Mobile Shelter

Chapter 161 A Maliceful Encounter

Yesterday's lively dinner dispelled the gloomy atmosphere brought about by some people who voluntarily left the team.

After the dinner, at Dong Qi's suggestion, the awakened individuals also held a small exchange meeting.

Perhaps because everyone had prepared ample supplies when they left Kyoto, even though it was just an internal transaction involving only team members, the variety of items they brought out was quite extensive.

During this period, Dong Qi not only successfully traded several hams with Kou Hai, but also traded a lot of carbonated drinks with Ji Yunting.

The next day, just as dawn broke, the team leader's car, where Lu Ziye was, honked its horn early to remind everyone to get up.

At this point, apart from Dong Qi's personal light commercial vehicle, the remaining vehicles in the convoy were all heavy-duty motorhomes with six to eight pairs of wheels.

Therefore, when leaving Kyoto, Lu Ziye planned the convoy route, choosing either national highways or expressways.

However, no one expected that Blue Star would suddenly undergo a strange change, and no one knew what they would encounter next.

Although theoretically, after the destruction of the secret realm yesterday, it should still be able to maintain its original range and not be disturbed by mutated insects for a certain period of time.

However, when sleeping, compared to other vehicles with a large number of people, it is easy to arrange for night watch personnel.

Dong Qi was alone in the car. As for Suzuki Masako, who was staying in the farm space, she had already adapted to life there and was willing to stay there indefinitely.

Unless there are special circumstances, Dong Qi will no longer allow external events to affect the other party.

However, even though Dong Qi was very confident, even if his natal vehicle was besieged by mutated insects, those mutated insects could not break through the natal vehicle's defense.

But when he goes to sleep at night, Dong Qi still chooses to launch a drone to patrol and keep watch in the air.

The enhanced drones have significantly improved their battery life. Even if they cannot stay in the air permanently, it is quite normal for them to maintain a battery life of at least two or three days.

With the judgment of the intelligent central hub, and the fact that his destined car and Dong Qi were in sync, even when Dong Qi stayed in the farm space at night to accompany Suzuki Masako.

In the event of an unexpected incident, Dong Qi will be able to learn about the situation immediately.

Fortunately, nothing unexpected happened last night, allowing the team members, who hadn't had a break, to get some rest.

As the convoy left the area, the insects that had been roaming the surrounding area seemed to have caught a whiff of human life and began to approach the area where the convoy had been stationed the previous night.

However, by the time they actually converged on this area, Dong Qi's convoy had already finished its rest and left the area far behind.

Perhaps because of the joyful atmosphere of yesterday's dinner, the atmosphere at the team radio station was quite cheerful when we first started our journey.

However, this good mood did not last long. Not long after the convoy entered the highway, they encountered several wrecked vehicles blocking the road ahead.

It's important to understand that highways are mostly closed roads. Although this closure is rather rudimentary, it can only keep out honest people, not malicious ones.

But that only applies to pedestrians. For vehicles, unless the guardrails on both sides of the highway are completely destroyed, ordinary vehicles cannot easily enter the highway section.

However, while this closure method prevents outside vehicles from entering the highway, it can easily cause a traffic jam on the entire highway section when several vehicles have problems side by side, as is the case here.

However, in peacetime, when faced with such a traffic jam, the convoy would have no choice but to stay put and wait for the traffic police.

But at this time of day, facing this traffic jam, Lu Ziye, sitting in the lead car, didn't even consider the robotic arm that Dong Qi had demonstrated yesterday.

The lead car only slowed down slightly when it saw the traffic jam ahead, and then resolutely crashed into it.

Faced with a traffic jam ahead, the lead vehicle in the convoy used this simple method to forcefully create a path.

In fact, given Lu Ziye's crude approach to the problem, it would have been better to notify Dong Qi.

Dong Qi enjoys dealing with these scrapped vehicles the most. Although his personal car has been upgraded many times, let alone a few scrapped cars, even dozens or hundreds of scrapped cars are better than nothing to Dong Qi. But every little bit counts, and he might as well take what he has picked up.

However, since Lu Ziye, who was in the lead car, didn't mention it, Dong Qi wouldn't take the initiative to do things as eagerly as he would to show off.

After the other vehicles in the convoy passed through this area, Dong Qi's vehicle approached the wrecked vehicles and put them into the Hundred Refinement Furnace.

As the convoy continued to move forward, encountering obstacles became increasingly frequent.

Therefore, Dong Qi's actions of collecting scrapped cars at the rear of the convoy were also noticed by other members of the convoy.

When the other members learned that Dong Qi had the ability to collect scrapped cars and turn them into materials to enhance his own car, the team members were somewhat envious, but they did not take any further steps to test him.

However, after learning that Dong Qi could quickly clear obstacles blocking the road, he moved his car, which was originally at the back of the convoy, to the front of the convoy.

