The sky had just begun to brighten when they were approaching their destination.
Looking through the speeding vehicle's window, one didn't see the vast sky and boundless fields, or the idyllic scene of wind sweeping low over the grass revealing sheep and cattle. Instead, there were vast expanses of ugly, scab-like crusted soil.
Some of the landscape had already severely turned into a Gobi-like environment.
With sparse vegetation, one could tell at a glance that the soil was barren, sporadic white frost deposits were all salinity and alkalinity...
The surface of the ground lacked any undulation; one's sight could extend unobstructed in all directions, encountering nothing but desolation, with rarely a bird or beast in sight.
Of course, the real lands rich in water and grass would definitely be crowded with people and would never become everyone's "place of exile."
But who would build a new city in such a place? Had the investors' brains been clamped by a door panel?
