“Skynet Three-Star Qualification Assessment:

 Mission Scenario: Desperate Desert.

 Mission Requirement: Survive seven days in the Desperate Desert.

 Tip: The system will compress your sense of time, please ensure that your Spiritual Strength is at Level 3.”

 Lin Yun had long heard of time compression, but it was the first time he had encountered it. The Skynet System could change people’s sense of time. One day outside was equivalent to many days inside Skynet. However, time compression required a great deal of Spirit for Skynet users. Without a certain level of Spiritual Strength, it was easy to suffer mental damage and even become an idiot.

 Lin Yun, who had attained Level 3 Spiritual Strength, had just met the assessment requirements. He muttered in his mind, “Enter the assessment.” The next second, he was in the desert.

 This was a boundless desert. There were no clouds in the sky, and the three suns made an equilateral triangle, baking the hot sand. A hot wind traveled past and rolled up numerous grains of fine yellow sand.

 Feeling the heat surrounding him, Lin Yun guessed that the outside temperature was at least 100 degrees.

 “You’re in a high-temperature environment. -10 HP per hour. Current HP: 215. If HP drops to 0, your character will die and you will fail the mission.”

 Hearing this familiar prompt, Lin Yun looked around for possible shades. However, the desert sand was all over and the surroundings were barren. How could there be any place to escape the heat?

 “You have been attacked. HP -1. Current: HP 214.”

 Suddenly, Lin Yun felt something poke him under his foot. He looked down and saw a book-sized yellow scorpion. The scorpion held two pincers up, and there was a shiny black poisonous barb on its tail. It was making a rustling sound, seemingly in a display of aggression.

 Lin Yun stepped on it and squashed the scorpion into a scorpion pancake. A small amount of purple juice oozed out of the scorpion’s body and stuck on Lin Yun’s foot. It quickly evaporated in the high heat. An unusually bad smell filled Lin Yun’s nose, making him gag.

 However, Lin Yun seemed to have set something off. In an instant, countless “rustles” were heard. In the desert around Lin Yun, hundreds of book-sized yellow scorpions appeared from the sand. They surrounded Lin Yun, and their shiny tails were all aimed toward him.

 “What’s this place, a scorpion nest?” Lin Yun couldn’t help but complain. He quickly escaped while avoiding the scorpions. Although getting pierced by a scorpion only took a little bit of his HP, enough of them could overwhelm him.

 However, the smell from Lin Yun’s right foot seemed to call to those scorpions. Lin Yun had run more than ten miles, and those scorpions were still in hot pursuit.

 Finally, Lin Yun crossed another sand dune and the scorpions stopped chasing him. He exhaled. “These scorpions are really hard to shake off. I wonder what they are afraid of.”

 In the next second, he knew the answer.

 A huge sand vortex suddenly appeared in the sand in front of him. A white figure the size of a train car flew swiftly out of the vortex and passed over Lin Yun’s head. The figure was like that of a worm magnified innumerable times. It was covered with fine yellow bristles and it looked exceptionally ugly. It opened its mouth wide, revealing countless black fine teeth, and began to devour the poisonous scorpions.

 Lin Yun was shocked by this strange creature. He slowly backed away, turned, and left before the creature noticed him. Gradually, the creature was covered by the endless yellow sand.

 “You’re in a high-temperature environment. -10 HP per hour. Current HP: 204.

 Tip: Look for water sources. It can restore life.”

 The electronic voice prompted again beside his ear. Lin Yun frowned. In his mind, he thought. “Where do you expect me to find water in this vast desert?”

 He took a sniff at the stink on his right foot and suddenly had an idea. “The body of these yellow scorpions contains water. This shows that there is water in this desert. Where can the water be?”

 Looking around, Lin Yun’s gaze finally landed at the sand beside his feet. The weird scorpions and giant worm lurked in the sand. Was it because the water source was under the sand?

 With that thought, Lin Yun began to dig with his hands. However, the wind kept filling up the sandpit dug by him with more yellow sand. After a long time, Lin Yun looked at the pit that was less than one meter deep and gave up, exasperated.

 Suddenly, Lin Yun had an idea. Why don’t I make my way into the sand to find water?

 “Although this is a digital world, if I dig into the sand, I will inevitably suffocate. Besides, if I accidentally get into that strange sandworm’s nest, I will definitely die of disgust.” Lin Yun sighed in his mind and vetoed the idea instantly.

 “You’re in a high-temperature environment. -10 HP per hour. Current HP: 194.

 Tip: Some organisms contain water.”

 The thoughtful female voice prompted again and Lin Yun smiled. It was not that he didn’t think about getting water from living things. However, the liquid in the scorpion was foul and the sandworm didn’t look easy to deal with. As soon as this thought surfaced, he squelched it.

 The female voice was really too human-like. Lin Yun had never heard of anyone who could take part in the Skynet Star Qualification Assessment and got tips while doing it.

 If he sat and waited, he would surely be roasted alive. Lin Yun got himself under control and walked in one of the directions.

 “You’re in a high-temperature environment. -10 HP per hour. Current HP: 184.”

