Chapter 320: Unfinished joy

Bad news from the competitive circle...

Due to bad weather, sudden large-scale heavy rainfall caused large-scale mountain floods and mudslides on the Kunwu Plateau.

Many contestants were affected; following Tiancheng, the contestants of the three teams of Echo, Xinyuan, and Northern Territory went missing one after another, and at the same time, many drivers were injured as a result.

The many chain reactions triggered by this caused the stock prices of the sponsor car companies of the three teams to plummet, hitting the limit down for two consecutive days, making many stock analysts puzzled—what the hell, just lost a competition, why are so many bookmakers leaving the market like their lives depend on it? What for?

Do you love competition so much?

Not necessarily!

It just so happened that the spokespersons of the three companies had no movement for several days, no press conferences, and no interviews, and the silence was chilling. And every time the senior management entered and left the company, their expressions were heavy, making people feel painfully that they didn't just lose a driver, but lost a horse.

At the Longyuan relay station, reporters had already interviewed the hot favorite to win this competition—the driver of the Coastal team, Ji Jue.

"Sigh, what a pity, just a little bit... just a little bit, and I could have saved them..."

In front of the camera, the driver, who was weak and breathless, couldn't help but tear up when talking about this, sobbing: "When we set off in Kunwu, their faces and smiles were still vivid in my mind; I didn't expect that this parting would be a separation between heaven and man..."

The volume of tears was so large that it even wasted a pack of tissues for the reporter.

And the mutual appreciation between the contestants, the sincerity of that friendship, really made people hear it and shed tears, see it and feel sad.

After all, the driver himself had just received emergency treatment and examination, his injuries were critical, and the blood on the bandage on his arm hadn't dried yet.

And when the reporter asked if he would give up the competition because of his injuries, the contestant Ji Jue flatly refused!

Absolutely impossible.

He said what is this little pain in the wind and rain...

What scars will only make his fighting spirit high, even if he dies, he will die in the competition; in short, I want to inherit everyone's last wishes, carry the spirits of all the deceased, and go to the finish line together.

Absolutely not let their sacrifice be in vain!

A series of sonorous and hot-blooded words not only made An Ning subconsciously dig out a three-bedroom and one-living room with her toes, but also detonated the entire network public opinion again.

Thanks to this wave of heat, the attention of the Haichao Industry, which was about to complete reorganization and merger, also rose with the tide.

At the same time, the Tianya Investment, which struck while the iron was hot, announced another bombshell—the military industry business and related assets stripped from the Yunzhou Qingtian Industry, which decided to withdraw from the military industry market, would be fully taken over by the newly born Haichao Industry, and the two sides had reached a deep strategic cooperation.

For a time, amidst the heat of attention, various rumors and hearsay were rampant, and even such ridiculous cold jokes as "Haichao Industry also intends to strike while the iron is hot to acquire the military industry business of the three Echo companies" were believed by some people. I don't know what they were thinking. A reorganized enterprise that only had a factory area waiting to be built until now actually blackmailed the four major military industry alliances in the south of the Federation, are they crazy?

And the consequences brought by this wave of disasters also made many organizations and institutions begin to call for a ban on dangerous events like the Ruined Sea Rally, calling on everyone to cherish life, etc., all of which were refuted and ignored by the event organizing committee.

A wave of heat started and ended in just a day or two, and soon everyone threw this matter to the back of their minds and chased after new entertainment revelations.

As for the enthusiasts who really cared about the rally... they had already been arguing endlessly in various short video comments, forums, or chat groups!

After all, according to the current situation, many strong teams had retired and encountered accidents one after another, the injured were injured, the ones with problems had problems, and the missing were missing. As a result, eight or nine out of ten hot favorites before the start had failed, and now the one with the highest voice and possibility of winning had actually become the Coastal team, which had been established for less than a few months, and even the driver was a part-time factory manager?

It was really a bit outrageous.

From "Tiancheng must be the strongest," to "Chonghui is also well-deserved," followed by "Huzun and Echo are also acceptable," to the end, everyone was confused.

