Chapter 835: Chapter 85: Giant Hill (Part 2)

"I can do that, but you have to tell me why?" Sun Hang was even more puzzled.

"To avoid waking the sleeping giants," Ya Qiaoxi said. "Sounds, radio signals, touch, changes in temperature and humidity, and certain levels of memetic fluctuations can all potentially trigger their awakening."

"These so-called giants... are they that light of sleepers?" Sun Hang was speechless. "Can they be startled by the slightest sound?"

"It’s not quite that they’re awakened by a mere touch, otherwise we would have already abandoned the vehicles," Ya Qiaoxi replied. "The main issue is that we’re still not certain what will awaken them... but at least two triggers have been confirmed."

"Which two?"

"Exhaled human gases and warm blood," Ya Qiaoxi said. "If these two things come into contact with the sleeping giants, they will awaken immediately and enter a state of rage."

"Doesn’t sound like giants, sounds like zombies," Sun Hang muttered.

"Once awakened, more than 90% of the people in this convoy will likely die here," Ya Qiaoxi said.

"If that’s the case, why choose this route?"

"Because on one side of Giant Hill is the Great Rift Valley, and on the other side, there’s the stronghold of death sandstorms raging 24/7, 365 days a year. Comparatively, this route is actually the safest. Detouring would add over 400 kilometers and pass through more dangerous areas." Ya Qiaoxi whispered, "After splitting into three convoys, all of them will pass through Giant Hill, and we are probably the first batch to arrive."

"Now we’re the scouts for the mines," Sun Hang looked at the convoy outside, which seemed on high alert. After a recent skirmish, the number of vehicles had sharply decreased, leaving only eight vehicles, including Sun Hang’s. The driver who survived under the transformed beast woman had also abandoned his nearly demolished car, switching to another vehicle with available space.

"Shh, stay quiet, we’re here," Ya Qiaoxi said nervously. "Don’t talk to me, I need to concentrate fully on driving!"

Sun Hang immediately looked ahead.

The so-called Giant Hill was actually a small desert located in the Gobi Desert. The wheels rolled over the yellow sand, producing tense "swish" sounds. At the end of his vision, Sun Hang saw a dark gray arm reaching out from the sand, stretching straight towards the sky.

Only the part above the elbow of this arm was exposed, appearing to be sculpted from some kind of stone. Judging by human proportions, the statue buried beneath the sand was at least seven to eight meters tall from head to toe, making it a veritable giant.

The lead two vehicles cautiously avoided the arm at a speed of less than 10 miles per hour, continuing to drive forward.

As the convoy progressed, such "giant statues" became more frequent. They maintained various poses, with most of their bodies buried under the sand—the one with the highest "exposure" that Sun Hang saw was the sixteenth statue, with its entire upper body protruding above the sand in a bizarre waving gesture.

It looked just like a drowning person desperately struggling.

Sun Hang glanced at the giant statue’s face, but to his disappointment, it wore a mask with a strong tribal style, completely obscuring its features and expressions.

Behind its head were intricately carved braids. The hair was as meticulously detailed as if a bunch was tied together and painted the same color as the statue. It’s hard to imagine trying to control carving precision to this extent without modern technology; the yield must be incredibly low.

Sun Hang couldn’t help but think of those "asphalted" scouts in Lake Baikal City.

"Are these giants considered animal-like mysterious creatures or object-like mysterious creatures?" Sun Hang couldn’t resist asking quietly.

Ya Qiaoxi pressed her lips tightly and shook her head slightly.

"What’s the origin of the giants and Giant Hill?"

"Don’t ask... I don’t know either," Ya Qiaoxi spoke helplessly. "Dubhe Tower has dispatched investigation teams several times before, but each time, these giants would awaken halfway through the investigation and wipe out the team... Afterwards, Dubhe Tower decided to collaborate with the Dragon City Defense Army to eliminate these giants... Yet just a day after bombing the giants, another set of the same number emerged from deep within the desert the next day."

Ya Qiaoxi referred to depth in the vertical sense—no one knows how many more giant statues remain submerged at the bottom of this Desert Sea.

"How many giants are there in Giant Hill?"

"One hundred and forty-four," Ya Qiaoxi answered. "The Mysterious Creature Research Institute in Dragon City publishes statistics tasks monthly, and the number has always remained the same, never increasing nor decreasing."

Suddenly, the convoy came to a halt.

Ya Qiaoxi also stepped on the brakes.

A mercenary wearing a gas mask ran cautiously to Sun Hang’s car, lightly tapping on the car window with his gloved finger.

"What’s going on?" Sun Hang rolled down the window and asked.

"A vehicle’s tire got stuck in a sand pit up ahead." A muffled voice came from beneath the gas mask—even though the nearest giant statue was almost a hundred meters away, the mercenary still didn’t dare to raise his voice a fraction.

Fortunately, Sun Hang had good hearing.

"They asked me... to come to ask you," the mercenary continued in a low voice, "whether to abandon the vehicle or... rescue it."

"If we abandon the vehicle, there might not be enough left, right?" Sun Hang recalled that after the skirmish ended and they set out again, every vehicle was already at full capacity.

Even if Sun Hang’s car could squeeze in one more person in the back, four people would still have no place to go.

Originally, Sun Hang intended to have these people lie on the roof, but considering they didn’t even dare open the windows in Giant Hill, and had patched the bullet-pierced windows with electrical tape, asking them to cross Giant Hill exposed outside was something neither the abandoned people would agree to nor the drivers would dare to attempt.

If they accidentally passed by a giant statue and the living breath awakened it, the whole convoy would be doomed.

"I’ll go take a look," Sun Hang nodded to the mercenary.

"Put this on." Ya Qiaoxi turned around and handed him a gas mask with internal air circulation.

Sun Hang put on the gas mask, opened the car door, got out, and followed the mercenary toward the front of the convoy.

The trouble was with a large-tonnage heavy off-road vehicle, whose two rear wheels were deeply sunk into the sand—normally, with the power of this vehicle, laying something under the wheels and pressing on the accelerator would allow it to drive right out.

But in Giant Hill, where speaking loudly was courting death, asking the driver to floor the gas pedal was akin to seeking trouble.

Several free hunters and mercenaries debated in hushed voices, their moods tense as they gestured, fearing their voices would be too low for each other to hear.

Seeing Sun Hang approaching, several people immediately showed expressions of joy.

"So, you guys are planning to have me lift the vehicle?" Sun Hang asked, "Just like at Sunfall Ridge?"

The group immediately nodded.

"Alright." Sun Hang bent down and grabbed the rear bumper of the off-road vehicle. 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝐰𝚎𝕓𝐧𝚘𝘃𝗲𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝕞

As he pulled up with force, a "creak" that made everyone’s hair stand on end rang out; the tires didn’t lift, but the rear bumper of the off-road vehicle was deformed under Sun Hang’s grip.

"Something’s not right... it seems the tire is stuck on something under the sand," Sun Hang said with a serious expression.