Chapter 224 223: The Desert of Mysteries  The Desert of Mysteries was a place of unparalleled beauty and terror. The sand dunes stretched as far as the eye could see, each one a work of art sculpted by the unrelenting winds that howled through the barren wasteland.

The sun beat down mercilessly, scorching everything in its path. At the same time, the silence was only broken by the occasional whisper of sand as it shifted beneath the feet of those brave or foolish enough to venture into the heart of the desert.

Yet, for all its beauty, there was an ominous air about the place that made one's skin crawl.

It was said that the very sand held secrets, that the dunes themselves were alive and whispered dark whispers to those who dared to listen. The Desert of Mysteries was a place of wonder and terror, a place where the line between reality and myth blurred and where the unwary were doomed to fall prey to the dangers lurking within.

There are rumors that a colossal beast of tremendous strength lies beneath this vast desert. And once it wakes up, the very earth and the firmaments would tremble.

Nobody knows how-

"Hold up. Hold up. Hold up."

"How do you know so much about The Desert of Mysteries cap?"

"Didn't you say that The Clown cheated you, and you don't know much about the zones?"

With his hands held up in the air, Fatty Black Bonez spoke, interrupting Divine's captivating anecdote on the desert of mysteries.

Rosa and Corey were also curious, and they glanced at Divine.

"Who said what I said is true? I just formed it."

"..."

Divine's words nearly made Rosa lose control of Racing Wolf.

Corey shook his head, and Fatty Black Bonez angrily clicked his tongue.

He was enjoying Divine's storytelling.

:03:32

'At least we still have enough time.'

Fatty Black Bonez thought as he gazed at the timer on his U-Watch.

At the beginning of The Mountains of Soundless Death, they had 52 minutes and 10 seconds left, and they used around 20 minutes to reach the portal that led them to the Desert of Mysteries.

They also killed ten tier 2s, which granted them 50 extra minutes.

'There wouldn't be a colossal beast of tremendous strength beneath the desert, right?'

(Around 10 minutes ago)

Corey and his team members decided to move after finding out the portal's location to the next zone.

Corey gave the steering wheel back to Rosa since he needed to rest. He wanted to recover his mana, and he was also exhausted from pouring his mana into Racing Wolf for so long.

'I'm surprised he still has mana left. Isn't he just a tier 1?'

Rosa gazed at Corey with a slightly surprised expression. Although she knew that Corey was not an average tier 1, she was still astonished that he could last so long for a tier 1, and not only that, his quality of mana was extremely high.When Corey drove, the speed of Racing Wolf was enough proof for her to make such a hypothesis. Racing Wolf was made in such a way that the higher the quality of mana poured into it, the faster it goes.

'Although I can pour my mana into Racign Wolf, that would not be a wise choice. Racing Wolf's engine needs to cool down. It could blow up.'

Rosa paused her train of thought as she looked at the extremely calm desert around them. Even though the desert looked calm and was void of danger, Rosa knew the chance of that being true was as low as 1%.

Although she doesn't know The Clown well, she knows the theme of this game, Death Race.

She released a soft sigh, trying to calm her tense nerves. She was not the only one who was tense. Corey and Fatty Black Bonez were also nervous.

And Divine, seeing that, decided to tell a story regarding The Desert of Mysteries.

(Back to the present)

"Go that way Rosa."

Rosa looked at Corey and, seeing him point in a particular direction, she nodded and turned the steering wheel.

Corey had his brows furrowed slightly as his eyes landed on the ground. He had lost sight of the contestants' tracks that turned to the back in search of the portal.

Although he wasn't looking at their tire marks throughout, he still found it strange that he could not locate their tire marks anymore.

'Maybe they covered up their tracks?'

Corey guessed and decided not to think too much about it. It was not like he could do anything about it.

lightsΝοvεl ƈοm 'At least my mana is now full.'

Corey clenched his fist as he thought of how fast his mana regeneration was.

'A Paragon body and an infinity crystal are truly something else. But… I'm still weak.'

Corey clenched his fist as he remembered how he was powerless to save his family from the pope and his people.

'I need to become stronger faster. I don't know what's happening to Anna.'

Corey's fist tightened as he decided to try and push his plans forward.

"You guys. What's that? And why does that look like the portal?"

'Huh?'

Corey looked at Fatty Black Bonez, who was pointing to their left.

Corey raised his brows, but his brows furrowed deeply when he looked at where Fatty Black Bonez was pointing.

Like Fatty Black Bonez said, there was a portal to their left. Although it was far- by an average human's standard, it was not too far for beings like them who were no longer normal humans.

But…

"Kid?"

Corey looked at Divine, and with a deep frown, he shook his head and spoke:

"I don't know what's going on. But that's not the portal. I don't sense any spatial energy from it.""The portal should be in that direction."

Corey pointed to his right, the direct opposite of the portal, and Divine frowned. His brows furrowed in thought, and a few seconds later, he opened the door and stepped out of the car.

Corey, Fatty, and Rosa looked at Divine with curious expressions.

Divine looked around, then he picked up a stone, and to the group's surprise, he threw the stone towards the portal in the distance.

Under the gazes of Corey, Fatty, Rosa, and Divine, the stone flew accurately to the portal, and just as it reached the portal, it passed through it. And the portal rippled, and then it disappeared.

"The hell? So it's fake."

Fatty Black Bonez spoke with a baffled tone as he got out of the car, and Rosa scoffed as she also got out of Racing Wolf.

"Of course, it-"

SHUA

SHUA

SHUA

Before Rosa could complete her sentence, countless blood-red spikes emerged from the ground where the 'portal' was located. The blood-red spikes were as high as 12 meters, and the covered area was as large as half of a football pitch.

Fatty Black Bonez gulped as he looked at the spikes that could easily rip apart Racing Wolf and him.

"Crap. Those spikes look scary."

"They're not spikes. That's a plant."

Divine corrected Fatty Black Bonez as he looked at the blood-red spikes that were slowly retreating into the sand.

"What type of plant is that?"

Divine glanced at Corey. Then he looked at the blood-red spikes with a deep frown.

"It's called Deathbloom. An astral deathbloom shows its prey what they currently need, and when the unsuspecting prey gets in its range of attack, it launches those spikes at a breakneck speed. Most don't escape the spikes."

Corey looked at the blood-red spikes with interest as he heard Divine's words.action

"It can't move, right?"

"Can you tell me one plant that can move?"

Divine looked at Fatty Black Bonez with a blank expression, but Fatty Black Bonez did not care and released a sigh of relief as he thanked the bone god.

"We're lucky the deathbloom isn't in the mystic realm. It's at the peak of the astral realm."

Divine mumbled, and although it was quiet, Corey still heard it, and with an intrigued light in his eyes, he spoke:

"Why do you say that?"

"Because the deathbloom wouldn't just show us what we currently need, it would show us what we desire. Its illusion would be much better, and the spikes would also be able to move around like tentacles."

Divine said, and Corey looked at the deathbloom, which had already hidden its spikes deep in the sand.

"Anyway, let's go. We follow whatever direction Corey tells us to go to. Hopefully, we don't encounter something we can't survive."

Corey, Fatty Black Bonez, and Rosa's lips twitched and without saying anything, they walked back to Racing Wolf.

As they were about to enter Racing Wolf, something… unexpected happened.

The sun went down, and a chilling gust of wind blew atop the dunes of the desert of mysteries.