Chapter 298: Meeting on the Road

After a storm, the competition suddenly became intense.

The heat also began to rise gradually.

After the first day's live broadcast ended, the organizing committee officially released the video clips of the opening ceremony and the competition process, which ignited another wave of heat. Especially the shots of numerous speeding vehicles galloping in the wilderness, the ferocious beauty and mechanical aesthetics unique to large-displacement modified cars, as well as the passion and fighting spirit of challenging the world, and the images of vehicles charging forward into the blizzard...

After a storm, the successive withdrawals of many motorcades also cast a tragic color over the contestants struggling in the ice and snow.

Especially... there was so much fun to watch!

I don't know who it was, but they edited the whole story of the friction between the Coast and the Hundred Dragons from the official and live audience's live broadcast videos, and even specifically posted it to various video platforms with the competition tag; for a time, under the blessing of the Yellow Sea Rally, the heat began to soar rapidly.

After all, in this day and age, what everyone loves most is tearing each other apart and fighting, men wrestling shirtless, women pulling each other's hair, singing rock and smashing guitars at their peers... let alone the undisguised contradictions and conflicts between professional players in such a large-scale event.

And it only took a few minutes from start to finish, with all the ups and downs, and finally, the audience's mobile phone recording behind the fence even had 4k high-definition, illuminating that tiger-leopard-like brutal headlight in every detail, and even the cigarette butt that drew a red line on the hood.

The arc in slow motion, the way sparks flew, the strong light and dark scenes after the dark filter, and the contrast in the expressions of both sides.

Many details instantly became classics.

The barrage was overwhelming, and the comments also built up high towers.

【Damn, this swirl, loved it, loved it】

【Arrogant when successful, where is the competitive spirit?】

【Although the behavior of throwing a cigarette butt on the opponent's hood is not very civilized, thinking on the bright side, at least he didn't throw it into the opponent's mouth, right?】

【Laughing to death, you guys go watch the video next door, this cigarette was borrowed from someone else】

【Although it's not good to say this, I'm satisfied】

【From the first day I followed the factory manager, I knew he had tricks up his sleeve.】

【Competitive games, the strong are meant to hate and lecture the weak, what is there for the Hundred Dragons fans to be anxious about? If you don't know how to drive, you can go in front of the supermarket and put in coins to shake until you understand!】

【I stand with the Coast on this one, because he is kind.】

For a time, even the funny videos from the previous press conference and promotional films were all dug out and became popular again, especially Ji Jue's interview before the competition about "friendship first, competition second," which was stuffed with hard advertisements between the lines... even cucumbers and radishes saw a sharp increase in sales.

In the past, competitors would have been anxious and broken, bringing in internet water armies and haters to build a team, but recently, it has been strangely quiet.

In the silence, everyone was watching.

Even if the Coast is rising, it is ultimately just a passerby on this track, and in the end, it will return to military industry or die violently again. Moreover, he is so fierce, so ruthless, so dark, and so big, just endure it and it will pass; it's not worth jumping out now to be a pawn and cannon fodder.

Everyone is waiting for the outcome.

Although the possibility of winning is not high, it is not impossible to win... wouldn't it be better to add icing on the cake or kick someone when they are down after the dust settles?

This is destined to be a battlefield they cannot reach or interfere with; even companies like Echo, which are invested in or controlled by the four major southern families, can no longer touch the edge of the battlefield at this time.

On the first day of the rally, missiles were thrown out, damn it; this is no longer a normal business war; even if you rush up, you won't get any good, and you'll die miserably and suffocatingly. Unrelated people should just roll as far away as possible!

On the second day of the competition, bad news came frequently.

Not only the impact caused by the two consecutive storms yesterday, but the temperature that dropped suddenly at night also caused more damage. And in the organizing committee's many live broadcasts and videos, after several storms and snow disasters, the rescue team also found many car wrecks and corpses on the wilderness.

Fortunately, there were no contestants among them.

Most of them were "rally enthusiasts" who drove deep into the snowy plains to get closer to the scene; when they were found, one or two were already cold, turned into popsicles.

Among them, there was no lack of those who caused the vehicle to catch fire and explode because they "wanted to burn fuel to keep warm," and were burned to nothing...

And more incomplete corpses were eaten by "beasts," or fell into the frozen ground and froze to death; as for the few corpses in the fleeting shots that still had bullet holes... I can only say you saw wrong, and besides, the proliferation of guns in the Federation is not a first-day thing, is it not allowed for beasts to buy two to protect themselves?

