As the helicopter took off, an endless sea came into view. Then, someone blindfolded them, and all they could hear was the sound of the helicopter's rotors and the whooshing wind.
After what seemed like an eternity, they finally felt the plane descending. Soon they reached the ground, and when the blindfolds were removed again, they found themselves in a golden desert.
The rest of the teams had long since disappeared, presumably having been deployed to different locations. Several drones were circling overhead; although they all looked similar, these drones were much more advanced than before, clearly high-end products.
However, since there was no code and no idea where it was produced, Mr. Li suspected that it was not even circulating in the market.
However, there is one silver-labeled one that is a bit special, and its shooting distance is also closer, so their every move is captured in the live broadcast room.
This is a live, real-time global broadcast, but it is very different from before. This time there is no tipping or interactive feature; viewers can only watch one-way. Of course, this is not for special viewers.
All the passengers on the cruise ship were divided into factions and sat in seats representing their respective teams. The United States had the most seats, followed by the South. Although the South is not a developed country, it has a large population, vast land, abundant resources, and an abnormally fast development speed, so it has quite a few big spenders.
Most importantly, the people of the South were remarkably united. Not a single South person present stood with any other side; they all supported Li Sheng. However, some people of other skin colors had mixed into the South's group, including several from Pakistan and one or two from Ula.
Of course, the country with the largest, most diverse, and most aspiring population is the United States. It's not just about its own wealthy people; a third of them are from other countries, with South Korea having the largest population and, for some reason, a somewhat obsequious attitude.
The moment Yan Shuangwu landed, his feet were burning hot. He immediately lifted the milk ball onto his neck and then ran like a lizard towards the highest sand dune.
"It's so hot, so hot, so hot! It's almost cooked, it's almost cooked."
The desert stretches as far as the eye can see, and the air is filled with layers of heat waves; it's the hottest time of the year right now.
The biggest challenges to survival in the desert are the temperature difference between day and night and water; food is a secondary concern.
Don't be fooled by the fact that it's hot enough to cook a person right now; the temperature might drop below zero by nightfall, and there's a real chance of encountering a sandstorm.
Li Sheng and Yan Shuangwen exchanged a glance and then walked towards the sand dune in Yan Shuangwu's direction.
None of them have shoes. The adults are tough and have thick skin, but the baby's skin is delicate and could easily get burned, so it's best not to let her walk on the ground.
However, Yan Shuangwu's behavior was not advisable. Yan Shuangwen stopped Yan Shuangwu and said, "It is not advisable to engage in strenuous exercise, as it will accelerate the evaporation of water from the body. We only have one thousand milliliters of water, which will not last long."
Before Yan Shuangwu could speak, Yan Shuangwen quickly added, "Don't say anything, save your breath."
Then the group stood on the highest sand dune, where they could see further. Although it was tiring, it was worth it. They saw three trees clustered together in the distance, which they estimated to be saxaul trees.
Li Sheng and Yan Shuangwen exchanged a glance, and both breathed a slight sigh of relief. It was not a good time to travel long distances now; it would be best to find a suitable place to rest and continue their journey when it was no longer so hot.
The four walked for another ten minutes or so before finally reaching the tamarisk trees. As soon as they stepped into the shade, they felt a refreshing coolness; the temperature difference was at least ten degrees Celsius.
After sitting down and resting for a while, Li Sheng said, "Let's dig a hole, lie down, and take a nap."
Yan Shuangwen thought it was a good idea, as sleeping is the best way to conserve energy.
Immediately afterwards, Li Sheng dug a small hole and buried the baby in it. As soon as he entered the hole, he felt a cool sensation on his back. The baby happily said, "Daddy, it feels so cool!"
Soon, all four of them lay motionless in the deep pit.
The audience in the south were not calm at all.
"What's going on here? Lying on the board right at the start?"
"Giving up on treatment outright? That's not like you at all!"
However, someone immediately offered an angry explanation of the truth.
"Are you idiots? Try walking through this hot desert! You'll be dried into a dried-up corpse in no time."
"Idiots, this is a great way to cool down. That area is cool because it's shaded by trees. If you dig a hole and lie down, it will be even cooler. Don't you even know that?"
...
Li Sheng and his team had good luck from the start, unlike the other teams who were completely unsupported and started going berserk after just a couple of sips of water, which was quite admirable.
Although the American didn't encounter any trees to block out the sun, he knew it wasn't a good time to travel, so when he reached the shady side of the sand dunes, he dug a hole and buried himself in it.
The other teams' attempts to find a place to settle down ended in failure; some even climbed high sand dunes, but to no avail.
Finally, he realized he needed to find a shady spot to bury himself and escape the scorching sun.
Only a few people were able to hold on, but they couldn't walk any further after a short while, and only a little of the 1,000 milliliters of water remained.
Luckily, they encountered some bushes and decided to temporarily huddle in their shade, though they were pricked and felt a burning pain on their skin.
Since Li Sheng and the others take turns resting, one person must be on duty, because there can be unexpected dangers in such places.
Although there are no large prey, the desert is home to poisonous spiders, scorpions, and infamous rattlesnakes; being bitten is tantamount to an immediate defeat.
Li Sheng was in good spirits and he even planned to cut down some trees. The saxaul tree is also known as desert coal because it is very flammable.
Even though it's so hot now, the temperature drops drastically at night. If we need to rest in the middle of the night, we have to light a fire to keep warm.
Not only that, he also wanted to store some for future fire-making. While the others rested, Li Sheng took up his old trade of handicrafts and started making a wooden drill. Drilling wood to make fire is not done by hand.
At this moment, Yan Shuangwen also sat up and looked at Li Sheng, saying, "I can't sleep. Let me do this. You gather some fire-starting materials."
However, Li Sheng refused, as this was something he was better at. But since Yan Shuangwen couldn't sleep, she had other tasks to arrange.
"Leave this to me. Or you can use the materials you have to weave four hats to shield us from the sun. We still need to travel in the morning and evening, and having our heads exposed to the sun all the time can easily lead to heatstroke and sunburn."
They could complete the task using locally sourced saxaul trees, thus maximizing the value of the saxaul trees.
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