Chapter 79: Power System Upgrade Completed

The apocalyptic pickup truck with the upgraded electrical system showed no visible changes in its exterior.

It just had an additional solar charging panel on the roof of the cockpit.

Inside the vehicle, there were some related buttons and a power display function.

By connecting the solar charging panel to the charging port inside the vehicle, the charging mode could be activated.

The two-kilowatt-hour power bank obtained earlier from Iron Lion could now be used.

The Fruit-brand electronic watch retrieved from the Village Chief's house in Longevity Village could also be utilized.

In this apocalyptic world, having a watch to tell time was quite valuable.

However, since it was currently nighttime, charging would have to wait until tomorrow morning.

Chen Ye had no choice but to wait.

That was to have the System deduce methods for training Sequence Superpowers.

"System, begin deduction!"

Looking at what were originally thirty thousand Slaughter Points, now reduced to just five thousand.

Chen Ye felt so heartbroken he was grinding his teeth.

These Slaughter Points were spent way too quickly.

Fortunately, starting tomorrow, this pickup truck could activate the Hybrid Fuel-Electric mode.

This would save a lot of fuel in the future.

It would take two full days to charge the electric vehicle's battery, with a theoretical range of 100 kilometers, though the actual range was probably only around seventy kilometers, possibly even less.

While not ideal, this was barely usable.

If there were more Slaughter Points in the future, further upgrades could eliminate fuel consumption entirely.

Today, the vehicle was out of fuel.

And the vehicle was still charging.

Only after the vehicle had charged some electricity could the electric system be activated.

Chen Ye had no choice but to swallow his pride and borrow another thirty liters of fuel from Chu Che.

After all, with many lice, you don't feel the itch.

With many debts, you don't feel the worry!

He could just keep owing it.

"Captain, how much fuel have you actually stockpiled? It feels like you guys never run out of fuel."

"After lending you so much, I don't have much left either."

"Oh, and remember to return the fuel can!"

Chen Ye wore an expression of complete disbelief.

"Just letting you know, we're expected to encounter other convoys tomorrow. Rest early today, and stay extra vigilant when we make contact with them over the next couple days."

As Chen Ye carried the fuel can away, Chu Che said these words to him.

Tomorrow?

So suddenly?

After refueling the vehicle, these thirty liters would last for a while.

He saw the Pink-haired Girl practicing with her sword on a nearby sand dune. Under the blood moon, her long sword moved like a swimming dragon, reflecting the moonlight and sending chills down one's spine.

This woman seemed to have gotten stronger.

After refueling, he returned the fuel can.

The night passed without incident.

When Chen Ye woke up the next morning, he noticed something unusual in the camp.

First, Captain Chu—this guy was actually wearing new clothes and appeared somewhat cleaner.

Young Sun Xixi also looked more neat and tidy, her energy and spirit clearly improved.

Even Iron Lion had cleaned himself up.

"What's with all of you...?"

"We're meeting other convoys today, can't let them look down on us!"

Alright then~~~

Chen Ye reluctantly poured out a small half-cup of water, moistened a towel with it, and wiped his face.

As for his clothes...

There was no helping it. His previous clothes had been swept away by the sandstorm, and Chen Ye only had this set on him now. As for shoes...

Just the flip-flops on his feet.

The convoy seemed to have planned ahead today, heading east immediately after setting out.

Chen Ye also activated the solar charging panel.

"Beep!~~~"

After a prompt sound, the dashboard inside the vehicle began displaying that it was charging.

When Chen Ye saw the power display light up on the dashboard, he felt a fleeting sense of recalling civilization.

As the sunlight grew increasingly intense, Captain Chu found a place to stop.

He grabbed a handful of sand from the sandy ground and tasted it carefully, as if eating broad beans.

After tasting a few grains of sand, Chu Che tossed the remaining sand aside.

"This place will be safe until tomorrow morning."

The other survivors had already begun setting up camp.

Some took tents out from their vehicles.

Others unloaded food supplies from their vehicles.

Chu Che walked barefoot up a sand dune, shielding his eyes from the sun with his hand as he gazed into the distance.

Clearly looking for traces of the promised convoy.

After so long in the apocalypse, this was the first time seeing other fellow humans, giving Chen Ye both some anticipation and some wariness.

Clearly, Captain Chu hadn't spotted any signs of other convoys, so he delegated this honorable task to the convoy assistant Xiao Wang.

Coming down from the sand dune, he found a shady spot and set up a sunshade canopy.

Today, Captain Chu even generously brought out his treasured good tea leaves, and several people sat under the canopy drinking tea and chatting.

Leaving only the convoy assistant Xiao Wang standing alone on the sand dune enduring the nearly forty-degree Celsius weather.

Fortunately, the guy had the sense to bring a tattered parasol.

"They're coming, Captain, they're here!"

They had just sat down when they heard Xiao Wang's excited voice from the sand dune.

Everyone stood up and headed toward the sand dune.

The other survivors also perked up, climbing the sand dune with expectant expressions on their faces.

This was the first time in months that everyone would encounter people from another convoy.

When they reached the top of the sand dune.

Everyone looked in the direction Xiao Wang was pointing.

In the distance, a long line of tiny ants was slowly moving toward them.

Due to the distance, Chen Ye couldn't clearly see the situation of the other convoy, but he could sense something unusual about that long line of tiny ants in the distance.

"This... doesn't look like a convoy!"

"Someone voiced their doubt!"

"Exactly, their speed is way too slow!"

"They have so many people!"

"Yeah, so many people!"

The long line of tiny ants in the distance indeed appeared to have many people, stretching nearly several hundred meters from front to back.

"Ding ling ling..."

A series of bell sounds came through.

This is...

Could it be a camel train?

Chen Ye felt puzzled but said nothing.

Soon, the doubt in Chen Ye's heart was answered.

This was indeed a camel train.

A camel train moving gracefully through the desert toward them—the feeling was somehow anachronistic.

If not for the modern style of the people's clothing and the supplies on the camels.

Chen Ye might have thought he had traveled through time.

The camel train was long; Chen Ye roughly estimated over thirty camels.

Only the front camels had riders.

The camels at the back were all loaded with supplies.

Their supplies were even more abundant than the Fair Convoy's; it was hard to tell if they had just gathered these supplies.

As the camel train drew closer.

Chen Ye noticed another unusual aspect.

Leading the camel train was a barefoot old man sitting on a camel, with a sunshade canopy above him and a long-stemmed tobacco pipe in his mouth.

This should be Captain Chu's counterpart, a Pathfinder Sequence Superpower user.

Some of the following camels also had riders.

But there were even more people not riding camels.

These people included both men and women, dressed in rags, each with deeply sunken cheeks and sallow complexions, dull eyes, and bodies as thin as grasshoppers.

Even their hands and feet were bound with ropes, the other ends held by a burly man.

Looking at these people, only one word came to Chen Ye's mind: "Slaves."