Chapter 616: Desert

"These are all grains produced within the God of Plague's territory..."

Due to geographical differences, the crops grown in different gods' territories varied, which was how Loren could distinguish them.

But this seemed unlikely. The God of Plague's side had a severe grain shortage, and they normally relied on imports from the God of Bountiful Harvest. How could they possibly have this much local grain?

Especially after the war began, the Bountiful Church's grain exports had decreased quite a bit, though not dramatically, since the nobles still needed to make money.

So it was even more impossible for the military to have this much grain.

"Could it be that the Plague Church has found a way to mass-produce grain?"

That guess wasn't impossible either, but it required more verification.

"I'll go check out the God of Plague's territory after we find the Ember Soil Worm..."

By the time Loren set out, this military camp had completely vanished, as if it had never existed.

Starnight continued flying. The group only landed a few times to grab meals, and spent the rest of the time pressing forward.

Soon, they arrived at the desert.

This place was a fair distance from the God of Bountiful Harvest's territory, but it wasn't far from the God of Plague's territory now.

"It's so hot here..."

The moment they landed, everyone felt a wave of scorching heat.

"That's because the Ember Soil Worm is here. Its temperature is extremely high, which heats up the entire desert."

Loren grabbed a handful of sand, and it was almost scalding to the touch.

He then activated his air conditioning magic to cool everyone down, a spell he had developed based on water magic as its prototype.

"Ah... so cool..."

Anna stopped fanning herself and moved close to Loren.

"Everyone be careful. The contamination here is pretty severe, and there are many dangerous creatures."

The concept of bountifulness had been completely stripped away from this place, resulting in severe contamination.

"Can living things even survive in an environment like this?"

Anna surveyed her surroundings but only saw a bunch of cacti.

"Yes, they can. Although it's hot here year-round, it's still within the range humans can endure.

"So it's not just wild animals here. There are traces of human activity too.

"However, most of these people are bandits who hid in the desert to escape the Church's pursuit."

"Is that so?"

Anna nodded, looking like a model student.

As if to prove Loren's words, a lizard suddenly crawled onto Loren's body.

"This is a sand lizard, the primary creature of the desert. They can grow quite large, and the people living here usually raise them as mounts."

Loren grabbed the sand lizard and showed it to the others.

This particular sand lizard was just small enough to fit in one of Loren's hands. Its body was covered in hard keratin scales and spikes all over, and it looked a bit dull-witted.

"Alright, off you go."

After the introduction, Loren simply tossed the sand lizard far away.

But before long, a scorpion crawled onto Loren's body.

"..."

This was Loren's curse at work. A long time ago, he had been afflicted with a curse called [Scorn of All Beings]. After being reversed, this curse had significantly increased the favorability of all creatures toward Loren.

The smarter creatures merely had their opinion of Loren improved, while simple-minded creatures like scorpions and lizards instinctively wanted to cling to Loren.

Compared to the benefits of this curse, these drawbacks were nothing.

Besides, these little creatures attracted to him meant no harm. In fact, they could synergize with another one of Loren's talents.

"Go find me a giant worm. Its body temperature is extremely high."

The various small creatures crawling on Loren all jumped off him upon hearing this.

For creatures with little intelligence, the effect of [Everything Has a Spirit] allowed Loren to command them directly.

"Can they be trusted?"

"Better than nothing, I suppose."

Loren didn't expect these little things to do him any major favors. Mainly, this way they would stop bothering him.

"This desert isn't small, you know? Are we just going to search slowly like this?"

Starnight transformed back into a nightingale and landed on Loren's shoulder as she spoke.

"I have a way to attract the Ember Soil Worm, but I need to find some bait first. The bandits in the desert are a good choice."

Compared to other mythical creatures, the Ember Soil Worm was one of the easiest to find.

Moreover, the Ember Soil Worm was one of the few mythical creatures that still had an entire group. Most other mythical creatures were the last of their kind, and once they died, they'd go extinct.

Moreover, the Ember Soil Worm was one of the few mythical creatures that still had an entire population group. Most other mythical creatures were the last of their kind, and once they died, they'd go extinct.

In this desert, Loren and his group stood out conspicuously, especially Loren.

Everyone here wore white robes, but Loren was still wearing his black robe.

So it didn't take long for Loren to run into a group of bandits.

They held hunting knives and rode atop sand lizards, charging straight at Loren.

There were quite a few desert bandits, and their charge kicked up what almost looked like a sandstorm.

But their imposing display meant nothing. Loren threw a punch from a distance, and the force of his fist sent them all tumbling.

"What the hell happened..."

The bandit leader struggled to his feet, only to see his men all bound tightly with vines.

"..."

This was abundant magic. Anyone capable of using abundant magic in a place like this was clearly not to be trifled with, so the bandit leader dropped to his knees in a slide very quickly.

"Please spare us, sir... We just wanted to give you a ride, we had no ill intentions..."

"Master Mentor, we found half-eaten corpses in their luggage."

Just as the bandit leader was making his excuses, Anna suddenly called out.

"It's not what it looks like... We..."

The bandit tried to explain further, but suddenly realized something:

"They called you Master Mentor?"

"Yes, I am Loren."

Without any wasted words, Loren piled the bandit and his lackeys together and gagged them all.

"What do you want with these bandits, sir?"

Anna, who had finished inventorying their belongings, walked over to Loren. The bandits had nothing of value. Their only food was human meat and the flesh of various unknown creatures.

"Although the Ember Soil Worm looks terrifying, it's actually the kindest of all mythical creatures. You could even call it a saint."

As he spoke, Loren placed his hand on the bandit.

The next moment, black blood began to flow from the bandit's nose, and pus-filled sores started breaking out all over his body. It looked quite disgusting.

"The Ember Soil Worm will help other creatures cure any epidemic, whether it's caused by bacteria, viruses, or even poisoning. It eliminates the very concept of 'epidemic.'

"I just used plague magic to give this man a severe infectious disease. With this many patients, it will attract the Ember Soil Worm."

Before long, the bandit's disease began to spread, and the other bandits around him started showing similar symptoms.

Taking advantage of this time, Loren released the sand lizards that had been enslaved by the bandits. Soon, the ground began to tremble.