Mobile Shelter

Chapter 149 Forming a Racing Team

Chapter 150 Forming a Racing Team

(I got banned for the last chapter, sigh~ I won't say more. Readers said it was too bland, but if I write even a little bit of relatable conflict, I immediately get banned.)

Phoenix is ​​not far from Kyoto. As early as when Dong Qi had just entered Phoenix, the first group of people who had fled Phoenix had already arrived in Kyoto.

In fact, anyone who frequently watches movies and TV dramas, or has experience fleeing from disasters, knows that once people choose to leave their hometowns, their first destination is usually a nearby wealthy big city.

Kyoto, the closest city to Phoenix, is not only a wealthy place but also the national capital, so it would naturally become the first choice for refugees.

However, the moment the cold wind reached Kyoto, the thought that arose simultaneously in the minds of all the awakened beings immediately attracted the attention of the Great Xia Dynasty.

With the aid of precognitive abilities, the Great Xia's reaction speed was extremely fast. After all, compared to before, delaying for a period of time would at most cause some economic losses, and even if punishment was imposed, it would probably only be a slap on the wrist.

But times have changed. Putting aside the potential economic losses from the delay, if we anger those awakened individuals with superpowers, they won't give up easily.

As the saying goes, "He who possesses a sharp blade will naturally harbor murderous intent."

The small Kyoto area is home to more than 50% of the registered Awakened in the entire Great Xia Dynasty.

The Awakened Ones possess all sorts of strange and wonderful abilities. If you really anger some petty Awakened Ones, they will always find a way to take revenge without anyone noticing.

Therefore, it was precisely during this slightly turbulent period that the operational efficiency of the Great Xia Dynasty actually saw a qualitative improvement.

After all, the saying that procrastination kills people was just a joke before, but now that there are awakened individuals, this statement may very well become a reality.

Therefore, Kyoto immediately activated its emergency plan after confirming the abnormal temperature.

Because the survivor base in the suburbs had already been built, the imperial court immediately organized the relocation of Kyoto residents.

However, this kind of relocation, which was announced only temporarily, has caused many ordinary people to complain.

After all, no one would be in a good mood if they were woken up in the middle of the night and told they had to leave immediately.

However, at this point, no one is a fool. With the threat of mutated marine life looming, everyone knows the state of the world.

So, after hearing the government's notice, although everyone was unwilling, they still obediently packed their belongings and prepared to move.

However, compared to the past when the government never abandoned anyone during disaster relief, now the government's attitude has changed to "If you trust me, I'll take you away; if you don't trust me, I won't force you."

The convoy, which was originally scheduled to depart only after everyone had gathered in different areas, started departing as soon as each vehicle was full.

Those who were dawdling at home packing their belongings would no longer be urged by the government as before.

The first group of refugees to arrive in Kyoto moved directly into the survivors' base with the relocation convoy organized by the Kyoto government.

By the time the Phoenix City forces arrived in Kyoto, the survivor base built in the suburbs was already full.

Actually, when the survivor base was built, it was designed to accommodate twice the permanent population of Kyoto.

However, that data was recorded during peacetime when the computer was still in normal use.

Due to electromagnetic pulses and the emergence of mutated marine life, many wealthy people who fled coastal areas unanimously chose Kyoto as their place of residence.

After all, Great Xia has the world's strongest road infrastructure, and no matter which city in Great Xia you originally lived in, there is a highway that leads to Kyoto.

After the advent of electromagnetic pulse, those who own a private car that is still in normal use must have sufficient financial resources to settle in Kyoto.

Therefore, Kyoto, which had experienced a slight population loss due to economic slowdown during peacetime, saw a surge of people settling there after the disaster.

After the survivor base on the outskirts of Beijing was full, he looked at the remaining residents who hadn't had time to enter the survivor base because of their own procrastination, as well as the large number of people who later migrated from Phoenix City.

The imperial court had no choice but to resettle those people in the capital city.

However, due to the influx of Phoenix City residents into Kyoto, along with many residents who originally lived in Kyoto, the survivor base was affected.

Therefore, the imperial court rearranged all the properties in the capital city, just like the courtyard houses where many people used to live. Small houses may still be single-family dwellings, but those larger houses were directly divided into multiple households.

In just two or three days since Dong Qi left Kyoto, the city has undergone tremendous changes.

Dong Qi originally wanted to return to the villa left by Shao Kai to park and rest, but when Dong Qi drove back to the villa area, he noticed that the villa area, which was originally very quiet, had now become very lively.

The Shao family villa, which was originally locked, now had several children playing in the yard.

When Dong Qi saw this, he initially thought those people were Shao Kai's relatives. However, after Dong Qi got out of the car and asked them about Shao Kai's situation, he learned about the changes in Kyoto.

