No strange things are allowed to evolve!

He breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that everyone had returned safely, and immediately went to greet them.

"You're finally back. If you had come back even half a day later..."

Upon hearing this, the falcon thought something had happened and quickly asked, "What happened?"

"I'm going back now," the doctor said.

"?" The falcon's face immediately darkened.

“Just kidding.” The doctor chuckled, then spread his hands helplessly and said, “But what you’ve done is really terrifying. First, you all lost contact, then the two of them went to rescue you, but they also disappeared without a trace. I have no news at all. I’m really torn. If you really don’t come back, should I go to rescue you, or should I drive the train back to preserve the train and the resources on board?”

The falcon was silent for a moment, then let out a long sigh: "I'm sorry to have troubled you."

He could imagine the doctor's predicament.

But soon, he realized something: "So, you knew from the beginning that those two were not simple people, and you were there when they rushed over to save us?"

"Uh..." the doctor grinned awkwardly, "Yes."

The falcon pursed its lips.

The professor scratched his head: "You won't be mad at me, will you?"

“How could this be…” The falcon lowered its head, its voice becoming weak: “If it weren’t for them, we would all be dead.”

"What?" The doctor didn't hear clearly.

The falcon raised its head, its eyes filled with a mixture of anger and embarrassment: "You knew about it but didn't report it. You're punished by having to go back and write a self-criticism."

The professor shook his head and said in a cheeky tone, "We're on the same level, you have no right to order me around. If I ask you if you'll blame me, you can just say no. You're really something else, not taking the opportunity to save face."

"..."

At this moment, the doctor also noticed that the falcon was acting strangely.

Although the signs of aging on his face had not disappeared, the doctor felt that he was more energetic than ever before he had come out, so he asked what was going on.

Unexpectedly, the falcon remained silent when this topic was brought up.

His deputy explained to the doctor, "It was that La Li. He used some method to first remove the residual poison left by the desert power in the instructor's body, and then Tie Zhu replenished the instructor's life force. So now, although the instructor has used up all his desertification attempts and can no longer desertify, he can still survive."

"Do you need to tell me?" The falcon frowned, clearly displeased.

He originally planned to keep the doctor in suspense for a while before revealing the truth, shocking him first, and then slightly Versailles-like to express that although he had become the first guard in history to complete three high-intensity missions without dying, he was not actually very happy because he could no longer turn into sand.

Who knew this kid would ruin everything?

Seeing this, the deputy had no choice but to retreat awkwardly.

To everyone's surprise, the doctor didn't seem very surprised, as if he already knew about Jiang Shu's abilities.

He simply asked, "Yeah, speaking of which, where are they?"

A sense of frustration welled up in the falcon's heart.

So you already knew this all along...

So he could only pretend to be indifferent and hide his true feelings.

"They said they wanted to restore Baiyun City. We wanted to help, but Lali said we couldn't be of much help and would only cause trouble if we stayed there. We should come back and rest first."

"I see." The doctor nodded.

Meanwhile, on the other side...

Wang Tiezhu and Xue Wang had already woken up; otherwise, Wang Tiezhu wouldn't have been able to help the Falcon stabilize its waning lifespan.

They were resting in a shady spot, recovering.

Even now, they both still feel dizzy.

It's not that they were too weak; the White Cloud Tower was just too tall, so when the top floor exploded, the impact of the falling heavy objects was too great. Coupled with being suddenly teleported, they were caught off guard and had no preparation at all. If it weren't for the puppet protecting them, they would have been seriously injured even if they hadn't died.

It was out of trust in Jiang Shu that she did it. If someone else had gone through this, they would probably have thought carefully afterward about whether they had offended Jiang Shu in some way, since it seemed like the situation was designed to kill them.

Jiang Shu and Huang Helou, on the high slope directly in front of them, were pointing out the landscape of the basin below.

However, it was mainly Jiang Shu who was giving instructions, while Huang Helou was responsible for trembling with fear.

"Is this really going to work?"

"Why not?" Jiang Shu asked in surprise. "The Sand Demon has used this kind of technique before. Didn't we see it before? It's very securely wrapped."

"I'm not questioning whether the technology is reliable or not; I'm asking whether they can accept this technology," Huang Helou sighed.

