CHAPTER 214: CHAPTER 212 DEPARTURE

"The greenhouse is fully automated. Long Niang, you just need to operate through the console by following the system prompts to harvest the ripe vegetables, and it will automatically replant for you without needing you to do it manually." Inside the greenhouse, Chen Xin was introducing his automated greenhouse to Mo Qingyan, also teaching her how to manage it: "I’ve put the seeds in the storage cabinet beside you. If you need to replant, just follow the system prompts. As long as you follow the steps, there won’t be any difficulty."

"This is practically foolproof. If I still find it hard, I must be entirely hopeless." Mo Qingyan looked at the automated mechanical greenhouse in front of her, her eyes filled with admiration.

Although she knew Chen Xin was quite capable, she didn’t expect him to build such a highly automated greenhouse.

This level of automated greenhouse isn’t unheard of, but they are usually in agricultural university labs used for cultivating new crops or researching agricultural techniques. This is the first time Mo Qingyan has seen someone like Chen Xin using it to grow ordinary crops, merely for convenience.

But it did save her a lot of effort. When she initially agreed to help Chen Xin take care of the greenhouse, she thought she would have to do hands-on farming. Little did she know she only needed to press buttons and follow prompts to control everything.

While it put Mo Qingyan at ease, she also confidently assured Chen Xin, "Don’t worry about the ingredients; now that everything is so advanced and automated, I’ll definitely take care of your greenhouse well."

"Well, I’ll leave it to you then. In a few days, these vegetables will be ready for harvesting. When the time comes, harvest all the vegetables, keep some for yourself and Little Sister Xin to eat, and then give the rest to the SWAT team," Chen Xin felt relieved hearing Mo Qingyan’s words, reminding her, "They come once a month for resource exchanges. However, for the last three months, I’ve already advanced some resources, so you only need to hand over the crops to them."

"Sure, I know the SWAT team people, I’m not going to mess things up for you," Mo Qingyan nodded, feigning indifference verbally but taking the matter seriously in her heart.

After entrusting her with these tasks, Chen Xin led Mo Qingyan out of the greenhouse, where Mo Qingxin was dragging their luggage upstairs to the second-floor room, helped by Qin Lan and Ding Ning.

"Sis, do you want the upper or lower bunk?" Mo Qingxin asked, leaning over the railing in the living room.

"There are so many rooms; does it matter? Does Xin want us to have only one room? If you want the top, take the top; if you want the bottom, take the bottom. I’m not sharing a room with you!" Mo Qingyan felt a bit embarrassed about her sister’s zeal and replied.

Getting rebuffed by Mo Qingyan, Mo Qingxin quickly pulled back her head but didn’t take her sister’s words to heart, dragging her luggage to find a room of her own.

"A Xin, are you leaving now?" Qin Lan, seeing that Chen Xin had already arranged everything, looked at him with some reluctance.

"Yeah, I’ll leave after lunch. I’ve explained everything and prepared what needs to be prepared; it won’t be a problem," Chen Xin understood Qin Lan’s worry and attachment but didn’t comfort her, only giving her a slight smile.

In Mo Qingyan’s presence, Qin Lan refrained from showing too much intimacy toward Chen Xin and just nodded, saying, "Make sure to stay safe on the road, keep the radio on at all times so we can reach you."

"I will. Don’t worry too much. You’ve seen my car; I’ll be alright," Chen Xin tried to appear indifferent, perhaps to keep Qin Lan from feeling too emotional.

Watching his demeanor, Qin Lan bit her lip slightly in discontent but didn’t express it explicitly. "I’ll cook lunch then; consider it seeing you off," she said to Chen Xin.

"Alright, if you’d like," Chen Xin replied indifferently.

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He inserted the key into the ignition under the steering wheel, starting the car and watching as the console lit up. Chen Xin placed his right hand on the touchscreen, looking at the camera hidden above the driver’s seat.

"Facial recognition complete, fingerprint recognition complete, system initiating." The operating system’s vocal prompt sounded in the cabin as Chen Xin moved: "System self-check in progress, please wait."

"Power system normal, energy output 100%; water circulation system normal, water tank storage 100%; radar system normal, environment scanning in progress; communication system normal, radio standby, drone standby; life support system normal, all data normal..."

