After making do for a night on the sand, no one had truly slept soundly. Everyone remained vigilant, wary of potential pursuers, each other, and the unknown dangers that the desert itself might harbor.
As the night passed, the pitch-black sky gradually faded into a leaden gray. Before the sun could even rise, the group was back on its feet, continuing toward the direction they had roughly chosen the night before.
The trek across the desert was tedious and physically draining.
Along the way, they encountered numerous ruins half-buried under the yellow sand.
There were collapsed skyscrapers and the skeletal remains of concrete buildings, all covered in a thick layer of grit.
These ruins were of a significant scale, with the outlines of streets still faintly recognizable. It was clear that this had once been a modern city.
However, judging by the level of weathering on the structures, it seemed the city had only been abandoned for a few years.
The group’s pace was incredibly fast.
Yue Shi glanced around. These people had looked miserable last night, but in reality, every single one of them had been holding something back.
At the very least, they weren't as weak or close to death as they had appeared; they were all running quite fast.
A bunch of calculating bastards; they made Yue Shi look positively kind by comparison.
By evening, the group spotted a stretch of low, gray-green vegetation in the distance.
After walking for a while longer, the silhouette of a small town finally appeared before them.
The town wasn't large and had a rugged architectural style. At the entrance stood a weathered stone tablet carved with the words "Greystone Town."
Thin plumes of smoke rose from chimneys, and lights flickered from within.
The town was inhabited.
The Minister stopped and gazed toward the town, his brow furrowed.
“We can't all go in together.”
“Hundreds of people appearing in a small town like this, all dressed in rags—it's too conspicuous. It would immediately draw the attention of the local authorities.”
The others nodded; his reasoning was sound.
After a brief discussion, a plan was finalized.
They would select thirty people to pose as an expeditionary travel group that had met with an accident. This group would enter Greystone Town to make initial contact and secure supplies.
The rest would stay hidden outside the town and wait for news.
The criteria for the disguise group were clear: they needed to look normal and possess a certain level of adaptability and information-gathering skills.
The Minister was naturally among them, as were transcendents who excelled in communication and disguise.
Yue Shi was also chosen. His good looks were considered a useful resource, making it easier to gain favor and extract information.
After tidying themselves up as much as possible, brushing off the sand, and covering their more obvious wounds, the temporary travel group put on an air of exhaustion and stepped into Greystone Town.
The town was even more dilapidated and desolate than it had appeared from a distance.
The streets were made of packed earth, pitted and uneven.
There weren't many pedestrians; most wore simple, worn-out clothes and had unusually long eyelashes.
They watched the sudden influx of outsiders with curious eyes.
The Minister sighed softly. “Fortunately, we belong to the same race as the humans in this world, and we even speak the same language. We’re truly lucky.”
Upon closer reflection, however, the implications were somewhat chilling.
The questions involved were far too complex for the Minister to dwell on right now; his priority was to gain a foothold in this world first.
The most pressing tasks were to secure identities and money.
They found an inn. The Minister used their pre-arranged cover story, claiming they were a geological survey team from a distant land that had lost its way in a sandstorm, resulting in the destruction of their vehicles and most of their equipment.
The innkeeper didn't care about their story at all, but he was very interested in the gold jewelry they produced.
Fortunately, in a remote town like this, ID checks weren't particularly strict. Otherwise, the Minister would have had to produce his credentials from the other world and fabricate some impressive-sounding department to fool the man.
They rented several dormitory-style rooms and exchanged some gold for local food and water.
“That was my favorite gold necklace. It weighed half a jin and was a gift from my best friend,” said the female transcendent who had provided the team’s initial funds, sounding somewhat dejected.
“Don't worry about it. We’ll pay you back half a ton later,” someone nearby remarked nonchalantly.
The woman rolled her eyes at him. For beings at their level, when were they ever short of money?
She wasn't mourning the gold necklace; she was mourning the fact that she would never see her best friend again.
It wasn't just a separation of life and death; they were separated by two different worlds.
Once they were settled, the group immediately split up.
One part of the group was tasked with gathering basic information through casual conversation in crowded places like taverns and night markets.
The other part, led by the Minister himself, searched for gray channels to obtain legal identities.
Even if they couldn't get legal ones, they at least needed fake IDs for now.
Information gathering went more smoothly than expected. Things that everyone on the surface knew were easy to find out.
This place was known as the 「Deep Red Continent」, and there was only one massive, unified continent in the entire world.
Their current location was 「Zhongzhou」, the central region of the continent.
Greystone Town sat on the western border of Zhongzhou, and the vast desert nearby was called the Death Desert.
The Death Desert hadn't existed since ancient times; it had formed only in recent years.
The cause of the desert was no secret; even the commoners on the street knew about it.
“It was the Drought Demon.”
An old man with a missing front tooth lowered his voice and spoke mysteriously.
“It happened many years ago when the Drought Demon emerged. Overnight, the big cities nearby vanished, turned into the man-eating sand you see now.”
“The government doesn't like us talking about it, but everyone around here knows.”
They gathered similar information from several other pedestrians; the stories were consistent—the Drought Demon had turned the land into a desert.
Hearing this, Yue Shi and the Minister exchanged a look.
If they could learn about the Drought Demon from ordinary passersby, it meant that information about supernatural powers was common knowledge in this world, not a secret.
However, they also quickly learned about the laws here.
Zhongzhou enforced an extremely strict "Prohibition of Magic."
Ordinary citizens were strictly forbidden from possessing, researching, or using any objects, knowledge, or powers related to the supernatural. Violators were severely punished.
All related matters were handled, contained, and cleared by the Zhongzhou government.
The Minister’s expression grew solemn. Zhongzhou’s control over supernatural power was incredibly strong.
This explained why the containment station was built deep in the desert. It also meant that if they, the people in the book, were ever exposed, they would face the full weight of the government's power.
Meanwhile, the group looking for ID channels was making slow progress.
The town was isolated with a small population, so gray channels hadn't really flourished here.
They found small ads on utility poles, but their phones didn't work here.
After several rounds of searching, they finally got in touch with a "talent" with some connections.
They met the man at an abandoned brick kiln outside the town. His price was astronomical, and he could only provide temporary identification that wouldn't hold up under close scrutiny.
“It’ll have to do for an emergency,” one transcendent muttered, looking at the crude fake IDs in his hand with frustration.
He truly wanted to use his supernatural powers to bulldoze his way through, but Zhongzhou’s control over the mysterious and supernatural was too tight.
Until they figured out exactly how high the power ceiling of this world was, it was better not to invite trouble.
The issue of currency was even more troublesome.
Gold was still useful locally, but selling large amounts of gold of unknown origin was equally dangerous.
They urgently needed a more secure way to acquire funds.
While everyone was preoccupied with their identities and funds, moving cautiously through various parts of Greystone Town...
A sharp shriek suddenly erupted from the east end of the town.
This was immediately followed by the sound of breaking glass, and the screams of the crowd instantly exploded.
The Minister, who was gathering information on the edge of the night market, turned his head, his expression changing.
The sound of sirens soon filled the town.
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