Jiang Shu waved his hand dismissively: "That's why I told them to leave first, didn't I? Don't worry, they won't know."

"If you weren't a bro, you really wouldn't know? If the plaster fell off the wall and suddenly a sand golem's face was revealed, wouldn't you find that terrifying?"

Looking down at the countless sand golems below, who were forming human walls and repairing the ruins of Baiyun City that Jiang Shu had thrown out, Huang Helou felt a chill run down his spine when he imagined himself one day finding the walls of his house filled with corpses.

He didn't ask Jiang Shu why he could control so many sand puppets. He wasn't surprised by anything Jiang Shu did now. However, when he saw the sand puppets crawling out of the desert like cockroaches after a floor tile was removed, he still felt that Jiang Shu's art was a bit too advanced.

However, Jiang Shu didn't really have a solution. After removing the fragment of Boundless Sand, he lost the power that surpassed all the sand puppets. The Sand Demon essentially severed its connection with White Cloud City, and control of White Cloud City fell into Jiang Shu's hands.

At this time, Baiyun City was already in ruins. Jiang Shu had no use for these small Lego pieces and did not want to bind them to his body, so he threw them out, claiming that he was rebuilding the homes of the survivors, keeping his merits hidden.

It's just that after it was handed over, I felt that the handover of this kind of thing was somewhat perfunctory, so I thought about rebuilding it.

Since there were few materials in the desert, Jiang Shu naturally thought of the Sand Demon's previous method of using sand puppets to change the terrain and lure the guards into traps. So he used the sand puppets as bricks, moving them wherever needed.

Although it was indeed a last resort, Jiang Shu has always been a person who readily accepts good advice and is very receptive to suggestions. After Huang Helou's reminder, he also felt that this approach was not quite appropriate.

After all, there are more than one or two places to repair. If the people who move in suddenly have a whim and want to smash down the wall or dig out a closet, they might find sand golems in the wall. Whether they are frightened or not is not the main concern, but the impact is not good.

No matter what, Jiang Shu is the chief engineer. Nowadays, there is a lifelong responsibility system, so he can't do whatever he wants in the incubator.

So Jiang Shu nodded: "That makes sense, it does need to be optimized."

"Right?" Huang Helou breathed a sigh of relief.

"How about this?" Jiang Shu thought for a moment and said, "I plan to add a law that even if the survivors have to pay to buy the houses here, they will only have the right to live there, not the right to own them. If anyone dares to modify the existing layout, or touch the walls, floors, ceilings, or anything like that, they will be executed immediately upon discovery. This way, no one will be able to find these sand golems."

Huang Helou's mouth dropped open, as if he had misheard.

"Say it again?"

So Jiang Shu repeated it again.

Confirming he hadn't misheard, Huang Helou smiled with relief:

"What the hell are you planning to optimize?!"

......

After repairing Baiyun City, Jiang Shu and his companions returned to the Zodiac Train.

He originally intended for everyone to walk together to the source of all evil that the Sand Demon had mentioned, but after secretly asking the Sand Demon, he discovered that the destination was a bit too far away.

The Sand Demon's expedition team set off from White Cloud City and traveled all the way to the seaside, which took about half a year. Even if the location of the Void required traveling back from the seaside, it would still take at least three or four months.

Jiang Shu could use earth magic to greatly shorten the travel time, but Huang Helou and his group couldn't. For them, taking the train was the fastest option.

So Jiang Shu decided to split up with the others. He would go and check first, while the others would take the train based on the location information he provided.

At the same time, you can leave beacons around your companions so that you can return at any time if things go wrong or if you manage to escape together.

A few days later.

Jiang Shu traveled westward until he finally reached the edge of the desert.

He poked his head out of the sand and looked at the endless abyss before him—this place should have been a vast blue sea.

He climbed out and sat on a reef that should have been silently acting as a potato mine, quietly making holes in the bottom of passing ships.

At this moment, the reef was quite obvious, resembling a small mountain peak.

"There really isn't a single drop left..." he said with some emotion.

“I already told you,” the Sand Demon emerged from Jiang Shu’s shoulder. “All the seawater has been transformed, which is why there is enough sand to cover the entire world.”

