NOVEL SIMPLE Chapter 59: The Racing Competition
The hen instinctively felt something was off, took two steps back, and turned to run.
However, the car’s interior was limited in space, and with the sunshade net on it, how could it escape? Before it could turn around, it was caught by Zhang Tuohai.
He removed the sunshade net from the hen and casually tossed it into the ceramic oven, then slammed the lid shut.
"This way, it won't run around," Zhang Tuohai said, satisfied, patting his hands.
As for how the hen cursed inside the ceramic oven, that was none of his concern.
Zhang Tuohai leisurely returned to his seat, continuing to eat his smoothie while admiring the scenery.
Xiao Ai started the car again, driving towards the distance.
He wasn’t sure if it was an illusion, but Zhang Tuohai clearly felt that the number of supply boxes had decreased.
The car had been driving for two hours without him seeing a single supply box.
Fortunately, he had switched to a hybrid engine and solar charging panels, making his journey completely without consumption; otherwise, the wasted fuel alone would have made him cry.
Even so, not having any gains after two hours made him a bit restless.
“System, how come I’ve been driving for two hours and haven’t found a single supply box? Is it possible that other players are ahead of me and have taken them all?”
[After detection, no players were found ahead.]
“No players? Then what’s going on?” Zhang Tuohai frowned.
He looked down at the regional channel to check how others were doing.
Once he entered the regional channel, a flood of messages appeared.
“What’s going on? I’ve been driving for two hours and only found a bottle of mineral water. Is this reasonable?”
“You’re doing better than me; at least you’ve found something. I haven’t found a single thing since this morning and wasted gasoline for nothing. It’s infuriating!”
“I’m in a worse situation. It was too cold yesterday, so I burned some gasoline to keep warm, and now I don’t have much left. I was hoping to find some today, but I found nothing. Can someone lend me a little gasoline? I’ll pay them back if I find some today.”
“Are you kidding? You burned gasoline? How can there still be such fools? I’ve been toughing it out under a blanket.”
Seeing everyone’s comments, Zhang Tuohai furrowed his brow.
He felt something was off.
If he were the only one unable to find supplies, it might just be bad luck.
But if most people were also struggling to find supplies, based on his experiences in the past few days, it was likely that the behind-the-scenes planners of the road survival game were up to something again.
As Zhang Tuohai expected, at 08:55 game time, a system announcement was issued.
[The limited-time road racing event has officially begun.]
[Participants: All players]
[Event Time: 09:00 - 18:00]
Rules:
All players will be guided to a designated racing track for the competition.
Rankings will be determined based on the order players reach the finish line.
Rewards will be distributed according to player rankings. (The top three players will receive a mysterious prize of their choice. Players are encouraged to strive for the top three positions, as these prizes can help them survive the Twin Day Cataclysm.)
Players who fail to reach the finish line within the specified time will be permanently stranded on the racing track.
A limited number of supply boxes will be randomly air-dropped on the racing track; players should make efforts to collect them. These supply boxes may help players win the racing competition.
Any behavior by players on the racing track will be considered valid and will not be interfered with.
[Countdown to the game start: 4 minutes and 59 seconds.]
Upon seeing this announcement, Zhang Tuohai’s brows furrowed.
Just yesterday, they had a regional rally competition, and today they were doing a racing competition again. It was relentless.
Zhang Tuohai estimated that the days of quietly collecting supplies like before were likely coming to an end.
What worried him most were the racing rules.
On one hand, the racing competition set up high rewards at the finish line to entice players to aim for first place.
On the other hand, there were no restrictions on player behavior.
This meant players could even kill each other.
Some players might choose to eliminate all encountered players to ensure they win the race.
Wasn't this just a way to incite players to slaughter one another? Zhang Tuohai was certain that after today, the number of players in the regional channel would significantly decrease.
Moreover, after today’s bloodshed, players would likely develop grudges against one another, making it hard to maintain any semblance of peace.
However, even though he understood the malicious intent behind these rules, he felt powerless.
There was no choice; the Twin Day Cataclysm looming in two days was like a sword hanging over everyone’s head, forcing them to make a decision.
Those people were not like him; they were already prepared to survive this disaster.
Many among them had problems just getting enough food.
For them, the prize for surviving the Twin Day Cataclysm was too tempting.
As Zhang Tuohai had expected, after the event announcement was released, the originally lively regional channel fell silent, and no one spoke again.
Seeing this, Zhang Tuohai sighed.
After a moment of thought, he shouted in the regional channel, “I’m putting some car repair kits and weapons in the trading channel. Those in need can buy them; always be wary of others.”
As he said this, Zhang Tuohai listed 20 hunting spears and 50 car repair kits in the regional channel.
These car repair kits were priced at double the manufacturing material cost.
Once these items were listed, in less than a minute, they were all snatched up.
Seeing the speed of the purchases, Zhang Tuohai couldn’t help but be astonished.
It seemed these people still had some supplies; they bought the double-priced car repair kits without hesitation.
“Boss, do you have any more car repair kits? I was a step too slow earlier. Can you sell me one?”
“Boss, do you have any smaller weapons? The spear is too big for me to use.”
“Boss, do you have any gasoline? I’m out of gasoline; can you sell me some? I can trade food for it.”
Soon, Zhang Tuohai's private messages hit 99+.
He welcomed all these requests.
As long as the price was right, he would trade immediately.
Zhang Tuohai knew that for some of these people, if they didn’t act quickly to make a deal, they wouldn’t have a chance later.
Bit by bit, Zhang Tuohai sold over seventy car repair kits, more than thirty weapons, and 300 units of gasoline.
His basic supplies significantly increased, and the space that had just opened up felt tight again.
“Looks like enhancing the storage space is going to be on the agenda again,” Zhang Tuohai thought, glancing at the numerous supplies in the car.
At 9:00, the car racing competition officially began.
As the game system’s voice sounded, Zhang Tuohai felt the scenery in front of him shift. He found himself on a brand new road, with hundreds of cars parked beside him.