In the howling wind, it was as if the core of a lifeform was pulsing. Sweeping up the endless sand and grit, in just a few breaths, it coalesced into a colossal Sandworm that blotted out the sky.
Within its massive maw, formed from countless grains of sand, were densely packed, spiraling teeth. As the quicksand spun with the wind, the sharp, helical structure rotated at an ultra-high speed.
Any creature that fell into it would likely be torn apart and ground into dust in an instant.
How could one possibly describe the feeling of this moment?
For Ponzu, there was nothing but an ineffable terror.
Even though she had long prepared herself to witness the Dark Continent with her own eyes, this scene, which completely defied cognition, still sent a violent tremor through her mind.
Before such an existence, a human was like a speck of dust in the desert, utterly insignificant.
Compared to the utterly terrified Ponzu, Morrow, though also surprised by the sudden appearance of this behemoth, remained generally calm.
He already had a clear picture in his mind of the colossal creatures of the Dark Continent.
This included design illustrations from the original work, as well as the incredibly vast biosphere that Netero's trio had witnessed firsthand back then.
More importantly, the ones directly facing the danger at this moment were not him and Ponzu, but the giant hornet sent out for reconnaissance.
Therefore, his only feeling was one of relief.
Relief that he hadn't rashly used the Klein Bottle's coordinates to teleport directly to their destination.
Otherwise, the one facing this Sandworm now wouldn't be the giant hornet, but him and the entire team.
If that had truly happened, they would have likely met a team-wiping end within five minutes of setting foot on the Dark Continent.
This was the Dark Continent. A place where all common sense was subverted, pure and unreasonable.
"Ponzu, we're safe for now."
After informing his teammates of the conclusion that the coordinates pointed directly to the Dark Continent, Morrow immediately gave a reminder to Ponzu, who was still in a state of shock.
Ponzu snapped back to her senses with a jolt.
The shared vision ability of Shared Window was too realistic, making her feel as if she were there and forcing her to fully bear the immense visual impact.
Morrow glanced at her quickly and said, "Calm down. First, control the hornet and get it away from that thing."
"O... Okay."
Ponzu took a deep breath, trying hard to focus. She manipulated the giant hornet to turn around, attempting to get away from the behemoth that loomed over the desert like a black canopy.
However, another sudden change occurred.
Just as the giant hornet completed its turn and before it could fly far, a visibly distorted mass of air had appeared out of nowhere above the previously calm sandy ground ahead.
The mass of air was about five meters in diameter, pulsating rhythmically like a heart.
Through the shared vision, Morrow immediately locked onto the strange vortex suspended above the sea of sand.
He focused his gaze and could faintly make out an unidentifiable, glowing object about the size of a fingernail at the center of the air mass.
Before he could think further, the distorted mass of air suddenly accelerated its rotation like a nebula.
In an instant, a gale kicked up, and the yellow sand below was pulled and swept up by an invisible force, rapidly coalescing amidst the ultra-high-speed rotation.
The silhouette of a Sandworm took shape once more.
But the gale showed no signs of stopping, raging and sweeping through every inch of space within their field of vision like a sandstorm.
This time, the giant hornet was too close.
With no time to react at all, it was swallowed by the overwhelming, raging sand.
Morrow's pupils constricted slightly.
The shared vision shook violently, then, like a television losing power, a linear trail of aura flashed across it before it fell completely silent.
The giant hornet had been shredded.
Morrow exited the Shared Window state and glanced at Ponzu again.
Her body was trembling slightly, and fine beads of cold sweat dotted her temples.
From the reactions of the two, the teammates beside them guessed that a shocking event must have occurred at the coordinate point.
"Looks like you 'crashed,'" Ging said, taking in Morrow and Ponzu's expressions. Unable to hide his curiosity, he asked, "So, tell us. What exactly did you see over there?"
"Two giant Sandworms made of sand."
Morrow recalled the scene from moments ago, raising a hand to his chin. "Their core seems to be a gaseous substance that can stir up gales and roll up sand to form a body. The air mass is at most five meters in diameter, but compared to their final sand bodies..."
As he spoke, under everyone's watchful eyes, he raised his right hand and made a shape about the size of a grain of rice with his thumb and index finger.
"If the core is only this big, then their sand bodies are equivalent to a bowling ball."
"!!!"
Hearing this comparison, everyone couldn't help but show looks of astonishment.
The ratio between the core and the external volume was simply too absurd.
