Kingdom of Corrosion
Chapter 669 - 318 Desert Town

Chapter 669: Chapter 318 Desert Town

Two hours later, after packing up the tent, Lin Ma continued on her journey. The dog and horse were in good shape, but Lin Ma was not. She was very hungry, but saliva was hard to come by and she simply couldn’t swallow the dried meat.

The all-terrain enhancement of Phantom was indeed powerful. When the Sandstorm slowed down at night, Phantom, as if equipped with quadruple night-vision goggles, was unaffected by the darkness.

Isn’t it all-terrain? Why is it all-weather then?

"You’re being sneaky!" Lin Wu tugged at the reins and dismounted to work his magic. He first took a miniature drone from his backpack. Miniature? To the uninformed, the drone could be mistaken for a hot dog on the pack. Pressing a button on the drone, it instantly transformed into a full-sized drone, which he then ran to release. Despite being a miniature, the drone still weighed a whopping 28 kilograms.

"I can give you a discount on size, but the weight is non-negotiable."

Maya stopped her horse to the side and watched the drone take off: "I have a question, but I don’t want to offend you."

"You will!" Lin Wu answered.

"Oh." Maya shut her mouth.

Even though she didn’t know what the question was, the fact that Maya was being so tactful meant it definitely wasn’t a good one. Maybe she thought Lin Wu was fickle, preferring Phantom over Wai? Or maybe she thought he was emotional when he ran?

"What is it?" Lin Wu asked.

Maya: "Why don’t you run with the horse and fly the drone?" The drone would automatically take off if it reached a speed of 30 kilometers per hour.

"There’s no problem with just that question," Lin Wu said, turning to Maya. "But you added ’might offend’..."

"Um, you guessed right," she responded.

Damn woman, calling me stupid! Am I stupid? I’m just being careful with Phantom, considering it’s a hefty 28 kilograms.

However, Lin Wu didn’t have the time to quarrel with Maya, as he exclaimed with a surprise, "There’s an oasis about ten kilometers ahead!"

"Oasis?" Maya decided to ask for clarification.

"Yeah, a small lake, some trees, a few shrubs."

Maya said, "Can you see that clearly?" It was Dawn now, the darkest before daylight.

A light ignited in the distance, and Lin Wu said, "Now I can see even more clearly." The tail flame of a rocket had provided Lin Wu with an answer. The rocket had exploded after hitting the sandy ground, its brief flare illuminating the vicinity.

"Let’s go!" Maya had never been able to peg Lin Wu as either dumb or smart; at the very least, she hadn’t thought of using the flare from a rocket to illuminate the darkness.

...

The oasis was located 3 kilometers from the road, but due to topographical reasons, it was not visible from the highway. By the time they reached the oasis, the sun had risen, allowing them to get a good look at it.

The oasis was neither large nor small, with a pond of a thousand square meters surrounded by a dozen date palm trees and sporadic shrubs. On the side closest to the road was a natural stone wall. Most wondrous was the presence of a cave in the stone wall, a perfect spot for setting up a base.

Of course, Lin Ma didn’t claim the cave; instead, she spread out her tent by the lake and then headed for the small lake. It became clear that Lin Wu was rather particular; he took off his outer clothes before jumping into the water, whereas Maya entered fully clothed.

To this, Lin Wu thought: Doesn’t she remember that her wet clothes won’t refresh? Will she just let them dry like that? Won’t they get smelly? Or is she afraid I’ll see her underwear?

Lin Wu might not be very smart, but he was happy to rack his brains. Two hours later, after setting up the tent and moving away from the water, he realized that he had gotten sunburned...

"Ouch!" Lin Wu lay on his back on the grass, flinching at Maya’s slightest touch. His upper body was as red as a monkey’s butt, making it unbearable to wear clothing.

"What about here?" Maya pressed with her finger.

"That hurts too." It felt like burning fire.

Maya, left with no choice, poured water over Lin Wu, which made him feel much better: "Chop wood, build an infirmary."

Lin Wu knew that Maya had taken a medical book and a comprehensive medical guide from Qinglang base, but Maya rejected Lin Wu’s suggestion: "There aren’t many trees here; we need a workshop to make small barrels to carry more water."

"But..."

"This is a self-healing wound."

"Help, someone is killing me!"

"Alright, alright," said Maya resignedly. "Just lie there, the water is next to you; when you’re uncomfortable, pour it on yourself."

Lin Wu raised his hand to show he understood. Damn Dawn, could the morning sun be so harsh? It didn’t feel very hot, so how had he gotten sunburned? Stupid Maya, not even giving me a heads-up. And Wai, get lost, don’t jump around on me, can you afford it if I step on you?

This was the first time in Lin Wu’s life that he had been sunburned. It wasn’t all agony, as long as he didn’t touch the burned skin, there was just a scorching sensation. But any movement that stretched the skin was excruciatingly painful. It wasn’t that Lin Wu was being overly dramatic; he was just particularly sensitive to pain. A simple local anesthetic procedure was enough to make him wail like a banshee.

But how had Dawn known? It must have been on purpose, targeting him. Lin Wu realized that when he was in a good mood or a bad one, the thoughts in his head were completely different.

The date palm trees were no match for roundwood trees. Maya left one tree standing in the oasis, and after trading the rest, they had just enough wood to build either an infirmary or a workshop. This meant that even if they built a workshop, there wouldn’t be enough material left to make barrels.

Maya hadn’t expected the desert to be so vast. Not having brought enough containers was a great failure. If it weren’t for the drone and Lin Wu’s outrageous luck, they both might have died in the desert today.