In the dim main bridge, yellow sand seeped in along the cracked edge of the observation window, piling up into undulating dunes on the consoles. A few scarlet rays pierced the veil of sand, dyeing the drifting dust into blood mist. On the floor below, a shriveled corpse lay curled up, gray-white skin clinging to bone like air‑dried leather, one withered hand still hooked into the groove of the emergency brake lever.

The wind keened outside the hull, the fine scrape of sand on metal going on without pause. A single ghostly blue light glowed at the information hub interface, where a sharply angular drone clung to the port, the signal light in its belly blinking on and off in a steady rhythm.

Far away in the shelter room, Lin Xian removed his optical visor, his face as heavy as still water. He leaned back in a corner, fingers tapping lightly against his knees.

"Teacher Chen has led the Sky Dome Train north to help rescue the Orbit Team, and Noah landed at Hakko to meet up with the Dawn Center coming up from the south. But now Hakko has fallen, Noah is stranded, and we don’t even know if the Dawn Center made it through the Scarlet Zone of South America..."

Lin Xian’s gaze flickered as he muttered, "KIKI and Director Ding..."

The scarlet world beyond the porthole weighed down on Lin Xian’s chest. He’d woken up amid yellow sand and wreckage; if KIKI and Director Ding had been with him, the only conclusion he could draw now was that both of them had already met misfortune in this war...

Lin Xian drew in a few deep breaths, forcing himself not to jump straight to the worst‑case scenario. He had a map and some information in hand now; he should first figure out how to get out of here. After all, the message was already 54 days old. He urgently needed the latest intel.

He rose at once, pushing down the turmoil in his mind. His fingers tapped at the air, and a black set of Nanometer Battle Armor rapidly wrapped around his whole body.

"First get out of here, then find the city orbital and bring the Infinity out..."

The Infinity had complete internal living facilities, and it also packed formidable firepower and Armor. It was a major source of Lin Xian’s sense of security. He couldn’t help recalling when he first built the Infinite Train—the cramped No. 1 carriage, like a Steel Fortress, had seen him through countless dangers.

Wooo~

Several transport drones hoisted the cargo containers Lin Xian had fabricated. Up ahead, Dragon Girl fired a high‑energy cutting beam from her arm, slicing a clean opening in the bulkhead. The entire wall then slid straight down, crashing into the sand pit below and kicking up a cloud of dust.

Lin Xian leapt down, the propeller slowing his fall as he landed. Countless small drones then shot out in dense swarms, forming a Sentry array with a three‑hundred‑meter diameter around him, monitoring for danger in real time.

Visibility in the Scarlet Zone was extremely low, and the scarlet haze roiling across the sky felt almost alive: sometimes it thinned enough to see a bit farther, sometimes it congealed so thick he could only see a few dozen meters. The oppressive suffocation gnawed at the mind.

Lin Xian opened the map, used the faintly discernible black coastline in the distance as a rough reference, then picked a direction and began to move cautiously through the yellow sands on his own.

...

Hakko South Shore—yellow sand rolled on for a thousand miles. Eerie scarlet vortices flickered in and out over the dunes. In the distance, four low‑flying motorcycles tore through the gale, their riders all shrouded in custom Nightwalker wind‑proof cloaks, with full‑coverage Power Armor marked by flowing metallic lines beneath. Even so, in this sea of sand, those high‑tech suits were already scarred by battle.

Alongside them, another person was actually streaking forward in a Flying posture without relying on any vehicle, the turbulence from her flight whipping up a storm of sand from the ground.

"Zzzzz..."

At that moment, inside one of the Flying Motorcycles, the lead rider spoke over the comms channel.

"...We only have two hours. Area 34 is close to Noah; we have to pull out before the Sky Giant Collar sweeps over. If we stir up any Hunting Bodies, avoid them first and look for an opening. Whatever you do, don’t trigger a Scarlet Tide!"

"The closer we get to Noah, the more that thing’s sweep pattern might change, and there’ll definitely be more Hunting Bodies." Another woman’s voice came over the channel.

Vrrrm!

The heavy bike at the rear roared as it closed the distance. A burly man on it spoke up as well: "If it’s no more than two, we just take them out. Good chance to try the new weapon!"

"No." The leader answered at once. "Our only objective is to find the person. The Scarlet miasma on the Hakko Battlefield is too strong. Besides the Sky Giant Collar, there are at least two more S-Class lurking in the sea and under the coastal sands. If we rouse them, we won’t even make it back to the safehouse."

"Exactly." Another man, carrying a massive sniper rifle and sporting a special mechanical arm, spoke up. "Don’t be so reckless, Alon. We’re a recon team, not the main force. Use your head."

"Tch, I’m just curious about the new Dark Energy Weapon, that’s all~" the man called Alon replied.

The leader turned his head to glance at the person Flying off to one side and said, "KIKI, you made way too much noise yesterday. I get that you were desperate to save people, but you really shouldn’t be tearing open storm clouds like that again. We’re all pretty curious what that Monster sweeping across the sky was, but we only get one life. Better to err on the side of caution!"

"Okay."

A faint voice answered over the channel, a little subdued. The person now skimming just above the ground was KIKI. Through her Power Armor’s HUD, her gaze locked on the navigation marker, focused yet tinged with haste.

Area 34 was a sector carved out of the Hakko Battlefield. It had previously been the position of the 27th Regiment of the Third Intercontinental Team, with more than eleven ships having crashed there and wreckage strewn everywhere.