With the moving sound of the sands heard with the movement of the tentacles in the sands trying to attack the bottom was so loud that I could hear them from a distance with the car driving as hard as it could on the slippery sands and the dust being scattered everywhere from the wheels. Between the mirrors of the arms trying to get something from where I was, I saw through the mirrors that suddenly he started digging back into the sands and disappeared as he appeared. I continued to drive as far as the car could drive until I reached a high rocky hill and decided to stop on it. I got up from the place and started trying to survey the area. Like last time, there was only sand, sand, and some rocks everywhere. And there is no sign of a giant sand squid in the area.

I continued to move between the sands and try to see where I was now relative to the destination. I saw the ridge closer than ever, they are so big that they tower over the entire horizon and I felt how difficult it was to cross them. Behind and around me all that remains of the metropolitan line is only sand and rocks.

"Rosalina, can you identify if other giant squids are hiding near us?"

"Negative, the high heat of the sands blocks my heat sensors"

"It sucks" I replied, not before getting back into the car and continuing to drive it.

While driving, time felt like it was moving faster than in the forest until already night began to climb high. The darkness was particularly strong until I was forced even with the headlights on in every possible direction, to stop at that point just because of how difficult it was to see when the white-black only adds to the difficulty of seeing. Following this, I stopped the car completely and got out of it, and got ready to sleep.

Out of nowhere, red dots started appearing everywhere I look on the helmet map. I stopped my movement in mid-air when I saw this:

"Why are there so many?" I whispered as I tried to look around to see them with my suit's flashlight, but nothing was visible on the flat dunes.

"Everyone is under the sand" she replied

"They are what? How are you now able to recognize them?"

"The temperature of the place has dropped to such a level that sensors are now able to locate a place of heat that reaches deeper"

"And from what I see, they're everywhere"

"Positive"

"For God's sake" I carefully made my way back to the car but the dots didn't move even with my movement. I suspected that if I drove over them, I would meet my fate by chance and one of your arms would land on me. I packed the gear back and decided to sleep in the back seat while Rosalina kept an eye out for anything suspicious, as always.

The night passed with complete tension for me, like sharks waiting for their next meal. But I soon caught a nap and already woke up in the morning when Rosalina tried to wake me up. I quickly got up and looked around, but nothing seemed to have changed.

"Tell me they left" I asked

"There was no unusual movement or change in their location until the morning hours"

"That's bad. I guess I have no choice."

I moved to the driver's seat and started the engines. A feeling of thirst began to envelop my body to such a degree that I turned towards the equipment to take out the water tank and take off the helmet. I began to sip it and a noise was heard in the distance and Rosalina began to say:

Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.

"Seismic movement detected"

"Not again!"

I quickly packed the water tank and put on the helmet as I started to push all the gas and the car started to skid fast on the rock until it jumped a little straight into the sands and I started driving on it. The noise of the sand being forcefully pushed from the direction the visual map showed more spots began to appear as a swarm and sand began to spread everywhere as I drove as far as I could. From them, in the mirror, I see the sky-high tentacles have begun to try to crash into the same place I was just a few moments ago. So the start of the screen of the helmet to project in red:

"Beware!" Rosalina suddenly began to speak and discussions began to rise and my path began to rise and reveal something similar to scales in which, at every gap between them, sand was caught. I rose higher and higher while on the steering wheel, I tried to control myself and prevent myself from sliding straight into the sandy bottom that was getting farther and farther away. I look in the rearview mirror and see something long start moving fast while I'm just trying to get control of the steering wheel and driving it. He began to move towards the tentacle and moved to the sides. Luckily I had a safe maneuvering distance and as I continued to move forward between his scales they were starting to stick out. I was able to see where it ends but he started to make a sudden movement and I saw the shadow of his arm trying to crash into me. I pushed my foot on the gas as much as I could and slid on the live surface until I was able to reach the end where the body and the sand connected. Sounds of thumps and cuts began to be heard behind me and another sudden sharp movement caused the end to lift and cause me to jump with the car like a ramp into the air and I crashed in my lack of trying to aim for a soft landing.

The wheels managed to touch the soft sand and I got up from the shock of the soft impact, but I managed to gain control and threw my foot on the gas a second time the car responded quickly and I flew on the sands while all the noises of powders between giants started to be heard all over the sands. I focused on staying alive as I turned the car towards the track that showed me my way and the giants that started to shrink with every move I made away from them. From all the mess created by their collision, I decided not to stop until I got to the ridge.

In the morning and progressed to noon and then in the afternoon the ridge stood firm in front of me until already half of it I couldn't see. I knew I was getting to them soon, but at the same time, it just shows how big they are. By the end of the evening, I had finally arrived at the base of one of the lowest mountains that Rosalina had tried to direct me to. I ended up stopping by one rocky hill before going down it. I started moving forward and turned to the car and looked at it. The car started to show that the gas was starting to run out even before I survived but it already looked like it had been through a lot - its color had turned gray-black from all the dirt accumulated from all my driving. Scratches revealing its metallic color were visible everywhere on the bottom. The sand was everywhere and I think during the jump from the giant creature broke one of the headlights. I'm afraid she won't be able to last much longer. I thought for a while about what to do while the sun began to set on one of the mountainsides.

"I can't find a possible source of fuel in the area. In addition, I can't calculate a route that can climb the mountains with the car"

"That's what I was afraid would happen in the end" I said as I walked towards the car and decided to take one last ride with you. I started it with the machine tool and kept moving until I reached the slope that goes up towards the mountain I was just looking at until the gas ran out halfway up. That single moment, I turned everything off, put on the brakes, and started trying to fix all the equipment while the car was standing quieter than ever. All the kitchen utensils that I couldn't fit into the compartments, I tried to improvise and tie them with the cables that held all the compartments, and with great success, it worked!

I grabbed all the equipment and put them on my back. All its weight that I hadn't felt since I found the car came back to me like a flashback and I started to get used to it with every step I took further and further away from the car standing on a dead slope. I looked at him as if I wanted to say thank him for leading me so far to the ridge and I know he won't survive anymore.

"I'm afraid now it will be more difficult" I said to myself

"Positive" Rosalina replied: "Your muscles are trying to hold all the equipment you're carrying now. I recommend that you don't rush uphill. I calculated the fastest and safest route for you"

The helmet's display began to show the route and the lasers emanating from the suit directed me where to go or step on them. From this point, I hope that all the journey I have made until now is not in vain as I started to climb towards the ridge.