Holy shit, what is Coastal Automobile Factory?

What "no heroes in the world, making the vertical child famous," "no tigers in the mountains, monkeys are kings," "Xinyuan will definitely beat Coastal," "healthy Northern Territory fights information Chonghui"...

The combat power parties began to list data and facts and reason, the die-hard fans began to fiercely step on each other, and the gamblers looked for the nearest rooftop.

Amidst many chaos and noise, after only one day of rest, the competition had already started again—long yellow sand, thousands of miles of trekking, the S3 stage crossing the Gobi and the desert, a journey through the entire Longyuan!

In this death zone where the temperature is as high as 60 degrees Celsius all year round, and in some areas it may even reach over a hundred degrees at noon, with heat waves, scorching winds, and extreme cold at night, all contestants would face the most difficult challenge since departure.

It's just that for some reason, in the live broadcast, the audience saw a few... from the faces of the contestants of the remaining seven teams, more or less...

Incomprehensible relaxation?

Don't ask, asking is bravely entering the suffering, laughing at life! The more bitter the environment, the happier I am; if it's not bitter, I'm not happy!

Thank heaven and earth, thank my mother... these dogs finally finished fighting, and finally can drive properly.

Even if the competition hasn't ended yet, at least everyone doesn't have to worry about being shelled while driving or walking properly.

Compared with this, the heat of the day and the bitter cold after nightfall are just small things.

Only An Ning had a little opinion on this...

"So hot."

Only half a day after departure, An Ning was lying on the chair, dying from the sun, at this moment her face was flushed and her consciousness was blurred, "Brother Ji Jue, what did you feed me?"

"?"

Ji Jue was driving, looking back expressionlessly: "I don't know what I just fed you, but if you continue like this, someone will eat a little mouse next."

"Wuwuwu, so annoying."

An Ning instantly teared up: "Before when you needed me, you called me little dear little baby, and did this and that to me, now that I'm injured and useless, I've become someone..."

"..."

Ji Jue was silent, and began to hesitate, thinking about whether to solve this drama queen in the passenger seat before the competition ended. Otherwise, if she continued to play, by the time they reached the finish line, he didn't know what sad degree his reputation would be harmed to!

Or, just spend some oil...

Sighing, he turned on the air conditioning.

Immediately, the thing in the passenger seat squirmed, lay on the air vent, narrowed its eyes, and blew the wind.

After cooling down, she regained her vitality, humming a tune that couldn't be heard, and played with Ji Jue's tools and equipment to her heart's content.

She was just like a child with endless vitality.

Just looking at her appearance, it was really hard to imagine that this was a Bai Lu Chosen One of the Rebirth rank.

And what Ji Jue envied most was probably that physique... clearly she had suffered such serious injuries before, but she recovered so fast that it was deadly, and she was almost better after a sleep. She even dismantled the thread on her heart herself, braided it into a knot, and hung it on her hairpin, looking strange and weird.

Most of the time, she was harassing the driver, as a navigator, doing no work, and also pulling Ji Jue to chat to relieve boredom, asking questions.

"However, speaking of which... why continue the competition?"

She squatted on the glove box listlessly, pulling Ji Jue's hair, was patted away by Ji Jue unhappily, and then took advantage of his unpreparedness to reach out her little hand again, put the hairpin on his head, giggled, looking like she wouldn't stop harassing him until the end of time if Ji Jue didn't speak.

Bear children are really annoying.

Ji Jue sighed and asked back: "Why not?"

"There are no opponents left, right?"

She asked: "All the opponents that needed to be solved have been solved. After making such a big scene before, even if there are any blind guys behind, I'm afraid they won't dare to come up."

"Then don't come up."

To this, Ji Jue was much calmer, continuing to drive, galloping on the desolate Gobi beach: "Anyway, counting the harvest, it's almost back to the capital, and it's not that much."

It's not just not that much, it's a huge profit.

