Sheng Xia laughed. Although all she wanted was to live quietly and peacefully, that did not mean she had no desire to become stronger.
She had heard that everyone who participated in the mission would receive a share of any treasures obtained, and anything they personally discovered within the dimensional rift would belong to them. To be honest, she was looking forward to it as well.
“I didn’t expect the Class Monitor to lack confidence in himself,” Sheng Xia teased. “Don’t worry, Class Monitor. I’m not afraid. It’s an honor to become a member of the Langya Squad.”
Smiling brightly, she looked at Gu Ziyan and added, “Class Monitor, I have complete confidence in you.”
The tips of Gu Ziyan’s ears turned slightly red. He nodded and continued explaining the precautions she needed to know.
The Lop Nur Desert was an extremely dangerous place, filled with countless mutated plants and animals.
Gu Ziyan treated this mission with great seriousness, patiently explaining numerous desert survival rules to Sheng Xia.
She committed every piece of information to memory while simultaneously searching through her recollections of the novel for anything related to Lop Nur.
The book had stated that no one ever brought anything back from there.
Because everyone who entered never returned…
From then on, it became a forbidden zone. No matter how brilliantly the seven-colored radiance shone, no one dared set foot there again.
A trace of caution and concern settled in Sheng Xia’s heart.
Lost in thought, she barely noticed that Gu Ziyan had already led her to the supply depot.
The warehouse was several dozen square meters in size, lined with shelves packed full of supplies and military equipment.
A gentle squeeze on her hand snapped her out of her thoughts.
Only then did Sheng Xia realize that Gu Ziyan had been holding her hand the entire way.
Turning her head, she found his face only inches away, looking at her with an amused smile.
Great!
The male lead was teasing the Short-Lived Female Supporting Character again.
“Sheng Xia, what are you daydreaming about?” he asked. “Did you remember everything I just told you?”
Sheng Xia quickly turned her head away and pulled her hand free. Lowering her head to hide her expression, she replied softly, “I remembered it all, Class Monitor…”
“Good. Since you remembered, start storing these supplies. We’ll be relying on you for quite a while.”
His expression became serious.
“And remember, once we reach Lop Nur, don’t leave my side by more than five steps. Understood?”
Lifting her chin so she would meet his eyes, he spoke with unusual solemnity.
Looking at his serious expression, Sheng Xia nodded firmly before turning toward the rows of supplies. The corners of her mouth twitched.
The first shelves were stacked with bottled water.
The second held boxes of compressed biscuits.
The third contained military self-heating meals with both meat and vegetables.
The fourth was stocked with medicines and daily necessities.
Various firearms hung neatly on the walls.
Quite comprehensive! Was Gu Ziyan planning to stockpile a year’s worth of food and water?
Still, the more supplies the better. No one knew what conditions awaited them inside the dimensional rift.
Gu Ziyan raised his chin, signaling for her to begin.
Sheng Xia nodded and walked alongside the shelves.
With the slightest movement of her fingertips, everything she touched vanished one item at a time.
As she emptied the entire warehouse, Gu Ziyan’s eyebrows twitched in surprise.
He had only intended for her to store one section of supplies.
His original plan was simple: whatever she could fit, she could take.
He never expected her to be this incredible.
She had emptied the entire warehouse.
Meanwhile, Sheng Xia remained completely unaware of his shock.
The supplies looked abundant, but inside her Spatial storage they occupied only a little over thirty cubic meters.
To Sheng Xia, this amount was merely a drop in the bucket.
Looking at Gu Ziyan with innocent confusion, she was about to ask what came next when he suddenly grabbed her arm and led her outside.
At the warehouse entrance, he instructed the guard.
“You can go rest now. No need to stand watch. Tell Major General Feng Ya that I’ll replenish the supplies later.”
Then he dragged Sheng Xia away without another glance.
The soldier stood there in stunned silence for several seconds before opening the warehouse doors.
Seeing the completely empty storage room, he let out a silent wail and immediately sprinted toward the residence of Major General Feng Ya, the administrator of Xifeng City, to report the situation.
After bringing Sheng Xia to the dormitory and informing her of the meeting time and location for the next day, Gu Ziyan left with a smile in his eyes.
After all, he had emptied Feng Ya’s entire warehouse.
He needed to explain himself quickly and arrange replacement supplies immediately, otherwise Feng Ya would never stop nagging him.
Sheng Xia was simply too amazing.
Ordinary Spatial storage ability users typically possessed only around ten cubic meters of storage space.
It seemed Sheng Xia’s storage capacity was far larger than he had imagined.
Early the next morning, Gu Ziyan’s group of seven boarded a helicopter bound for Lop Nur, all dressed in matching uniforms and fully equipped.
It was Sheng Xia’s first time riding in a helicopter, and she could hardly contain her excitement.
Her eyes remained wide as she gazed down at the ground below, her face filled with curiosity.
Since the world’s transformation, this was her first opportunity to view the land from above.
Dimensional rifts of varying sizes dotted the earth below.
Natural vegetation had become scarce, while mutated plants flourished.
Many cities lay in ruins, and scattered defensive outposts could be seen everywhere.
Aside from stopping at several supply points to refuel, the helicopter never landed again during the journey.
Jinbao had finally been unable to remain hidden and revealed himself on the very first day.
The moment he appeared, Sister Ye began enthusiastically petting and squeezing him.
Everyone loved fluffy creatures.
The men were somewhat speechless when they saw Sheng Xia suddenly produce a pet during a mission, but none of them commented.
