Chapter 43
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Chapter 43: Aircraft Rescue
The SUVs equipped with GPS devices and satellite phones were overturned by the strong wind, tumbling three or four times on the ground. The violent shaking caused the GPS and satellite phones to malfunction, and the other SUVs also experienced various breakdowns, such as flat tires and engines filled with sand and stones, making movement impossible.
The compass spun wildly in this Gobi, unable to find a direction. According to the American team leader, Professor Blin Jackson from Stanford University, they might be close to a large magnetic mineral deposit.
"No need to be polite; I saved this for myself, and I’m not thirsty!" Wu Peng, another student of Dr. Qiao, who, like Lin Hui, was striving for a master’s degree, sat down next to her. His T-shirt was a mess of black and white, his face was covered in dirt, and he looked no better than a beggar. He stared blankly at the Gobi beyond the shadow of the hills.
Lin Hui didn’t mock Wu Peng’s helpless appearance, as she felt just as disheveled. In this situation, she also lacked enough clean water to wash herself.
“Hang in there! Don’t worry; Lao Luo has gone out to look for help! I believe someone will rescue us soon,” Lin Hui tried to stay positive, even though the research team had lost contact with the outside world for four whole days. The wind had blown the vehicles far off their planned route, leaving even the guides unable to recognize their position.
Everyone understood that the greatest danger in the wild was not natural disasters but losing confidence in survival. Once despair set in, death would not be far behind. Five days ago, the research team had chosen the best vehicle, loaded it with as much fuel and food as possible, and appointed Lao Luo, the best driver, to go in search of a way out and seek help from the outside world. The rest of the group stayed put, knowing that wandering aimlessly was extremely risky; if the fuel ran out, they would be in serious trouble.
At that moment, food supplies were still manageable, but the consumption of water had far exceeded their planned rationing. The research team had started limiting food and water distribution a week ago.
Although the professors and students from Peking University had little experience dealing with such situations, a few experienced Americans organized the expedition, helping to keep everyone relatively calm. However, as food and water dwindled, a sense of unease gradually began to grow.
The research team had been in the Gobi for fifteen days, and according to the original plan, they should have left for Fuyun County, north of the Junggar Basin, two days ago to conclude their expedition.
After another bone-chilling night in the Gobi, the sky remained clear, devoid of clouds, and no planes flew overhead. There were no sounds of any vehicles in the distance either, not even a hint of noise. Lin Hui and Wu Peng, along with the others, began to feel increasingly agitated.
In just two days, the research team would reach critical water shortages, but Lao Luo had still not returned. Lin Hui could even begin to understand why some of the Americans were acting inexplicably in this dilemma; they had long lost their calmness, striving to keep their thoughts from veering toward despair while searching for tasks to keep themselves occupied, but not too strenuous, as exhausting themselves could mean they wouldn’t last until help arrived.
Suddenly, a rumble echoed through the clear sky!
An airplane?! It was an airplane! The research team instantly perked up, emerging from the shadows of the tents and SUVs, grabbing anything bright-colored to attract attention. They stepped into the sunlight and waved frantically at the sky. Wu Peng, a master’s student at Peking University, even set fire to a discarded tire, creating black smoke. However, it wasn’t enough to create a real signal; before it could rise ten meters, it was blown away by currents from who knows where.
In the far sky, a tiny silver dot streaked across the heavens, leaving a long trail of smoke behind, gradually disappearing like ants marching from east to west, its roar fading away.
“Damn it! Dog poop!” Professor Blin Jackson, the team leader, couldn’t help but swear. Occasionally, planes did fly by in recent days, and he had done everything possible to signal for help, even using flare sticks designated for emergencies. However, he still couldn’t attract attention. In this monotonous landscape of the Gobi, only eagles could spot the differentiating features of the human-made ants below.
Lin Hui had completely lost her composure as a refined lady; she helplessly retreated to the shade of the SUV, mumbling, “God, Buddha, the Lord, and the Three Pure Ones, please send someone to rescue us. I’m about to lose my strength.”
Yesterday, when Wu Peng had given Lin Hui a bottle of water, he now lay not far away in the tent, his face flushed and delusional, mumbling nonsense. The poor kid had been bitten by some unknown venomous creature last night, letting out a terrible scream before collapsing. The others rushed to help him, but they lacked effective antidotes, and his condition was dire.
