Train Survival: You're really trying to survive!

"Cover me!" Sofia's voice was calm and clear. Before the train had come to a complete stop, she had already flung open the heavy side door. She grabbed the alloy beam above the door with one hand, twisted her slender yet explosive waist, and performed a clean and neat somersault, landing steadily on the rough armored plate on the roof, worn smooth by the wind and sand.

In an instant, gunfire erupted from the roof of the car, bullets rapidly reaping the remains outside.

Instead of attacking, Su Li carefully surveyed her surroundings.

The monsters around me looked ordinary; I'd have to dissect them to find out what was unusual about them. Several dead monsters lay on the ground.

These monsters are the guardians of the desert oasis.

Outside the oasis, the cursed skeletons were being picked off by Sophia. This group of cursed skeletons had turned their attention to Sophia and began attacking her.

The monsters on the ground were quite perceptive. When the cursed skeletons attacked, a semi-transparent, earth-yellow arc-shaped stone wall instantly rose from the ground, perfectly positioned not far in front of Sophia. Several sand bullets whistled towards them and slammed into the stone wall, exploding into a cloud of dust. The stone wall shook violently, and cracks appeared on its surface, but it successfully intercepted the attack.

The other monsters followed suit, some spewing out light blue energy barriers to weaken the sand projectiles, while others used their membrane wings to create small whirlwinds, interfering with the sand projectiles' trajectory. Their coordination wasn't particularly sophisticated, but it was extremely effective, greatly reducing the pressure on Sophia and saving Ivan the trouble of providing support.

However, not all the cursed skeletons were attracted to Sophia. There were still many cursed skeletons on the edge of the battlefield or "out of sorts," and their target was exceptionally clear and persistent—the precious lake in the center of the oasis! Regardless of their form, their attack method was surprisingly uniform: they frantically used their forelimbs, mouthparts, or tails to whip up huge clumps of sand and dust, and then did their best to hurl these deadly "pollutants" towards the clear water.

No matter how frantically these cursed remains surged, they always maintained an insurmountable "safe distance" from the edge of the oasis, as if an invisible wall was blocking them out.

The same was true of the sandstorm in the sky; the all-consuming yellow sand eerily stopped above the oasis, forming a relatively calm dome from which the dim yellow light of the sky could be faintly seen. It was as if the entire oasis was being protected by a giant, transparent bowl of energy turned upside down.

Zuli keenly noticed this phenomenon. He patted Ivan on the shoulder beside him and asked in a deep voice, "What are your feelings about this oasis?"

Of the team, only Ivan is particularly sensitive to the power of the earth and ley lines.

Ivan nodded and stated his discovery, "Inside the oasis, there's something like a magnetic field that can disperse the surrounding sand. I estimate it's this magnetic field that keeps the cursed skeletons from entering."

Upon hearing this, Su Li also tried to concentrate and use his senses to touch the complex flow of earth energy. However, the earth energy flow beneath the oasis was like countless tangled threads of yarn, and he was unable to separate that special magnetic field from the complex earth veins.

Industry specializing in surgery.

Sophia's targeted attacks continued, the gunfire from the rooftop gradually thinning out and eventually fading into silence. The cursed skeletons surrounding them weren't particularly strong, most having just reached the Silver rank. Sophia didn't even need to bother crafting specially designed bullets to counter them. In no time, the once-aggressive cursed skeletons lay lifeless in the desert. Sophia stood up, maintaining her gun-wielding stance, and jumped off the roof.

With the threat of the cursed corpses eliminated, the monsters in the oasis also ceased their defensive actions.

They put away their stone walls and water shields, lazily lying back on the ground, some even making muffled gurgling sounds like yawns, their eyelids drooping.

To Su Li's surprise, these demons did not harbor any hostility towards them, the outsiders. They simply used their magic to clear away the small amount of sand that had been projected into the oasis and scattered along its edge, before resuming their energy-saving "closed-eyes-to-rest" mode.

