Sand Mage of the Burnt Desert Chapter 611
Previously on Sand Mage of the Burnt Desert...
The scent sac of the Spike Mole held the primary component for the drug.
Levin had, in fact, inhaled precisely that powder.
Upon entering his body, his mind became clouded, and his respiration accelerated.
Levin promptly sealed his mouth, ensuring the ingested quantity remained minimal. Yet, even this tiny amount was sufficient to destabilize his entire being.
Consequently, his mana control faltered, leading to the temporary dissolution of his ghost form.
“Huh? What’s that?”
“It appears to be a person.”
The masked workers noticed Levin and exclaimed.
“Tch!”
Levin hastily reverted to his ghost form, but his actions were too late.
“An intruder has been detected.”
“Notify the hunters immediately.”
Contact was promptly made with the monster-hunting unit stationed outside, and the slaughterhouse was swiftly secured.
“Ugh!”
Levin gasped, clutching his chest.
His heart hammered against his ribs, and his vision swam erratically.
This was the lingering effect of inhaling the powder from the scent sac.
Even the minuscule dose had overwhelmed his body's ability to cope.
The workers advanced on Levin, whose spectral form flickered precariously, akin to a dying flame.
Despite their occupation at a slaughterhouse, each of them was an awakened individual.
Under normal circumstances, Levin would have effortlessly brushed aside their assaults.
His ghost form rendered him impervious to physical harm.
However, his current state was far from normal.
His control was slipping, and his ghost form kept collapsing.
Should he be struck while in his tangible state, even Levin would sustain injuries.
“Damn it!”
Ultimately, Levin made the decision to flee.
He rapidly exited the sealed chamber and made a dash for the escape route. Yet, his flight proved challenging.
The corridors had been obstructed by heavy bulkheads.
Though he could normally phase through them without difficulty, his current condition prevented it.
His mind felt as though it had been violently churned, making even the effort to remain conscious a struggle.
“We’ve got him.”
“A rat that dared to infiltrate this place.”
At that precise moment, the monster-hunting team materialized.
They unleashed a barrage of attacks upon Levin the instant he came into view.
Levin attempted to employ his Purple Lightning technique, but his mana supply flickered intermittently, thwarting its proper activation.
Slash!
In that fleeting moment, the team leader’s blade slashed across his back.
Flesh and muscle were torn asunder, and blood erupted.
Fortunately, the wound was superficial.
Had it been deeper, his spine might have been completely severed.
Nevertheless, the injury proved beneficial in a way.
The intense pain served to jolt his mind back to a semblance of clarity.
Levin swiftly evaded their subsequent assaults and slipped into a nearby ventilation shaft.
While the main corridors were sealed, the vents remained accessible.
“After him!”
“Don’t let him escape!”
The hunting team pursued him, crawling into the vent after him.
Their faces were set with grim determination to apprehend him at all costs.
The gap between them and Levin narrowed with alarming speed.
His vision began to blur once more, and his limbs grew sluggish.
At this rate, capture was imminent.
Then, Levin recalled the potion Brielle had provided him.
It was a concoction derived from the tears of the World Tree.
‘She assured me it cures all status ailments.’
Without a second thought, Levin uncorked the vial and drank its contents.
The moment the liquid touched his tongue, a revitalizing energy coursed through his entire body.
The potion, imbued with the essence of the World Tree’s tears, immediately purged the drug from his system and restored his physical state.
Clarity returned to his wavering gaze, and vigor surged through his limbs.
His previously erratic mana flow stabilized completely.
“Whew!”
Levin exhaled a sigh of profound relief.
With his condition fully restored, there was no longer any need for evasion.
Unaware of his recovery, the pursuing hunters shouted,
“He’s completely weakened. Apprehend him now.”
“You vermin! I’ll toss you into the incinerator and reduce you to ashes.”
The team leader’s rage intensified.
He vowed to incinerate Levin alive.
Finally reaching Levin’s position, the leader plunged his sword forward.
Swoosh!
The blade glided through Levin’s form as if passing through soft tofu.
At that instant, the leader sensed something was amiss.
His hand met no resistance.
It was then he noticed Levin’s body had become translucent.
Now fully restored, Levin had re-entered his ghost form.
“What in the blazes?”
Crackle!
In that split second, lightning erupted within the confined space of the vent.
Levin unleashed his Purple Lightning.
The hunting team trapped inside the shaft were engulfed by the blast, unable to even utter a scream.
The vent became filled with the acrid stench of charred flesh and singed hair.
“Ha… I truly thought I was done for.”
Only then did Levin release a breath of pure relief.
The entire hunting team that had pursued him had been reduced to charred remains.
One individual, however, had miraculously survived – the team leader.
Possessing greater resilience than the others, he endured the lightning strike, albeit barely.
His body was a mass of burns and blistering wounds.
