Chapter 1257: Goodwill

Since they could not identify the owner of the car or its purpose in the desert, they could only ignore it and continue with their journey.

After inspection, the engine of Wei Kang’s car appeared to be seriously damaged after being stuck in the quicksand. It could not be repaired now while they were in the desert. It was also impossible to drag it out of the desert. It had to be abandoned.

Everyone distributed the materials and equipment to the other cars. Wei Kang joined Du Xuetao and took the same car. They were both thin, and together, they weighed about the same as Xiao Tianyu.

Before leaving, Wei Kang suddenly stopped everyone and said, “Wait a minute. We can’t just leave.”

“What else is there to do?” asked Peter Lee.

Wei Kang pointed to the car and said, “You can’t let this car be there. If there are other people passing by, like another expedition team or oil exploration workers, they will see this car. They will definitely do some type of rescue and exploration work, and they may also fall into the quicksand…”

Everyone agreed that this was indeed a problem. The off-road vehicle buried in the quicksand would be like a death trap, attracting people like moths.

If they hadn’t seen the car and gone ahead to check it out, they wouldn’t have lost Wei Kang’s vehicle.

The deep ends of the desert were indeed inaccessible, but they were not entirely unvisited. There would always be people entering it for scientific expeditions, oil exploration, and other types of explorations. In order to prevent other people from encountering the same danger, it would be necessary to dispose of this car.

But how should they do so?

Everyone thought of a way. First, they would tie a spare rope to a small heavy object and toss it at the car. Since the glass of the car was completely broken, as long as the rope was wrapped around or hooked to the steel frame of the car, with another vehicle applying some pulling force, the quicksand would be tricked into completing the rest.

If the surrounding quicksand was disturbed, the idle car would slowly be swallowed despite not moving for a very long time.

Everyone executed the plan. They then cut the rope. In front of everyone, they saw the quicksand completely engulf the wrecked car. It didn’t take long for the quicksand to settle. No traces of a car could be seen.

As for Wei Kang’s car, as its shell was still intact, they closed the door and the window but did not lock it. Then they wrote with big, eye-catching words on the inside of the windshield: “Be careful! There is quicksand ahead!”

Everyone wrote the same words in other languages in addition to English to act as a warning to others. This was the greatest goodwill they could give to all who dared venture.

After that, everyone got back on the road again.

Travel, rest, travel. Just as everyone went numb from the familiarity of the rest-work cycle, Nabari spoke nervously over the intercom.

“We are near—near the Devil’s Sea.”

Everyone seemed to have woken up from the monotony of travel. However, for a moment, they seemed unable to comprehend what he’d said.

Had they really arrived at their final destination, the land marked on the map, the area that the Bedouin called the Devil’s Sea?

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Everyone stopped their cars. It was already evening.

Nabari stood on a slightly higher sand dune and stared into the distance while muttering away. His eyes were full of helplessness, because he knew that even the true God had abandoned this land.

Everyone jumped out of the car and ran to Nabari. They looked in the direction he was gazing in.

There were two distinct landforms. The desert they’d driven in before had waves of parallel sand dunes, high and low, big and small. However, here, the magnificent sand dunes disappeared and were instead replaced by strange, small, honeycomb-like sand dunes. They had never seen a similar landscape before.

Between the honeycomb sand dunes, there was a tiny whirl of wind. It blew up a small amount of fine sand, like a tomb strolling along with yellow blurred figures.

However, no one could feel the wind.

The terrain did not show an obvious decline, which should be the large depression as shown on the map.

The good news was that the sand here seemed to be tight and unlikely to sink with each step.

Many years ago, it might have been an oasis. Currently, there was still dead wood struggling to rise out of the sand and waving branches around.

There was an increased likelihood of man-made buildings here, because when there was an oasis, human activities would arrive. More likely, there might be a large-scale construction project.

Tightly-packed sands may also indicate that the ground beneath was made up of solid soil or rock. Even after the oasis was desertified, there were still some springs and rivers underground that had not completely dried up.

Just a few steps away from everyone, there was a set of white bones, likely belonging to a large animal. The set was not complete. There was only one long spine. It did not look like a camel and might have been a cow or a sheep. It might have also been a large wild beast that lived in the oasis’ lakes, such as a hippo.

The ancient Egyptians had used cattle to cultivate the land, donkeys for transportation, and sheep to harvest crops. However, camels had not been used. Camels had only been brought in by the Bedouins after the collapse of ancient Egypt.

Nabari said, “I can only bring you up to here. Up ahead is the devil’s territory. If you want to go, you can only go by yourself. However, I advise you to stop here. No matter how big a secret is, it’s not worth risking your life.”

Everyone heard him but brushed off his comments. After all, they’d managed to arrive here after a lot of hardships. If they went back just like that, why even bother to come?

This was especially true for Peter Lee and his team. They had had sufficient psychological preparation for this, and therefore, they could not be scared off by a few unfounded words from Nabari.

Zhang Zian looked back and was surprised at how calm He He was. After seeing the animal’s bones and hearing Nabari’s warning, she was slightly scared, but not too frightened. Perhaps she’d grown while traveling on the road?

Wei Kang did not intend to go deep into the Devil’s Sea. He was more concerned about where Nabari had encountered the cats.

Nabari shook his head. “That was a long time ago. The terrain has changed. I can’t find it now, but I am sure it is nearby.”

Wei Kang and Peter Lee looked at each other and nodded. There was a sense of mutual understanding on both of their parts. Both had their own purposes for being here, and no one would leave easily.

“Tonight we make camp here. We will discuss everything else tomorrow morning,” Peter Lee ordered, and everyone set up camp on the outskirts of the Devil’s Sea.

When Nabari saw that he could not discourage them, he sighed and whispered, “All of you will regret it.”