"System self-check complete, vehicle status optimal, standing by."

"Engine warm-up, ready for departure." Chen Xin voiced his command, then opened the car window beside him, waving to the four women seeing him off, "Long Niang, open the door, I’m off!"

"Be careful on the road!" Mo Qingyan was not overly sentimental, merely waving to Chen Xin before opening the shelter’s security door.

As the opened door revealed the darkness outside, Chen Xin took a deep breath, waved to Mo Qingyan and Qin Lan one last time, then shut the car window, "First gear, advance!"

With Chen Xin’s command, the engine roared to life, the tracks beneath the vehicle, moving slowly under the transmission mechanism, began to crawl forward.

Assisted by the operating system, Chen Xin steered the armored motorhome out of the shelter.

Outside the shelter, the blizzard raged on, and the howling wind instantly blanketed the glass of the driver’s cabin with snowflakes.

He activated the wipers to clear the snow from his view. Though it remained pitch black with almost zero visibility, only the area illuminated by the headlights was visible, Chen Xin went through the motions.

Glancing in the side mirror, Chen Xin could see the four women still standing at the shelter’s gate, watching him. He didn’t acknowledge them further, just honked the horn, pushed the control lever, and stepped on the gas, increasing speed and driving into the darkness, commencing the journey.

As the shelter faded into the distance and the figures disappeared, Chen Xin spoke to the operating system: "Activate terrain display, compare with map, begin navigation."

"Environmental terrain display generating, navigation map loaded, intelligent comparison complete, navigation in progress."

With the operating system’s prompt, a 3D map projected onto the dashboard, derived from the vehicle-mounted radar’s scan of the surrounding areas, processed by the system. The map featured not only a red dot symbolizing the vehicle but also a flat map with a marked route.

The flat map came from the navigation system in Chen Xin’s old SUV, though the terrain had significantly changed, and satellite signals ceased, it still served as a reference.

Using the compass to calculate longitude and latitude enabled him to reverse-locate himself on the map. Even though the map was less applicable to the current environment, it still helped Chen Xin with direction and route planning.

"Deploy reconnaissance drones, switch to automatic navigation driving, maintain cruising speed." Seeing he was heading correctly, Chen Xin issued new voice commands.

"Reconnaissance drone deployed, switching to automatic navigation, driving control received, dashboard locked." The operating system’s voice reassured Chen Xin as he let go of the steering wheel. The car did not lose control; the wheel retracted slightly, locked by the operating system as the vehicle entered automatic driving mode.

Automatic driving wasn’t particularly novel. The technology had existed for several years, though it hadn’t been widely implemented.

In retrofitting his vehicle, Chen Xin naturally included this technology, equipping it with voice-recognition intelligent systems and automatic driving functions.

Being alone, Chen Xin needed such a feature; if he suddenly needed a restroom break, he could activate auto-drive, leaving the system to handle his journey.

Similarly, presently, the car progressed automatically while he remained in the driver’s seat.

The drone, released earlier, served to scout the surroundings or detect hidden dangers. Radars scanned the terrain but might miss certain elements, thus necessitating the drone.

His car carried four drones — two equipped with machine guns and two with high-resolution infrared night vision cameras, designed to identify potential thermal sources and discern threats.

This multi-layered protection, combined with composite armor-clad vehicle bodies, gave Chen Xin the confidence to travel solo without opting for alternative methods.

Even though the operating system drove, Chen Xin wasn’t idle, using his hand to navigate the map, confirming his route.

Before Xiang Province to Anhui Province featured three possible routes pre-disaster. The first, passing through the three towns of Hubei Province, included crossing the Yangtze into Anhui. The second, taking a southern detour through Gan Province, crossed the river at Xunyang into Anhui. The third, southern-bound along Hubei-Gansu, crossed the Yangtze at Huangshi before entering Anhui.

Each route had pros and cons: the third was shortest yet newest, while the longest route through the Three Towns offered older roads, independent of highways yet passable via state roads without risk of getting stuck.

Chen Xin settled on the Three Towns route, ensuring a safer crossing of the Yangtze.