Mobile Shelter

Chapter 33 An Encounter with a Car Team

Dong Qi, who originally thought he would be all alone on the highway, never expected to encounter other vehicles on the highway.

From afar, Dong Qi could see a long line of cars slowly moving forward in the opposite lane.

As they got closer, Dong Qi noticed the rather strange combination of vehicles.

Perhaps because the snow would corrode the tires, the entire convoy consisted of tracked excavators towing vans with metal tires.

On this empty highway, Dong Qi's speeding car quickly attracted the attention of the other party.

Although there is a median strip in the middle of the two lanes of the highway, when the other party spotted Dong Qi's car, they directly used the excavator bucket to dig up the flower bed planted with ornamental plants and then drove over the flower bed.

Seeing the other party's behavior, Dong Qi gradually reduced his speed as he approached.

As the two sides approached, the other side first honked its horn, and then Dong Qi saw the person in the driver's seat show off the walkie-talkie in his hand.

Dong Qi initially didn't understand the other party's behavior.

When the other party saw that Dong Qi had simply stopped the car but had not made any other reaction, a person completely covered up walked out of the convoy not long afterward.

Then, under Dong Qi's wary gaze, he came to the side of Dong Qi's car and knocked on the window.

Having undergone several upgrades, Dong Qi was no longer afraid of small-caliber firearms. Although the other party was fully armed, he did not appear to be carrying any weapons. So, despite being somewhat puzzled, Dong Qi still opened the car window.

Just as the car window rolled down a little, the man tossed a package into the car through the window gap and immediately said, "It contains a walkie-talkie. The dust and snow outside are too corrosive, so I won't go in. We'll communicate using the walkie-talkie."

Without waiting for Dong Qi's reply, he turned around and walked back to the convoy.

The fact that they could still produce a working walkie-talkie at this point suggests that either the other party is a professional skilled in electrical repair or has special repair techniques.

Just as Dong Qi was about to open the package that the other party had thrown into the car, he heard the other party's voice coming from inside the package. When the other party handed over the walkie-talkie, it was already on and had not been turned off at all.

"Hey bro, I'm Wang Meng from the Haili Racing Team. I'm heading to Pengcheng. I see you're coming from the north. I wonder if you've ever been to Pengcheng before. I'd like to ask you about the situation there."

Because Dong Qi had removed the license plate from his car when he came out, the other party could not determine the vehicle's origin based on the license plate, so they could only ask directly.

"That's quite a coincidence. I did pass through Pengcheng on my way here. The highway was clear when I came. As for the situation in Pengcheng city, I don't really know much about it."

Because he didn't know the identities of the people in the other team, Dong Qi's answer, while not a lie, completely omitted any mention of his own situation.

It's unclear whether the other party guessed Dong Qi's thoughts from his words or simply didn't care much about Dong Qi's identity, hence their lack of inquiry and instead showing curiosity about the tires of his car.

"Brother, I don't know why, but the snow and ash outside are very corrosive, and ordinary tires can't drive in them. But it seems that the tires on your car are unaffected by the snow and ash. Could you tell me why?"

Of course, I'm just curious. If it's inconvenient for you to answer, you don't have to.

Upon hearing the question, Dong Qi was initially unsure how to respond, but then he noticed a roadside sign. Although the sign was covered in snow, the contents were still clearly visible.

Therefore, Dong Qi realized that the corrosive properties of the gray snow seemed to have no effect on the paint, so he directly said, "There's nothing to hide. I've found that the gray snow doesn't have any effect on the paint."

So I applied several coats of paint to the tires so they could drive normally in the snow and grime. However, because the paint used to cover the tires is consumed very quickly, you'll need to carry plenty of spare tires if you want to use this method.

After hearing Dong Qi's explanation, the other party was initially skeptical, then subconsciously looked for the corresponding target, but soon realized what was going on.

All the vehicles were covered in paint, but they were subconsciously ignored after the snow fell.

Therefore, Dong Qi's statement is most likely true. However, given the current outside temperature, it is almost impossible to find paint that can be used normally.

Besides, the method Dong Qi mentioned might work for a single vehicle, but for their entire fleet, it's just wishful thinking.

The more you say, the more mistakes you'll make, so Dong Qi didn't want to talk to the other person any longer. He said, "I'm in a hurry to pick up my sister in Jinling, so if there's nothing else, I'll be going now. I'll return the walkie-talkie to you when our cars get closer."

Although they didn't know if Dong Qi was telling the truth, the other party didn't intend to stop Dong Qi from leaving. Only after hearing Dong Qi prepare to return the walkie-talkie did they speak:

"I'll give you these walkie-talkies. They come with a charger. Since your car is running normally, the electrical appliances inside should also be working properly, so you won't have to worry about not finding a place to charge them when they run out of power."

It's all covered in snow and gray outside, making it inconvenient to meet other people when they get out of the car. Using a walkie-talkie to communicate is much more convenient in this situation.

We have spare walkie-talkies in our fleet, so we'll give these to you.

Since you're busy picking up your sister in Jinling, I won't keep you any longer. We can talk again next time we meet.

After saying that, the other party decisively started the excavator and retreated back to the road where the convoy was located through the gap that had just been opened.

After watching Dong Qi's car leave, the other party changed the channel on the walkie-talkie before speaking: "You heard the conversation just now. How much of what the other party said do you think is true?"

As soon as Wang Meng finished speaking, a member of the team complained, "Team Leader Wang, that kid is not honest. I feel like he doesn't tell the truth about much of what he said."

Although it seems that the paint will not be corroded by dust and snow, the paint covering the tires will be worn away by the ground in a short time.

Theoretically, paint can ignore the corrosion of snow and ash, but in practice it has almost no practical value. The fact that the kid's tires are immune to snow and ash corrosion must not be due to the method he mentioned; there must be other methods.

And this method must be very stable, otherwise he wouldn't dare to drive on the highway alone.

Although the exact location of his destination is unknown, the fact that he's on the highway means his destination is definitely not nearby.