In this regard, the organizing committee solemnly reminded again: Passion is not a crime, natural disasters are ruthless; the vast number of enthusiasts should just watch the live broadcast, and must not go deep into the snowy plains without professional conditions.

The next day, although it was still a long polar night, the sky cleared up, and helicopters and camera airships dedicated to the competition broadcast sent back a large number of shots.

The shots of many large off-road vehicles with exaggerated horsepower rampaging in the wilderness, breaking through snow, crushing ice, crossing snow mountains, and breaking through desperate situations were satisfying to watch.

It had only been one day since the start, and many vehicles had already suffered damage.

Cracks had already appeared on the body armor of many modified cars, and there were even traces of smoke and fire, which was really puzzling; I can only say that wilderness survival is really full of crises, and it actually looks like it was hit by artillery, which is really difficult!

It is a pity that although Ji Jue's table-flipping and missile-face-smashing kicked the Northern Territory into the mud pit, it did not cause much impact on other contestants.

After all, everyone came to participate in the competition with a life-and-death mentality from the beginning, so the defense must have been pulled to the max, not only personnel configuration and vehicle modification, but also alchemical creations were brought, and there was no lack of precious autonomous defensive types.

Through the satellite images sent by Isis, Ji Jue even saw the whole process.

A wave of welfare from the sky actually forced out many of the opponents' trump cards.

Among them, Xinyuan's car was like a ghost; after the initial chaos, it actually walked through the bombing of cluster bombs, as if it were not on the same layer as the explosion, unscathed. I don't know if it was the inversion of reality of the Mirror system or the revision and negation of the Metamorphosis system.

And after the cluster bombs falling toward the Northern Territory contestants landed, they all misfired and did not explode at all. Excluding the understanding and preparation for their own products, there was a high probability that there was an Entropy-type Chosen One among them.

Tiancheng's car didn't show any divinity; at the moment of the missile bombing, amidst the shaking of the earth, a mimetic giant beast that looked like a manta ray appeared on the snowy plains, spreading its huge wings, setting off a hurricane, and blowing away all the falling cluster bombs. In the car window, the blonde navigator looked up at the firmament, expressionless. The manta ray giant beast disappeared silently.

And the most exaggerated one is probably the Echo driver...

No dodging, no preemptive strike.

At the moment the missile descended from the sky, the driver, who looked like a giant, braked and stopped steadily, the metallic luster on his dark skin flowed, rose, rose into the sky, and unfolded an iron curtain.

Then, just like that... head-on, he took the two missiles that Ji Jue had specially arranged, all head-on!

Unscathed!

The terrifying firepower that could level a fortress in war did not do anything to him, and even after it was over, there was no sign of weakness.

Turning back, he continued to drive forward.

I can only say that everyone has unique skills, not to mention fighting spirit and patience; they might even have secret weapons in their pockets, waiting to give Ji Jue a surprise at any time.

In this regard, Mr. Ji Jue, the driver of the weak, helpless, and pitiful Coast motorcade, could only cry without tears, tremble, and then, by the way... kill and crush all the roadblocks and suspicious camps revealed by the satellite images along the way!

Since the start of the competition, 39 consecutive hours of driving, crossing mountains and ridges, crossing huge ice cracks and rift valleys, driving up countless steep slopes and mountain ridges, except for the vehicle maintenance in the middle few hours, it never stopped.

Anyway, with the Little Niu Ma's automatic driving, the wilderness is so big, let it run wild.

Since its birth, it had never run so happily.

Moreover, from time to time, fresh little scumbags were delivered to the door as snacks, and the positive feedback was completely pulled to the max.

Now Ji Jue doesn't even care about the steering wheel; when he gets in the car, he puts on an eye mask to make up for sleep or make consumables; when he encounters An Ning's warning, or encounters those bandits who came for the bounty, he gets out of the car to collect materials or drives the car over them head-on.

At first, it was fun to kill, but later, I don't know if it was because the wind was wrong, or the weather was good, or the live broadcast lens was watching, but no one came?!

It's a pity; not to mention that spiritual quality reserves are never too much, Mechanical Deification's dog food is never enough, and there are still quite a few sacrifices missing for Panying's next tempering.

"Really annoying."

Ji Jue sighed, stretched his head out of the car window, smiled pretentiously, and waved at the competition airship in the sky.

"... What we see next is the footage of the contestants of the Coast motorcade; well, Mr. Ji Jue, as a driver, also has high heat on the internet these past two days; he is waving at us, without the expected fatigue, glowing, and looking indeed energetic."