The six people from Zuli looked at each other in surprise; this reaction was truly unexpected.

Su Li broke the silence first, giving the order: "First, clean up the battlefield, strip away the materials from these cursed remains, then we'll check this oasis and take a look underground."

The six people split into two groups and, braving the still-unresolved sandstorms at the edge of the oasis, stepped out of its shelter and began harvesting their spoils on the sandy ground outside the oasis.

After putting all the materials into the storage compartment, Su Li and the others went to the lakeside.

Upon seeing Su Li and the others arrive at the lakeside, the previously lazy monsters suddenly raised their heads alertly, emitting low, warning "woof" sounds from their throats.

Sun Lili smiled and squinted her eyes, revealing a faint distorted surface on her staff.

Su Li placed a hand on Sun Lili's staff. "They're just nervous, not hostile. Don't provoke them."

Su Li realized that these monsters were just nervous, not hostile.

Zuli squatted down by the lake and began by visually observing the water.

The lake water was breathtakingly clear, like liquid crystal, and one could see several meters to the bottom at a glance. There were no foreign objects or insects. This was beyond Su Li's expectations.

Su Li looked towards the center of the lake, where there was a dark hole. The water here remained clear, perhaps because it was constantly replenished by underground water.

The mud at the bottom of the water was also very interesting. There wasn't a single grain of sand in it, and the dark mud was covered with a layer of white salt crystals.

Su Li sniffed and detected a hint of saltiness.

“A saltwater lake?” Su Li thought of the cursed remains outside that looked like aquatic creatures. “They could also be remnants of seawater.”

A bigger question arose in my mind: why is there not a single grain of sand at the bottom of the lake? With the Cursed Corpse frequently impacting and throwing sand, even with the protection of monsters and force field barriers, shouldn't there be some sand that slips through the net? Could it be that the lake water... can directly "transform" that peculiar cursed sand into the black mud at the bottom?

Zuli noted this down, intending to experiment with it later.

He then reached out and dipped his hand into the lake water. The water felt cool and smooth to the touch, with a strange sense of "vitality." Su Li became even more certain that this was no ordinary lake water.

So he used his Appraisal spell on the lake.

The desert spring can effectively alleviate the curse of thirst.

Su Li's eyes lit up. It could actually alleviate the curse? This was great news. Two days had passed, and their research on the curse had made no progress at all. In the end, they could only use some common methods to temporarily alleviate the problem.

Su Li called over Song Mingyu, "Sister Mingyu, get me a slime."

Song Mingyu tossed over a slime with a blue body and a smiling face. This was a pure slime that Song Mingyu had carefully cultivated.

Zuli took the slime and went outside the oasis. She put the slime into the sandstorm, and the slime's smiling face immediately turned bitter as the curse of the desert spread over it.

When the slime was almost shriveled like a persimmon, Zuli took it out and returned to the lakeside.

At this moment, Song Mingyu had already taken out the sampling test tube and began to sample the lake water.

Su Li scooped up some water and poured it into the slime's mouth.

After taking a sip of cool, salty water, the slime's spirits were instantly lifted. Like a parched seedling receiving rain after a long drought, it visibly replenished and plumped up again. The rough, gelatinous skin on its body suddenly became much rounder.

Song Mingyu kept a close eye on the slime's condition. "The water element and moisture in its body have been effectively replenished, the elemental erosion on its body has dissipated a lot, and the curse has also been weakened."

Song Mingyu did some calculations, "According to preliminary calculations, adding about 500-550ml of lake water will completely purify and remove the residual curse in its body."

"What about the side effects?" Su Li pressed, this was the key question.

Song Mingyu quickly conducted a toxicity analysis: "The main component is slightly saline water rich in various mineral ions, with a high electrolyte concentration. For ordinary Earthlings, drinking large amounts would indeed lead to electrolyte imbalance, exacerbated dehydration, and even kidney damage, equivalent to drinking seawater. However," she looked up at Su Li, her tone confident, "for us Silver-level superhumans, this ion load and osmotic pressure difference are not even a warm-up. Our metabolism and cellular regulation capabilities are more than sufficient to handle it. We can drink it freely."

