Chapter 47: Reaching the Finish Line

After Zhu Zhiquan took over the driver's seat of the Tricycle, Zhao Yuxin read comics in the carriage while looking at the information on the World Channel.

Anyone who didn't know better would think she had two brains for being so distracted, and as for what information scrolling on the World Channel she actually took in, no one knew, but her laughter could be heard even from hundreds of meters away.

After Zhu Zhiquan pedaled the Tricycle over a sand dune, he saw a plaza-like area at the end of the road in the distance, with several roads extending toward it; this must be the finish line.

He glanced at the sky; there was still some distance to go before evening, so there was enough time. He looked around again; he didn't see any other players for the moment, so if he went over now, he might be able to take the championship.

Thus, Zhu Zhiquan quickened his pace to ensure his first place wouldn't be snatched away by someone else.

When he crossed the finish line, ready to welcome the joy of success, the system prompt made his face fall. It was only because the system prompt told him he had only taken second place, and as for the first place...

Zhu Zhiquan looked into the distance and discovered that a Tricycle had long been parked under a tree, and a sound was coming from the tent beside it; he didn't know who was inside doing the back-and-forth exercise between a married couple—truly shameless!

Because the sound was too loud, it made it impossible for Zhao Yuxin to calm down and read her comic book, so she poked her head out and asked curiously, "Ajiu, have we reached the finish line?"

Zhu Zhiquan got out of the driver's seat, "That's right, it's just a pity we aren't first."

"It's fine, as long as we arrived safely, whether we are first or not isn't important."

Zhu Zhiquan felt a bit bored, so he simply started striking a large tree to exercise his body, taking the opportunity to instruct Zhao Yuxin, "Azhao, remember to plant some crops in the vehicle."

"Okay." Zhao Yuxin prepared to return to the vehicle to first make a Flowerpot, when at this moment, the sound of three women crying came from the tent, and simultaneously, two satisfied men walked out.

These two men were fierce and malicious; one had only one eye, a thin build, and a dagger hanging at his waist, while the other had a palm-sized blue birthmark on his right cheek and was wearing a suit, looking like a suit-wearing thug.

The two men immediately had evil intentions when they saw Zhao Yuxin's figure, but then they saw Zhu Zhiquan, who was continuously striking the large tree nearby. Zhu Zhiquan swung his fists so fast they appeared as afterimages; the two exchanged low whispers, and finally, the man in the suit came to Zhao Yuxin's side to hit on her.

"Hello, beauty, are you free?" The man in the suit struck a pose he thought was handsome.

Zhao Yuxin felt somewhat uncomfortable looking at the man in the suit before her, and her Wrist-Mounted Strange Crossbow also entered an activated state, after which she responded politely, "Hello, may I ask what you need?"

The man in the suit replied with a nonchalant air, "Nothing much, I just wanted to invite you to be a guest on my vehicle, what do you think?"

"No thank you," Zhao Yuxin replied, then buried a mung bean into the Flowerpot. In the distance, Zhu Zhiquan noticed Zhao Yuxin's situation and wanted to go over to take a look, but his path was blocked by the one-eyed player.

Zhu Zhiquan saw that the visitor was ill-intentioned and prepared his Muay Thai starting stance; the one-eyed player also struck a pose, preparing to have a one-on-one duel with Zhu Zhiquan.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Three consecutive gunshots attracted everyone's attention; they saw a Tricycle parked at the entrance of the plaza at the finish line, and the person who fired the shots was none other than Sun Zi.

He aimed his left hand, which had transformed into a pistol, at the man in the suit; the man in the suit thought it over slightly and chose to leave obediently. Seeing there was no advantage to be gained, the one-eyed player also chose to return to the tent.

"Hubby, don't block the way here," Ling Xi said to Sun Zi, poking her head out of the vehicle canopy.

"Alrighty." Sun Zi parked the Tricycle next to Zhu Zhiquan's Tricycle, and Zhao Yuxin went to Sun Zi's carriage to play with Ling Xi.

Sun Zi then came to Zhu Zhiquan's side and gloated, "How about that, brother? Was I timely or not? If I had been any later, I reckon your teammate's innocence would have been gone."

Zhu Zhiquan ignored Sun Zi and continued to use the tree as his punching bag.

Seeing that Zhu Zhiquan wouldn't pay him any mind, Sun Zi said sarcastically from the side, "Yo, it wouldn't be that someone can't protect his own woman and can only take it out on a tree, would it?"

Zhu Zhiquan still ignored Sun Zi and kept throwing punches at the large tree. Sun Zi teased, "You and that girl really are a match made in heaven. Tell me, will you, this silent block of wood, and that girl ever get together?

I reckon if you two were together, it would definitely be that girl taking the initiative; otherwise, with your personality, who would like you."

Boom boom boom~

Zhu Zhiquan threw his punches calmly, completely ignoring Sun Zi's existence. Sun Zi found Zhu Zhiquan too boring, so he returned to his own Tricycle to rest.

As time passed, there were more and more people at the finish line. Even though there were Post Station Stores on the road that could help repair vehicles, there were still a few with poor skills whose Tricycles had developed huge gaps.

The players who reached the finish line looked at the position of the sun and found there was still plenty of time, so everyone set up a bonfire party in the center of the finish line plaza.

Everyone provided their own snacks and drinks, and some players showed off their singing and dancing talents to liven up the atmosphere.

"Ajiu, hurry up! Ling Xi is dancing over there, we have to be quick!" Zhao Yuxin pulled Zhu Zhiquan and ran to where Ling Xi was dancing.

Zhu Zhiquan yawned, his head looking toward the direction of his Tricycle from time to time. In fact, he didn't want to come; he was only forced to come because he was dragged along by Zhao Yuxin.

Zhao Yuxin pulled Zhu Zhiquan to Sun Zi's side; Ling Xi's graceful dance moves attracted everyone's gaze. Except for Zhu Zhiquan, whose gaze remained fixed on his own Tricycle, hoping that some thief would go and steal their things.

As more and more players arrived, the scale of the event became massive. Of course, there were also players who took the opportunity to steal things from others' vehicles; after all, there was no one here to maintain order.

But this made Zhu Zhiquan extremely excited; he immediately returned to his Tricycle to exercise under the guise of preventing thieves. In fact, he was extremely annoyed by such activities; for him, making him participate in group activities was worse than killing him.

When evening arrived, the players who were able to reach the finish line had all gathered there.

"The event has ended. Congratulations to the players who reached the finish line for successfully completing the challenge. You will now be teleported out of the Desert Race event. This system will grant corresponding rewards based on your ranking upon reaching the finish line.

Please return to your vehicles before the countdown ends."

"10"

"Everyone, let's meet again next time." Zhao Yuxin said goodbye to her friends and returned to her own Tricycle.

"9"

"8"

Huang Jing waved her hand, "See you later."

"7"

…………

"2"

"1"

At the very last moment, Sun Zi shouted to Zhu Zhiquan, "Kid, let's compete again next time..."

"0"

A white light flashed, and Zhu Zhiquan and Zhao Yuxin returned to their original Desert Highway, while the system prompt sounded in both of their minds.

"Congratulations on becoming the second place in the Desert Race; you have received one Blue Material Box."

A Material Box appeared in the carriage of the Tricycle. Zhao Yuxin rubbed her little hands together, and after saying a prayer, she opened the Material Box.