Chapter 2820: Gathering

“Fang Heng, over there…”

In the distance, on the right side, the sand began to stir abnormally again.

Like waves in the ocean, the sand formed a tide, surging rapidly toward them.

D*mn it!

Zaka cursed under his breath, feeling a chill run faintly down his spine.

Judging by the size of those waves, he estimated that at least several thousand mutant worm creatures were lurking beneath the sand!

“Hey, Fang Heng, do you see that?”

As the sand tide closed in, Zaka’s expression darkened slightly, and he tightened his grip on the energy beam gun.

We’re screwed!

Within the tide, there were even a few small but distinct moving dunes.

High-tier mutated Burrowing Sand Locusts!

Zaka’s face turned pale, his heartbeat pounding faster and faster.

“Relax, it’s fine,” Fang Heng said calmly, completely unfazed, as he controlled the energy crystal hoverboard beneath his feet, maintaining a steady pace forward.

“Are you sure it’s fine? Don’t let your guard down, we could crash any second…”

Seeing the swarm of underground mutant worms rapidly gathering toward them, Zaka was genuinely panicking.

One hundred meters…

Eighty meters…

Fifty meters…!

Su Guantong’s expression grew heavy too, and was ready to act at any moment.

Thirty meters left!

Zaka was extremely tense, gripping his guns tightly and preparing to fire preemptively. But in the very next second, the small dunes racing toward them suddenly settled and calmed.

Huh?!

What just happened?

Did they stop chasing?

Zaka froze in shock.

Then, all of a sudden, he realized that all the sand tides chasing after them had started to slow down about thirty meters away and completely stopped advancing.

Not a single grain of sand got within twenty meters of them.

What the hell?!

What was going on?

Zaka immediately turned his head to look at Fang Heng, eyes filled with confusion.

It even felt eerie.

It was as if Fang Heng had activated some kind of mysterious domain, instantly killing any Burrowing Sand Locust that entered its range.

Su Guantong also noticed it. His gaze toward Fang Heng was now filled with deep suspicion.

How did he do that?

Was it some kind of domain-type ability?

And what about that strange flesh cocoon from earlier?

Could it be a special summoning skill?

But the strangest thing of all–why couldn’t they find any trace of this guy’s identity in the Federation’s database?

Fang Heng remained calm, unfazed.

Just basic operations.

It wasn’t a domain ability at all. It was because he had sent over two hundred Lickers into the sand layer beneath them, patrolling nearby.

Any mutant worm creature that entered the thirty-meter range was silently slaughtered by the Lickers!

From the surface, it looked exactly like a strange domain skill was forcing all the Burrowing Sand Locusts to halt.

Even Zaka and the others, being so close to Fang Heng, were treated by the game as part of his team, earning them a few stray contribution points.

[Hint: Your teammate has killed a Burrowing Sand Locust.]

[Hint: You have gained 1 battlefield contribution point.]

[Hint: Your teammate has killed a Burrowing Sand Locust…]

Zate raised an eyebrow at the notifications.

Burrowing Sand Locusts…

A special mutant worm creature…

Sure, each one only gave 1-2 contribution points, but there were so many of them!

Soon, the game notifications were flooding their vision.

Zaka was overjoyed.

No way?!

Holy crap, this was insane luck! They had latched onto a big shot!

Zaka immediately beamed with delight and turned to Fang Heng, eyes sparkling with excitement.

Big Brother was incredible!

These were free contribution points!

No way he was letting go of this golden opportunity now!

Even if he died, he was clinging to this leg for dear life!

Fang Heng paid no attention to the looks from Zaka and the others. He calmly controlled the energy crystal hoverboard beneath his feet and maintained a steady pace forward.

This speed was just right.

If they went any faster, the Lickers wouldn’t be able to keep up with the kill rate, which might cause trouble.

In the meantime, Fang Heng had already ordered a portion of the Lickers to self-destruct–they would be able to respawn in about two hours.

By then, even more Lickers could join the battle, further speeding up the monster farming.

“Fang Heng, there’s an energy ripple over there.”

“Hm?”

Fang Heng snapped out of his thoughts and turned to look at Su Guantong.

Su Guantong checked the spawns mapping device and pointed toward the right, saying, “The map shows a special ripple about five kilometers out to the east, in the outer region. It could be a spirit crystal vein or an energy ore vein. I recommend we move in for a closer look.”

“Alright.”

Without wasting any more time, Fang Heng adjusted the energy crystal hoverboard and veered toward the right.

After traveling about five more kilometers, a patch of green forest appeared in the center of the desert.

A forest?

At first glance, it didn’t seem too large, surrounded by the desert’s vast sands.

Fang Heng stepped off the hoverboard and stood at the edge of the forest.

[Hint: The player has discovered an area with energy ripple activity. Please remain within the domain until the ripple scan is complete.]

[Hint: Current scan progress: 0.01%.]

[Hint: The player may attempt to move closer to the ripple source to accelerate the scan.]

Su Guantong and the others also received the game notification. They got off their hoverboards and exchanged glances.

“A forest in the middle of a desert… kinda creepy…” Zaka muttered, eyeing the patch of trees. “Should we go in and check it out?”

Everyone instinctively turned to Fang Heng.

At some point, though unspoken, Fang Heng had become the leader of the group.

“Not yet.”

Fang Heng stood still at the edge of the forest, expanding his perception.

Through his lifeblood sensing, he had already detected the mutant worm creatures hidden inside the woods.

Judging by their lifeblood signatures, the individual strength of these worms wasn’t particularly high.

In fact, they seemed even weaker than the Burrowing Sand Locusts from earlier.

“There are mutant worms inside, and lots of them.”

Zaka’s face immediately grew tense as he, along with the others, raised their gun and aimed at the forest.

“Everyone fall back a bit. I’ll try to lure some of them out.”

Su Guantong and the others didn’t hesitate and quickly retreated to the desert’s edge.

Fang Heng took a step forward and pulled an energy grenade from his backpack, tossing it into the forest.

Three seconds later.

“Boom!!!”

The energy grenade exploded deep within the woods.

“Buzz…”

A buzzing sound began to rise.

Fang Heng frowned.

Mosquitoes?

Triggered by the grenade’s blast, a massive swarm of mutated mosquitoes stirred to life, buzzing furiously as they swarmed out of the forest straight toward Fang Heng.

“Shit…”

Zaka couldn’t help but curse, feeling a chill in his gut as he quickly pulled the trigger.

The mosquito-like creatures were about the size of bees, swarming together in a dense black mass. There were so many that there was barely any need to aim. Just firing the energy beam weapons directly into the swarm was enough.

Whoosh! Whoosh whoosh!!!

The light beams tore through the swarm, picking off a few mosquitoes each time.

But against the massive, overwhelming black cloud, it barely made a dent!