Not only the harvest of blessings and the growth of Mechanical Descent, but also the Undying Fire that was completely completed; just the stock prices of the four companies that had almost plummeted in these few days made Ji Jue, who had long been prepared to short, earn a full pot, and the numbers in the card were rising every day, which was simply getting rich overnight.

This trip out, he scraped the materials of the three departments, and even the initial equipment needed by the workshop was all in place. Not only did he instantly cross the capital accumulation stage that every artisan finds most painful, but he could also focus on the research of the Sword Art in the next few years without worrying about income.

Who said Echo is not good? Echo is simply too good!

Without those guys from Echo, where would Ji Jue find so many suckers to be slaughtered?

"Hmm..."

An Ning tilted her head, examining his appearance, filled with confusion, "Still feels very strange."

"What's strange?" Ji Jue asked back.

"Since the goal has been achieved and the competition is meaningless, according to your habits before, Brother Ji Jue, you would definitely have withdrawn from the competition directly." An Ning said: "Isn't this kind of thing without any purpose or results a waste of time in your eyes?"

"..."

Ji Jue was silent, stunned for a moment, and discovered that he had nothing to refute.

Just as An Ning said, if it were before, after realizing that the competition couldn't provide any value to him other than a little insignificant vanity, he would have withdrawn without hesitation.

But when the reporter asked, why did he refuse?

Without any thought, without hesitation.

"Hmm, I understand!"

An Ning's eyes suddenly lit up, as if she had suddenly realized: "Brother Ji Jue must be reluctant to part with me, wanting to exclude interference and have a sweet trip for two with me, right?!"

【???】

One hundred thousand question marks rose from Ji Jue's forehead.

No, you illiterate Bai Lu who can't even calculate the linear vibration of the eccentric shaft, how did you come to such a low conclusion?!

"I knew it, you have me in your heart!"

An Ning was beaming, pushing Ji Jue's shoulder, "Oh, annoying, the manga says, the tsundere type is very easy to miss a good relationship, and recently the routine of chasing the wife to the crematorium is very popular. Speaking of which, shouldn't I be noble and cold, snort, and not care?"

"An Ning——" Ji Jue sighed powerlessly.

"Hmm? What what?"

An Ning squeezed to the front of the driver's seat, leaned in, her eyes blinking, filled with expectation: "Are you going to confess? I'm not a casual girl, of course, if you are sincere enough, Brother Ji Jue, I might consider it seriously!"

"Please stop dreaming."

Ji Jue expressionlessly reached out, pinched that face, and moved it to the side coldly and ruthlessly, "Women without a university degree are not in my spouse selection range, thank you."

A mere academic failure who scored less than two hundred in seven exams, actually dared to covet him, a master-bachelor student of Tianmen University, one of the top five in the Federation?

Simply wishful thinking!

Ignoring An Ning's noise and accusation, Ji Jue manipulated the mercury, pressed her back into the passenger seat, and blocked her mouth by the way.

Now, it was finally quiet.

Ji Jue's palm swept across the dashboard, and for the first time since departure, he turned on the radio, and then, soft piano music came from the speakers, echoing in the silence.

He suddenly felt that perhaps continuing to participate in the competition was not bad.

At least having a ranking was a good thing for the development of Coastal Automobile Factory.

Moreover, that guy Yan Yan Jian organized so many people to send him cheering videos, as the factory manager, it was not good to ignore them.

Just treat it as occasionally doing a good deed and doing something meaningless...

He raised his head and looked at the scene outside the window, that vast world he had never seen before.

Even if it was just a dry wilderness and endless yellow sand, there was no beautiful scenery, but it still made people feel refreshed.

The azure sky was high and far, so bright, under the illumination of the scorching sun, everything seemed to be shining brilliantly.

"What a good day."

He murmured softly.

Abandoning the so-called purpose and meaning, Ji Jue drove the car, driving on the road that couldn't see the end.

Gradually, he hummed along with the melody on the radio lazily.

Moving away. ===== CHAPTER 321 =====