The brutal heat during the day, freezing temperatures below zero at night, drought, solitude, and an unknown toxin subjected the research team to immense psychological and physical torment.
Dr. Qiao’s expression was grim. He had expected to explore a mysterious ancient tomb, but little did he know that they would encounter such terrible weather soon after entering the Gobi. Now, with no news from their sent-out rescue team, a feeling of impending doom loomed over him.
“Qiao! It’s going to be fine! We’ll get through this!” Seeing Dr. Qiao’s pale face, Professor Blin Jackson patted his shoulder and forced a strained smile to encourage him, “This happens all the time. I believe someone will find us soon.”
“Gold Coin calling the control tower; we have searched zone five, and no targets have been found!” This was the third time Lin Mo had filled the tank and taken off. He piloted a J-10, number 11, over the Junggar Gobi, flying in a spiral search pattern. To facilitate the search, the entire Junggar Gobi Basin was divided into dozens of sections for a systematic search.
As soon as Lin Mo entered the cockpit, Gold Coin automatically emerged and integrated into the walls of Lin Mo’s aircraft, becoming one with the airplane, exploring within it like a fish in water.
Since the last fusion, Gold Coin had developed a keen interest in Lin Mo’s new mount, fascinated by this complex and marvelous machine. For the gold giant dragon, known as the greatest weapon master under the starry skies, this mechanism that burned fuel in specialized chambers to produce immense thrust, employing one-way propulsion and wing adjustments to alter airflows and angles, was simply magical.
There were many precision components that far surpassed Gold Coin’s previous understanding of metals. Their unique functionalities enchanted Gold Coin, making it forget that this fusion was no different from being Lin Mo’s mount in the other world, with only slight differences in form.
You could say that with Gold Coin integrated, the fighter jet was still Lin Mo’s way of controlling this gold giant dragon in a new manner.
As for how Gold Coin could maintain this form, Lin Mo was more adept at extracting its secrets than when he was in the other world. Now, with the core of Gold Coin, suffused with the essence of its massive dragon form, it was an indestructible entity. Even if severely damaged, unless it found itself in an isolated environment devoid of metal elements, it could recover bit by bit. In either world, minuscule traces of metallic minerals existed in water, air, and soil.
Now that it was no longer entangled in the identity of the dragon mount and unrestrained by the dragon flute, the gold giant dragon was particularly patient in teaching Lin Mo some secrets known only to the dragon kin.
As a gold giant dragon dedicated to seeking and consuming various exotic metals, it would acquire strange traits from the consumption of different special metals, thus categorizing different species. The lineage of Gold Coin’s dragon kin is known as the Illusory Gold Dragon, particularly adept at changing its form.
The propagation of gold giant dragons relies on the fusion of parts of heart cores from male and female dragons. These form dragon eggs within the female dragon’s body and are placed in a hatching nest filled with rare metallic ores, gradually absorbing the metals until they hatch. Wherever there are gold dragon eggs, rare metals that other species covet are often abundant, with each piece essential for crafting powerful weapons and gear. The dragon kin’s lairs are always a topic of treasure-seekers’ eternal intrigue.
Gold Coin had once consumed rare liquid magic gold, allowing its body to metamorphose to an extreme degree, even beyond the shape-shifting slime variant—Ditto.
Moreover, it was even more fortunate that it had unintentionally ingested the legendary Moore-Yin Gold Dust that contained the power of rules, granting immortality. These sand-like particles were extremely rare and did not originate from Morin or the dragon’s home world; they were a treasure of legends that no one could predict where they might appear—possibly in the air or the oceans. This tiny bit gave Gold Coin’s golden core an indestructibility that many gold giant dragons lacked. Even when torn apart in space storms, it continually repairs and grows under the protection of the power of rules, preserving its life.
Gold Coin only remembered that in the space storm, it had to relinquish its dragon shape and shrink into an egg-like form to survive. Lin Mo seemingly got trapped with it, and after arriving in this world, Lin Mo fortuitously provided vast amounts of metal, aiding Gold Coin in rapidly regaining its form. This could be seen as an interconnected cause and effect, as if guided by fate.
In Lin Mo’s previous world, the human understanding of the major elemental dragons was merely superficial. Within the same element, many different branches existed. For instance, water dragons included the Raging Wave Dragon, the Huangquan Dragon, the Deep Sea Dragon, and the Pure Water Dragon kin, among others. Similarly, there were many different branches within the fire, light, and earth element dragons.
