Chapter 1002: The Illusion in the Desert Translator: Exodus Tales Editor: Exodus Tales Translated by XephiZ Edited by Aelryinth If the danger level of every demonic creature territory was listed on the same ranking, the Sahara Desert was very likely going to end up in the top three! Most places where demon creatures resided were considered treasure lands to Hunters. Regardless of how dangerous, desolate, or far away the places were, many Hunters were willing to explore them, since the territories of demon creatures would usually have fascinating and valuable treasures waiting to be discovered. However, not even Hunters would dare to enter a forbidden place like the Sahara Desert! The outer area of the Sahara Desert was ranked deep red. The density of demon creatures was comparable to the deep ocean. There were packs, tribes, and even kingdoms of demon creatures across the place. However, if people were to venture deeper into the Sahara Desert, the place would be totally purple, meaning that the density of demon creatures was three times the density of the red areas! They would surely experience the meaning of seeing parades of demon creatures wherever they went! Having more demon creatures residing in the area meant that the resources would be scarce, too. The hordes of demon creatures had never stopped competing among themselves for the resources, let alone humans who dared trespassing into their territories! Normally, such a dangerous place would have lots of terrifying rumors revolving around it. However, there were not many rumors about the Sahara Desert, since the rumors only existed when someone managed to come back alive and tell the others about their experiences. Even until now, not many Hunters dared to talk about the Sahara Desert, as it was simply a death zone. Apart from the purple areas in the inner areas of the Sahara Desert, the deepest part of it was a shocking black area! Mo Fan would never forget the sight he saw within the Dark Abyss. It was a furnace of undead, with zombies and skeletons stacked up like mountains and oceans. Only a place like that would be classified as a black area! It turned out there was a place like that in the Sahara Desert, a place that no Mage had ever visited, and was completely unknown to mankind... As such, the team was startled when they were asked to go to such a dangerous place for a rescue mission! What kind of joke was that? Instead of saving someone, they were only going to get themselves killed! The Sahara Desert was basically a no-man’s land! “The advisors have made it clear that we’ll decide if we want to go ourselves. However, those who chose not to go will not receive any resources allocated to the national team,” Nanyu said. “I would rather give them up instead!” Zu Jiming was the first to express his thoughts. “I don’t want to go either, a place like that...” “Captain, what do you think?” Many people immediately looked at Ai Jiangtu, hoping that he could decide on behalf of the team. “We are only asked to look for traces of the missing team in the outer part. We won’t need to go deep into the Sahara Desert,” Nanyu explained purposely. She had clearly decided to go, since the benefits that the advisors promised were too good to give up on. “I want to go too; I need money!” Mo Fan was pretty straightforward. After talking with Zhao Manyan about the price of a Soul-grade Lightning Seed, Mo Fan had almost gone crazy thinking how to earn more money. Africa’s Magic Association had promised quite a handsome reward, and Mo Fan desperately needed it! “I’m sorry, we’ve got other plans instead. Let’s split up here, feel free to go if you want. As for the money, we won’t even bother taking a cent, since money is completely useless if you’re dead,” Guan Yu deferred. The Sahara Desert was not a part of their initial itinerary. After arriving at the Mediterranean Sea, Guan Yu had his own sources to acquire the resources he needed. He had no intention of risking his life by going to the Sahara. “We’ll do it the old way then. Nanyu will lead those who’s interested, and I’ll look after those who decide not to go,” Ai Jiangtu said. Members of the team had long had conflicts with one another. It was not the first time the team had split up. Whenever the members were free to make their own decisions, the team usually split up into two. As the captain, Ai Jiangtu was obliged to look after the others. He would normally stay with Guan Yu and the others. As everyone expected, Jiang Shaoxu, Jiang Yu, Zhao Manyan, Mu Ningxue, and Nanyu decided to go to Sahara, while the others were led by Ai Jiangtu to find other ways of earning resources. Everyone on the team wanted to improve, thus they needed all kinds of resources to remain competent on the team. Most importantly, they wanted to shine brightly when they reached Venice, so the world would notice them and the factions behind them! —— “Say, Mo Fan, can you go easier on yourself? You can’t be serious about going to the Sahara, no matter how desperate you want money!” Zhao Manyan was actually a person that was very scared of dying. Making friends with Mo Fan was truly the worst decision he had ever made in his life, since he would most likely die at a very young age! As a matter of fact, when he saw the rewards that Africa had offered, he could easily guess how difficult