Chapter 67: Desert Upheaval! Lv63 【Gold Glitter Worm Mother】 

"Ah, save me!"

Wang Long's screams of agony suddenly rang out from behind.

Sandro instinctively turned his head back, only to be scared stiff by the sight behind him, his pupils contracting as his face turned ghastly pale in an instant.

What he saw was that the stone skin that had just covered the freakish bugs had all cracked and fallen off at some point, exposing their nauseating, swollen grayish-white worm bodies underneath.

What freaked out Sandro even more was that at this very moment, these things had already grabbed Wang Long in front of everyone when no one expected it.

"Sandro, save me quick!"

Hearing Wang Long's terrified screams, Sandro was jolted awake. Without further thought, he immediately manipulated the surrounding stretches of yellow sand to launch a skill.

[Crushing Bone Sands]

The next moment, a stream of sand shaped like a flood, carrying the momentum of a runaway train, fiercely charged at the bug in front.

However, at the next moment...

"Screech!"

A shrill sound, like a sharp blade piercing the brain, stirred up Sandro's mind violently. In just a fleeting moment, Sandro, who was still manipulating the yellow sands like the Lord of the Desert just a second ago, now had blood trickling down from his nose and eyes as his body went limp, collapsing heavily onto the ground with a thud.

The sand he was previously controlling also collapsed instantly.

Lying paralyzed on the ground, Sandro felt nothing but excruciating pain all over his body. The numbers on the status bar that represented his HP had already dropped to the red zone.

"My...my 3,000 over HP...How is this possible..."

Seeing Sandro taken down by just one hit and heavily injured, Wang Long was beyond despair.

"Transform quick, transform! Mammoth, transform for me quick!"

Howling desperately, no matter how Wang Long tried to activate his skill, all he saw on his status panel were lines of crimson prompts flashing nonstop.

[Silenced. Unable to use skills.]

[Silenced. Unable to use skills.]

[Silenced...]

He watched as the claws had inserted deep into his own body, locking him securely in front of the bug. His legs went limp as the stench of blood emanated from between them.

As the hideous mouthpart opened wide with its rows of jagged spines, ready to swallow anything whole, Wang Long finally could no longer hold it in.

"Arghhhhh save me please!!!"

Gulp

Watching Wang Long's legs trembling violently while his upper body was already stuffed into the creature's mouth, Sandro had now given up all hopes.

Pushing hard just to even crawl up, he found that even a single finger refused to budge.

[Abnormal Status - Mentally Broken Down, temporarily immobilized for 2 minutes]

Gritting his teeth and watching as the creature gulped, its mouthparts contracting to swallow Wang Long whole, Sandro activated the only skill that worked for now.

Detection...

[Name: Gold Glitter Worm Mother]

[Race: Bug Type]

[Level: Lv 63]

[HP: 14.6w/20w ]

[MP: 12.8w/21w]

[Strength: 3339]

[Agility: 542]

[Spirit Power: 8607]

[Vitality: 3493]

[Skills: Mother Of Worms Lv3, Worm King's Aura Lv2, Summon Swarm Lv3, Mental Trample Lv2, Regeneration Lv2....]

Sandro: "...Mthercker Wang Long, you've killed me!!!"

Having given up all hopes for struggling, Sandro's mind started reminiscing rapidly about his short life.

As the second generation heir of a powerful tycoon family from Northwest China, he had been lavishly spoiled to freely indulge in wine, women and debauchery of all kinds, yet was still the golden boy in his parents' eyes. And that still wasn't enough - he even awakened to an S-Class profession during the awakening ritual, a symbol of the cream of the crop even on the scale of the entire Blue Star planet.

Yet this whole career, crafted from an enviously auspicious upbringing, was now about to end under this unfathomable monster.

Lv 63...and a Boss-level one to boot.

Not just him now, even with ten lives he was no match against this creature!

Just as Sandro had prepared to close his eyes and embrace the advent of death, the sands beneath him suddenly shifted.

Huh?

The next moment, he was engulfed by the swirling sand dune which then abruptly launched itself up into the air.

As his vision gradually restored, he was shocked to find himself suspended mid-air, carried by...

"Hey! Pull yourself together if you don't wanna die!"

Hearing Jiang Lanlan's anxious voice snapped him awake. Twisting around, he realized now that he was in fact lying on some slime-like sand formation whip-lashing through the desert at top speed.

This was the Desert Sprite summoned by Ge Feng.

A sudden realization hit him and his face turned ghastly white.

