Kain opened his eyes as a wave of scorching heat and air thick with sand hit him. A sudden choking sensation overwhelmed him—he could hardly breathe as easily as before.
He looked around, only to see massive sand dunes towering higher than most skyscrapers in New York. The desert stretched far beyond what his eyes could see.
The sight left him speechless, his gaze drifting across the endless expanse.
"Where the hell did the system throw me this time?" he muttered.
He rubbed his forehead in exasperation, trying to decide his next move. As always, he needed to find someone to trade with, a means to access the workings of this world. But for now, he had no idea where he was—or even what world this was.
To make things worse, it seemed he was stranded in some vast desert with no signs of intelligent life. And he only had few hours, or he might have to give up this world entirely.
After thinking for a while, he decided to scout the area. With his powers and his space backpack, survival wouldn't be too hard. His strength was more than enough to handle anything this place could throw at him.
Still, caution never hurt. He resolved to avoid drawing attention and simply follow wherever his path led him. After all, there was no clear direction to take anyway.
With a bit of magic, Kain conjured an air-freshening barrier around himself for cleaner breathing, and a makeshift umbrella to shield him from the blistering sun overhead.
With the basics covered, he began marching through the dunes, hoping to find someone to trade with—and eventually figure out what this world could offer once he had more information.
But as he wandered, there was nothing—nothing noteworthy, no presence that hinted at civilization ever having existed here.
If it had, perhaps time had buried its traces under this massive, endless carpet of sand.
As he marched toward no particular destination, he suddenly felt a tremor. The ground beneath him rumbled. The sand shifted violently—and then began to sink.
"Don't tell me it's a desert swamp..." he thought, dumbfounded.
But the next moment proved him wrong.
Before he could react to the sinking sand, a massive worm erupted from below—its grotesque, shredded skin stretched over a body tougher than any natural shell. Its gaping mouth opened wide, filled with rows of long, jagged teeth arranged in fleshy, writhing layers, ready to shred anything it devoured.
Just as the worm lunged toward him, Max reflexively charged his body with electromagnetic energy and blasted the audacious beast into a charred mess.
Breathing deeply, he calmed his nerves, still rattled by the sudden appearance of such a monstrous creature.
Although he was confident the worm couldn't truly harm him—his body was far too strong, and his defenses were layered—its abrupt attack had caught him off guard, causing him to use excessive force.
He sighed, then looked at the worm's smoldering corpse.
"What a mess," he muttered.
There wasn't much left to study or salvage. Shaking his head, he continued on, now more certain that this place hid more such creatures.
Well, at least he'd found something living. Even though it wasn't a humanoid, it was still life—and that gave him hope.
If a predator like this existed, there had to be prey species too. And if prey existed, then maybe—just maybe—stronger predators or sentient beings had evolved to dominate them.
That could mean civilization wasn't as far off as it seemed.
With hope rising in his heart, Kain set out to find more such species—ones that would ultimately lead him to some sentient, intelligent lifeform capable of trade, or at the very least, justify saving this world to include it in his future trading list.
Although his determination was strong and his hope even stronger, fate had other plans. Even after dragging himself across immeasurable distances and using every trick up his sleeve, he could hardly find anyone to trade with except worms of different kinds.
Kain was speechless at his situation. Time slipped through his fingers like dry sand, and the sheer absurdity of it all was unfathomable.
It felt as if he were on a continent with no living civilization—or perhaps the entire planet was a ghost world.
Just as this unlikely thought crossed his mind, he froze. Standing still, he pondered the possibility.
Until now, he had never considered that this could be true. But then he remembered the flashes—humans fighting monsters, strange energies, and faint intergalactic traces in the mix.
Maybe this world was something akin to Star Wars. If so, that explained the complications. Worlds like Star Wars had expansive maps—intergalactic ones. Unlike his previous missions, the map of this world could span galaxies, with vast stretches of space and countless planets devoid of life.
The very fact that he could breathe and feel Earth-like gravity here was surprising—but not impossible.
He sighed deeply. He didn't have a choice now. Maybe he could find a way to leave this planet, but he had no idea how to navigate space.
Still, he could search more. Maybe—just maybe—he would find something.
This led Kain to devote his remaining time to exploring the planet, relying on his sheer power and every trick in his arsenal.
In the end, he did discover something—some trashed remains of a spaceship buried in dunes. Nothing salvageable, unfortunately, except a few martial arts manuals and a strange book on cultivation.
When he found them, realization struck—this world was infused with Wuxia elements.
He sighed in exasperation and regret.
"I lost a gold mine!"
And with that, he disappeared—never knowing what this world truly held, not even its name.
…
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