In the footage sent by the live broadcast, the host said with a smile: "The car that appears before the audience friends now is a dark horse that broke out in the 2000cc+ modified group in this competition; expert, what do you think?"

"From the data of this car in the competition group's vehicle inspection, its body structure and design have many similarities with the off-road vehicle 'Radish' launched by Coast Auto; we can regard it as an upgraded version of Radish, but many parameters are much more exaggerated than Radish; it is simply an out-and-out performance monster, much more exaggerated than the contestants' vehicles of other motorcades."

In the organizing committee's live broadcast room, the expert said with a serious face: "However, considering Coast's technical accumulation and experience, I think such a strategy is inappropriate.

After all, as everyone knows, before this, Coast focused on urban traffic and had never tried it on the off-road vehicle track; moreover, there was not enough time to run in the equipment; although the performance improvement is rough, the possibility of subsequent problems is very high. After all, simple and rough stacking of materials, without enough design and technical blessing, is hard to count as a good car."

"Well, that makes a lot of sense."

The host, whose innocent eyes flickered with ignorance, listened to the expert's nonsense, as if she understood, but there was also a beauty in the knowledge washing through the gray matter layer without leaving a trace.

"But I am a bit curious..."

The host, who didn't have a single bit of scheming, asked suspiciously: "Why are so many colors of ice on the car body red?"

For a time, the live broadcast room was dead silent.

In the silence, the expert was stunned on the spot, dumbfounded, looking at the speeding vehicle on the enlarged screen.

The frozen frost on the Little Niu Ma's front, bumper, and even the car body.

The scarlet color, with the accumulation of layers of frost, now covered more than half of the car body, so dazzling in the snow.

Wait, could it be blood?

There are even rags on it...

Is this something that can be talked about in the live broadcast room? No, is this something that can be broadcast at all?!

The director was sweating coldly, immediately signaling the broadcast director not to zoom in anymore, and quickly cut to a panoramic view for me, while the expert, who had been stunned for a long time, lowered his head and coughed, and under the urging of the headset, began to explain stammeringly:

"Uh, this, as everyone knows, phlogiston itself is actually a chemical substance, especially the heavy phlogiston used by high-horsepower vehicles, the processing process is particularly complex... the appearance of this situation should be that the exhaust gas formed after phlogiston burning reacted with the algae that appeared in the snow and ice, so the color of the ice turned into this, um, red... this is a very rare phenomenon, but it is also very normal."

At this time, the host, who knew she had poked a hornet's nest, didn't dare to ask why it hadn't appeared before and why other cars didn't have it, smiled forcedly, and hurriedly changed the subject: "Come, next, let's look at the contestants of the Tiancheng motorcade... Wow! What a coincidence, Tiancheng's contestant vehicle actually appeared on the right side of the Coast!"

At this moment, under the overlooking of the wide-angle lens above the firmament, on the vast snowy plains, the gale whistled, the white snow flew, and two contestant cars actually appeared in the same area!

Even, from the perspective of the route, there was a faint intersection!

On the second day of the competition, the contestants of Coast and Tiancheng, without any warning, met on the road!

It goes without saying.

After all, although the snowy plains are big, there are only a few routes from Heihe to Kunwu, and in them, it is inevitable that there will be intersections; what's more, ahead is exactly a gentle gap between two mountain ranges; if you don't want to waste time and effort to take a detour, then this is definitely the best choice.

It's just a pity...

Damn!

In front of the big screen, the director's eyes went black, and his whole person felt bad.

It's broken, will these two fight again in front of the organizing committee? Thinking of the scene yesterday where they were so insane that they threw missiles everywhere, at this moment behind the scenes of the live broadcast room, everyone couldn't help but gasp in unison.

At least Heihe is freezing, and the cold air is enough.

But a heart sank to the bottom.

Logically speaking, the camera should be cut at this time, but how to explain to the audience?

Especially the crazily rising number of online people and viewing data, as well as the performance and bonuses that followed, made his cold sweat flow out, and he was hesitant.

Until outside the live broadcast room, the leader who came over made a thumbs-up gesture through the glass.

It means—feel free to do it, you take the blame!

I damn x you x, you damn x, I will just...

The director had a smile on his face, but his heart was already cursing non-stop, gritting his teeth and stomping his feet, making a gesture: broadcast, damn it, keep broadcasting! Anyway, at worst, I won't do it anymore, and I'll go find another job...

Thus, as the lens zoomed in, the positions of the two cars got closer and closer.

On the snowy plains, they could almost see each other.

And long before this, both sides had already sensed it.

Www??????? co

Under the senses of the Chosen One, the distance of tens of kilometers on the plain, and still in the snow, there was no interference at all, simply close at hand.