"Run, full speed! That thing's Lv 63...it's a Boss!"

Despite his usually composed look, even Gu Ming's complexion changed upon hearing this.

"Head to the evacuation point quick! The monitoring station should've noticed the situation already - don't bother with preservation, just get ourselves out!"

Just as Gu Ming said, countless Flycloud airships were now hovering above them, blaring out shrill alarms.

"Attention! Order all nearby examinees to evacuate away from here immediately!"

"Mobilize all combat teams, eliminate that creature as soon as possible!"

Everyone leapt into a state of unprecedented panic.

In the command room, Elder Li's expression was ice-cold. Not sure when he got here, Qi Tai was also present.

"Weren't we told that the site was screened beforehand for threats exceeding expectations? What happened here?"

Qi Tai murmured helplessly while Liu Wei next to him seized the chance to berate loudly.

"Qi Tai! Your incompetence cost us a genius S-Rank talent! Wang Long was a Beast Tamer - cultivated properly, he might've joined the Ten Divine Guardians in the future! This loss on your hands would be an unforgivable sin to Dragon Dynasty!"

Roaring with bloodshot eyes, anyone oblivious would actually believe him to be genuinely grieved over the fallen talent.

"Enough nonsense. Focus now is to resolve this unexpected Boss to ensure normal conduct of the trial," Elder Li interjected flatly. His gaze turned towards Qin Zhi and He Guang.

"Qin Zhi, He Guang, you two shoul-"

"Elder Li, look!"

Elder Li's instructions were cut short by an abrupt exclaim from an officer beside him. Seeing the live footage, everyone sucked in their breath.

"Tch, damn it! That creature can summon?!"

On screen, the previously dormant Golden Glitter Worm Mother let out a sharp shriek within the crater of sand. Next second, the sands churned violently as if boiling water, and hordes of at least 2-meter tall bugs began surging out from beneath.

Within mere seconds, over a thousand bugs were added to the fold, showing no signs of slowing. At this rate...

Elder Li slammed both hands on the table and stood up decisively, barking out instructions without hesitation.

"All units disregard the small fries and focus evacuating students out of the desert, now!"

Clearly, trying to continue the trial was no longer a priority over safeguarding lives first in light of this unprecedented situation.

"Notify Yellow Sand City to dispatch forces into the desert to assist nearby examinees in evacuating."

Watching squadrons of Flycloud airships suddenly descending from the clouds as if entering some emergency state, Zheng Mu and the other two in the base vehicle stared in bewilderment.

"There's an extremely dangerous Lv63 Boss that appeared in the desert, My Lord," Hong Hou's voice rang out. The giant screen flickered as the image of the Gold Glitter Worm Mother emerged.

What made even Zheng Mu suck in his breath was that surrounding the Gold Glitter Worm Mother right now were over ten thousand bug-type creatures of various forms.

"F*ck, isn't the military supposed to have thoroughly scoped this place out before selecting it as an exam site?" Cai Shengkun's face was filled with shock, yet he couldn't help feeling relieved at the same time.

"Luckily for us, Boss, we went to the evacuation interception point instead. If we had actively sought out those things, even if it's facing such a freakish horde, we'd be toast!"

Zheng Mu nodded solemnly. What weighed even heavier on him was how this was his first time truly witnessing the horrors of the bug-type creatures.

As the Eagle Drone maneuvered for a more comprehensive view, the sheer size of the swarm was finally determined - 17,000. Although most were below Lv15, such massive numbers could still pose a threat even to human strongholds, not to mention this was likely the Gold Glitter Worm Mother's first wave of summons. Given enough time, the numbers would only rise.

Seeing this, Zheng Mu suddenly squinted his eyes and uttered something shocking.

"Turn back towards the swarm."

"Are you insane?!" Leng Bingyue exclaimed in shock.

Cai Shengkun also stared at Zheng Mu in disbelief.

"B-Boss, that's a Lv63 Boss monster! Going there would be sending ourselves to our deaths!"

Yet Zheng Mu shook his head.

"Not necessarily. Retreating would still be easy for us. Without even taking the base vehicle's storage space into account, just my Devourers could outrun anything on this planet."

"But if we take down large numbers of them in this wave?" He thumped the table meaningfully and gestured around the base interior. "Weren't you guys always asking what combat capabilities this base has? Don't you wanna witness it now?"

Rendered speechless by Zheng Mu's reasoning, Leng Bingyue and Cai Shengkun exchanged glances. After the feats of Optimus Prime, none would deny their burning curiosity towards the presumably even more powerful Red Hero-class [Transformers Base].