As the obstacles that had been blocking traffic disappeared one by one as Dong Qi's car approached, Lu Ziye couldn't help but exclaim on the radio, "To be honest, putting aside the practical strength of your ability, this auxiliary ability to clear roadblocks is really useful at this moment."

"With so many scrapped vehicles collected this time, your car should get a significant upgrade."

Hearing Lu Ziye's envious tone on the radio, Dong Qi not only did not agree, but explained helplessly, "My ability to enhance vehicles is not as strong as you think. Don't be fooled by the fact that I collected so many scrapped cars, the actual improvement is limited."

Enhancing a vehicle's performance is like improving a test score; raising it from 90 to 91 is far more difficult than raising it from 0 to 90.

Although Dong Qi's words sounded like a complaint, anyone who heard them and used their brain a little would know that there was an underlying boast in his words.

After hearing Dong Qi's veiled boast, the other members of the team also started to tease him with laughter and banter, making the atmosphere on the team radio very lively.

Just as the radio in the convoy was filled with laughter and cheerful conversation, Dong Qi saw a group of people hurrying forward not far ahead.

Upon discovering this, Dong Qi immediately suggested, "It seems there are quite a few people walking ahead. I'll deploy a drone to scout out the situation."

Before anyone else could answer on the radio, a drone suddenly appeared above the car and then sped off at an incredible speed.

Only after the drone approached from the air did Dong Qi get a good look at the group of people.

The group was divided into two parts. At the very front was a tractor, which towed two flatbeds connected together. On the front flatbed sat some elderly people, women, and children.

The flat panel behind them was densely packed with packages of various sizes, which appeared to be supplies carried by the group in front.

After confirming the details of the group ahead, Dong Qi directly told the others in the convoy what he had seen, without any embellishment.

After hearing Dong Qi's report, Lu Ziye finally spoke up: "It seems that those abandoned vehicles blocking the road that we just encountered were very likely obstacles left behind by those people ahead."

Although I don't know why those people did this, it seems they are not easy to approach.

It seems there are no obstacles blocking the road ahead. Dong Qi, you go back to the rear of the convoy.

Let my car go first. You all listen to me. If the other side obediently makes way for us, let us pass first.

Let's keep to ourselves and each go our own way.

But if they cause trouble for no reason, everyone should be prepared for battle, lest we be caught off guard and suffer an unexpected setback.

Upon hearing Lu Ziye's reminder, everyone's previously dismissive expressions immediately turned serious.

Before the convoy of vehicles even got close, the group of people in front also noticed the convoy that had appeared behind them.

When those people first saw the convoy, they were stunned for a moment, after all, the obstacles that appeared on the highway were closely related to them.

Although they considered that the obstacles might not be very effective, they did not expect that a convoy would appear behind them.

However, they quickly realized that this was not the time to consider whether the obstacle had served its purpose.

After abandoning their vehicles and walking for so long, they finally realized how arduous it was to travel on foot without any vehicles.

Therefore, before the convoy even got close, the crowd in front stopped in their tracks and then scattered, occupying the entire highway.

Faced with this obstacle made entirely of flesh and blood, Lu Ziye was not a heartless and cold-blooded person; he could only slowly stop the vehicle as it approached.

However, after parking, Lu Ziye had no intention of getting out of the car. He didn't even open the window, but turned on the car's built-in speaker and said, "Those people in front, don't block the way. Make way for us."

Let's keep to ourselves and not cause trouble.

The already somewhat agitated crowd, upon hearing Lu Ziye's impolite tone, immediately had someone speak up indignantly: "What do you mean by that? Don't think you're so great just because you have a car. Don't you see how many of us there are—"

Before the man could finish speaking, Lu Ziye impatiently honked the horn.

As we all know, the larger the vehicle and the more it is an engineering vehicle, the louder the horn, especially for modified motorhomes, and especially for motorhomes that are really used for wilderness survival, the horn is usually very loud and piercing.

The loud horn blared so loudly that it temporarily deafened the person who was about to continue his rant.

Before the person could react, Lu Ziye didn't give in and the car, which had been gradually coming to a stop, slowly started moving again.

Although the vehicle was only maintaining the lowest speed it had when it started, the people standing in front of the huge RV still felt immense fear as it slowly approached.

After all, almost everyone instinctively feels fear when faced with a huge object, especially when such a huge object is slowly approaching. Some people's bodies will instinctively try to avoid it from a distance.

It should be noted that there was more than one heavy-duty motorhome like the one Lu Ziye was riding in in the convoy. After Lu Ziye honked his horn, the others behind him, after learning about the situation ahead, also chose to honk their horns.

The deafening noise made the group of people blocking the way ahead suddenly feel dizzy and nauseous.

Just as Lu Ziye was using this invisible aura to force the group to make way, a stone suddenly flew out from the crowd and hit the windshield of Lu Ziye's RV.

Furthermore, the windshield, which was originally bulletproof, was easily cracked by a single stone.

