Trickster Hunter.

Chapter 603 Sand Boat Outpost

“Being selected as one of the first advance team members is perhaps a kind of luck,” another team member whispered. “The further we go, the lower the chance of survival on board… At least we won’t end up like those who die before they even get started.”

The problem of insufficient balance on the metro cards only exists on the way from Chunming City to Egypt, but there is no problem on the return trip - each of the Chunming Metro transportation cards in the hands of the advance team members has been pre-loaded with 100,000 yuan. Even if they have nothing to do and ride the metro every day, they will not be able to use up the money in a few years.

"Haha, now the risk factor has actually reversed." A female team member chuckled twice and said, "A friend of mine was selected for the advance team's training camp with me. She said that the first batch of advance teams was too risky, and she would rather her performance not be so outstanding and be assigned to a later batch... I wonder what she will think when she hears this news."

"Is that how you think? Just quit the training camp." The team member who spoke earlier said disdainfully, "We all volunteered to join the advance team. If she was afraid of dying, there was no need for her to come to the training camp at all."

“She’s a free hunter, just like me.” The female team member shook her head. “Free hunters don’t have the lofty ideals of you government employees. We’re either in it for the money or for some other benefit… She was short of money, which is why she enlisted in the training camp.”

Hearing her say that, Sun Hang couldn't help but think of Cheng Ming.

(P.S. I'd like to correct an error in the previous text. The original list of the expedition team should have included nine people. I accidentally omitted Cheng Ming in the first chapter of volume five, but the chapter is now locked and cannot be edited, so I can only add it here.)
"And what about you? Are you after money, or something else?" Sun Hang asked the female hunter.

“I just want to see the outside world,” the hunter replied.

Sun Hang glanced at her wheat-colored skin and mixed-race features, then opened his terminal to check her information.

"Is it because your ancestors were refugees who fled from Egypt to Xiazhou?" Sun Hang asked.

“Yes, when I was little, my great-grandmother often told me what that land was like before it was invaded by the monsters… So, I’ve always wanted to see it for myself.” The hunter shrugged. “I thought I could only dream about it, but I never imagined I’d actually get this opportunity in my lifetime…”

“Then you’re probably going to be disappointed.” Sun Hang shook his head. “There’s nothing there except sand.”

"Whether I'll be disappointed or not, we'll only know after we see it." The hunter smiled and put the large bag she was carrying on the back on the ground. The moment the bag hit the ground, the contents inside made a crisp clinking sound.

Apart from Sun Hang, each member of the advance team carried a huge backpack and two large boxes of "luggage" in their hands. In addition to essential survival supplies and scientific research equipment, the majority of the contents of these containers were various modular "building materials".

After three days and two nights of discussion by the Tian Shu Tower professional team, the design drawings for the outpost were sent to Sun Hang's email on the third night.

Unlike fixed research stations and outposts, this outpost was designed as a mobile "land-based vessel".

Perhaps inspired by the "sail" that Sun Hang saw, the outpost designed by Tian Shu Tower is exactly a sand boat that can "sail" on the sand sea - this design not only solves the problem that it is difficult to fix the foundation on the sand sea with a low coefficient of friction, but also greatly improves flexibility and safety.

Once the giant sand worm is spotted approaching, the sandboat can carry all the advance team members and equipment to evade it. With the support of multiple power supply systems, the sandboat's theoretical maximum speed on the sand sea can even reach more than 190 kilometers per hour. Moreover, when necessary, the sandboat can also sink into the sand sea and become a "sand huller".

……

After a half-hour journey, the ghost train emerged from the sand dunes and came to a stop in the vast sea of ​​sand. Without a moment to marvel at the surroundings, the passengers quickly unloaded all their "luggage" as soon as the doors opened.

Under normal circumstances, if an ordinary person steps directly onto the sand, their feet will sink quickly as if they were sinking into a swamp. To solve this problem, the research department of Tian Shu Tower has developed a special gel specifically for the characteristics of the sand. Spraying this gel onto the sand can "glue" the sand with extremely low coefficient of friction together in a short time, forming a foothold like an "ice sheet at sea".

Sun Hang was the last to step out of the carriage. After he stepped onto the sand that was bound together by gel, the ghost train quickly disappeared into the dunes and vanished from everyone's sight.

Sun Hang looked up at the position of the sun in the sky, and it was almost the same time as the last time he came—it has to be said, the ghost train is quite punctual.

“Well… tsk.” Sun Hang looked around and made a soft tsk.

"What's wrong?" The captain of the advance team looked at Sun Hang, feeling a little nervous.

Sun Hang was the only one among them who had been here before. At the same time, he was the de facto supreme commander of this group. Even the captain of the advance team had to unconditionally obey all of Sun Hang's orders. In other words, before Sun Hang left on the ghost train five and a half hours later, he was the true captain of this advance team.

“I have a feeling that this time the stop I’m getting off at is not the same as the previous one,” Sun Hang said.

"How did you figure that out?" the hunter of Egyptian descent asked. "As you said before, there's nothing here but sand, and the distribution and shape of the dunes are constantly changing... Satellite positioning devices are useless here... Could it be your ability?"

The sand dunes in the desert are like ocean waves; a gentle breeze can drastically change their appearance. In less than two minutes after everyone got out of the car, the surrounding sand dunes had already changed several times.

"No, it's just a feeling." Sun Hang shook his head. "If you insist on giving me a reason, I can't."

"So what do we do next?" the advance team leader asked.

"Don't ask me, you're the captain." Sun Hang shrugged. "You guys just do what you're supposed to do, don't worry about me."

"As planned, the researchers in the team immediately began collecting environmental information, the combat personnel were responsible for guarding the surroundings, and the rest began assembling sand rafts..." the advance team leader said. "As for you..."

“I’m free to do whatever I want,” Sun Hang replied. “I’ll go for a walk around the area. Don’t worry, I won’t go far.”

“Okay.” The advance team leader nodded. “Please keep track of the remaining time and make sure you return before the deadline.”

"I will."

(End of this chapter)