Chapter 2908: Small Town Infrastructure Construction Proceeds Happily 30

Besides the four of them, the trip also included elites carefully selected from the North and South Towns.

From North Town: Houzi, Dashu, Xiaoshu, and A Li.

From South Town: A Lei, female doctor Ruo Qing, and Qiao Mei, who stands about 1.9 meters tall and excels at heavy weapons and explosives, plus six elite fighters selected from the two Patrol Teams, making the whole team twenty strong with high morale.

That afternoon, the convoy set off.

Before departure, Huo Zhaoye dawdled, but eventually he ended up leaning against Jin Chen's side.

Huo Zhaoye stood by the passenger door, stern-faced: "Jin Chen, if you don't come with me, I might lose focus while driving and cause big trouble."

Even though it's a cold war, sitting apart is absolutely out of the question.

As Dashu, who was preparing to go to another vehicle, overheard, he exclaimed, "What the hell?"

He immediately exchanged a meaningful glance with Xiaoshu, and without waiting for Jin Chen's response, he swiftly opened the passenger door.

"Jin Chen! Please! Please hurry! The boss drives steadily, so sitting beside him is perfect for resting!"

Jin Chen couldn't help but laugh, giving Huo Zhaoye's cheek a light poke.

"That's a lame excuse," Jin Chen remarked, but he had already bent down and slid into the passenger seat.

Huo Zhaoye's eyes instantly lit up, as if he'd received a great reward; he hurried to the other side and climbed into the driver's seat.

The convoy headed northeast.

At first the road was familiar and the scenery was the usual desolation, but as they neared the experimental zone, the surroundings began to turn strange.

The seasonal shifts here seemed to lose their rhythm; upon entering a valley, the temperature plummeted, and by noon the next day the outside temperature had dropped to single digits, breath turning to frost, and it kept falling, forcing everyone to bundle up in heavy winter gear.

"What a creepy place," Houzi muttered, rubbing his hands and exhaling a white puff toward the window.

Following the plan, the convoy chose a relatively concealed side road; the surface was bumpy and uneven, so they progressed slowly.

At noon, Huo Zhaoye decided to pull over in a relatively sheltered spot to let everyone rest and loosen up their frozen limbs.

Just as the vehicle came to a stop, Qiao Mei's voice crackled over the makeshift car intercom, signaling everyone not to disembark yet.

"There's movement."

She cocked her ear, brows knitting: "Engine noise, and… something else, coming from the two o'clock direction, fast."

Everyone immediately went on alert.

Sure enough, not long after, the silhouettes of several modified vehicles appeared on the horizon, recklessly charging toward them.

Behind those vehicles, dust billowed, revealing several huge, oddly shaped beasts in pursuit.

From afar they looked somewhat like camels, but their proportions were wildly off—limbs overly thick, capable of running upright, each step making the ground tremble slightly; there were at least six of them.

Such a mutant beast herd is a nightmare no convoy would want to encounter.

"Prepare to detour!"

Huo Zhaoye made a snap decision, gripping the communicator to issue the order.

Our goal is the crystal stones; there's no need to invite complications, and we certainly don't want to get dragged into others' troubles.

Give those fleeing vehicles a clear lane; once they pass, the mutant beasts will naturally be drawn away.

The Peace Town convoy began to move sideways.

However, the fleeing convoy seemed unimpressed.

Upon seeing the Peace Town convoy, they not only failed to speed away along the cleared path, but instead jerked the steering wheel and veered toward the Peace Town convoy!

Moreover, one of the vehicles stuck a gun barrel out its window and fired several rounds at the tires of the lead vehicle in the Peace Town convoy.

Although the distance was still great and the bullets hit the dirt off-target, the intention was blatantly obvious.

They were trying to draw the fire eastward, to drag the Peace Town people in as cannon fodder to buy themselves escape time, or simply to let Peace Town attract the mutant beasts' attention.

"Damn it!" Dashu cursed, jerking the steering wheel to dodge the bullets.

The Gobi terrain here is littered with jagged rocks and intersecting gullies, making it impossible for an off‑road vehicle to charge straight ahead at full speed.

The Peace Town convoy was suddenly put in a tough spot, forced to maneuver against both the opposing vehicles and the pursuing mutant beasts.

Taking advantage of their familiarity with the terrain, the opposition repeatedly tried to push us toward the mutant beasts, their malicious intent plain as day.