They could almost see the expressions behind each other's car windows.

"Oh, both sides are competing, neither giving way, accelerating, Tiancheng started to accelerate, Coast also accelerated... My god, wait a moment, this is, this is... weather warning!"

The host's commentary in the live broadcast room fell into a daze, and a red mark appeared on the screen.

Behind the mountain range, the gale rose suddenly!

The overwhelming white wave whistled toward this place, from under the cover of the two mountain ranges, spraying out from the gap between the two, like a miserable white torrent.

Even if they were far apart, sand and stones were already flying on the ground.

"Unexpected weather conditions!" The host couldn't help but raise her voice, eyes wide: "God, both contestants didn't slow down, refused to give way, and even, were still accelerating!!!"

At this moment, against the rolling waves spraying over, like a giant carpet of pale storm, the two vehicles speeding on the snowy plains had no wavering at all.

Above the firmament, the airship quickly increased its distance, the picture began to blur, but the number of live broadcast viewers on the TV station soared again, climbed, making the high-level officials of the organizing committee laugh until they couldn't close their legs, and the scene of competing for priority under the pressure of natural disasters had already made countless people's blood boil!

Boom!!!

Amidst the loud noise, the Little Niu Ma shook suddenly, rolling thick smoke sprayed out, and one could almost see blue-green flames pouring out of the exhaust pipe.

Dragon blood boiled, engine pressurized, overloaded and spinning wildly.

Amidst the shouting of I don't know how many people, it overtook Tiancheng by a head, faintly ranking in the front!

"Brother Ji Jue, be careful—"

In that instant, An Ning in the car reminded, and then, Ji Jue's ears buzzed, as if a sharp sound suddenly erupted, his eyes went black, his mind was dizzy, swaying, fear surged out like a tide, anxiety, hesitation, and unease emerged one after another.

The originally focused state shattered instantly, not only that, amidst the surging of countless emotions, it conversely eroded his thinking and reason, making him pant violently, sweating profusely.

Heart Pivot!!!

It was not just the Five Skandhas madness of the Heart Pivot, but also the soul impact of Metamorphosis.

At this moment, in Tiancheng's passenger seat, the blonde navigator's eyes shot out blue light, and infinite brilliance appeared.

All along, Metamorphosis and Heart Pivot were usually confused by many people; after all, both came from the same source and the same heart.

Metamorphosis is the eternal hope of life's climbing, pursuing understanding, realization, and leaping, while Heart Pivot is the desire of the nature of all living things, the many loves, hates, cravings, and fears born with it.

The debate between divinity and beastliness, the struggle between superego and id, is endless, and naturally, it is difficult to integrate.

Unlike other Chosen Ones who choose one and follow it, the opponent's matrix is a composite type that is compatible with both paths! Not to mention the harsh requirements and conditions for the user, being able to develop to this point, the threat level absolutely cannot be regarded as simply adding a single Metamorphosis and a single Heart Pivot together.

Even if he had been prepared and guarded, Ji Jue was still broken in his rational defense in an instant, and his brain was in a mess.

In a trance, infinite determination surged and dissipated from his soul, all hope was lost, the unsatisfied craving desire rose like a tide, the girl's soft breathing came to his ears, the faint fragrance was smelled at the tip of his nose, and what filled his reason and thinking was actually the soft touch left when they shook hands.

Even, one figure after another appeared before his eyes in turn.

Without any ability to resist, Ji Jue was already intoxicated!

That's why I hate Heart Pivot!!!

While Ji Jue was intoxicated in a trance, he couldn't help but be furious: When the Chosen One was summoned, nine of the twelve Upper Goods arrived, you damn it didn't come, right!

Fortunately, before this, he had already made preparations...

In the rapid sinking and trance, Ji Jue gritted his teeth and reached out—

In an instant, inside the speeding Little Niu Ma, the structure inside the car changed, the glove box on the right side opened suddenly, and amidst the structural change, the handle rose.

It was held tightly in Ji Jue's hand!

—Panying!

In that instant, the seal was released, dragon blood and mercury retreated, and under the urging of spiritual quality, infinite killing intent and madness rose like a waterfall, from the instinct and understanding engraved in his soul, spraying, erupting, wantonly washing, instantly extinguishing all desires and distracting thoughts, filling his consciousness and soul, occupying everything.

Dyeing the world in Ji Jue's eyes scarlet!

Kill! Kill! Kill! Kill! Kill! Kill!

In Tiancheng's passenger seat, the navigator's expression changed drastically!

