Tempest of the Stellar War - Chapter 255

Chapter 255: Deadly Quicksand

He saw the improvements of these students . From their current standing, most of them had not slacked off and had made preparations for battle .

In terms of quality, this batch was indubitably the best in recent years . However, it was still not enough, and they had room for improvement!

Meng Ao, Lie Wuqing, and Drachmach all definitely did not slack off . The situation was great . They had gathered intelligence about the battlefield from multiple sources and somehow managed to get their hands on footage of how their foes were preparing for war . More importantly, they even had intel on the Arbiter Republic's training…

After going through the intel, Ao Meng and the rest's lax attitudes quickly evaporated . They were not being merciless enough!

The first step was to change the trainees entirely .

"Heck, what kind of hellish training is this? I thought I was dying . " Edison was on the brink of madness .

He was a fighter, but his strengths lied elsewhere . Although his combat abilities were fine, he paled in comparison to others .

"We've only just begun . Stop complaining . After all, you are representing Caragal . " La De laughed .

Edison was an electrical engineer and specialist . Amongst those in the training course, he was second to none and was important to the team . However, regardless of his expertise, he still had to ensure he possessed the fundamentals .

Lie Xin stood on the shoulder of the Bata and stared into the distance . Her lean body became even more attractive under the sun . She smiled . "Looks like the special training is starting to get interesting . I heard that the three generals were excited by the training scenario, so it is not going to be easy for us . "

Depending on the environment, life could be extremely treacherous . For example, the Norton Star had a gravitational pull five times the norm and could easily wear out a good half of the training squad .

"Rest time is over, move out!"

Lie Xin jumped down from the mech . She had no qualms with being the leader . "Surely you can't be worse than a woman," she remarked .

The crowd was stirred . As elites, there was no way they wanted to be despised by women .

It was difficult for the mecha to advance in the desert, and they seemed insignificantly small .

The first day had passed . Everyone seemed to have sustained a fair speed and demonstrated their mastery of the fundamentals . However, this was just the beginning . The real test had yet to come .

Pretty much all the teams chose to avoid the coldest and warmest periods of the desert . They strategically chose their rest periods . However, there were also teams who were rather extreme, proceeding even at high noon and in the wee hours of the night, only occasionally taking breaks when they felt tired .

Wang Zheng's team was soon met with problems . When they were resting at night, due to the lack of light and Zhang Shan's fatigue, they knocked over a water bottle and lost scarce, precious water .

Zhang Shan started to get frustrated . Without water in the desert, one was essentially waiting to die .

"D*mn, what should I do now?!" Zhang Shan's grasped his head with a look of distraught .

Meng Tian and Zhang Runan were also helpless . Although they were fairly tolerant towards the heat, they exhausted more energy than men . By the end of the day, Meng Tian was clearly exhausted, and her Ability X was not enough to help her . Among the four, perhaps Wang Zheng and Zhang Runan were in the best shape .

"Drink piss; otherwise, you won't be able to endure this," said Zhang Runan unflinchingly .

Zhang Shan felt his stomach revolting . "Manly Sister, don't joke . I'd rather die . "

"You think I'm joking?" asked Zhang Runan coldly . Zhang Shan ultimately struggled to accept his situation, wondering how he could commit such a mistake at this crucial moment .

Zhang Shan started to tremble in the cold .

"The supplies the military gave us are clearly not enough . Even if we find an oasis, we may not find water . We either need to split our supplies or die together . "

Said Zhang Runan, who sounded like she had cooled down slightly . Zhang Shan finally began to realize the gravity of his mistake .

Zhang Shan grit his teeth . "I won't be a burden to you all . I can endure this . "

Zhang Runan said, "I am only getting you in the zone . Actually, you can get water in the desert . "

At the place where the water was split, she dug a hole and placed the water bottle inside . At the top of the bottle, Runan placed a layer of unknown material and sealed the edges of the bottle .

Zhang Shan stared blankly, "This…"

"The most simple method to obtain water . Now sleep . "

The three were not stupid and quickly understood Zhang Runan's rationale to warn Zhang Shan and get him in the zone .

However, they never would have thought that Zhang Runan would be this prepared for the desert .

"You are the best!" Zhang Shan cheered .

The four were all tired and quickly fell into slumber . Given that the rest of the desert was extremely cold, they could only sleep in their mecha .

After three hours, their alarms rang and the four quickly woke up . None of them complained about weariness, since that would only affect morale and seemed childish . They should all be prepared for this .

Zhang Shan swept away the sand and carefully removed his bottle from the hole . It was filled with water .

"Guys, you are amazing, you are basically familiar with all the life hacks!" said Zhang Shan with a tone of admiration .

Zhang Runan shrugged her shoulders . "I just briefly read up about how to get food and water in the desert before setting off, that is all . "

Zhang Runan was always so nonchalant, whereas Zhang Shan continued to lick her boots .