After learning about the situation in Kyoto, Dong Qi first went to the Kyoto Research Institute to find Peng Qi and learn about the current situation.

But when Dong Qi arrived at the Kyoto Research Institute, he found that the institute had already moved out and the place was deserted.

Dong Qi could hardly believe that such a large research institute could be relocated so quickly.

When Dong Qi went to the arms market to look for Qin Hanxiao, he was even more surprised to find that all the shops in the market, just like those at the Kyoto Research Institute, had disappeared without a trace.

Although Dong Qi already knew that Qin Hanxiao would leave Kyoto when they parted ways last time, he did not expect that the other party would act so decisively.

Facing Kyoto, which he was gradually becoming familiar with, it suddenly became so unfamiliar, leaving Dong Qi somewhat at a loss.

Just as Dong Qi was sitting in the car pondering whether he should leave Kyoto and return to Pengcheng, or head to the Northwest to find Shao Kai, he suddenly noticed someone jogging towards his location.

Although Dong Qi was wary of this sudden situation, he was in Kyoto, which was not a remote location, and he was also very confident in his own abilities.

So even though they had spotted the other party in advance, they didn't react much and remained in place waiting for the other party.

The person who was jogging over did not stop approaching when he saw that Dong Qi had noticed him, but he did slow down a little.

When they were about three meters away from Ben Dongqi, the other party stopped approaching and then said with a smile, "Brother, let's get acquainted. My name is Lu Ziye, and I just came from Phoenix City."

When Lu Ziye saw that Dong Qi didn't speak after hearing his self-introduction, but instead still looked at him with a questioning gaze, he knew that Dong Qi was still wary of his sudden approach. So he stopped hiding his purpose and said frankly, "Brother, I came here specifically to get to know you because you have a car. Judging from your license plate, it's not a Beijing license plate, so you're probably not a local."

Although I don't know if you moved here from Phoenix like me, you probably already know about the situation there.

There are some things that are not convenient to talk about here, so I would like to invite you to get together somewhere tonight.

Of course, we've invited more than just you. If it's convenient for you tonight, the gathering will be at that restaurant over there.

Dong Qi looked in the direction Lu Ziye was pointing and saw that there was indeed a stand-alone restaurant not far away.

"Tell me why you invited me first, and I'll consider whether I'll go over tonight."

Although Dong Qi's tone was somewhat indifferent, Lu Ziye was quite pleased to hear it. After all, Dong Qi's indifferent reaction was normal, especially during this special period.

After hearing Dong Qi's question, Lu Ziye deliberately looked around for a while before slowly approaching his car.

After seeing that Dong Qi tacitly agreed that he could approach, Lu Ziye carefully spoke up only after walking up to Dong Qi's car window: "You should already know about the situation in Phoenix City."

I fled from Phoenix, and judging from the current situation, even though this was once the capital, it doesn't look like it can hold out for long.

Instead of hastily fleeing when faced with danger as in the past, it's better to plan a route in advance and leave calmly before others react.

To be honest, the purpose of tonight's gathering was actually to get together some car owners to form a convoy and leave Kyoto together, so that we could look after each other on the road.

Upon hearing Lu Ziye's words, Dong Qi said with a slight smile, "Oh, you just told me this so easily? You have no sense of confidentiality at all. Aren't you afraid I'll tell others?"

"What's there to be afraid of? I want to call my friends and leave Kyoto together. It doesn't seem to be illegal. Besides, look at the situation in Kyoto now. Even if the government knew what I was thinking, they would probably be eager for me to leave as soon as possible."

The more people I take with me when I leave, the happier the authorities will be.

After hearing what Lu Ziye said, Dong Qi realized that what the other party said seemed to make sense. After all, with the relocation of Phoenix City, the government in Kyoto was also under great pressure.

The more crucial reason, though Lu Ziye didn't explicitly state it, is something any intelligent person would have in mind.

As the saying goes, those who live near mountains live off the mountains, and those who live near water live off the water.

The emergence of mutated marine creatures, while posing a great threat to humans, also provided humans with a stable source of food by hunting them.

This sudden drop in outdoor temperature froze the ocean, eliminating the mutated marine life and preventing further attacks on humans.

But it also effectively severed a stable source of food for humanity.

Although Kyoto had stockpiled a lot of food in advance, with the increase in the number of settlers, no one knew how long the food stored in the warehouses could last until a stable food supply channel was found again in Kyoto.

Therefore, many people like Lu Ziye, even before they have completely settled down in Kyoto, have already begun to prepare to leave Kyoto.

Dong Qi had already considered leaving Kyoto. If Dong Hao had listened to Dong Qi's suggestion back then, he would probably have left Kyoto by now. So there's no point in returning to Pengcheng at this time.