 “You’re in a high-temperature environment. -10 HP per hour. Current HP: 174.”

 …

 Listening to the constantly sounding electronic reminder, Lin Yun was bored. That’s right, it was boring rather than painful. In the digital world, he could not feel the high temperature baking him at all. Neither did he feel parched. It was just that he had already spent several hours walking in the desert, facing the same landscape. Anyone would be bored.

 “You’re in a high-temperature environment. -10 HP per hour. Current HP: 84.”

 With this electronic voice, Lin Yun silently calculated that he had been in this desert for more than ten hours.

 In the dozen or so hours, the three suns in the sky remained unchanged. It seemed the days here were exceptionally long. Either that or that there was no night at all.

 After walking for an indeterminable length of time, Lin Yun finally heard a reminder from a familiar voice.

 “Tip: There are signs of life 5 kilometers away at three o’clock.”

 Lin Yun ran towards the direction mentioned happily. No matter what kind of creature it was or whether it was dangerous, Lin Yun didn’t care. He was fed up with the endless sand.

 The distance of 5 kilometers took the Level 4 Physical Strength Lin Yun about ten minutes to reach. When he crossed a tall sand dune, he saw a lively battle ongoing.

 Humanity!

 They were human!

 Lin Yun was overjoyed. He never dreamed that he would find humans in a training scenario.

 The humans were clearly divided into two groups.

 One of the groups was dressed like savage barbarians. Their faces were camouflaged with strange patterns and they wore beasts’ skulls or bone jewelry on their body. These savages rode black centipedes as big as cows and held long bone staffs in their hands. They shouted loudly and made all kinds of strange sounds. It seemed that they were chasing after the other group.

 The other group of people dressed very much like a modern army. They wore black armor and held weapons similar to guns in their hands. They seemed to be protecting a chariot.

 However, these soldiers wearing armor and holding guns were clearly at a disadvantage. Those savages, with their strange green glow, were able to block the damage from the firearms. They waved the bone staffs in their hands, and they would shoot out rays of black light. These black rays were shockingly powerful and could penetrate the armor easily.

 “Warning!

 Due to unknown reasons, the scene has been corrupted.

 Trojan horse suspected, virus detection and removal in progress…”

 A male Skynet prompt sounded and the voice seemed to fluctuate slightly. Immediately afterward, a female Skynet prompt sounded.

 “Virus removal bypassed, redefining mission scenario, please wait…”

 “Mission scenario defined.

 Initiate the mega epic chain mission: The Queen’s Glory.

 The rewards for completing each part of the mission are experience and equipment.

 The reward for completing the entire mission is a Godly Weapon.

 Do you wish to accept?”

 When he heard about the alluring rewards, Lin Yun had no reason to hesitate. He answered decisively, “Accept.”

 “The Queen’s Glory.

 Prologue: The Mysterious Baby Girl.

 Mission Background: The enemy has discovered the existence of the baby girl. They are cooperating with the desert barbarians in an attempt to kill the threat while it is still in the cradle. The Holy Maiden is on her way to this planet, but it will take seven days.

 Mission Requirement: Please protect the baby girl in King Locke’s hands for seven days and hand the baby girl over to the Holy Maiden.

 Mission Tip: The baby girl has Miracle Protection. As long as she is not attacked, she can survive in a harsh environment. The enemy is too powerful, it is best to find a place to hide.”

 Lin Yun was surprised by this series of prompts. Why did it feel like he was playing a virtual game? He wondered if he had been sucked into a virtual game by some kind of Skynet trojan virus.

 While Lin Yun was feeling surprised, the battle situation had changed. Among the desert barbarians, a leader appeared, riding a huge red centipede. In his hand was a purple bone staff.

 The barbarian leader shouted, and innumerable rays of red light emanated from the bone staffs, shining on the savages. The group of barbarians seemed to have been pumped full of energy and suddenly became much fiercer. They used their bone staffs to emit black light without stopping, which caused great damage to the soldiers. In a few moments, there were only a few soldiers in black armor left.

 Then, riding on a red centipede, the leader waved his bone staff and a red light hit the chariot the black armored soldiers were protecting.

 “Boom!”

 The chariot was blown into the air. It turned head over heels several times in the air and landed in front of Lin Yun. A middle-aged man with a crown and a baby girl in his arms crawled pathetically out of the smoking chariot.

 Lin Yun asked, “Are you King Locke?”

 The middle-aged man was surprised, then asked doubtfully, “Young man, who are you, and how do you know my name?”

 Lin Yun said, “Cut the crap. Give me a sip of water. The Holy Maiden asked me to protect the baby girl.”

 When he mentioned the Holy Maiden, King Locke believed Lin Yun’s words and handed him a bottle.

 After taking the bottle from the middle-aged man, Lin Yun took a sip and the system immediately prompted:

 “Consumed water. HP restored.”

 Without preamble, he hung the bottle on his waist and said to the defeated king in front of him, “Stop them. I will bring the baby girl away.”

 Under King Locke’s surprised gaze, Lin Yun took the baby girl and ran towards the desert he had come from.