Night blanketed the desert.
Two people lay prone atop a gently rising dune.
Desert-colored cloaks covered their bodies. Each held a pair of binoculars, watching the valley on the eastern horizon. A small tumbleweed swayed gently beside their arms.
Not far behind them, down the slope, an electric motorcycle made with Goblin Technology lay tilted on its side.
Time rewound several hours.
The sky had not yet fully darkened.
After deciding on the treasure hunt, Si Si suggested scouting near the ruins' entrance first. After informing Rou Rou and Sesame Paste, she rode the group's only motorcycle toward Lost Valley in the east, with Wei Ba riding along.
According to the plan, they would arrive around eight that evening, confirm the state of the ruins' entrance, and return before nine to switch night-watch shifts with Rou Rou and Sesame Paste.
In reality, however, the trip took them much longer than expected.
Although Goblin Technology's electric motorcycle had plenty of power and could exceed 150 kilometers per hour, that was only on level roads.
The nearest Route 7 had broken into several disconnected sections.
They could only travel off-road along the highway's edge, maintaining speeds of around forty to fifty kilometers per hour. Going any faster risked sending them airborne over even a slightly steep slope.
The nearly 150-kilometer journey took them a full three and a half hours before they finally caught the faintest glimpse of the valley.
Just then, as if by unfortunate coincidence, a sandstorm suddenly swept across the Gobi. Visibility plummeted to less than a hundred meters, and the howling wind made every step difficult.
Left with no choice, they temporarily stopped the motorcycle and sheltered behind a dune, intending to continue once the sandstorm had passed.
Fortunately, the storm did not last long.
But just as