Shen Feng thought for a moment, then stomped his foot forcefully. The salt-alkali ground was firm, and on such ground, mutated plants would not be able to move freely. He answered directly, "Rest assured, this is salt-alkali land. Plants don't grow easily here. What do you mean by barren land? This is barren land!"
Yue Hengyi thought it made sense. Didn't plants lose water when encountering a hypertonic environment? In salt-alkali land, underground plants would lose water and die if they got too close. Resting here posed no danger.
There were no tents in the car, only blankets. Everyone lay on the blankets to sleep, covering themselves with clothes. Fortunately, it was Australia and still summer, with nighttime temperatures in the teens, so they wouldn't freeze.
Meanwhile, Lu Zhengqi walked towards the lake, holding a plastic basin.
"Hey, kid, the water here can't be drunk. Are you crazy? This water is full of heavy metal ions. One sip and your organs will fail immediately!" Shen Feng saw Lu Zhengqi's actions and immediately stopped him. Was this kid trying to end his life?
Lu Zhengqi said sheepishly, "I'm not going to drink it. I'm going to take a bath because I might smell a bit."
Shen Feng understood after hearing this explanation and seeing Lu Zhengqi's actions. The kid wanted to wash off the smell of urine. For a young boy, wetting himself was too embarrassing, and his choice was understandable. However, this was in salt-alkali land.
"Alright, you should wash with the clean water from the car!" Shen Feng said displeasedly, "It's best not to touch the water in this salt-alkali land. With so many heavy metal ions, if you get poisoned, we won't be able to save you."
"But we're in the desert now, and water sources are precious," Lu Zhengqi hesitated.
Shen Feng gave Yue Hengyi a look. Yue Hengyi was too lazy to talk nonsense. He picked up a large water bucket from the car and said, "Put the plastic basin down! It's just a basin of water, stop dawdling!"
Lu Zhengqi quickly placed the basin on the ground, a grateful expression on his face. This was the first time anyone had been so kind to him. Since the doomsday descended, his father had been bitten to death by zombies, and he had only been able to stay with survivors on the mountain. He had to work every day and never had enough to eat. Even then, he had to be careful about being kicked out, which had tempered his cautious personality. Now, he felt the warmth from a foreigner and was deeply moved.
Shen Feng lay on the blanket and began to ponder, "What exactly are the underground plants in the desert? Logically, vines shouldn't exist in the desert. Moreover, their method of capturing prey relies on detecting vibrations in the sand. If they don't sense vibrations, they can't find their enemies. They likely have no sight or smell."
Shen Feng had seen many mutated plants, but the only mutated plant that could move was the one raised in Yuzhou, kept in a laboratory to produce evolution bases, and its survival area was inseparable from water sources. However, mutated plants that actively hunted prey had appeared in the desert, which was strange. With such a lack of water in the desert, what kind of plant had successfully mutated here?
After thinking about it, Shen Feng couldn't figure it out and finally chose to sleep. He had to continue their journey in two hours.
When the sun reappeared, its rays shone on Shen Feng's face, and he slowly woke up. He looked around; everyone was still asleep. Yue Hengyi, even in his sleep, held the ruby necklace tightly, his brow furrowed, perhaps missing his dream lover.
Shen Feng walked to the car first, picked up a bottle, and drank some water. Then, he began to tap the steel pipes on the pickup truck, "Dang dang dang."
"Wake up, wake up, get ready to go. Don't sleep anymore. Once we reach our destination, you can sleep as much as you want!" Shen Feng urged.
Yue Hengyi, with his good physical strength, woke up quickly. Although he had dark circles under his eyes, he wiped his face with clean water and seemed to have perked up. Lu Zhengqi and Slot were a bit slower. Although foreigners hadn't seen the White Haired Girl, they now felt like they had been exploited by Huang Shiren.
In foreign countries, Huang Shiren had a pleasant name: "capitalist." Exploitation didn't require whips or sticks; they could seize the fruits of labor with just paper and pen.
Everyone got into the car and then continued their journey towards the distance. After leaving the salt-alkali land and speeding for a morning, the car finally drove out of the vast desert. In the outer areas, it was no longer endless yellow sand, but scattered patches of green. Cacti and wild grass were growing. Further away, the shadows of kangaroos could be seen. These were red kangaroos, living on the desert fringes. In this harsh environment, the red kangaroos' reproduction was guaranteed, and hunters rarely came here.
"Brother Feng, there seem to be quite a few of these kangaroos. Be careful they don't charge at us," Yue Hengyi reminded Shen Feng as he looked at the kangaroos appearing ahead.
"It's nothing. These kangaroos have poor defense. My wind blades can kill them all if they dare to come close!" Shen Feng said directly.
Shen Feng had killed a mutated kangaroo on the grassland before. The strength of these large kangaroos was indeed formidable, and ordinary humans were no match for them. However, their defense was not as good as that of wild boars. Wild boar skin was tough and could be used to make leather shoes after peeling, but kangaroo fur was not suitable.
The kangaroos did not attack the car but stood far away and watched. It had been two years since humans had appeared here. The young kangaroos born in these two years had never seen humans driving cars and were full of curiosity.
