On the afternoon of the second day, the team officially stepped into the marked area.
The twenty of them split into four groups and spread out to search, focusing on the few oases nearby.
No matter what kind of creature it was, it was important to ensure water and food supplies in order to survive in the desert. Most of the outer city only had yellow sand and sand dunes. If they didn't bring their own supplies like the contestants, they could only obtain food from the few remaining oases. Therefore, Teacher Harvey naturally paid special attention to these places.
However, the results of the search were somewhat disappointing. Apart from some magical beasts and small animals, there were no signs of other creatures living in these oases.
Mr. Harvey looked up at the sky. It was already afternoon, and there were still two smaller oases that had not been searched yet. However, they were at the edge of the oases, and it was quite a distance away. So, he said, "Let's rest for a while before we head over."
Because they had already stepped into the enemy's territory, it meant that a battle could break out at any time. Therefore, Teacher Harvey became extra cautious. Although he was anxious and wanted to rescue the missing staff as soon as possible, he wouldn't rush over without stopping like the day before. During the operation, he also reminded everyone to pay attention to conserving their strength so that the team wouldn't have enough reaction time in case of an emergency.
After a short rest, everyone arrived at one of the oases before dusk. However, they found nothing after circling around it. Lolo could clearly sense the change in Teacher Harvey. Even though he remained calm in front of everyone, it was obvious that he was getting more and more anxious as more and more spots were eliminated. If there was nothing in the last oasis, it would mean that his previous deduction was probably wrong.
This was undoubtedly terrible news because it was likely that the teachers and students of the referee committee had been killed. There were many reasons why their corpses hadn't been discovered. Perhaps the creature was especially cunning, leaving the corpses of magical beasts exposed in the wilderness while burying the corpses of humans under the yellow sand. This also meant that the creature's behavior pattern was completely that of a predator. In that case, it would be extremely difficult to catch it.
The team didn't rest this time. In one spurt of energy, they arrived at the last spot before sunset.
However, the result left everyone dumbfounded. The oasis marked on the map no longer existed at this moment. Where everyone was now, there were only some withered branches and exposed rocks that had been buried by the wind and sand. They could still vaguely make out some traces of life.
Lolo briefly checked the surroundings and shook her head. "There should have been a spring here before, but it seems to have dried up. This oasis should have disappeared in the last one or two years, so the map hasn't had time to change."
The hearts of the party members sank when they heard that, and they couldn't help but look at Teacher Harvey. Along the way, they were used to relying on the latter's wisdom at critical moments, but this time, they were destined to be disappointed, because Teacher Harvey's face was also filled with confusion.
The sun was setting in the west, elongating the shadow of the team. It looked especially lonely in the vast desert.
Teacher Harvey's forehead was dripping with sweat. He had turned the map in his hand over and over again countless times. The main areas had been searched once, and the possibility of the remaining areas was very small. Moreover, it would take a lot of time to search all of them. At the same time, the survival rate of those missing people kept decreasing as time passed.
Everyone's mood became a little heavy. Rob suddenly said, "Actually … the nest doesn't have to be built on an oasis."
Teacher Harvey was stunned, and subconsciously retorted, "How can we obtain food and water without an oasis?"
"It might not work in other deserts, but it's possible in this desert. Don't forget where we are now."
The biggest difference between this desert and other deserts was that it existed as a freshmen arena. It had been artificially modified by adding many things that shouldn't have existed, such as the treasure chests and traps scattered everywhere, the five inexplicable holy weapons, and most importantly — supply points.
According to Rob's previous analysis, the supply points in the outer city were relatively few in number, but it didn't mean that they didn't exist. Any supply point stored an extremely large amount of food and water, and could completely replace the function of an oasis. As long as they could find one, they could basically solve all the consumption of a party until the end of the Freshmen Competition.
"But the location of the supply points is very hidden, and it won't be easily discovered. There are often traps at the entrance, so it's not easy to enter." Teacher Harvey was almost convinced, but he still had one last doubt.
Regarding this question, Rob's answer was simple — "The staff of the referee committee know the location of all the supply points in the arena."
"Huh?"
"Don't underestimate the craftiness of that thing. As long as it attacks a staff member of the referee committee and destroys their supplies, the latter will almost definitely move to the nearest supply point. Using this method, they can easily find and occupy a supply point. By the way, Teacher Harvey, do you know how many supply points there are in this area, and where are they located? "
The latter shook his head. "I'm not a member of the referee committee, and I'm only here to investigate the disappearance of the magical beasts. I'm not sure about the distribution of the supply points in the arena, but I can try to find one …"
After saying that, Teacher Harvey took out a wooden snake from his pocket. "This magic device can lead us to a place with magical waves within a ten-mile radius. There must be a magic circle around the supply point, and since the magical beasts in this area are basically dead, as long as there are magical waves, it's either a treasure chest or a supply point."
The little snake wagged its tail as it was tossed onto the sand. Soon, it raised its head and swam in a certain direction. Everyone followed closely behind. After about half an hour, the little snake stopped in front of a sand dune. There was neither a supply point nor a treasure chest here. However, unexpectedly, half a staff was dug out from the sand. The broken part of the staff had the image of a giant bear carved on it.
Teacher Harvey's expression changed. "It's the staff of the Andrea Family. He had a fierce battle with something here, and the result doesn't look good. Someone is injured." There were some bloodstains on the broken half of the staff, and no one knew if it was Caesar or someone else.
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