The light faded away, and the scorching wind swept up fine sand, covering Li Zheng's head and face.
"Ptooey, ptooey, ptooey!"
Caught off guard, Li Zheng ended up with a mouthful of sand, spitting it out repeatedly.
"Bzz, bzz, bzz!"
Little Sakura lay at the edge of the pocket, chirping and spitting out the sand.
Li Zheng took him out and placed him inside his chest pocket, soothing him, "Stay in the pocket for now, I'll let you out in the next room."
"Bzz."
Little Sakura obediently snuggled into the small pocket lining, not daring to move.
After settling Little Sakura, Li Zheng looked up at the room, holding the Desert Eagle he drew upon entering.
After two days of exploration, Li Zheng was no longer the novice he once was, knowing the importance of always having a weapon ready.
Even if retrieving an item from the capsule residence takes just a moment.
"Another non-metal room, is this... a desert?"
Golden-yellow sand stretched endlessly before him, the source of the hot wind unknown, swirling up a cloud of sand.
Looking up, through the dusty haze, the blue sky was faintly visible, with a blazing sun hanging high.
"Is this a real sky, or created through some technological means?" Li Zheng wondered.
It's a pity the Gravity Shoes are broken, or he could have checked it out.
The desert room extended far and wide, only sand and more sand in sight, with not even a single cactus seen on Earth.
Gripping the Desert Eagle tightly, Li Zheng squinted and scanned the area: "Prelis' Eye indicates there's a Bronze Level creature here, but it's been quiet since I arrived. It must be hiding somewhere, waiting for a lethal strike, can't be careless."
The dusty air obscured his view, Li Zheng couldn't see far and ventured deeper into the desert.
His ears perked up, listening intently, not daring to miss any sound, his eyes constantly scanning around.
"The ground feels soft yet firm underfoot, indicating the sand here is thick."
Looking down, Li Zheng wore the casual shoes he had on entering the Matrix, digging twice with his foot, not even reaching the metallic ground, "The Bronze Level creature is likely small, able to burrow through the sand, might encounter an ambush midway."
As Li Zheng pondered, an idea suddenly struck him.
"I wonder if Prelis' Eye can see the dangers beneath the sand?"
Only one way to find out.
Li Zheng looked up, enduring the discomfort of grit in his eyes, straining to see ahead.
Sure enough, Prelis' Eye displayed information:
[Proceed this way, you will find the door to the next room in fifteen minutes.]
"There's a chance!"
Li Zheng was delighted, though it didn't show the specific details of the next room, at least he was reassured about heading in this direction.
Looking to the left:
[Proceed this way, you will find the door to the next room in eighteen minutes.]
Right:
[Congratulations, after selecting the wrong option twice, you finally found the correct path. Go this way, in five minutes you will encounter an attack.]
"???"
Li Zheng was puzzled, since detecting the Golden Treasure Chest, Prelis' Eye seemed defective, sometimes providing hints with... a sarcastic undertone.
"A piece of technology, could it actually develop consciousness?"
The thought flashed across Li Zheng's mind, quickly amused him, "Isn't that a sci-fi movie plot, will I face a virus invasion later, turning into the final villain and fighting me for the heroine?"
Shaking his head, he dismissed the thought.
"I've watched too many Bollywood movies to even consider this."
"Let's move closer to see what kind of creature it is, not knowing how to attack proactively and just waiting at home."
Toward the right he went, and soon, Prelis' Eye gave another hint:
[Underneath that mound is a "lazy" creature, you can either take a detour or shoot now.]
"Mound?"
Following the direction, Li Zheng could barely see, at the edge of his vision, a small rise in the smooth sandy ground, about the size of a millstone.
The rise wasn't significant, without Prelis' Eye's hint, Li Zheng might not have noticed it.
"The word 'lazy' is in quotes?"
Li Zheng considered this carefully, realizing that the so-called laziness wasn't truly laziness but something else at play.
"Prelis' Eye's hint was timely, within this range, it's the effective shooting distance for me."
Ready, aiming, and shooting!
In one fluid motion, the shot echoed loudly.
It was just a regular shot; the Energy Bomb pierced the dusty air, hitting the sandy mound in an instant.
"Hiss!!!"
This shot seemed to have angered the creature. After a miserable screech, the sand surface suddenly rose, and a millstone-sized creature emerged from it.