This is the power that Jiang Shu bestowed upon the Sand Demon.

For no other reason than to pay homage to Venom.

Of course, apart from being able to crawl out from Jiang Shu's shoulder, the Sand Demon can't do anything else right now; all he can do is crawl out from Jiang Shu's shoulder.

Jiang Shu's gaze was somewhat profound: "But... I can still faintly smell the salty, fishy smell of the sea."

The Sand Demon's eyes held a hint of reminiscence: "That was my scent, wasn't it?"

"You said... what's on the other side of the sea?"

"It's the eastern coast of the empire; the world is round."

"No, beyond the sea lies not freedom, but enemies!"

"The east coast is on the other side of the sea..."

"Very well, then let me drive all the deserts out of this world! I will unleash the Rumbling!"

"Can this be reconciled? But what is the rumbling?"

boom!

The earth suddenly trembled.

It turns out that Jiang Shu blasted a huge gap in the coastline.

The Sand Demon was taken aback: "What are you doing?"

Jiang Shu turned his head: "Isn't it because you're such a useless piece of trash that we can't find a place? What else can we do besides this method?"

"Isn't it because my strength has greatly diminished and my control over the desert has weakened..." the Sand Demon explained softly.

"You'd better say the same thing after you get married, because as you get older, your energy decreases and your control over hardness and duration weakens. See if your wife listens to you."

Jiang Shu retorted, and the Sand Demon, who had once been a human and a man, remained silent.

Jiang Shu did not press his advantage, but instead looked down at the hole he had created and scanned it back and forth. Before long, he discovered a hole about two or three hundred meters deep from the sand.

The Sand Demon had previously stated that the pit they dug was less than 100 meters from the sand surface. If the actual elevation of the hollow area had not changed, it would mean that the desert had thickened by another 100 to 200 meters over the years, which is not a small number.

But these were not things that Jiang Shu cared about; he was only concerned that he had finally found the entrance.

This should be one of the waterways through which Wuliangsha channeled seawater into the hollow.

Once you enter this waterway, you will find the cavity.

"You managed to find such a hidden place?" the Sand Demon exclaimed in surprise.

After the seawater was drained, the seabed was covered with thick yellow sand, and the former waterways had long been buried. But he did not expect that Jiang Shu would actually create a cross-section and forcefully find the blocked entrance.

"Hmph." Jiang Shu said arrogantly, "No matter how sinister it is, as long as it's the Dao, I can find the entrance. So go ahead and learn it."

"Something sounds off."

"Don't say it."

Soon, Jiang Shu entered the long-sealed waterway.

The waterway is very wide because as more and more seawater was introduced into Wuliangsha, the required discharge volume could not be small. Even if the waterway was not large at the beginning, it would naturally become wider and wider with the strong water pressure and current.

Jiang Shu estimated that it would be no problem to drive a Jiefang truck back and forth in here; it's practically an air-raid shelter.

Along the way, Jiang Shu discovered that besides this waterway, there were many other waterways whose entrances he had not yet found. They were introduced from somewhere and then converged together, flowing towards the cave where Wuliangsha was located.

By the end, the waterway had become incredibly wide, and Jiang Shu's footsteps echoed as he walked through it.

The surrounding silence made the sand demon on Jiang Shu's shoulder suddenly feel a sense of loneliness for no reason. It felt extremely small, as if it were walking in the vast universe, not knowing where to go.

Thinking of this, he couldn't help but ask Jiang Shu, who had been quiet all along.

What are you thinking about right now?

“I’m thinking…” Jiang Shu replied seriously and earnestly, “We’ve been going downhill the whole time. Logically speaking, the cave and the sea should be connected. So why hasn’t the cave you mentioned been flooded?”

The Sand Demon remained silent for a long time: "Is this important?"

"Isn't that important? You used to be a scientific expedition member, and you have absolutely no scientific sense. Did you even go to school?"

"..."

After walking for an unknown amount of time, Jiang Shu finally arrived at a place that looked like the end of the road.

This area was firmly sealed by layers of yellowed white silk fibers, making it airtight.

Only then did Jiang Shu realize: "So that's how it is. It can control whether water flows in or not, which is why it wasn't flooded."