Chapter 973 - 41: The Condemned

Zuo Jun opened the small bag, inside was a set of metal instruments that seemed like precision surgical tools, along with a few transparent plastic tubes containing suspicious liquids sealed inside.

"This thing looks less impressive than my fist," Mr. Wang couldn't help but quip.

However, minutes later, the harrowing screams of the Hunter proved to everyone that Zuo Jun's set was not only effective, but perhaps excessively so.

The tortured Hunter's mind directly collapsed — logically speaking, when the human brain detects unbearable pain, it often causes the body to enter protective unconsciousness. But those drops of suspicious liquid Zuo Jun dripped into the opponent's nasal cavity locked this protective mechanism, allowing the tortured to experience the most extreme pain in the clearest state.

Sun Hang even suspected that this drug was capable of enhancing human sensory sensitivity, greatly amplifying the nerve signals the brain receives, multiplying the pain that could originally be endured with gritted teeth.

But regardless of what the true effect of this drug was, the tortured went mad — this outcome left Zuo Jun a bit dissatisfied.

"Seems like I didn't control the degree..." Zuo Jun muttered, contemplating whether to reverse time and try again, when another Hunter suddenly knelt down, trembling as he shouted: "I... I agree to your demands! I'll lead you back to the settlement... just... just don't use those things on me!"

...

These two Hunters came from a settlement called the "Amon Clan," a large settlement of nearly forty thousand people, the largest settlement in the entire Desert Sea.

And the residence of the Amon Clan is located within the carcass of a Sinking Sand Giant Worm named "New Thebes."

However, judging from the direction the Hunter led them, this New Thebes was evidently far from the old Thebes — according to Zuo Jun, the religion these people believed in was clearly evolved from Ancient Egyptian mythology, Amon in the Amon Clan is the creator in Ancient Egyptian mythology, the king of gods in Thebes. So it's only natural for the Amon Clan's residence to be named "New Thebes."

With the Hunter's guidance, they moved nearly one hundred and fifty kilometers across the Desert Sea, finally stopping in front of a sand dune that seemed no different from other areas they had passed.

The guiding Hunter's right arm trembled slightly from the burning pain of the mark, he pointed at the sand dune ahead and whispered: "Here is the entrance to New Thebes... I've met your demands, can I..."

Candle Dragon fiddled with detection instruments for a while, then nodded to Sun Hang — the Hunter hadn't deceived them, buried nearly two thousand meters beneath the sand dune was indeed the remains of a particularly massive Sinking Sand Giant Worm.

Even if this Sinking Sand Giant Worm isn't New Thebes, there must be other settlements living within... but for Sun Hang and the others, identifying New Thebes actually doesn't matter, as long as they can find a Priest of the Desert Sea settlements inside.

"You're free," Sun Hang nodded at the Hunter.

The Hunter hesitated hardly at all, immediately turning to run towards the sand dune, even neglecting his mentally shattered companion... he dashed out a dozen steps, the yellow sand barely engulfed his calves, and in the next second, he disappeared into the sand, falling deep below.

As he ran towards the sand dune, Sun Hang and Candle Dragon exchanged glances, but no one stopped his actions.

On the screen of the detection instrument, besides the remains of the Sinking Sand Giant Worm deep below, there was also a massive heat source, rapidly approaching the surface.

In less than ten seconds, the Hunter just swallowed by the sand appeared in Sun Hang's field of vision again, with him appeared a thick, long bone spike piercing through his chest both front and back.

A giant beast akin to a small hill lunged from the Desert Sea, only then could the surface dwellers see that the bone spike penetrating the Hunter was merely one of the longer spines on the creature's spine — the Hunter collided straight into it during his fall, without time to react, and was pierced through like a cooling breeze.

The height of the beast exceeded fifty meters, its body covered in a thick layer of keratin, yet extending several fin-like organs on both sides, enabling the beast to not only float on the Desert Sea, but also possess extremely astonishing maneuverability.

"What's this monstrosity? Is it a creature raised by the Desert Sea settlements?" Mr. Wang couldn't help but marvel, "Its appearance is just... so ugly!"

"It's the Transgression者..." Nuer murmured, a trace of fear flashing in his eyes.

"Transgression者? Does that mean... this used to be a 'human'?" Bai Lingqiu took a deep breath, though she's seen many strange creatures before, a human mutated into this form still made her feel an extremely strong physiological discomfort, staring at it a few more times caused her scalp to tingle.

"The destructive power of the Transgression者 is terrifying! But usually they are restrained by the Priests and cannot harm people... yet once this restraint is lifted, even a hundred people might not be able to kill one Transgression者! This Transgression者 is much larger than the largest one we have in our settlement..." Nuer swiftly explained to Sun Hang, "You... you must have a way to deal with it right?"

"Hard to say." Candle Dragon shook his head and took down the large caliber anti-material sniper rifle hanging behind him.

To avoid attracting the Sinking Sand Giant Worm, unless absolutely necessary, the squad won't use their Meme Ability. Although Sun Hang can hide his mimetic aura, in disguise, the capability he can showcase is very limited... purely in terms of killing power, they might really rely more on the modern weapons they've brought.

"Let's test first, if we can kill it with weapons all the better, if not, then don't hold back." Sun Hang told the others, "If it doesn't work, finish it quickly, before bringing the Sinking Sand Giant Worm here."

"What about after we've dealt with it?" Mr. Wang immediately asked.

With one Hunter dead and the other insane, if the squad chooses to flee to avoid being locked onto by the Sinking Sand Giant Worm, finding "New Thebes" next time will probably be much harder.

"After dealing with it, we'll go straight for the heart of the matter!" Sun Hang said, "Catch the Priest from the settlement before the Sinking Sand Giant Worm arrives!"

"Sun Hang, did you notice something." Suddenly, Candle Dragon said.

"What?"

"This Transgression者, its mimetic aura is astonishingly weak... just like us equipped with the Nephthys device, yet I can't find any shielding device on its body similar to ours."