The following afternoon, Shane stood on the last sand slope at the edge of the oasis, gazing into the depths of the sea of sand. Elon's voice drifted into his ears. “The Red Willow and Suosuo have grown a bit stronger than yesterday. Judging by their current state, locking down the sand on this slope won't be an issue. As for the quicksand...”
Elon fell silent. He had witnessed the power of the quicksand before and knew all too well that the current state of the plants wouldn't be enough to withstand it. However, since Shane was the one who had drawn up this plan, he could only choose to believe.
“Thanks to your Living Soil Pouch, otherwise these plants wouldn't have grown so quickly.”
Glancing at the surrounding seedlings, Shane expressed his heartfelt gratitude. He was well aware of Elon's concerns, so he explained, “The primary purpose of these plants is to stabilize the sand dune beneath our feet. To resolve the quicksand issue, we still have to rely on the setup ahead.”
Shane raised his hand and pointed to a massive pit below the sand slope. The pit was about thirty-five meters long, five meters wide, and three meters deep. With everyone in the camp mobilized, days of digging had barely managed to meet his requirements.
Aside from the natural geology of the sand itself, Shane had also commissioned Elon to reinforce the pit so that it would not easily collapse.
At this moment, Ksaz was leading his clansmen out of the massive pit. The round-the-clock digging had truly left these sand scalers utterly exhausted.
Then, Shane raised his gaze slightly, looking a bit further ahead. There, seven bone pillars stood in a row from left to right along the long side of the pit, each spaced a little over three meters apart.
Originally, according to Shane's plan, they were supposed to set up ten bone pillars, but now...
An owl phantom slowly flew toward the two of them from the distance. A moment later, the phantom landed in front of Elon, dissolving into specks of light.
After reading the message brought by the phantom, Elon turned to Shane. “Sara says that due to the fluctuations of the Golden Sea's mana particles, the quicksand is moving faster and will be here soon. What do you plan to do?”
Hearing the name Elon had given the earth stinger, Shane's lips twitched, but he didn't comment on it.
After all, Sara had indeed been diligent over the past few days. Aside from the time spent nurturing her larvae, she spent most of her time helping them monitor the movements of the quicksand.
Especially today—if not for Sara's early warning, they would likely have been caught completely off guard by the quicksand.
After pondering for a moment, Shane said, “Since we can't carry out the original plan, we can only adapt. I will personally step in to take the place of the remaining three soul bones. It's just...”
As Shane spoke, he turned to look at the Princess behind him. Her violet eyes met his, filled with absolute trust. “Your Highness, if I do this, I cannot guarantee that the oasis will be one hundred percent safe. Therefore, for your own safety, I hope you will leave first.”
However, when Shane finished speaking, the Princess didn't budge at all. Instead, she smiled, her confidence not wavering in the slightest. “Shane Leynas.”
Her clear voice rang out, “You don't need to worry about that. I have already instructed the others and made preparations in advance. But as for me...”
“I will not leave this place. As your partner, I have an obligation to fight by your side.”
“And me, Your Highness!”
Isha hopped on the spot, though whether it was to catch Shane's eye or to show off her presence in front of the Princess was unclear. Behind her, Lena looked at her mistress with a touch of helplessness. “It is a great honor to witness this historic moment. I believe this event will surely be passed down by future generations.”
“And as Your Highness's friend, I will always stand by you through thick and thin.”
Isha hadn't thought too deeply about the matter. Her presence here was partly due to her trust in the Princess, and partly to formally respond to the Princess's trust in her.
The Princess was well aware of this, so she didn't send the merchant girl away. Instead, she said warmly, “Thank you, my friend.”
Seeing that neither of them had any intention of leaving, Shane could only sigh inwardly. Sometimes, being trusted so deeply felt incredibly pressuring.
Yet, it also strengthened his resolve to stop the quicksand from destroying the oasis.
“Elon!”
Having made up his mind, Shane turned to Elon. His usually cold tone carried a rare hint of solemnity. “Stay here and keep watch over everything from this high vantage point. Let me know immediately if anything goes wrong.”
Hearing Shane's words, Elon clearly understood what he intended to do. Concern immediately showed on his face. “Are you going alone?”
“Perhaps...”
Shane raised his hand, and a skeletal warhorse crawled out from the nearby sand. He easily mounted the horse and looked at Elon. “But I have all of you behind me.”
Without looking back, he spurred the horse down the sand slope, leaving a stunned Elon behind.
Soon, Shane arrived beside the massive pit, just as Ksaz was pulling the last of his clansmen up.
Seeing Shane arrive, Ksaz immediately stood up straight, his eyes shining as he looked at him. “Mr. Leynas, is there anything you need help with?”
Shane looked at him, then glanced at the sand scalers behind him. Unlike Ksaz, his compatriots were all gasping for breath, completely exhausted. Thus, Shane gave his order: “Your work here is finished. You can leave the rest to me. If the oasis is saved, you will have played the biggest part.”
“Thank you.”
Receiving Shane's recognition naturally made Ksaz beam with joy. But looking at Shane, who had come alone, he quickly realized what Shane meant and couldn't help but ask, “Are you going to be on the front line?”
“Yes. We only set up seven soul bones, which didn't meet our expectations. I'll have to fill the remaining gaps myself.”
Shane spoke in his usual flat tone, but Ksaz knew how dangerous it was. He immediately said, “In that case, please take me with you. You've seen what I can do; I can definitely be of help to you.”
Shane's first instinct was to refuse, but thinking about what lay ahead, he changed his mind. “Alright. Have the others go rest on the slope first, then come with me.”
With that, Shane guided his skeletal warhorse toward the bone pillars.
Ksaz immediately called out, “Karu, lead the others out of here and head up the slope! I'm going to help Mr. Leynas!”
“Understood!”
After the brief exchange, Ksaz took off with his broad feet, jogging behind Shane to the bone pillars.
Just as he was about to ask what he should do, the sand not far away suddenly bulged, and the earth stinger, Sara, emerged from it.
“Click, click, click!”
A series of sharp clicks erupted from Sara. Shane instantly knew this was the warning that the quicksand had arrived.
He immediately straightened up and looked into the distance.
At the edge of his vision, the originally peaceful sand suddenly began to tremble slightly, as if an invisible force was pulling it, causing it to slowly move in one direction.
Shane narrowed his eyes, knowing the trial had arrived. With full confidence, he said:
“Come on!”
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