Ma Lu had seen a sandstorm before.
Earlier this year, City B had encountered one.
The city was shrouded in yellow sand, with PM10 concentrations exceeding 1000 micrograms per cubic meter at its worst, and the sky was a dim yellow, so much so that opening your mouth would fill it with sand.
However, a city's sandstorm is a whole different beast from a desert sandstorm, and as for danger, the former doesn't hold a candle to the latter.
"What should we do," Seta looked towards Boggy, "retreat, Captain?"
"No," Boggy decided after only a moment's thought, "if we head back to the city now, we'll completely lose track of the Six-armed Ancient Ape. It could easily reach the Giant Curtain under the cover of this sandstorm and attack the walls.
"We stick to the original plan, lead it into the trap, and aim to take care of it before the sandstorm arrives."
As the five discussed their next course of action, the Six-armed Ancient Ape on the dune noticed them.
It pounded its huge fists against its chest and then let out a roar before leaping down from the dune.
The massive body slid down the ridge of the dune and charged towards them upon landing.
With a stature over ten meters, it could cover four meters in a single stride, and while running, its two longest and strongest arms would smack the ground from time to time, both providing support and making a booming sound like war drums.
Under Ma Lu's control, a Two-headed Jackal Corpse Puppet bravely rushed forward.
However, it had barely approached the Six-armed Ancient Ape when it was smashed into a pulp by a fist that fell from the sky.
This was a true dimensionality reduction strike!
The Two-headed Jackal Corpse Puppet, enhanced by the [Full-Body Hardening] of the Purple Blessings, had no weak points left on its body, and the number of Blue Blessings Ma Lu now handled had also exceeded 600.
With the effect of the Mystery Strengthening Soap, a 200% enhancement in all attributes was provided for all members of the squad and the puppets.
Even with a 30% loss of original attributes due to the puppet's state, this Two-headed Jackal Corpse Puppet was more than twice as strong as it had been in life.
Yet it didn't even have the qualification to trade a blow with the Six-armed Ancient Ape and got one-shotted upon contact.
Ma Lu suspected his micro-control was lacking, so he sent out a Sickle-horned Antelope Corpse Puppet to fight. This time, he was incredibly focused, holding his breath and staring intently as he controlled the puppet to get close to the Six-armed Ancient Ape.
As soon as the Six-armed Ancient Ape raised its arms, Ma Lu ordered the Sickle-horned Antelope to change direction.
Ma Lu had encountered such situations before, but this time it was particularly severe, reducing the effect to a mere 60%.
Fortunately, Mai Mai had already reloaded her magazine and continued to fire.
Meanwhile, Ma Lu also commanded the army of corpses to move and rendezvous with them.
And it wasn't just the six-armed ancient ape chasing them, the yellow earthen wall was also getting closer.
The Twin Sunflower Hunting Group was literally in a race against time!
In just three minutes, Mai Mai had emptied six magazines, causing the motor to overheat, so Ma Lu handed her his own Destroyer.
He also picked up a golden blessing in passing.
[Portable Charger: There is a 50% chance of zero consumption when team members use psychic powers.]
This golden blessing was also an old acquaintance of Ma Lu's, capable of helping the squad improve their endurance. However, that was not the main point; the main point was that it also meant that the other side's army of corpses had finally taken down some troublesome being.
Looking at the row of golden options before, one could tell how strong that creature had been, though it was unclear how it would compare to the six-armed ancient ape.
Mai Mai emptied another magazine, causing the six-armed ancient ape that was almost upon them to slow down again.
But when she looked down, she saw that she had only the last magazine left, and it wasn't even full, holding only three bullets.
The good news was that they were now very close to the traps that He Yueji and the others had set.
However, when the six-armed ancient ape shook off the slowness once more, it had barely run two steps before its body uncontrollably slowed down again, repeatedly mocked in this manner, causing its fury to reach a peak.
Its eyes had turned completely red, and its six arms had thickened, a sign that it was ready to unleash a powerful attack.
This also caused the five members of the Twin Sunflower Hunting Group to feel an ominous sense within their hearts.
Sure enough, as soon as the slowing effect wore off, the ancient ape's speed unexpectedly increased from before, and in the blink of an eye, it was back on their trail.
Mai Mai fired the last bullet, but unfortunately, it only triggered a bleeding effect, which seemed to be immune to the six-armed ape.
"Keep moving, don't look back!"
Boggy spoke out, and after saying this, she suddenly turned around herself.