Seeing them say no more, Hong Hou immediately adjusted their heading per Zheng Mu's instructions.

"Beep beep beep!"

Just as they were maneuvering, the merit point card in his hand started blaring out urgent notices.

"Attention! All examinees, attention!"

"Unexpected threats have appeared in the exam site, extremely dangerous! Evacuate away from coordinates XXXYYY immediately! Evacuate away..."

"Any examinees near said coordinates, retreat as far as you can! Flycloud airships will rescue you shortly!"

Clearly, no one expected anyone to dare venture closer towards the swarm when even the monitoring station was yelling "Retreat!" and "Rescue".

Yet, Zheng Mu - the odd one out since the start of the exam - was now driving his titanic base vehicle straight towards the warned coordinates amidst the chaos.

"My Lord, detected targets of evacuation estimated contact in five minutes..."

"Disregard them."

"Yes, My Lord."

Jiang Lanlan and her team had escaped hellbent on just running, until everyone was almost drained of MP before finally stopping.

"Surely those creatures can't catch up that quick, right?" Ge Feng was gasping for air. Maintaining a high speed Desert Sprite for an extended period consumed massive energy even for an S-Class Spirit Summoner. Face pale, having spent all his MP recovery potions, he kept peering nervously to the back from time to time.

Beside him, Jiang Lanlan's cute face had also lost a bit of color. Just now she had to rely on her two ghosts to fend off over a dozen bugs giving chase. Having finally shaken off the pursuing swarm, everyone was clearly exhausted.

"Can't stop...must reach the evacuation point quickly..." Gu Ming kept his weapon and carried Sandro and Ge Feng over his shoulders.

Just then, the rumbling sounds from earlier sent a chill through everyone.

"No way, they caught up already?!" Even the previously composed Jiang Lanlan was losing her cool now.

Yet as they nervously took cover behind a sand dune, the first thing that entered their sight were silhouettes madly rushing through the desert.

"That's...that's Zheng Mu's mechanical construct!"

Before they could even process why Zheng Mu would be here, a behemoth suddenly rose up from beyond the sand dune. Taking in the four to five stories tall massive battle wagon, everyone's brains went blank.

"That's also one of Zheng Mu's mechanical constructs?!" Sandro exclaimed in shock, his Adam's apple bobbing up and down violently.

Everyone was already accustomed to sightings of the T-800 Devourers, Eagle Drones, and other reviled Bug Bombs these days. But never had anyone known Zheng Mu actually commanded such a ridiculously overpowered battle vehicle all this time!

Suddenly, as if realizing something, Jiang Lanlan charged madly towards the war machine.

"Stop! Stop!"

The others blanched seeing her rush right at it. In shock, Ge Feng even tumbled off Gu Ming's shoulder, faceplanting heavily into the sand below.

Watching from inside, Zheng Mu frowned slightly seeing Jiang Lanlan running over - what was she doing blocking their path when she should be heading to the evacuation point right now?

The next second, accompanied by the loud screeching of brakes, Jiang Lanlan found herself eating a mouthful of sand as the base vehicle ground to a halt.

"Ptui! Ptui!"

A side plank lowered, and Zheng Mu stepped out. Taking in her disheveled state, he asked,

"What are you doing blocking our path? Don't tell me you wanna give me your merit points."

Despite their first meeting, Jiang Lanlan was already quite familiar with what Zheng Mu looked like. She had no time to bother with the sand all over herself right now.

"Haven't... haven't you all received the notices? Something major happened in the central region - we just escaped from there! An unbelievably terrifying bug Boss appeared!"

Zheng Mu eyed the flustered girl rather curiously. He didn't expect her to be blocking their path simply because she thought they were unaware of the situation.

He shook his head slightly with a hint of a polite smile.

"I appreciate your good intentions, but I've already known about the situation there early on. Not only that, I also know that a certain fool who brought you guys there got eaten up."

Somewhat embarrassed hearing this, Jiang Lanlan couldn't help but feel ashamed remembering their original motives for seeking out that creature. But soon, her mind snapped to the crucial bit.

"You said you guys are headed there deliberately? That's madness!"

Checking his watch, Zheng Mu was somewhat pressed for time. For maximum impact with his precious baby, he had to reach the site while the swarm was still largely gathered together.

"Miss, I'm afraid I'm quite rushed. So either head to the evacuation point quick, or come aboard - we're heading there one way or another."