the job was going to be! “Didn’t Nanyu already say? We are only going to investigate the outer part of the desert,” Mo Fan said. “Even so, I heard that it’s pretty common to stumble into Ruler-level creatures in the Sahara,” Zhao Manyan winced. “I doubt these Ruler-level creatures are so free that they wander around in the outer part. It’s only going to be some weaklings patrolling the outer area, don’t worry too much.” — Upon reaching the desert, they immediately saw golden sands extending all the way to the horizon ahead of them. If anyone stood on a slightly tall dune and looked down, they would be able to see the whole spectacular, golden scene, urging them to reflect on how tiny humans were, and how marvelous the work of nature was! The area was very still. There was no wind, and no dust lingering in the air. — The group continued to journey over one sand dune after another, heading to the place Africa’s International Magic Association had pinpointed. As a matter of fact, they had not actually entered the Sahara Desert yet. They were currently on the outer ring, and were still fairly close to the Mediterranean Sea. The Sahara Desert was not just infamous for the strong demon creatures residing in it, but an eerie illusion that existed there. Anyone that entered the Sahara Desert would basically lose their sense of direction. Not only would they fail to find their way out, they would continue to venture deeper into it without even realizing it. It was harder to identify the directions in a desert than a jungle, since the whole place was covered in sand and sand dunes. The scorching sun above their heads was unable to provide them with any assistance, either. Any markings that were left behind would be easily covered by the sand! It was obvious that the team that went missing had carelessly entered the illusion. If someone from the outside was able to help them with the directions, or send a team to rescue them, they would still have some hope of leaving the illusion. However, the longer they spent in there, the more likely it was for them to spend the rest of their lives in the Sahara Desert. Even Super Mages had lost their way in the Sahara Desert! —— “This is roughly the place where the missing team last contacted the Magic Association. It’s around three kilometers away from the boundaries of the illusion in the Sahara Desert. The advisors mentioned that the team had encountered a strong sandstorm. They were forced to enter the illusion in order to find shelter. The sandstorm was heading south, so I believe they must have gone south from here, too. Let’s just hope they didn’t go too deep into the desert...” Nanyu said. “What do we do now? We can’t possibly go in there to look for them?” Jiang Yu asked. “We’ll need to stay in a line as we proceed from here. Everyone must be less than a kilometer away from the next person, to ensure that we can still get out of the illusion, even if someone accidentally goes into it,” Nanyu said. The concept was fairly simple. If everyone had to maintain a distance of a kilometer from the next person, the six of them were enough to make a line formation five kilometers long. The person at the very back would stay outside of the boundary while the other four went inside to search for the missing team. Everyone was told to signal one another with magic every five minutes, to make sure that the line was still intact. —— The illusion actually had very clear boundaries. The golden sand suddenly turned into a kind of red sand after crossing the boundary, implying that the person had entered the illusion. The group followed Nanyu’s simple instructions. Nanyu stayed at the back of the line outside the boundary while the rest of the group slowly entered the desert. The group tried their best to use the sand dunes nearby as references. It was hard to maintain a perfect distance between the members, but the sand dunes allowed the others to see them more clearly. “I’ll be standing here, you’ll continue walking further ahead,” Mu Ningxue said to Mo Fan. The person behind Mu Ningxue was Jiang Shaoxu. She was already holding her position on a sand dune. Mo Fan was the last person to go deeper into the illusion, since he was the boldest in the group. Both Zhao Manyan and Jiang Yu were too scared to go that far into the illusion. “Is this place really that scary?” Mo Fan wondered as he went deeper. The sand obviously had a hint of red to it. After walking five hundred meters forward, Mo Fan turned around to look back. Mo Fan immediately felt cold sweat covering his forehead. Where was Mu Ningxue? He didn’t even go that far, why did she vanish all of a sudden? A moment later, Mo Fan discovered a spiraling airflow on his left sweeping dark-golden sand into the air, circling a sand dune like an enormous mantle. Mo Fan was shocked to see Mu Ningxue after looking in that direction. He was completely unaware that Mu Ningxue had suddenly moved to his left! That didn’t sound right, it seemed like Mu Ningxue had not moved at all. She was still standing on the same sand dune, meaning that it was him who started straying away from a straight line? Mo Fan was shocked when the thought crossed his mind. He had only walked five hundred meters, but he was already forty-five degrees away from a straight line. Wasn’t this illusion a bit too terrifying?