It was no wonder Ponzu had such a strong reaction just from seeing the situation through the shared vision.
If the landing site was surrounded by such existences, how were they supposed to avoid these almost unreasonably gigantic creatures?
Biscuit and the others couldn't help but fall into deep thought, beginning to worry about the actual possibility of crossing this desert.
Only Ging, who couldn't personally go to the Dark Continent, showed intense interest in the Sandworm Morrow described. He spoke somewhat impatiently, "Give me another giant hornet. It's my turn this time."
"..."
Biscuit and the others, who were just worrying about how to move through the desert, shot him a speechless glance.
Ponzu didn't immediately summon a giant hornet from her hat, instead looking to Morrow first.
Morrow nodded at her.
The giant hornets used for scouting could be continuously cultivated and replenished by the 'Hive' in Ponzu's hat. The only consumption that truly needed to be considered... was the Klein Bottle's energy.
He had charged it using his Post-Mortem Will.
If used too frequently, he might face a situation where the energy ran out.
Seeing Morrow nod, Ponzu finally summoned a new wasp from her hat.
Ging was already waiting impatiently. He reached out like lightning, pinching it between his fingers, and began deftly inscribing the Divine Script.
Perhaps because he already had experience, or perhaps because his motivation was too strong, his inscription speed was noticeably faster this time, and his technique was more practiced.
"It's done."
As soon as he finished inscribing the Divine Script, Ging couldn't wait to activate the Klein Bottle and send the giant hornet over.
His agreement with Netero was that he had to go to the Dark Continent through official channels.
Right now, he was just gazing at the scenery of that continent with the help of a 'wasp scout.' This didn't count as a breach of contract.
"Ging, wait a moment."
Morrow stopped Ging's move to activate the Klein Bottle. He turned to Ponzu and asked, "Ponzu, how complete is your 'group shared vision' ability now?"
"There's no problem with normal use."
The moment her Nen was mentioned, Ponzu's condition clearly recovered quite a bit. She explained quickly, "But if too many people share the 'Honeycomb Network,' the amount of aura I can keep for myself becomes very low. Although we don't have to worry about this problem in the current reconnaissance environment, it's still necessary to let everyone know about this limitation."
Honeycomb Network was a superior ability that Ponzu had improved upon based on her Shared Window ability after raising its level using Contagion, With Etude of Love.
Its core effect was to achieve group shared vision.
However, teammates connected to the 'Honeycomb Network' would have greater autonomy, not only being able to freely switch vision sources but also being able to close or reopen the shared connection at any time.
It was worth mentioning that although the conceptual direction of this ability had been determined from the beginning, its final name was given by Morrow.
Ponzu felt the name was a bit strange in a way she couldn't describe, but for some reason, she also vaguely felt an inexplicable harmony between it and the ability itself.
"As long as it's usable," Morrow said, turning his gaze to Ging.
Without needing further explanation, Ging understood that Ponzu's group shared vision ability must have some sort of prerequisite condition for activation.
This was quite normal for a condition-based Manipulation ability.
On the basis of mutual trust, Ponzu's slightly cumbersome prerequisite was quickly met, and she then granted access to the Honeycomb Network to Ging and the other teammates.
With all preparations complete, the Klein Bottle was activated again.
The black-hole-like distortion of light reappeared, instantly swallowing the giant hornet's figure.
The next moment.
Everyone's shared vision switched abruptly, and what filled their eyes was that boundless desert.
Only by personally experiencing this instantaneous switch of vision could one truly feel how incredibly swift the transfer speed was.
This was spatial jumping.
Moreover, it was an ultra-long-distance teleportation directly from the six continents to the Dark Continent.
Even if the process was unbelievable, it had indeed happened.
Before Ging, Biscuit, and the others could even marvel at the swiftness of the teleportation, their attention was captured by the sky-blotting Sandworms Morrow had just described.
They were literal Sandworms, composed of countless grains of sand.
And at this moment, two of them were actually engaged in a fierce battle with each other.
Gales carrying sand and grit collided violently, the roaring sound echoing throughout the entire desert.
Through the giant hornet's perspective, the group felt as if they were witnessing two sky-blotting sandstorms clashing violently.
This was no longer a battle on a biological level, but a confrontation of natural disasters.
If these two Sandworms were to appear in any country on the six continents, the entire nation would probably be annihilated in less than half a day.
