing the running figure on the screen, they all sucked in a sharp breath of scorching air.

Looks of utter disbelief and shock were plastered on every face.

A man who appeared to be in charge hurried over, his reaction mirroring the others when he saw the image on the screen.

He then turned to the technician, asking with a hint of uncertainty:

"That’s really a person! Xiaosun, what’s the temperature over there right now?"

The technician, Xiaosun, quickly glanced at the temperature data on the screen from the exploration vehicle’s sensors and stammered out a reply:

"C-Captain, the temperature there is currently 630 degrees Celsius!"

His words sent another wave of shock through the room.

’How is this possible? What kind of freak of nature is this person?’

’Six hundred and thirty degrees Celsius... How could a person with no equipment survive in an environment like that?’

Never mind the shocked personnel at the base—back in the desert, Fang Chenyi covered the three-kilometer distance in a matter of breaths.

Fang Chenyi seemed to notice that several of the exploration vehicles had stopped and that their cameras were trained on him.

So, he simply reached into his pocket, pulled out a disposable surgical mask, and put it on his face.

He then produced a pair of sunglasses as well.

Fortunately, he had the Water Spirit Pearl. Not only did he himself not feel any of the heat, but even the clothes he was wearing were unaffected by the surrounding temperature.

Otherwise, forget the disposable mask—even his clothes would have been melted by the intense heat long ago.

After doing all this, the guy actually shot a thumbs-up at the exploration vehicles.

Then, as if no one else was around, he strode deeper into the sweltering zone.

The team in the temporary base was left utterly speechless by this scene.

’Seriously, is he even human? How can he be unaffected by such high temperatures? And he just pulled out a disposable mask, of all things.’

’At that temperature, wouldn’t a disposable mask just melt?’

’Or could it be that everything he has on him is specially made?’

Question after question popped into their minds, but it was obvious no one would be providing any answers.

Passing the exploration vehicles, Fang Chenyi took a few leaps and finally arrived at the very center of the location marked on the map.

It was only then that he finally got a clear view of the situation and understood why the surrounding temperature had suddenly become so high.

At this very moment, there was no sign of the asteroid he had expected to find. Instead, there was a massive, deep crater!

To be more precise, it was a giant pit of lava.

The massive crater was about 500 meters in diameter. Roughly ten meters below the rim, a sea of magma churned and rolled.

It was like a volcanic crater from a documentary, but this magma was exceptionally active. It churned like boiling water, the orange lava constantly roiling and occasionally spouting more than ten meters into the air.

Seeing this, Fang Chenyi couldn’t help but suck in a cold breath.

That’s right—a cold breath.

Perhaps because he was so close to the magma, Fang Chenyi felt the air around his body growing colder and colder. Clearly, the Water Spirit Pearl was at work.

Fang Chenyi was amazed. ’The hotter the surroundings, the cooler my body gets. This Water Spirit Pearl really is a treasure,’ he thought.

But in the next moment, his expression turned to one of resignation, and his brow furrowed deeply.

’There’s a giant pit of lava in front of me, and I have no idea how deep it is.’

’And there’s no sign of the asteroid. It must be down in that massive lava pit.’

’Of course... for all I know, it might have already been melted by the lava’s intense heat.’

’If that’s the case, how am I supposed to find that asteroid?!’

As if sensing Fang Chenyi’s thoughts, the sound of a system notification suddenly echoed in his mind...

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