"Move out!" shouted Wang Zheng with vigor . To him, this was still tolerable . Resting helped him to recover and minimize sweating .

Compared to his previous training, this was not too physically strenuous to him . However, facing the strains of the desert was indeed a new experience .

Completing a distance of 100 kilometers within 24 hours was a basic military requirement, so no one dared to complain .

However, in the desert, it was not only the sand, but also the volatility of the weather . Facing bad weather was truly the most dangerous .

For three days, Wang Zheng maintained a very decent military pace . Thanks to Zhang Runan's method of obtaining water in the desert, they had been able to maintain an advantage by sustaining their water supplies . As they would be arriving at the oasis soon, the four of them could not help but increased their pace .

They did not rush recklessly; they cautiously balanced the need for stability and safety as they strived to arrive at their destination .

"Haha, just another ten kilometers and we will arrive at the oasis! I want to drink and eat loads!" cheered Zhang Shan .

Since the destination was an oasis, there had to be food and water there . There should be cacti or even coconuts since this place had been redeveloped .

With these thoughts in mind, the team was motivated to press on .

"Yuan Ye, I cannot go on . We gotta rest," said Song Li .

"What's wrong? Just a little more and we will be at the oasis," encouraged Yuan Ye .

"Look at the weather, a sandstorm is about to hit . Besides, I have a premonition that there is something wrong ahead . I can't really explain it, but let us stop for a bit," said Song Li .

Yuan Ye hesitated and said, "Sure . Besides, we are not in too much of a hurry . Let's rest for a bit . "

He trusted Song Li's intuition . Before danger struck, one's intuition would warn them . Although it may not be always accurate, trusting intuition was preferred as it might be better to err on the side of caution .

Wang Zheng's group felt the same . "The skies do not look too good . Looks like a sandstorm is coming . "

Said Zhang Runan . Wang Zheng felt that the environment was rather unsettling .

"I don't think we can proceed . Let us stop for here . Everyone, keep within a radius of 50 meters," said Wang Zheng .

With a mecha, there was nothing to fear about a sandstorm; one just had to wait until the sandstorm is over . This could very well be one of the unique experiences of being in a desert .

After settling down for about half an hour, the skies started to get visibly yellower . From the distance, a swirl of sand could be seen coming towards them .

Regarding this natural phenomena, the four of them had their curiosities aroused by the marvels of mother nature . After all, they had spent most of their lives in cities, so they had only seen a sandstorms in class or in a movie .

The actual experience was entirely different . There was a sense of awe, wonder, and also pride as human technology offered them the protection they needed against the strength of mother nature .

Within a few minutes, the sandstorm engulfed the four mecha . The winds were viciously strong and their surroundings were all dark . There was only the sound of sand hitting against the mecha . The four mecha stood unshaken by the sand . Zhang Shan hummed a happy tune, much like how as a kid, one would be assured by the comfort of being indoors during a storm .

"Well, we are pretty lucky to experience such natural phenomena . "

"Let's chat; otherwise, it will get boring . "

Under these circumstances, even if there was no raging sandstorm, being in a mecha felt particularly comfortable .

"Chat about what?"

"Wang Zheng, how's your training? Haven't you awakened your ability? You should use your ability more; how else will you improve?" said Zhang Shan .

The four switched on their video chat . Wang Zheng smiled painfully . "You think I don't want to? My body barely keeps up . However, for the sake of everyone, I will do my best and keep on moving . "

"What, you have such strength and yet you can't keep up? Your growth is pretty good . Use your ability and help me warp to a faraway place instead . "

"Wang Zheng, I think you are more like a fountain . You need to tap into your potential and harness it, find the real method . Actually, these circumstances are pretty common . Many people find that they have awakened but are not aware of what their actual ability is," Meng Tian said . After all, as a member of Academy X , she could not be compared to the other three .

"Gosh, there is even such a thing? If I cannot feel it, doesn't it mean that I never will? asked Zhang Shan curiously .

Wang Zheng smiled . "That's probably not the case . I am afraid to use it . My body will definitely be unable to take it . "

"You must be exaggerating . Meng Tian once said that warping causes a strain on me, but even I can handle it . Given your monstrous capabilities, you should be fine .

"This is a feeling, and it should be fairly accurate . Wantonly using my Ability X will definitely cause other issues to arise," said Wang Zheng as he smiled sheepishly . After receiving help from so many people who tried to help him, he arrived at some understanding of his Ability X . His ability was different from the rest, and he was unable to control it .

At that point, being too strong was not a good thing .

If he lost control using his ability in the first phase, he could have died .

The sounds of the wind started to weaken and the skies were starting to clear . There was indeed something comforting about witnessing the skies clear .

There was a warm feeling in one's heart .

However, at this moment, there was a tremor and a weird sound .

… the surface was sinking .

"This is not good; it's quicksand . Run!" shouted Zhang Runan as soon as she got a grasp of the situation outside .