Now that the doctor had said so, Su Li felt relieved. He called over Sun Lili and Sun Keke: "Lili, Keke, focus on monitoring their mental state and the state of being cursed."

He cupped a handful of lake water in his hands, brought it to his chapped lips, and drank it down little by little.

The initial taste was slightly salty, but the saltiness was just right. Far from being astringent, it carried an indescribable, refreshing sweetness that seemed to permeate the soul, like a top-quality sports drink made with the purest mineral salts. As the cool lake water slid down my parched esophagus, the thirst that came from the depths of my soul was relieved like the receding tide.

Su Li smacked her lips. "It tastes like seawater, but the power it contains makes my soul feel happy, giving it a filter. It makes me feel like I'm drinking nectar from salt water."

Then Su Li looked at the Sun sisters.

“The soul fluctuations are stable; there’s nothing wrong with the soul,” Sun Lili replied.

Sun Keke nodded, "The curse has indeed dissipated."

This is great news.

The thirst curse has always existed, but Su Li and his team have yet to find a solution. Common anti-curse potions, mental stabilizers, and even imitation holy water are all insufficient and fail to address the root cause.

Although the curse currently only causes unbearable thirst, no one knows what kind of terrifying mutation it will eventually trigger as it lurks within the body.

This curse is like the Sword of Damocles; no one knows when it will fall or what harm it will bring to Su Li and the others. It's like a time bomb buried inside their bodies, its fuse burning silently.

Fortunately, for every poison in the world, there is an antidote within five steps.

They found an effective solution locally.

Next, all we need to do is study the lake water carefully. Even if we don't find anything, storing more lake water will be an effective way to deal with the curse.

The lake is 2 hectares in size, and there is enough water in it for them to drink freely.

As for the natives, even if these natives were intelligent beings, Su Li would not hesitate, let alone a group of monsters.

No, monsters might be better, because these monsters have no intelligence and can be brought into the small world to help it grow.

The more Su Li thought about it, the better she felt that this was a good idea.

These monsters, under the pressure of survival, are docile (easy to control), know how to cooperate and unite under the sandstorm curse (organized), and are proficient in earth-based shaping (building walls, creating roads) and wind-based magic (clearing sandstorms, possibly used for planting/harvesting). They're practically the perfect... free labor force!

After the small world expanded, the planting scale also expanded, and the workload of sowing and harvesting increased significantly.

In the original small world, each planting and harvesting session took at most an hour. Now? It would take days and nights to finish.

Su Li had already started considering solutions. His original idea was to contact the Blue Star government and Shi Lei to get some intelligent harvesters. Now it seems that hiring these little animals would also work.

These ready-made magical creatures in front of us, capable of self-reproduction (probably) and possessing "construction" and "sanitation" skills, aren't they the perfect solution? Invite them into the small world, let them take charge of cultivating, sowing, harvesting, and cleaning, and all we need to give them is a "safe habitat" in the small world and a meager amount of food. It's an incredibly profitable venture!

Oh right, these guys can eat grass and scavenger food, right? Then they can use things like harvested straw and animal entrails.

The main animals in this oasis are camels, lizards, and deer. It produces lizard eggs and camel humps, which are considered one of the eight delicacies of the mountains. Zurich hasn't tried them yet.

In terms of materials, deer antlers are used in medicine, while deer hide and lizard skin are good materials for armor.

Thinking this, Su Li's gaze towards the group of monsters had upgraded from "usable resources" to a combination of "walking gold mine + future farm worker + high-quality meat, egg, and dairy supplier." The "meticulous calculation" and "long-term planning" in his eyes were almost tangible. This made the little animals uneasy, as if they were about to be stripped of their surplus value.