"You mean, use me as bait?"
"Yeah. Boss Qin, even if I wanted to be the bait, the Sandworm wouldn't come for me."
"If we want to study the Sandworm's sense of smell, we need experimental verification. Solid evidence."
"Besides, didn't we already agree that when we publish the paper you're the first author? Apart from the idea, you should contribute something else too."
Hu Chan spoke earnestly, clearly hoping Qin Siyang would verify this theory.
That made Qin Siyang's body shrink back slightly, giving rise to a sense of wariness.
Could it be this kid wanted to take advantage of him leaving the drill cabin, to drive it away and claim it as his own?
"Hu Chan, even if I leave the drill cabin, you can't pilot it. This drill cabin can only be piloted by me."
"I know! The control console is full of special locks, I can't open them."
"Then why are you so excited?"
Seeing Qin Siyang grow suspicious again, Hu Chan frowned as well, "Didn't I say already? I feel this research has great prospects. It'll be a huge help to me!"
Qin Siyang quietly slid his hand back into his backpack.
"But even if the paper is published, you're still only the second author. Is it worth being this anxious?"
"Anxious?"
Seeing Qin Siyang unwilling to agree, Hu Chan grew even more tense.
He absolutely could not miss this opportunity.
If Qin Siyang went back on his word and excluded him from the project, he'd regret it to death.
So, without caring for anything else, he spilled everything like beans from a bamboo tube, all at once.
"Boss Qin, once the paper on Sandworm olfaction is published, the impact will be enormous! This is a major god! To this day, it remains mysterious. An un-killed major god!"
"Forget conducting research, even sequence users who've seen a major god and lived are very few inside the safe zone."
"A paper this groundbreaking, never mind second author, even just being among the front authors will bring immense prestige. Having second author credit is already enough for me to build reputation and strength!"
"And besides, you're the first author, but you don't mingle in church circles and won't compete with me for anything. By process of elimination, I'll still be the most spotlighted figure in the church."
["Truth."]
With the lie detector's confirmation, Qin Siyang finally relaxed.
"Fine, then I'll go out and try it. You'd better record the footage. Because I won't risk this a second time."
"Yes, yes! Thank you, Boss Qin!"
As he spoke, Hu Chan pulled open the shoulder pouch on his armor, from which a camera popped out immediately.
Hu Chan said excitedly, "Woohoo! This is a god-hunting tool for high-definition filming, it'll definitely capture the whole process!"
Qin Siyang curled his lip.
What kind of "normal" god-hunting researcher would bring along a high-definition camera?
He stepped down from the drill cabin and shut the door.
Standing silently beneath the night.
If the Sandworm really was locking onto him, based on last time's experience, it would take another three to four hours before it arrived.
Bored, Qin Siyang sat on the ground beside the drill cabin, spacing out.
He gazed at the tiny grains of sand and stone.
Looking at their shapes, their fractured surfaces, and the way they swayed lightly in the wind.
He felt something.
That though he seemed to be riding a wave of momentum, in reality he was like those grains of sand. Only able to tremble helplessly in the wind.
RUMBLE!
From far away came a muffled, heavy sound.
"It's coming."
Qin Siyang stood up and looked back into the distance.
Sure enough, the Sandworm had locked onto his aura.
So long as he appeared outside the safe zone, it could use some powerful ability to track down his location.
Qin Siyang's heart sank.
That meant things would be troublesome from now on.
At the very least, no more prolonged battles.
Very soon, dust clouds filled the sky.
And then the ground beneath his feet began to tremble faintly.
Qin Siyang glanced at Hu Chan. He was clutching the high-definition camera, filming excitedly.
BOOM!
With a loud roar, the colossal head of the Sandworm appeared once again in sight.
Seeing it about to arrive, Qin Siyang prepared to board the drill cabin and leave.
But from inside, Hu Chan shouted, "Wait a bit longer! Right now the Sandworm's body is hidden by the dust, I can't get a clear shot! Wait until it gets closer!"
"Wait until it gets closer, will we still escape?"
"Just a little longer, Boss Qin! If not, everything's wasted! Besides, if you die here, I've nowhere to run either! I'll die right alongside you!"
"What a f*cked up luck!"
Qin Siyang gripped the drill cabin's handle tightly, ready to dive in at any second.
At the same time, he stared at the rapidly approaching Sandworm.
He could already see its two glowing red eyes, and his whole body tensed up.
"Is it enough yet?"
"Just a bit longer!"
The Sandworm's massive jaws crunched through flying boulders, opening rows of fangs as it lunged at him.
"Is it enough now!!"
"Just a bit longer!"
"Enough of this! I can already see the drool hanging from its teeth!"
"You can see it, but the camera can't! Your eyes are sequence-grade, my camera's at best like level three human eyesight!"
After a few more seconds, Qin Siyang could even make out the grime on the Sandworm's teeth.
If he didn't run now, he'd never run again in this lifetime.
Just as Qin Siyang dove into the drill cabin, Hu Chan shouted, "Got it! Run!"
Qin Siyang had never locked the drill cabin.
The moment he sat down, he slammed the throttle all the way.
BOOM!
In the instant the drill cabin shot forward, a mass of thick viscous liquid splattered onto the exact spot where it had been.
The ground covered by that slime instantly melted away like butter.
Seeing this, Hu Chan waved his arms in excitement, "Woohoo! I filmed this too! The Sandworm also uses corrosive vomit as an attack! Now we've got material for two papers on major gods!"
Qin Siyang, unlike Hu Chan, clenched his jaw and drove at full speed.
From behind, the rumbling never stopped, telling him the Sandworm was still in hot pursuit.
"I thought I was already reckless enough, but you, Holy Son, play it even bigger than me!"
Hu Chan seemed not to hear Qin Siyang at all.
His face was glowing with excitement as he stared at the footage.
"Woohoo! Fantastic! Incredible! To actually capture this kind of video, I'm invincible!"
Qin Siyang shook his head, "There you go again, invincible."
Last time Hu Chan said he was invincible, he almost died under the attack of the Sacrificial Vine.
"That was only because of you! If not for you, I'd have gotten a vine heart all to myself. Inside the safe zone, I'd be calling the wind and summoning the rain!"
"This time, even though you're still here… at least we're on the same side. As long as I take this footage back to the safe zone, I'll once again ascend the glorious divine throne."
"Ascend the divine throne, huh," Qin Siyang snorted, "Win against your three chief guardians first."
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