For example, after breaking through the obstruction of the mountain rock with a shield machine, the torrent that sprayed out from the mountain body was as thick as blood, enchanting and scarlet. The waterfall formed by infinite death and malice swept across, filling Ji Jue's consciousness, and then... reversed along this connection between consciousness, flowing backward!

Pop!

The sound of breaking rang out from the void, Tiancheng's driver was shocked, turned his head to look at the navigator twitching and convulsing in the passenger seat: "Hey! Maya, what's wrong with you—"

Maya didn't speak, panting violently, thick blood oozing from her eyes and nostrils, drop by drop.

Roaring, she forcibly cut off the connection.

It wasn't just the killing intent that sprayed out; she had long been accustomed to the evil of human nature; even if it was troublesome or painful, it was nothing more than confrontation or indulgence, but a certain instinct made her tremble and fear involuntarily.

It was as if she could faintly perceive something, something hidden behind that pool of blood, some kind of behemoth!

More pure than so-called killing intent, more violent than the madness gathered by death, and even more ferocious than the limit of despair that the human soul could imagine...

Where on earth did that guy come from, what kind of monster is he!

And just before the connection broke, the shallow, fragmented thinking she read made her scream:

"Careful!"

In that instant, in the driver's seat of the Little Niu Ma, the moment he regained consciousness, Ji Jue instinctively reached out toward the opponent who had already approached within a two-kilometer range.

Now, it's my turn!

—【Mechanical Deification】

In the storm, under the overlooking of the live broadcast lens, Tiancheng's vehicle shook without warning, twisted, thick smoke rose from the engine, and the speed dropped sharply.

It was as if it was striking in protest, about to break down?

All the audience in front of the screen subconsciously straightened their bodies, eyes wide—at this critical juncture, is it about to break down!

The entire armored vehicle shook violently at this moment, making a series of sharp friction sounds, as if it were about to fall apart completely. And under the hood, countless spiritual quality circuits emerged, resisting the changes Ji Jue imposed from the air; the driver in the driver's seat had a livid face, and the force field had already been deployed.

The control power of the Tian Tian Yuan system had already pre-covered the entire vehicle, not to mention the alchemical structure inside the car, resisting external interference. But in Ji Jue's spiritual quality, it seemed to contain some kind of strange vibration and change, and a wisp of faint scarlet brought terrifying erosion, penetrating inward through every pore.

If he hadn't been prepared, I'm afraid the engine would have been detonated by Ji Jue!

But now, he fell a step behind at the most critical moment.

Seizing this opportunity, the opponent accelerated again, threw off Tiancheng behind him, and was the first to rush into that miserable white storm, disappearing.

The winner is decided!

"Damn!"

The driver was furious and looked at Maya.

Immediately after, the giant manta ray disaster beast with color-changing mimicry in the firmament spread its wings again, and under Maya's command, it chased after them, silently rushing into the storm that could not be spied upon.

Since they met, there was no reason to let them go.

It was better to use this storm as cover and strike hard!

But before that, what rang out in the roaring storm was actually a tragic and shrill roar, like the dying wail of a giant beast.

Even the surging storm was covered with a large area of miserable red, permeating, just like blood spreading and spraying from under the cover of white cotton.

Then, the moment Tiancheng rushed into the storm and the live broadcast overlooking was blocked and cut off, the violent and ferocious iron monster had already trampled the severely damaged giant beast and pounced over!

As early as the moment it rushed into the storm, the Little Niu Ma turned around and changed, in one go, threw off the carriage full of burdens and supplies, broke free from the shackles, turned around and leaped!

The winner is decided?

Decide my ass!

People aren't dead yet, how can it be decided?!

Ji Jue followed the satellite images all the way, specifically running to the front of Tiancheng to block the door; was he here to say hello?

In the momentary intersection, the Little Niu Ma jumped on the manta ray, giant claws trampled, hammers and giant axes slashed and intersected, stepping on the manta ray's spine, running wildly forward. In the other empty hand, Panying popped out, and under the infusion of massive spiritual quality, dragon blood catalyzed, blood light soared, forming a scarlet torrent that looked like a giant sword.

In a snap, it pierced and penetrated with destructive force, and with the wild running of the giant claws, it dragged forward all the way.

Until it split the entire disaster beast in two from beginning to end!

It didn't even wait for it to land; the giant sword that had drained the blood had already been raised again, and along with the Little Niu Ma, stepping on the wreckage, it leaped up again, toward Tiancheng, which had just entered the storm...

Jumping and slashing at the face!

—Die for me!!!

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 299 =====