Chapter 318: Escaping the Desert 22

When he first received the invitation, he hadn’t taken it seriously. He’d even grumbled to himself, wondering what kind of scam someone was trying to pull.

After all, it was the first time he’d ever heard of someone managing to gather Croupiers from different planets. The event happened to be scheduled right when he entered the game.

When he came out of the game and heard another Croupier he knew, Croupier 001, describe the scene, Victor was so full of regret he could have beaten his chest and stamped his feet.

"I heard there were a ton of rare Advanced Cards, and even one that could make you taller."

He had missed his chance—perhaps his only chance—to grow to be six feet tall.

The two rested for a night, setting off again the next day full of energy.

Meanwhile, a squad of Oasis Guards was trekking arduously through the desert.

They had originally been traveling by camel.

But for some reason, a sudden sandstorm had kicked up the previous night, and their frightened camels had all run off.

In their haste to chase after the camels and the luggage they carried, they had gradually strayed from their original route.

So far, though, they remained relatively calm. This was the desert, after all; they had long been prepared for such situations.

Besides, while they hadn’t recovered all the runaway camels, they had managed to find half of them, along with more than half of the luggage. It was enough to get them to their destination.

As long as they could enter the Oasis and complete the handover, their mission would be a success.

With this in mind, the lead Oasis Guard relied on his vast experience to determine the direction of the Oasis and led his men onward.

"Captain, look! There are people up ahead."

Following his teammate’s gesture, the Oasis Guard Captain looked up and saw a long procession heading their way.

"Is that a merchant caravan? It doesn’t look like one. A migration, maybe?"

The others began to chatter amongst themselves.

"Who would migrate in this direction?"

After all, anyone who lived in the desert knew that the western expanse was a land of death. There was no food, no water, and the temperatures only rose the farther west you went.

Even though many of the old-timers knew that crossing this western desert was the way to leave the desert for good, very few ever attempted it.

First, no one besides the Oasis Guards knew the correct route. Second, a token was required to leave the desert. And third—the most important reason—very few people could withstand such a harsh environment.

Most people would simply get lost in the vast sands and die in despair after their supplies ran out.

"They must be lost. Let’s warn them when we get closer."

After all, with so many people involved, if they hadn’t run into them, that would be one thing. But since they had, they had a duty to warn them. That was their job as Oasis Guards—to protect the peace of the region.

However, as the two groups drew closer, the Oasis Guards’ captain suddenly sensed that something was wrong. The people at the very front looked a bit familiar.

At the same time, the Desert Robbers were in a panic as they watched the Oasis Guards approach them head-on.

They had already altered their route and taken a longer path just to avoid the Oasis Guards, but they never expected to run into them anyway.

As a former, highly experienced Oasis Guard himself, the current leader of the Desert Robbers, Jesse Lowell, took one look at the state of the guards and immediately guessed what they had been through.

He sighed and muttered, "What’s coming is coming." Then he turned to the man behind him and said, "Tell everyone to prepare for battle."

A moment later, the subordinate returned with a report.

"What? They don’t want to fight the Oasis Guards? This isn’t about what they want anymore! From the moment they chose to follow us, they left themselves no way out. Tell those people they either stick with us to the bitter end, in which case they might have a chance to live, or they can die right now."

The subordinate nodded at his words, a vicious glint in his eyes as he departed.

Soon, a series of screams and a commotion erupted from the rear of the procession, but it quickly fell silent again.

On the other side, the Oasis Guards had also noticed something was amiss with the approaching group. This was no ordinary migration party.

Though his view wasn’t perfectly clear, the Oasis Guards’ captain still managed to spot a familiar figure in the opposing ranks.

"Lowell, is that you?"

An Oasis Guard beside him heard the captain and asked in astonishment, "Captain, you don’t mean... you’re not talking about Captain Lowell, are you? The man they called ’the Living Miracle’?"

The Oasis Guard Captain nodded silently.

"But... didn’t Captain Lowell die on a mission? Why would he be here?"

The captain didn’t answer. His gaze was heavy as he stared into the distance. In truth, he didn’t know either. He had no idea why Lowell would become a notorious Desert Robber, or what had happened during the time he was missing.

He still remembered it clearly. After a mission, as they were preparing to withdraw, they had been ambushed by Desert Robbers. Back then, Lowell had voluntarily stayed behind to cover their retreat, and he had never returned.

Just when everyone assumed he was dead, Lowell reappeared—but as a Desert Robber.

A battle between the two sides was imminent.

***

Elsewhere, Perry Yates and Victor were chasing a camel. Behind them, their camel count had grown from the original two to ten.

They had come across all eight of the extra camels on their journey.

Seeing no one around and noticing the camels were still laden with supplies, the two of them simply commandeered the animals. As the saying goes: waste not, want not.

Besides, the camels came with their own rations, so they didn’t have to worry about feeding them.

「Day twenty-two of the game.」

With only two people to account for and plenty of supplies, Perry Yates and Victor were naturally making much faster time than they had before.

At noon, the two of them stopped to rest as usual.

The ten camels formed a circle around them, blocking the blowing sand.

At one point, Victor happened to see Perry Yates’s exposed arm. The skin was still fair and pale, a brutal contrast to his own.

"How do you do it? How are you still so pale after so many days in the desert?"

Hearing this, Perry Yates replied casually, "Probably because I wear a lot of layers and keep myself covered up."

"No way! I wear tons of layers and stay completely covered too, so why am I so tan?"

Especially around his exposed eyes. When he’d taken a look while bathing yesterday, it looked exactly like he had a sunglasses tan on his face.