Survival in such a state was doubtful.
Levin seized him by his collar and demanded,
“Where is the Spike Mole farm located?”
“Hah… If I divulge the location… will you spare my life?”
“I give you my word, I will not kill you.”
“How… can I possibly trust such a promise?”
“Believe it or not. I can end your life this very moment.”
“Fuck!”
The leader’s face contorted in response to the threat.
His entire body seared with agony, and his consciousness began to wane.
Yet, even in his dire state, the desire to live persisted.
If he could only escape this place and receive medical attention in Neo Seoul, there might be hope.
“I shall ask one final time. State the location of the farm.”
“My vehicle… it contains a map with the precise coordinates.”
“A map detailing the location?”
“Yes! Damn it all!”
“How many individuals are stationed there?”
“Five… people.”
“You are not deceiving me, are you?”
“Believe it or not.”
“Fine.”
Levin released his grip.
The leader collapsed like a lump of meat, catching his breath.
Leaving him behind, Levin exited the vent.
With his abilities restored, the bulkheads were no longer an obstacle.
Boom!
At that moment, an explosion erupted in the center of the slaughterhouse.
Levin’s expression changed instantly.
“Those bastards… are they destroying the evidence?”
Flames surged from inside.
Levin immediately fled the slaughterhouse.
Boom! Boom!
A chain of explosions followed, engulfing the entire place.
Levin hurried to the team leader’s vehicle and retrieved the map.
Just as the man said, the farm’s location was marked.
“Good. He didn’t lie. I didn’t kill him directly either, so I kept my promise.”
Levin looked around.
There was no sign of the workers.
They had already fled.
“Crazy bastards. They blew the whole place just from a brief exposure?”
He shook his head in disbelief.
He had faced many enemies, but none this decisive.
“Wait… are they going to shut down the farm too?”
They had destroyed the slaughterhouse just because of one intruder.
That meant security was everything to them.
Levin immediately took off into the sky with the map.
Flying at full speed, he reached the location in less than an hour—a journey that would normally take a full day by car.
He landed in a deep canyon far from the mine.
As he descended, a foul stench filled the air.
He followed the smell.
When he reached the destination, his face twisted in disgust.
A massive Spike Mole was trapped inside a specially made cage.
Numerous tubes were connected to its body.
They seemed to be supplying nutrients.
Around the cage, about a dozen men bustled about.
Levin hid in ghost form and watched.
A man who appeared to be the leader spoke,
“The stimulant’s in. The young will come out soon. Be careful not to damage them.”
“Yes, sir!”
The men prepared.
—Keeeek!
The caged Spike Mole screamed.
Its abdomen swelled like a mountain, then it gave birth as if suffering from diarrhea.
Each time a newborn emerged, the men carefully caught it.
One after another, more than ten were born.
They moved them to the side.
There were dozens of smaller cages there, each holding young Spike Moles of various sizes.
The men placed the newborns inside and immediately injected them with a mysterious substance.
As the liquid entered, the newborns screamed in pain.
—Kiiiik!
The men ignored it and injected every last drop.
Soon, the bodies of the young swelled like balloons.
Just as they seemed about to burst, they stabilized.
But they had grown visibly larger.
At birth, they were only the size of an adult’s arm—but now they were more than twice that size.
One man muttered,
“This growth stimulant is insane. Raising newborns to adult size in ten days.”
Monsters naturally grew fast.
Most reached full size within a year.
But this stimulant reduced that to just ten days.
It drastically shortened the growth cycle.
Thanks to it, they could rapidly increase their numbers.
And their cruelty didn’t end there.
They inserted something into the mother that had just given birth.
“Heh… you’ve given birth, so time to get pregnant again.”
It was the preserved semen of a male.
The mother screamed in agony, but the men didn’t care.
The leader muttered,
“Capturing the queen was a stroke of luck. She can keep giving birth without issue.”
This wasn’t an ordinary Spike Mole.
It was the queen.
It had immense reproductive ability.
Even naturally, it could produce at least ten offspring a year.
But the leader’s drug shortened the pregnancy cycle so drastically that it could give birth three or four times a month—each time producing over ten offspring.
Even for a monster, it was excessively cruel.
Yet the leader showed no guilt.
“You’re a monster I tamed. You’ll never escape my control until you die.”
“Ugh… makes me want to puke.”
“Huh?”
The leader turned at the sudden voice behind him.
Levin stood there, looking like he might actually vomit.
“Who are you? How did you get in here?”
“You bastards! You’re raising monsters like this to produce drug materials?”
“How do you know that?”
“People like you don’t deserve to be treated as human.”
Crackle!
Sparks burst from Levin’s body.
The leader’s eyes widened.
“You… don’t tell me—”
“You’re all dead. Say it.”
“N-no!”
Flash!
At that moment, a massive bolt of lightning struck the canyon.