8. Sandworms

The sand surged, forming a wave that advanced forward as if it wanted to swallow everything in its path. The sight resembled a tsunami of sand, surging forward with relentless force.

What had started with just a slight movement underneath the sand soon transformed into chaos. It was truly a spectacle to behold.

"Damn, fortunately I had enough insight to move away beforehand; otherwise, this egg would have been gone by now.... mhmm, delicious." Sid exclaimed, enjoying the egg he had just cooked.

Eyes still fixed on the sandstorm, he finished the egg quickly in just a couple of bites. "Shit, it's blocking my way out! No choice, gotta see what's underneath the sand causing all this ruckus. It shouldn't be that dangerous, right?" He said, cautiously walking towards the commotion.

Soon, he arrived at the scene, his eyes scanning for any signs of the enemy. His muscles were tense, ready to move at a moment's notice.

Suddenly, the ground he was standing on began to vibrate, making his balance go awry. "It's coming!" He cried out, jumping backward to get out of the enemy's range of attack.

The sand surged once again, creating a giant sandstorm that enveloped everything. Though not as powerful as before, it was still enough to affect Sid's movements.

Despite his vision being blocked by sand, he could see that the ground he had stood on was starting to cave in. An abyss-like deep crack appeared before his eyes.

The crack widened at lightning speed, swallowing all the sand within the area. Soon, a creature started to emerge from within the crack.

Seeing the creature that had just emerged, Sid's eyes almost popped out.

Despite the raging sandstorm, he tried his best to make out the creature's form. It was a giant gaping mouth, almost a hundred meters in diameter, edged with terrifyingly sharp teeth, longer than him. Thick yellowish saliva was mixes in with the sand, forming a disgusting puddle. It dripped down the creature's teeth, falling onto his head.

"F*ck, it's so disgusting. Ugh, so damn sticky, what the hell is this thing?" Sid shouted in disgust, as he rolled backwards, hoping to clean himself with the sand.

He then looked at the creature indignantly, cursing at the top of his lungs, "Son of a b*tch, how dare you dirty the clean body of this young master. You're definitely gonna pay for trampling over my dignity like this, you damn..."

"Ahh, f*ck! What in the hell is this huge monster?"

He was interrupted midway through his speech as his eyes locked onto the giant monster that had already half-crawled out of the crack.

It was a worm-like behemoth with no limbs growing out of its body. Though, unlike the worms he knew, it's skin was quite dry, with a faint red hue matching the sands beneath it.

The creature was colossal, nearly reaching the heights of skyscrapers Sid had only heard about in tales. Each breath it took stirred up the sands, causing swirling sandstorms to whip through the air.

"Hmm... come to think of it, although this guy is huge, the sandstorm it caused was definitely smaller than the previous one. Could it be..." Sid muttered as his mind raced, a deep sense of dread creeping in.

As if to confirm his growing fears, the ground around him started to collapse in multiple places. From the widening fissures, more monstrous worms began to appear. The sight of these new horrors sent shivers down his spine, amplifying his already growing sense of crisis.

Sid: [0■0]...[>_<]... f*ck, who cares about dignity, run for your life.

Screaming, Sid sprinted at the fastest speed he could muster, his eyes half-closed, trying to avoid the raging sandstorm. He ran, stumbling repeatedly, but it hardly mattered anymore—his dignity was gone anyway.

As he ran farther and farther, his breath grew ragged, and his movements became sluggish due to accumulated fatigue. In desperation, he glanced back, hoping the centipedes had given up the chase. But it was a futile hope—those monstrous creatures were even closer than before, their relentless advance making his heart leap into his throat.

Panic surged through him as he skimmed through his chaotic thoughts, hoping to find a solution. Then, like a bolt of lightning, an idea struck him—a crazy, desperate idea that brought a faint smile to his lips, which soon turned into maniacal laughter.

"Hahahahaha... Look at this! Isn't this what you came for? The centipede eggs! Here, take this and leave me alone," he screamed, his voice frantic, even his laughter sounding desperate.

[Huh? How did the eggs survive after all the tumbling Sid went through? Well, even in the most desperate situation, what's precious must be preserved. Besides, the eggs had quite a hard shell, much like the centipedes' carapace.] Well, anyway, back to the story...

Sid glanced at the precious eggs with tears in his eyes. "Just you wait, you damn monsters. I'll make sure to avenge each and every one of these eggs," he vowed, hurling the remaining eggs at the worms, one by one.

The eggs arced through the air towards the pursuing worms, some of them dropping to the ground midway. The monstrous creatures, seeing the incoming eggs, reacted with frightening speed. As if sensing the enemy, they opened their mouths wide, and without a second thought, they ground the eggs to dust in their powerful jaws.

Sid's heart nearly stopped as he watched in horror. His desperate gamble seemed to have failed. "!%#$&... I'm dead," he thought, despair washing over him.

But then, something unexpected happened. The worms stopped in their tracks, their colossal bodies stood in place, not advancing forward. "What the hell is happening?" Sid looked at the situation, his expression one of bewilderment.

"Maybe it's because of the eggs, but they just ground them like nobody's business. What else could it be then?" Sid racked his brain thinking of various possibilities, but his mind drew a blank.

"Whatever it is, it's best not to bother. I've still got a few eggs—it's best to save them for myself. Time to get out of here." He bolted, abandoning his thoughts, his legs carrying him as fast as they could.

...

Somewhere in the desert

Sid sat down, still panting heavily. He had finally escaped the worms' area and was resting in the no man's land, as he had named it due to there being no owner of this area.

Sid glanced at the precious eggs that he carried with him, tears rolling down his eyes. There were too few of them. In just a day, he had gone from being extravagant to being poor again.

"Rest in peace, you poor eggs. This young master will always remember your sacrifice that saved my dignity." He prayed for the lost eggs as his dignity (shamelessness) returned once again, unlike his clothes.

"Hmm? Why the hell are you still here? I should've thrown you away first. Useless egg!" Looking at the few eggs before him, he realized that the mysterious egg was among those left behind. He cursed in a bad mood, holding the egg.

"Ahh, f*ck, it moved," Sid exclaimed, feeling the movement from within the egg. What followed were a series of smaller movements. It was as if the egg was responding.

"What the... why is it moving? It scared the shit out of me. But looking at its movements, can it understand what I am saying? Is it alive? But wasn't it still immature? Could it be some sort of mutation or something?"

"Are you alive, little one? Hehehe, are you getting angry or something? Well, aren't you quite the sensitive one. Maybe I should break you apart myself. Huh, that doesn't sound too bad," he said, trying to threaten it.

His threat seemed to have worked, as the egg shivered and then completely quieted down, like some obedient child. Seeing this, Sid was quite happy. He said, "Good, good. I like obedient children. Consider yourself fortunate, for this young master is quite lonely in this desert anyway."

The egg seemed to have relaxed, although not visibly, Sid could sense it somehow. "Hmm, maybe I have some hidden ability to sense the feelings of an egg or something. It's quite weird, why the hell didn't I know about this before?"

"Hmm? It's sleeping, or not? Wait, how does it work anyway? It's just a damn egg," he mused, still immersed in the feeling of being able to sense the egg.

"Anyway, let's continue to walk... wait, it's that direction. Why the hell should I have to go there? It's damn scary." Looking at the desert ahead, there was but one path left to explore.

The forbidden land, from where the groans of agony could be heard coming.