Slot breathed a sigh of relief, seeing that they had crossed the vast desert in just one day and night plus a morning. "After crossing the great desert, we've passed the most difficult part of the journey. We've already covered nearly half the distance. The remaining road can probably be completed by midnight. There are often roads on the grasslands, and following the roads will be even faster."
Not all countries could build roads in the desert. Australia, known as the "country on sheep's backs," could only build roads in the eastern grassland regions. They wouldn't use taxpayers' money to build useless roads. Only in the grasslands could they find scattered roads.
The pickup truck drove into the depths of the grassland, but the green of the grassland seemed to have disappeared. The ground was yellowish-green, with only grass roots visible, as if it had been gnawed away.
"Brother Feng, look, there are so many holes on the ground!" Yue Hengyi became nervous as he saw the ground suddenly covered with dense holes.
Yue Hengyi had not forgotten the zombies he encountered on the outskirts of Yanjing. At that time, the zombies had dug countless holes in the ground, and he had almost died underground. Fortunately, Qin Kewei was with him then, and they had dug a passage from underground to the upper level, allowing them to escape.
Clearly, Yue Hengyi suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder. Seeing holes reminded him of the battle in Yanjing, where he had almost failed to escape from the underground.
Shen Feng also saw the holes on the ground. The diameter of these holes was about thirty centimeters. With such small openings, the animals underground wouldn't be very large. It was unlikely that zombies were hiding in the grassland.
"It's alright, these holes are quite small, and there can't be too many animals," Shen Feng quickly said.
After speaking, Shen Feng continued to drive through this grassland. The wheels moved on the bumpy ground, making the ride rough. If they couldn't find a road, traveling on the grassland would be very slow.
"Thump thump thump..." As the car passed by, the shaking caused severe bumps. The truck bed was made of steel plates, but the welding was not firm, and there were many gaps. When it bumped, it produced a noisy sound.
It was eleven o'clock. Shen Feng planned to find a flatter place to eat lunch. However, after entering this bumpy grassland, he couldn't find any flat spots at all.
The temperature had also risen. The sun shone directly from the sky, with temperatures reaching over thirty degrees Celsius. For coolness, Shen Feng could only wear a short-sleeved shirt in the car, but it was still very hot. He had no choice but to endure it, as they were already close to the tropics.
Lu Zhengqi had wanted to sleep in the car while driving. Usually, he didn't need to translate at this time and could catch up on sleep.
However, the bumpy road made it impossible for Lu Zhengqi to sleep. He had no choice but to half-open his eyes and look out the window. There was nothing new except grassland and caves.
Suddenly, a small head popped out of a cave. Lu Zhengqi quickly rubbed his eyes and looked at the cave, only to find it was the head of a rabbit, a gray rabbit. Its ears drooped behind its head, its eyes were red, and it was staring at the car.
"So it's a rabbit hole," Lu Zhengqi muttered.
The proliferation of rabbits in Australia was well-known. Australians had tried every method to deal with these rampant rabbits, from annual culling to releasing viruses among them. They had tried every conceivable method, but they still couldn't effectively reduce the rabbit population. Therefore, it was easy to see rabbits in Australia.
Suddenly, small, delicate heads appeared from every rabbit hole. It turned out to be rabbits peeking out and then emerging from the holes, beginning to chase the car.
If it were on flat ground, it would be impossible for rabbits to catch up to a speeding car. However, the ground was bumpy, and as the rabbits chased from behind, the distance between them and the car was constantly closing.
"Mr. Shen, the rabbits are rushing towards us. Let's run!" Lu Zhengqi said to Shen Feng in a panic.
Upon hearing Lu Zhengqi's words, Shen Feng was indifferent. He glanced at the rearview mirror and said, "You're too timid. It's just rabbits. With such a small size, why worry? No matter how many rabbits there are, they can't hurt us."
"Mr. Shen, these rabbits can eat people. I saw news reports at the base about a hunter in the grassland who was eaten by rabbits until not even bone residue was left. Moreover, with so many rabbit holes, their numbers are likely unimaginable, possibly millions!" Lu Zhengqi said in a flustered manner.
When Shen Feng heard this description, he couldn't help but pay attention. The mutated beasts he faced in Yuzhou were mainly from the mountains. Although there were mutated rabbits, their numbers were not large. The mutated beasts in the mountains were mainly wild boars and rats. Wild boars in the southern mountains had almost no natural enemies, as there were very few wolf packs and tigers left in the south, and they could only be seen in zoos.
Shen Feng didn't know what it would be like to be besieged by countless rabbits, so he could only respond cautiously.
The number of rabbits emerging from the rabbit holes was increasing. Tens of thousands of rabbits rushed out of their burrows and ran towards the pickup truck, gradually forming a torrent. For these mutated rabbits, their usual diet was grass, so when a large number of rabbits gathered together, they even gnawed the sod bare. However, if animals appeared before them, they would also eat meat.
Yue Hengyi looked at the large pile of rabbits behind the car and couldn't help but exclaim, "Crazy, these rabbits have all gone mad! Not only do they not run away when they see humans, but they also charge at us. Unbelievable!"
If it were mutated beasts of enormous size attacking humans, Yue Hengyi wouldn't find it strange. After all, with their size, both lions and tigers would eat people. But for rabbits, a bottom-tier species in the animal kingdom, to start attacking humans was unimaginable.