Thanks to the giant hornet serving as an observation medium, and having heard Morrow's description of the scene just now, the group was still able to maintain their composure.
But personally witnessing this world-destroying scene still gave them a deeper understanding of the terror of the Dark Continent.
"Their core is a gaseous substance, likely a gaseous lifeform similar to Ai," Morrow speculated based on the available information. "It's just that Ai leans more towards being a mechanism-type existence, while these two Sandworms are clearly the destructive type."
Ai, a creature dependent on desire, was also one of the Five Threats currently known to humanity.
It was also the very same existence that resided within the Zoldyck Family's Alluka.
In this world, only Morrow, who could integrate information from all sides with a reader's perspective, was clearest about this matter.
"A gaseous lifeform, huh..."
Ging repeated the term in a low voice, a thoughtful look flashing in his eyes.
His strong yearning for the Dark Continent had led him to collect all related intelligence since he was young.
Even the secret of the disasters sealed in the underground base of the International Permit Agencies had not escaped his investigation.
Therefore, he basically agreed with Morrow's speculation about a gaseous lifeform.
His only regret was not being able to witness firsthand the process of how that gaseous core constructed such a massive body.
But the sight of these two sandstorm-like behemoths locked in combat before him had unreservedly confirmed Netero's description of the Dark Continent from all those years ago, "This place is truly—far too vast."
Through the shared vision, the group silently experienced the unique, suffocating pressure of the Dark Continent in an immersive way.
Setting the landing coordinates in such a place was nothing short of a hellish start.
With the individual strength of a 'wasp scout,' never mind how long or how far it could fly, it probably couldn't even reach the edge of this desert.
And the most pressing problem at hand was still how they would evade these disaster-level existences once they truly set foot in this desert.
If even evasion was a problem, then walking out of this desert was even more out of the question.
Given the vast nature of the Dark Continent, none of them dared to imagine how large this desert was.
As for the option of eliminating the Sandworms, Biscuit, Gel, and the others didn't even dare to think about it.
But Morrow and Ging each harbored different thoughts.
After personally witnessing the existence of the Sandworms, Ging's first reaction was to confirm their positional information.
He knew Morrow's target was Nitro Rice.
The location of that 'hope' was in a naturally occurring swamp southeast of Lake Mobius.
Starting from the world map of the six continents, one would need to continuously head southeast, then cross an immeasurably long distance to reach the destination.
One had to know, the Dark Continent was boundless. If they couldn't determine the general location of this desert, then trying to find the Nitro Rice by risking a direct teleportation would be worse than just officially setting out from the six continents.
This was precisely why Ging believed it was imperative to clarify their coordinate position as soon as possible.
In contrast, what Morrow was thinking about was how to eliminate the two disaster-level Sandworms before them.
He believed that since the Sandworms' core was that mass of gas, then with a precise Emission attack, it might be possible to destroy them before they fully formed.
This was not impossible.
But the problem was, compared to direct evasion, the margin for error in taking the initiative to attack was too low.
Once he failed, the price could be his life.
Although Morrow held one chance to rewind from death, considering the cost of the Death Threshold, he naturally had to do his utmost to avoid dying.
The giant hornet's second scouting mission quickly came to an end.
Infinite Hive Window was indeed an outstanding reconnaissance-type ability.
But having a single hornet act as a scout in an environment like the Dark Continent was ultimately too fragile to guarantee any endurance.
As the Shared Window ability ended, the image of the sky-blotting Sandworms and the sun-obscuring sandstorm lingered in the minds of Biscuit and the others for a long time.
"Why would the coordinate point be set in a place like this?"
Gel found it truly hard to imagine that this land of yellow sand was a place where ancient humans had once existed.
Ging glanced at her and said, "Is it possible that it only gradually evolved into the desert it is today over time? I even suspect that traces of ancient human existence might be buried beneath the yellow sand."
"..."
Gel was momentarily at a loss for words.
Biscuit crossed her arms, her expression grave as she spoke, "The question now is, are we really going to choose to start our journey from this 'coordinate point'?"
Her words made everyone turn to look at Morrow in unison.
They saw Morrow with his head lowered, his expression focused, seemingly immersed in some kind of thought.
At this moment, he was contemplating a possibility.
Was there some method that would allow him to simulate a confrontation with that disaster-level Sandworm in advance?
If he could increase his confidence in dealing with it through simulation, then directly breaking through this threat might become a viable option.
And the only way he could think of to achieve such a simulation was... a virtual game.