Shrouded Seascape

The desert wind was noisy at night, and there wasn't anything else around except for the glittering stars up above. Amidst the howling winds, a lone off-road vehicle carved deep tire tracks into the sand dunes as it made its way southward, pressing onward to its destination.

There were whirlwinds across the desert, and the golden sand rose up high into the air as if it were smoke rising from the ground. The sand pelted the vehicle and the faces of its passengers.

Despite the scarf covering his face, Tobba still ended up coughing sand. He glanced at the clown next to him and asked, "Hey, are you sure it's okay for us to just drive in just like this? I'm afraid we're heading straight into an ambush.

"What? There's no real danger since we still haven't reached the outskirts of the site? You'd better not be mistaken. I don't want to become a guinea pig. I'm still a baby, you know that, right?"

"Shut up!" Anna hissed. Her eyes were constantly scanning their surroundings, looking for any signs of trouble.

Tobba stuck his tongue out and went silent.

A deafening silence descended upon the vehicle, but it did not last long.

Roughly half an hour later, a sliver of white appeared in the dim horizon.

It was daybreak.

By nine in the morning, the desert heat was already sweltering. The golden sand had become hot enough to fry an egg, and the thermometer outside told everyone that it was forty-five degrees Celsius outside.

There was no way they could continue their journey under these conditions.

The people in the car could withstand it, but the vehicle's tires couldn't endure such harsh conditions.

The car was parked in a valley between the dunes. A tent with the same color as the sand was pitched, protecting Anna, the others, and the vehicle from the scorching sun.

Of course, they couldn't light a fire here, so their meals were simple—compressed biscuits and mineral water. Anna picked up a biscuit and took a bite. Her delicate brows furrowed slightly, and then she quietly cursed the barely edible biscuits.

In the end, Anna took a large bite of the biscuit and sat cross-legged on the blanket. While chewing away at the biscuit, she studied the maps laid out before her.

There were two maps—one large and one small. The large map was an overall map of the Sahara Desert, while the smaller map was the floor plan of Site 66.

The two maps were made by the clown, and the details were courtesy of its previous host, who somehow managed to escape Site 66.

The map of the Sahara Desert was not particularly interesting. Wang Jianshe had clearly marked the helpful coordinates as well as the best routes and the distance that one had to cross by using a specific route.

The key to this operation was the small map.

Just like the polar site, Site 66 was an underground site made to contain humans affected by Anomalies as well as their instances. It resembled an inverted triangle in shape, and its floor plan wasn't that different from the polar site.

The uppermost floor was dedicated to the staffers; it contained their dwellings as well as lounges and more amenities.

Those under the influence of an Anomaly were contained beneath the uppermost floor, and those affected more seriously than the others were contained on the deeper floors.

If it's possible, I'm going to use my special ability to phase through walls to get Wang Sheng out. If that doesn't work, then we'll go big, just like before. We'll release all the troublemakers.

Their main objective was to find and rescue Wang Sheng to trade him for Charles.

However, Anna had another goal that she hadn't voiced out to anyone.

If the people inside Site 66 were all under the influence of an Anomaly, wouldn't that mean that some of them were members of organizations that were against the IMF?

If that was the case, then she wouldn't need to fight alone after this.

In addition, standing against the entire IMF by herself wasn't exactly a great idea.

Anna believed that there were other forces out there capable of facing the IMF. After all, even the Foundation in the Subterranean Sea was just one of the most powerful organizations throughout the seascape.

The enemy of my enemy is my friend. She could surely work with them.

With that in mind, Anna looked at Li Lu. "You mentioned that some of the cults you infiltrated were worshiping Anomalies as gods? Is it true?"

Li Lu was busy breastfeeding her child, and she did not even look up as she nodded. "That's right, but they're too weak. They were just rats that couldn't afford to show themselves to the light.

"They couldn't stand a chance against the IMF's powerful Mobile Task Forces."

"Haha, if they're that weak, why is the IMF spending money to cultivate people like you?" Anna asked. She then walked up to Li Lu and tucked the latter's hair behind her ear.

Anna pressed her lips to Li Lu's ear and whispered, "And you'd best watch your attitude. Don't forget which side you're on now."

A bead of sweat slid down Li Lu's face, and Anna smiled faintly at the sight. She grabbed the bottle of mineral water in Li Lu's hand and tilted her head back to down it in one swig.

The sun in the sky was still scorching, but Anna and the others were already trying to sleep. The clown didn't need any sleep to function, so it was tasked with the job of keeping watch.

When the fireball in the sky finally disappeared into the west, Anna awakened from her sleep. She wrapped herself in thick clothing, and the group set out once more.

The group continued on their journey, sleeping during the day and traveling in the middle of the night. On the fifth day of their journey, they finally reached the outskirts of Site 66.

The clown warned the group about the traps up ahead, but Anna wasn't particularly concerned about those traps. She moved beneath the golden sand and swam like a mermaid, pushing aside the mines and the sensors.

There was a stretch of road between them and Site 66, but Anna had no intentions of using that road. It'd be far too conspicuous.

Soon, it was 3 A.M., and it was the best time to infiltrate the site.

Anna got out of the car, and the swaddled Tobba was hanging from her waist. She took off the clown mask and put it into her pocket. Then, she turned to Li Lu behind her and said, "Watch the car. Wait for us to return."

"How can a baby be useful to you over there? Why don't you just leave him here? How about you take me instead of him?" Li Lu suggested.

Even a child could deduce that the operation to find and rescue Wang Sheng was extremely dangerous, and Li Lu didn't want her son to be subjected to such risks.

Instead of replying right away, Anna walked up to the vehicle's trunk and pulled out two large suitcases. The suitcases were packed to the brim with withered corpses. These corpses were what she had demanded from Wang Jianshe.

Anna crouched down and began piecing them together. "Your son is going to be very useful to me. He doesn't remember anything right now, but his future self certainly knows what's ahead of us. He can surely provide me with some help."

Tugging at the skin, bones, and entrails, Anna pieced the body parts into four humanoid figures.

The shambling figures with exposed bones and organs stood up. They grabbed the firearms at the bottom of the suitcases and loaded bullets into them. Then, they stuffed their putrid bodies with magazines and grenades.

Unless deployed in droves, these things weren't exactly helpful in fights, as they were only slightly stronger than the average male adult. However, Anna had no one else around her except for Li Lu and Tobba, and she needed cannon fodders, so she had no choice but to do this.

"Anna, can you make me a doll when we get back home? I'm sure they're going to look cute if I cover them with cartoon toy covers," Tobba said.

Anna ignored Tobba's nonsense and moved forward slowly with the spliced corpses. They crawled and moved slowly but surely in the darkness. They crawled for several kilometers until they reached the summit of a sand dune.

From the crest of the sand dune, Anna finally saw Site 66.