I was already hesitating about how to leave Kyoto, and now someone has invited me. Although I don't know the specifics, I think it shouldn't be a problem to go and participate.

"My name is Dong Qi. I will arrive at the party on time tonight."

After hearing Dong Qi's accurate answer, Lu Ziye did not linger there. Watching Dong Qi leave, he guessed that he was taking advantage of the daytime to find other suitable people to invite.

When Dong Qi arrived at the restaurant on time that evening, he discovered that the interior had been rearranged.

The lobby, which should have been filled with tables and chairs, was now occupied by small groups of people chatting, and food was laid out on both sides of the lobby like a buffet.

Although the food on display wasn't as plentiful as before, it was still quite good during this time of scarcity.

However, while those foods might be very appealing to others, they weren't particularly attractive to Dong Qi.

Dong Qi glanced around at the number of people in the hall and was surprised to find that there were more than a hundred people in the hall, even after only a rough count.

If everyone in the hall had their own vehicle like Dong Qi, the convoy would be quite large.

About half an hour later, Dong Qi thought a host would come on stage to give a speech, but when Lu Ziye approached with a few people, Dong Qi realized that he was wrong.

Although many people came, the vast majority of them owned their own cars and were somewhat tempted to leave Kyoto.

However, they do not gather everyone to form a very large convoy; each convoy typically consists of around ten vehicles.

Although highway robbers, which had disappeared, have resurfaced due to the current situation, those who manage to keep their private cars during this special period generally possess exceptional qualities.

Acquiring some self-defense weapons is not too difficult for them.

The more people there are, the more problems and conflicts arise. The reason for forming a convoy is that, unlike before, when vehicles break down on the road and there is no roadside assistance available.

If there were a complete rescue mechanism like before, there would be no need to organize a convoy; everyone could simply go their separate ways.

The reason for gathering so many car owners is twofold: firstly, to bring together more car owners so that everyone can freely form a car fleet.

Another purpose was to facilitate the trade of goods, since once people decided to leave Kyoto, they would inevitably sell some assets and purchase supplies needed for the journey.

After Lu Ziye called Dong Qi, he called a few more people in the hall, and then the group of more than ten people went directly into a private room next to the hall.

After closing the door to the private room, before everyone was seated, Lu Ziye spoke directly: "I'm sure you all already know why I invited you all here."

Since everyone accepted my invitation to come, I think everyone will have no objection to me becoming the team leader after the team is formed.

After Lu Ziye finished speaking, he paused for a moment to make sure no one else around him would object. Then, he said with a hint of self-deprecation, "Actually, although he is called the team leader, he doesn't really have much power in the team."

After all, our convoy doesn't have many restrictions. If you feel uncomfortable staying in the convoy while traveling, you can simply drive away from the convoy.

Okay, I won't go into too much detail. Let me first talk about the itinerary after the team leaves Kyoto. If you feel it's not suitable, then take advantage of the fact that other teams are recruiting members in the lobby as soon as possible, and you might find a suitable team.

Lu Ziye then took out a national map and pinned it to the wall. He then took out a laser pointer from his pocket, and the light spot landed on a city in the west.

"I've decided to end this journey here."

The reason for choosing this city may be known to some present, or it may not be known to others.

Let me briefly explain why we chose this location as the finish line. First and foremost, this place is located in an absolutely inland area.

The reason everyone decided to leave Kyoto is because Kyoto is too close to the sea, so let's just go deep inland and get away from the sea.

Secondly, some people may know that when the mutated marine creatures first appeared, the imperial court had already organized people to build a post-apocalyptic survival base here.

The living conditions there might be much better than in Kyoto.

After stating the destination he had set, and seeing that no one else in the private room objected or left, he...

Lu Ziye then continued, "Since no one objects to the route I've chosen, I'll briefly explain the arrangements for the next step."

I'll give everyone three days to handle your personal matters. We'll meet at the highway exit on the West Fourth Ring Road in Kyoto at 9:00 AM three days later. Don't wait up if you're late.

If there is a suitable channel for purchasing supplies, that would be best. If not, I can recommend one.

However, let me clarify beforehand that I am only providing information and do not take a cut. I am not involved in the specific details of your transactions.

After hearing what Lu Ziye said, Dong Qi realized that Qin Hanxiao had already left and he couldn't find a suitable channel for the transaction.

Although the warehouse was stockpiled with many military supplies boxes, Dong Qi should not have lacked food.

However, Dong Qi did not stockpile much of the canned fruit and various beverages and alcoholic drinks that improve his quality of life.

Anyway, the warehouse was piled with the flesh and blood of a lot of giant mutated marine creatures. If the price was right, Dong Qi wouldn't mind exchanging it for more supplies that could improve his living conditions.