Chapter 89: The Giant Worms


    "I... I feel... something inside me," the man who had been infested with the worms spoke up, his face twisted in discomfort as he pressed his hands against his body.


    *Squelch...*


    A nauseating sound emanated from his body. The skin where he pressed collapsed inward, and a thick, yellow fluid oozed out from the tiny holes covering his body.


    "What... what is this!?" The man stared in horror at the yellow fluid on his hands, gagging.


    Han Ming, who was closest to the man, quickly examined the fluid. His heart sank as he realized what it was.


    *We''re done for!* Han Ming thought in despair. The yellow fluid was filled with countless tiny white specks.


    *Eggs!?*


    "Ahhh!!"


    Before the man could recover from his disgust, he suddenly let out an even more blood-curdling scream. His body began to writhe unnaturally, as if it had a mind of its own. Then, before everyone''s eyes, his body exploded with a sickening *pop*.


    Countless tiny worms burst into the air, raining down like a torrential downpour over the group.


    "Defend yourselves! Now!" Han Ming shouted, not waiting for Chuck to give the order. He quickly layered two additional ice shields around himself.


    The others, still in shock, were slow to react.


    "Damn it!" Chuck roared. Seeing the swarm of worms descending upon them, he waved his hands frantically, summoning a powerful gust of wind. The wind gathered into a tornado, sweeping the worms away into the distance until they disappeared from sight.


    "What the hell just happened? Weren''t all the worms expelled from his body? Where did so many more come from!?" Chuck turned to Han Ming, who had been closest to the man and might have noticed something the others hadn''t.


    Han Ming''s expression was grim. "They were eggs. The worms laid countless eggs inside his body. The eggs hatched at an alarming rate, producing an endless number of larvae. We''re in serious trouble. These worms disappear into the sand the moment they touch it, making them nearly impossible to guard against. The slightest lapse in attention, and they''ll burrow into your body."


    Hearing this, the group fell into a heavy silence.


    Now, aside from the five experts, only Han Ming and the wood-element warrior who had helped kill the Sawtooth Fish remained.


    The situation was dire. The tiny worms were deeply embedded in the sand beneath their feet, and they were nearly impossible to detect. This was the Savage Desert—nothing but sand as far as the eye could see. It meant they couldn''t rest, not even for a moment, without risking an infestation.


    Han Ming''s heart was heavy. At this point, he would rather face another fourth-tier magical beast than deal with these bizarre worms.


    "It looks like we''ll have to maintain a defensive stance at all times from now on. Warriors, keep your combat energy active. Mages, shield yourselves."


    "But how? The constant tension will drive us mad. Even if our minds can handle it, our bodies won''t last."


    "Then what do you suggest?"


    The group fell silent again. No one had encountered anything like this before, and no one had a solution.


    Seeing that no one had any ideas, Han Ming thought for a moment and said, "I don''t think it needs to be that complicated. The man who was infested was wearing shoes, and the worms burrowed through them to get inside him. But when we stood on the animal hides, the worms stopped attacking. I think the worms only attack living things. The hides came from dead animals, so the worms likely see them as lifeless and don''t bother with them."


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    Chuck nodded slightly, following Han Ming''s line of thought. "So, if we wrap ourselves in animal hides, the worms won''t attack us. It seems these worms are quite primitive—if they don''t perceive something as alive, they won''t go after it."


    The others agreed with this assessment.


    By now, the sun had risen, and the temperature was climbing again. No one felt like resting, and they skipped breakfast, eager to leave this cursed place as quickly as possible.


    The memory of the man''s gruesome death sent chills down everyone''s spines.


    In the scorching heat, everyone wrapped themselves in thick animal hides, which was far from comfortable. Even if the worms didn''t attack, the heat alone was enough to dehydrate and kill them.


    Everyone sipped sparingly from their water bags, knowing how precious each drop was. The hot water only made them feel thirstier, creating a cruel illusion of relief.