"Illustration!"
Scan function activated, target locked.
Beep.
[Desert Fire Scorpion
Bronze Level
A creature covered in thick armor, solitary by nature, moves effortlessly in the desert terrain.
Loves to hide within the sand when not hunting.
Abilities: Burrowing, Highly Poisonous
Weaknesses: Mouthparts, Weak Ice]
Li Zheng glanced at the interface, keeping the details of the Desert Fire Scorpion in mind, "No wonder Prelis' Eye warned about low threat level; another weakness that I can counter."
"Hiss~ Click!"
The Desert Fire Scorpion had already discovered Li Zheng, raising its head to roar, waving its limbs, crisscrossing in motion, and sprinting on the sandy ground, its speed comparable to an electric bike!
Underneath the gray-yellow armor, two cold-glowing insect eyes locked fiercely on Li Zheng, who dared to provoke it actively.
In its eyes, such a fragile body, not covered by armor, would be cleaved into halves by its giant claws once caught.
Just like the prey it devoured not long ago.
"Speed's pretty fast, but it's unfortunate it's meeting me..."
Li Zheng calmly watched the charging Desert Fire Scorpion, leisurely switching the Desert Eagle to special shooting mode, murmuring silently in his mind.
"Ice and Fire Attachment - Ice Element!"
Whiz whiz whiz!
The Desert Eagle fired, Snake Grass Needle shrouded in ice-blue chill, extremely low in temperature, transformed into brilliantly cold ice bullets, shooting in a line at the Desert Fire Scorpion.
After switching to special shooting mode, the Desert Eagle's recoil was nearly nonexistent, allowing Li Zheng not to worry about the impact on shooting accuracy while firing rapidly and continuously.
"Hm?"
Li Zheng raised an eyebrow, "This shooting feel... I seem to be able to be even more precise!"
His gun-holding hand was as steady as a rock, making very subtle adjustments with each shot.
One shot after another, one Snake Grass Needle after another was fired.
Bang!
An ice bullet was dodged by the Desert Fire Scorpion; initially aimed at the mouthparts' weakness, the bullet hit its armor, shattering with ice and needle.
"Hiss~~!"
The Desert Fire Scorpion roared in pain, followed by several more ice bullets hitting its body, with intense pain penetrating its brain, received by its nerves.
Now it realized, after seeming weak ice bullets shattered, they easily shattered its hard armor into sieve-like holes.
Masses of earth-yellow mucus oozed from the wounds, the instinct-driven Desert Fire Scorpion suddenly felt fear, its limbs turning, attempting to flee.
Its not-so-smart brain couldn't fathom how such a seemingly frail creature could harm it.
Moreover, if it didn't flee promptly, the opponent was entirely capable of killing it!
Escape!
At any rate, it had more than one territory; escaping would suffice!
Unperturbed, the Desert Fire Scorpion turned a corner at an even faster speed, seeking to escape.
Before it was even within ten meters of Li Zheng, it was already terrified.
"Trying to escape?"
Li Zheng sneered, shifting the gun muzzle to aim at the Desert Fire Scorpion's joints, continuing to fire.
Whiz whiz whiz.
Bang bang bang!
Even though the Desert Fire Scorpion had sped up, it still couldn't evade the fate of hit after hit, resulting in limb fractures.
"Didn't expect that an increase in nerve reaction speed would have positive feedback on shooting."
Li Zheng watched the Desert Fire Scorpion, with all its limbs broken, struggling on the ground, calmly filling the magazine with Snake Grass Needle.
"Although the Desert Eagle's special shooting mode has minimal recoil, there's still a slight impact."
Li Zheng reset the magazine and, without approaching, directly raised the gun to shoot, much like shooting at a motionless target on a shooting range, firing shot after shot.
"Ever since drinking the Black Iron Level Genetic Potion, this impact barely matters to me."
"This is truly, hitting every shot!"
Whiz whiz whiz!
After another twenty Snake Grass Needles, the Desert Fire Scorpion finally ceased struggling, the sand around it soaked with a large area of earth-yellow mucus, exuding a fishy stench.
"Hmm, two magazines, roughly mastered the current reaction speed."
Li Zheng nodded contentedly, confirming through Prelis' Eye that the Desert Fire Scorpion was truly dead before approaching.