Pet King

Zhang Zian had fled to the edge of the Devil’s Sea, but he was not very sure where he was. First the ground had broken up, and then the black storm had arrived. The landscape had changed completely. The unique honeycomb dunes had disappeared, replaced by the large parallel dunes commonly found in the desert. The Devil’s Sea was now like a dream.

In the wake of the storm, the light of the setting sun was extraordinarily soft, and the air was exceptionally clear. The temperature was cool, and everything felt new. The elfins jumped out of the window and shook the sand off their bodies to revel in the new joy they felt.

Looking at their car, everyone was shocked. Except for the half that was buried, the car’s body paint had been stripped away by the violent sandstorm to reveal its iron shell. The glass was full of scratches, much like sandpaper. The things stacked on the car’s roof had long since disappeared.

Although a sunset was much appreciated, it was nearly dusk. Zhang Zian did not have much time to appreciate the scenery. He had to dig the car out of the sand while it was still cool. He was the only one able to do this work—no one else would be able to help.

He asked Famous to get the folding shovel from the trunk. He then took off his shirt and started digging.

It was not easy to dig a half-buried car out of a sand pit. Each scoop displaced some sand, but more than half of it always flowed back in. It was somewhat of a wasted effort.

“Come on! Come on!” Richard cried as he watched, enjoying the scene.

The sun set, and after a rushed dinner of random food, he took out a camping light and continued digging. His torso was covered in sweat.

It was a pity that he hadn’t brought gloves for this trip. His hands quickly got sore from the friction. He could only tear off pieces of cloth from a shirt, wrap them around his hands, and continue working.

He hadn’t slept for over a day. He’d only gotten slight relief earlier from dozing off in the driver’s seat.

It wasn’t that he wanted to rush. However, food and water were severely limited. In addition, he did not know where they were. It would be dangerous to stay an extra day where they were.

He only knew that he was not leaving the Devil’s Sea from the north side. It could only be east, south, or west. To find the expedition team, he could no longer pass through the Devil’s Sea—he needed to make a detour. Without Nabari, the desert was completely strange to him.

The expedition team would only wait for him for 48 hours at the scheduled location, leaving after that for the safety of their team members. Twenty-four hours had already passed. He only had another 24 hours before he had to find his own way out of the desert.

Although the members of the expedition team were not all reliable, people were social animals. Traveling as a group provided a sense of reassurance. In case of unexpected situations, having more people meant there was always someone looking out for you.

So he dug. He dug until the sun rose again. Finally, the car was out of the sand. He also dug a slope in front of the car. He found a few slabs from the ruins and laid them under the tires. This was to provide sufficient grip to the tires when he started the vehicle.

The elfins had already fallen asleep. After finishing his tasks, his body extremely sore, he went to the driver’s seat, sat down, and slept.

While sleeping, he felt pain on his chin. It was itchy as well. He stumbled awake and saw a bird’s buttocks in his face. It seemed to be trying to poop in his mouth.

He slapped Richard away. He wiped the corner of his mouth—hopefully it was just saliva. Then he sat up straight, his eyes wide, and looked around.

The bones in his body felt like they had been horribly split up. He had a splitting headache, muscle pain, dry mouth, mouth ulcers, and a stomachache. He did not feel comfortable at all.

The elfins had all gotten up. They were not feeling very well either. Fatigue was written all over their faces. Zhang Zian had made a lot of noise as he’d worked last night, interrupting their sleep. They felt that they should have returned to the mobile phone. This way, they would’ve slept soundly and saved food and water.

“Zhang Zian, how are you?” Old Time Tea asked, concerned.

“I’m fine. I can still handle it.” Zhang Zian reluctantly put on a brave face and waved to the elfins to get in the car.

They were lucky—the car started up successfully. With the help of the slate blocks, they successfully got out of the sand pit.

After a period of aimless driving, the navigation device was finally working normally. This meant that they had left the magnetic field of the Devil’s Sea. They now knew that they were on the southeast side of the Devil’s Sea, far away from the original route. They were even farther away from the arranged meeting place.

When he saw this, Zhang Zian’s heart sank. Even in the most optimistic scenario, it would be difficult to reach the arranged location by this evening.

“What’s wrong?” Famous asked, noticing his expression. “It’s no good?”

Zhang Zian sighed and stopped the car.

Everyone was in the same boat. He should not hide anything from the elfins. If he talked to them about their situation, perhaps everyone could contribute ideas and help.

He got out of the car, took note of the food and fuel, and then squatted in the sand to sketch the landscape.

“We are currently here. This is the Devil’s Sea, and this is the meeting place…” He drew two points and a circle, two points on the north and southeast sides of the circle. “Right now, it will be very difficult for us to arrive at the meeting place at the scheduled time, so there are two choices in front of us. The first is to execute the original plan and go to the arranged place to meet with the expedition team. However, this plan assumes that they will continue waiting for us despite the deadline. If they leave on the dot, then it will be a wasted trip. It will also consume more time, food, and fuel. The second choice…”

He drew another point in the distance. “This is the Siwa Oasis. The second choice is that we don’t go to meet the expedition team and go straight back from here to the Siwa Oasis.”

As for the so-called near road, the line between the two points was the shortest. However, this wasn’t a path they’d taken before. It was an entirely new road.

If only Wei Kang, Nabari, and Salem were waiting for him, they would likely wait a little longer. However, the expedition team could not wait to return home. He couldn’t count on them to wait for him.

He couldn’t blame them, either. After all, he was the one who had suggested 48 hours. From their point of view, he could extend the time, but for how long? They could not possibly wait forever for him.

In this extremely harsh situation, people always made their own safety the first priority. Everyone was eager to go home. It was not wrong to think this way. It was human.

The various situations that they’d encountered along the way had also allowed the elfins to learn about how the expedition team thought and operated. To put their hopes on those people would be an invitation to disappointment.

Old Time Tea took a deep look at his exhausted face. He did not wait for the other elfins to express their opinions and made a decision. “Don’t say any more. Option two. Zhang Zian, you’ve slept too little. Rest until the afternoon.”