    Han Ming, however, wasn''t worried about water. He had more than enough.


    He shielded his eyes with his hand and gazed into the distance.


    Endless desert stretched out before them, with no sign of an end in sight.


    The group trudged over one sand dune after another, the landscape unbroken and monotonous.


    The worms hadn''t reappeared, but a new problem loomed.


    They had been walking through this bizarre desert for over ten days. By now, they should have reached the next zone, the Savage Ancient Forest. Yet, all they could see was more desert. Their water supplies were more than halfway depleted, and morale was plummeting.


    Amid this growing despair, one discovery cast an even darker shadow over the group.


    "What''s this...?"


    The wood-element warrior suddenly felt something unusual underfoot. He bent down and dug it out, his eyes widening in shock.


    "It''s an animal hide! The one that belonged to the man who died!"


    Han Ming''s heart sank. After all this time, they had circled back to the spot where the worms had attacked.


    "How is this possible!? We''ve been heading west this whole time. How did we end up back here?"


    The earth-element warrior, who had been following Chuck, finally lost his composure and shouted at the group.


    "Damn it! I want to go back! I can''t stay in this hellhole any longer!"


    Chuck''s face darkened. "Calm down!"


    "How can I calm down!? Our water is almost gone, and we''re going in circles. We''ll die of thirst before any magical beasts or quicksand pits get us!"


    *Slap!*


    Chuck struck the warrior, sending him sprawling to the ground. His hands trembled with anger as he pointed at the man. "When we decided to come here, we all knew the risks. Now you want to leave? No one is going anywhere!" Even the usually composed Chuck was losing his cool.


    "Then what do we do!? Tell me, what do we do!? Damn it!" the warrior continued to shout.


    At this point, the other four experts turned their attention to Han Ming and the wood-element warrior.


    *Hmph, so they''re finally eyeing our water supplies,* Han Ming thought coldly.


    "You two, I''m sorry, but you''ve seen the situation. I don''t need to explain further. Hand over your remaining water," Chuck demanded, stepping toward them.


    "Oh? Planning to take it by force?" Han Ming raised an eyebrow, his tone mocking.


    *Roar...!*


    Just as tensions were about to boil over, a deafening roar echoed across the desert.


    Everyone turned to look.


    In the distance, a black object was rapidly descending from the sky. When it hit the ground, it sent a massive cloud of sand into the air before burrowing into the sand and disappearing.


    "Be careful! It''s coming this way!" Han Ming warned.


    A mound of sand began to rise and move swiftly toward them.


    "Tornado!" Chuck shouted, waving his hands rapidly. A tornado over two meters thick formed, sweeping up sand and hurtling toward the mound.


    As the sand was flung into the air, the creature beneath was revealed.


    It was a massive worm, nearly five meters in diameter. Its appearance was identical to the tiny worms, only magnified countless times.


    But what filled them with despair was the sight of countless more worms in the distance.


    The sky was filled with the enormous creatures, their numbers blotting out the sun. They fell from the sky, burrowed into the sand, and then leaped out again, only to dive back in.


    "Damn it! We''re finished!"


    Even Han Ming was at a loss for words. How could they possibly fight against thousands of these monstrous worms?


    "Run!"


    That was everyone''s first thought.


    Fight? Don''t be ridiculous!


    The group sprinted at full speed, abandoning all thoughts of conserving water. The giant worms were a far more immediate threat.


    As they ran, Han Ming glanced back and suddenly stopped. "Wait... the worms aren''t chasing us. It doesn''t seem like they''re after us."


    The others halted and looked back. Sure enough, the worms had passed their original location and were heading in a different direction.


    "It seems... something is chasing them?" Han Ming mused.


    Chuck''s face paled. "What!? Something that can scare off such a massive swarm of worms? That thing must be even more terrifying."


    Han Ming felt a deep sense of foreboding, stronger than anything he had ever experienced.


    *It looks like... we''re about to face something far worse.*