Shen Cong didn't stop at Xinyi City. He drove straight through and headed north, because his real destination wasn't Xinyi City itself — it was Tancheng County, roughly twenty to thirty kilometers further on, just inside Shandong Province.

Close enough. Half an hour by road. Convenient for travel in either direction.

He'd chosen Tancheng County carefully. It sat near the intersection of two major Oases — the Linyi City Oasis to the northeast and Luoma Lake Oasis to the west — and there were reportedly large Oasis formations to the northwest of Xuzhou as well. He wasn't planning to leave Eastern Theater Command territory any time soon, so a proper temporary base was worth establishing.

National Highway 205, connecting Xinyi City and Tancheng County, was in good condition — the 31st Group Army had been running regular reconnaissance toward the Linyi City Oasis, and the road had been kept clear for it. Shen Cong kept Great Vajra at fifty kilometers per hour. That was the upper limit of the Four-Legged Dragon's comfortable cruising speed; push past it and she'd start falling behind.

He pushed past it occasionally anyway, to work on her endurance.

The human body, generalist as it was, could be trained to reach remarkable capability. A body like the Four-Legged Dragon's — built on an entirely different scale — had correspondingly greater headroom for improvement.

They made good time.

Tancheng County showed scattered signs of use. Temporary rest stops had been set up at various points — waypoints for military personnel and the independent hunters and company operators who came through to collect resources and bring back specimens.

At one rest stop, Shen Cong spotted a handwritten sign: Back at noon — heavy load, bring plenty of cash.

A note from an independent to whatever trading company was due to collect their haul. Given how difficult travel was, independents who went out on a run might be in the field for days at a stretch. Sometimes they didn't come back at all — eaten by something, or killed by a rival with a grudge. Both outcomes were routine.…