Before Lu Ziye could react, someone in the group pulled out a pistol.

But before the man could fire, a gunshot rang out in the sky.

This sudden gunshot interrupted the convoy's horn blaring and quickly calmed the already agitated crowd.

It was at this moment that Lu Ziye realized he had just been targeted by a gun and was likely on the verge of death, and that's when he finally came to his senses.

Although he has faced many life-or-death situations, those crises were caused by mutated insects or otherworldly creatures. Lu Ziye has never actually been attacked by his own kind.

So even when faced with the crowd deliberately blocking the road, Lu Ziye only responded by honking his horn and had no intention of killing anyone.

If Lu Ziye had truly been ruthless, he wouldn't have needed to slow down when the convoy approached the crowd.

While a direct collision might have resulted in some injuries or fatalities, ultimately it would have only left your vehicle covered in blood, and wouldn't have caused the windshield to be damaged like this.

It's not like before, when you could easily find a place to repair your vehicle, let alone replace car window glass that ordinary repair shops simply don't have access to.

Of course, it was at this moment that Lu Ziye looked up and saw the source of the gunfire in the air.

The drone that Dong Qi just launched is still hovering in mid-air, and the gunshot just now was also fired by the drone hovering in the air.

The bullet was surprisingly accurate, piercing the arm of the gunman and thwarting his attempt to launch a sneak attack.

"Damn it, they pulled out a weapon. If it weren't for Dong Qi's drone breaking that guy's arm, I might have been caught off guard and ambushed."

Thank you, Dong Qi. I won't say any more empty words. See you later.

Since they're so ruthless, don't blame us for being heartless too. Brothers, follow behind, and let's speed up and charge!

Just as Lu Ziye hung up the radio and was about to accelerate and rush forward, several very sharp spikes suddenly appeared on the road ahead.

If Lu Ziye really did what he just said and recklessly accelerated into the crowd, his tires would definitely be ruined when he ran over those few splinters.

Upon seeing this, Lu Ziye immediately picked up the radio again and spoke without hesitation: "Yin An, there is also an earth-type ability user in the crowd ahead. He has created some earth spikes on the road ahead. Is it convenient for you to come over now?"

Even though the highway is quite wide, with three lanes in each direction, apart from Dong Qi's light commercial vehicle, everyone else in the convoy was traveling in heavy-duty motorhomes, so the convoy's formation was always a long, single-line snake.

Adjusting the positions of vehicles within the convoy is quite troublesome, so the easiest way to call Yin An over is for him to get out of the car and walk over himself.

However, the group of people ahead were clearly preparing to cause trouble. If Yin An got out of the car and walked over at this time, he would likely be attacked.

Therefore, Lu Ziye did not issue a forceful order at this time, but instead asked Yin An in a consultative tone.

Upon hearing Lu Ziye's question, Yin An instantly understood Lu Ziye's concerns. However, having awakened his earth-type ability, he not only possessed formidable defensive power but also unparalleled life-saving abilities.

If he didn't need a vehicle to get around, he would actually prefer standing on solid ground rather than spending a lot of time in a car.

Therefore, upon hearing Lu Ziye's request, Yin An hesitated only slightly before getting out of the car immediately.

After hearing Yin An's answer on the radio, the other awakened individuals in the other cars did not stay in their own cars to wait, but got out together to see what gave those people the confidence to cause trouble in front of them.

However, since they were facing fellow human beings, everyone carried a universal equalizer when they got off the vehicle.

After all, when facing one's own kind, sometimes even revealing one's identity as an Awakened One is not as effective as having a gun instilling fear in the other party.

After realizing that the other members of the convoy had gotten out of their cars, Lu Ziye also stopped staying in the car.

The enemy group was about to ambush him with guns when a bullet fired by the Buddha machine pierced his arm. Even though he endured the pain and desperately covered the wound with his hand, he was still injured.

However, the bullet wound still caused the wound on the other person's arm to bleed profusely.

Faced with this situation, Lu Ziye, after getting out of the car, completely ignored it and shouted, "We are a Buddhist sect, and you not only smashed my windshield with your gun, but you were also preparing to ambush me with a gun. Are you planning to rob me outright?"

Upon hearing Lu Ziye immediately label them as robbers, someone in the crowd couldn't help but speak up: "What do you mean by highway robbery? Don't make accusations randomly. It was you who disturbed us by honking your horns. We just stopped to ask you for justice."

You're just framing me; you're the thief crying "stop thief!"

Just as Lu Ziye finished listening to the other party's rebuttal and was about to scoff and continue his mockery, he suddenly heard a teammate behind him remind him, "Danger! Captain, get out of there quickly."

Although Lu Ziye hadn't figured out what had happened, his body's instincts had already made a judgment. He suddenly and quickly left his spot and retreated to the vicinity of the other members of the convoy.

Then, to his horror, he saw a thin, long splinter suddenly emerge from the ground where he had been standing.