Boom!
Dust exploded across the sky.
Saitama held all four of them as he plunged straight down from ten thousand meters. His feet sank half a meter into the yellow sand, and he landed steady.
Sand sprayed around them, throwing up a curtain more than ten meters high.
It took a long while for the dust to settle.
Leorio was the first to crawl out from under Saitama's arm. He crouched on the ground, spitting out sand, his face covered in gray dust.
"Damn it... Could you warn us next time?"
"My mouth and nose are full of sand!"
He coughed and wiped his face, only smearing it further. He looked like a mud man.
Gon hopped out too, brushed the dirt off himself, and looked around with curiosity shining in his eyes.
Everywhere he looked, there was golden sand.
The boundless desert stretched all the way to the horizon.
The blazing sun hung overhead, baking the ground. Heat warped the air, making even the distant dunes seem to waver.
When the wind blew, it rolled up waves of sand that stung their faces.
"Is this... a desert?"
Gon blinked and scooped up a handful of sand. The scorching grains slipped between his fingers.
"We jumped from the sky and landed right in a desert?"
Killua jumped down as well. He raised a hand to shade his eyes, squinted around, and frowned.
"It's the Maze Desert."
"I've heard about it. This desert is ridiculously huge, with quicksand and strange beasts everywhere. Most people who enter never find their way out."
"And your sense of direction stops working. It's easy to end up walking in circles."
Genos landed nearby, red light flickering in his eyes as he rapidly scanned the surroundings.
"Surface temperature detected: 67 degrees Celsius."
"Water scarcity: 98%."
"No