Only Mu Ting made several sarcastic remarks about bringing a pet along on an important operation.
Sheng Xia paid no attention whatsoever.
Jinbao was her companion.
Besides, she had clearly stated that she alone would provide for his food and needs, leaving Mu Ting with no further argument.
Three days later, the helicopter landed in Nanzhu City, a small settlement on the outskirts of the Lop Nur Desert.
Nanzhu City was the closest town to the desert.
It had once been a popular tourist destination, but after the abnormalities in Lop Nur began, most residents had already fled.
After resting at a temporary military camp, the local soldiers introduced a guide.
He was a middle-aged man with a round face, a long beard, and a wrapped headscarf, giving him a prosperous and approachable appearance.
When Gu Ziyan saw him, he immediately stood and greeted him before introducing him to the group.
“This is Uncle Baza, our guide for this mission.”
Everyone exchanged greetings, and Baza returned to each one with a friendly smile.
Upon hearing that an American team had already entered the desert, Gu Ziyan’s expression darkened.
Without hesitation, he decided to move out immediately.
As the sun dipped below the horizon, the eight-member team mounted camels and headed into the desert with their supplies.
Baza led the way in front while Shen Li guarded the rear. The women rode in the center of the formation.
The desert night was cool and pleasant.
Above them hung a sky filled with stars and a brilliant Milky Way, breathtakingly beautiful.
Seeing such scenery for the first time, Sheng Xia frequently looked upward, a wonder filling her face.
Riding behind her, Mu Ting curled her lips and snorted.
“Hmph. Country bumpkin.”
The voice was not loud, but in the quiet desert night it sounded remarkably clear.
The men understood nothing about the inexplicable hostility that sometimes arose between women and wisely remained silent.
Sheng Xia could not have cared less.
The insult entered one ear and left the other. To her, it was no different from someone passing gas.
Uncle Baza quickly broke the awkward atmosphere.
“The desert is unbearably hot during the day, so we’ll travel as much as possible tonight. The American camel caravan entered two days ago, and nobody knows how far they’ve already gone.”
Gu Ziyan frowned. “How far are we from the dimensional rift?”
Baza looked up at the stars before answering.
“If we travel day and night without stopping, we can reach the edge of the dimensional rift in five days.”
Then he added cautiously,
“But camels need rest. We can’t travel nonstop. Realistically, it’ll take at least eight days.”
He glanced nervously at Gu Ziyan.
He was genuinely afraid the young Major General would order them to push forward recklessly.
This was the desert.
If the camels collapsed from exhaustion, the people would not fare much better.
After all, their supplies were only enough to last one month.
To be honest, if the Federation’s offer had not been so tempting, he would never have agreed to enter the dimensional rift.
Those places were filled with dangers.
Treasures might exist there, but so did terrifying mutated beasts.
He had no desire to lose his life chasing riches.
Thinking of how his wife, children, and elderly mother had already settled safely in Yanjing’s defensive base, Baza smiled bitterly.
For their sake, he had no choice but to follow Gu Ziyan into this dangerous venture.
Since they were now tied together, he felt obligated to explain every possible risk.
Poor Uncle Baza had no idea that Gu Ziyan’s concern had nothing to do with supplies.
He was simply bothered that the Americans had gained a head start.
Seeing Gu Ziyan’s silence, Xu Dayou seemed to understand.
In his deep voice, he said,
“Captain, dimensional rifts aren’t easy to enter. There’s no need to rush. Having someone else scout the path for us isn’t necessarily a bad thing.”
His meaning was obvious. Gu Ziyan naturally understood.
“Keep moving.”
As soon as the order was given, Baza let out a sigh of relief.
Leading the group onward, he continued explaining.
“The desert at night is full of snakes, insects, and other creatures. Everyone should stay alert.”
From six in the evening until midnight, Uncle Baza guided them across the sands before arriving at a natural campsite formed by several enormous weathered rock formations.
After six hours of riding, both the people and camels had reached their limits.
Everyone dismounted and began setting up camp.
Sheng Xia’s enthusiasm had gradually faded into boredom and eventually numbness.
The moment she climbed down from her camel, her legs nearly gave out beneath her.
The insides of her thighs burned with pain.
It was her first time riding a camel, and she knew nothing about proper technique.
After hours of constant jolting, the skin on her thighs had already been rubbed raw.
Suppressing the pain, she set up her tent, informed Gu Ziyan, and immediately crawled inside.
Watching her pale face and awkward gait, Gu Ziyan’s eyes flickered thoughtfully.
After arranging the night watch schedule, he entered the tent beside hers.
Xu Yi took the tent on the opposite side.
Together they positioned themselves on either side of Sheng Xia’s tent, protecting her in the center.
Mu Ting watched with envy and jealousy.
In her opinion, she was the most important member of the team.
Yet everyone seemed focused on Sheng Xia instead.
Wasn’t she just someone with a storage ability?
She couldn’t fight and had no combat power.
When they eventually encountered mutated beasts, wouldn’t she only drag everyone down?
She was nothing more than dead weight.
Mu Ting couldn’t understand why Gu Ziyan cared so much about her.
Once they returned to Yanjing, she was determined to investigate exactly who Sheng Xia was.
Lost in these thoughts, she carelessly closed her tent flap, leaving a thumb-width gap.
In the silent darkness of the night, Gu Ziyan lay in his sleeping bag.
Then he heard it. A series of soft, suppressed sounds of pain.
They were coming from Sheng Xia’s tent…