Chapter 44 Gas Station
The mutation of plants not only puts greater mental pressure on people, but also adds considerable difficulties to the team's journey.
The bumpy ride and slowed-down speed are one thing, but the most annoying thing is that the fuel consumption on this road is much higher than in the previous days, and the damage to the car will be greater.
Although they had occasionally encountered abandoned vehicles on the road before, they seemed to have bad luck. They only encountered a car with half a tank of gas left once. The other few times they encountered cars, the tanks had been emptied.
Lin Yingjie looked at the fuel level indicator on the dashboard and listened to the squeaking parts of the car, and his hair almost turned white with worry.
However, Qiao Yu also thought about the problem he was worried about.
"Yes, turn right there." Qiao Yu took out her homemade atlas and carefully identified the route. "Then keep going straight. After about... 10 kilometers, you should be there."
Although Qiao Yu prepared a large number of maps and route itineraries before the end of the world, the roads were severely damaged after the plants mutated, and many road signs collapsed. Some of the originally straight roads were also affected by the surrounding vegetation and became winding. There were even some forks in the road where if you didn't look carefully, you would accidentally go to other routes.
This time the destination is a gas station.
"I don't know if the plant mutation has affected that gas station..." Qiao Yu curled his lips, "If it collapses, it will be difficult to get oil."
In reality, the decision to go there wasn't just for Lin Yingjie and the others; Qiao Yu had her own considerations. Although they'd already stocked up on ample supplies, with plenty of gasoline and diesel, with outsiders around, they'd sooner or later become suspicious if they didn't find a place to restock. And who would complain about having too much? It was on their way anyway, so why not take it?
Jiang Zhan ruffled her hair and soothed her softly, "Don't think too much. Let's go and take a look first."
"Yeah." Qiao Yu closed the atlas and lazily lay in Jiang Zhan's arms, staring out the car window, but his mind was not thinking about the gas station.
The plants are still in the early stages of mutation. Although they look tall, they don't have any special abilities. After a few days when they are completely alienated, they will develop various special abilities.
They were different from the aliens. No matter how powerful the aliens' abilities were, they were still systematically recorded. However, the number of different types of alien abilities in plants was much more complex than that of the aliens.
Although the alienation of most plants is related to their original habits to a certain extent, and they do not have any ability to control natural factors, due to the population size issue, most people cannot accurately identify and describe the habits and characteristics of a certain plant before the end of the world and when the plants have not yet mutated, let alone after the mutation.
The word "unknown" itself is dangerous.
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The mutated plants made the path difficult to navigate. They ran for nearly 40 minutes to cover the 10 kilometers.
This gas station is a medium-sized one, not particularly large, but there are quite a few vehicles parked in front of it.
From a distance, Qiao Yu saw more than a dozen cars of different sizes and models surrounding the gas station, all strategically positioned.
"All the entrances and exits are blocked by these cars. It looks like there should be survivors inside."
After the end of the world, this kind of "occupy the mountain and become king" behavior is very common. As long as you have the ability to defend the territory, you can occupy any place.
Cheng Sinian slammed on the brakes when he heard that. "Then are we still going?"
"Go, why not?" Qiao Yu blinked, "We can trade with them."
The car soon stopped outside the gas station.
"Lin... Lao Lin, you and Lao Deng, get out of the car. Everyone else stay in the car and don't move. Lin Chi, protect the others."
Cheng Sinian held the intercom and suddenly remembered Lin Yingjie's special instructions last time. He said that it had been so long since the end of the world, so there was no need to keep calling him "General Lin, General Lin". From now on, he could just call him "Old Lin". So the "General Lin" on his lips changed to "Old Lin".
"receive."
When the four people on Qiao Yu's side got out of the car with Tang swords and guns, Lin Yingjie and Deng Minglang were already waiting by the car.
The entrance and exit of the gas station were tightly blocked by cars, leaving almost no space between them. Cheng Sinian stretched his neck to take a look and shouted inside, "Is anyone there? We have food and want to exchange it for some gas!"
As soon as Cheng Sinian finished speaking, a young man jumped directly onto the roof of the row of cars at the entrance and looked at the six people.
The man looked to be about 27 or 28 years old. He was not outstanding in appearance, but his facial features were regular. He looked at them silently for a few times, but his gaze obviously stayed on Qiao Yu and Luo Zhenzhen's faces for a little longer.
Jiang Zhan's face was not good. His right hand was around Qiao Yu's waist, and his left hand silently touched the pistol on his waist. If Qiao Yu hadn't held his hand, the man in front of him might have been dead by now.
Cheng Sinian's eyes narrowed slightly, "What? Can't you speak?"
Seeing that they looked annoyed, the man didn't say anything. He just said "Wait," then jumped off the roof and ran back.
After he left, Cheng Sinian turned his head and glanced at Luo Zhenzhen who was standing behind him.
The little girl stood there, holding the Tang sword in her arms, looking quiet and well-behaved. When he turned around to look at her, she glanced at him blankly, as if asking him with her eyes: What's wrong?
Tsk. How come they are so good at recruiting people?
Cheng Sinian touched his back teeth with the tip of his tongue and smiled at her.
Luo Zhenzhen was startled by his sinister grin, her eyes widened, and she twisted her fingers helplessly, trying hard to recall how she had offended him.
After waiting for a few minutes, a car at the entrance suddenly drove away, leaving a vacant seat. The young man they had seen earlier was standing there, shouting at them, "Come in, our boss wants to talk to you in person."
Cheng Sinian was about to go in when Jiang Zhan suddenly stopped him with his hand, "Take Zhenzhen back to the car and wait."
Luo Zhenzhen was still thinking about how she had offended Cheng Sinian, and was a little confused when she was suddenly called out.
But Cheng Sinian understood. Jiang Zhan said "return to the car" instead of "return to the car", so the people who had to "wait" were probably not them.
Oh, time to work.
"Okay." Cheng Sinian curled his lips nonchalantly, pulled Luo Zhenzhen and turned to walk back.
"Brother-in-law, this..." Deng Minglang was confused and muttered to himself while leaning against Lin Yingjie.
Lin Yingjie keenly noticed the young man's brow furrow slightly as he saw Cheng Sinian and Luo Zhenzhen leave, then quickly relaxed. He felt a little uneasy, but seeing that Jiang Zhan and Qiao Yu remained calm, he calmed himself and whispered to Deng Minglang, "It's okay. Since they didn't let us go back, we can just follow them."
The four of them walked in and looked up to see a man in his thirties or forties sitting on a wooden chair in an open space not far ahead. Next to him was a solid wooden table with several bottles of water and a few bags of snacks on it. Behind him stood seven or eight young men.
The young man just now walked over first, leaned over and whispered a few words to the man on the chair, and then saw the man's eyes sweeping towards them.
The man was slightly overweight, with a beard, small eyes, a flat nose, and a somewhat rugged appearance, but his gaze was sharp and scrutinizing. It seemed he was the "boss" the young man was referring to.
"Brother, what's your name?" This time it was Lin Yingjie who spoke first.
It’s not that he had to rush to start a conversation, but after waiting for a long time, no one on either side spoke.
He had also witnessed what had just happened. He had always known that Jiang Zhan was very protective of Qiao Yu. That kid must have pissed Jiang Zhan off. But no matter what, they were the ones asking for help, and Lin Yingjie didn't want things to get too awkward right after their initial encounter.
"Zhao Sheng."
Qiao Yu glanced at the man in surprise. He looked quite rough, but she hadn't expected his voice to be so high-pitched. If the Qing dynasty hadn't fallen hundreds of years ago, she would have suspected he was a remnant of the Qing imperial harem.
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