Snowflakes drifted down from the sky in a steady rustle. Only about an hour after the rules began, the city's ground was already coated with a layer of pure white.
The tram's windshield wipers kept sweeping back and forth, maintaining clear visibility ahead.
"Hah..."
Guan Tong sat in the car, breathing into his palms.
The temperature was dropping faster than he had imagined. Even sitting inside the car now, he could feel the chill seeping through his clothes.
Only because it hadn't reached unbearable levels yet, he didn't activate the Constant Temperature Tech Underwear function. This thing could only be used for six hours per day, so he had to use it sparingly.
He hadn't turned on the car's heating either. Electric vehicles like this already consud battery faster due to lower temperatures. If he turned on the heater, the original 1000-kiloter range might shrink significantly, potentially leaving him stranded before reaching his destination.
"Fewer and fewer people and civilian vehicles are visible on the streets now. It seems everyone has gathered indoors."
The vehicles still visible outside were mostly from official departnts.
Like the large snowplows with big blades at the front and large hoppers mounted on their backs.
And the unmanned transport vehicles used by the Livelihood Security Departnt to deliver food and other survival supplies.
So of the vehicles with drivers cast curious glances at Guan Tong's shared car driving on the road, probably wondering where he was heading.
anwhile, Guan Tong, watching the decreasing number of vehicles on the road, deduced the authorities' final choice.
They were still concentrating people in large cities rather than conducting large-scale evacuations.
He felt this choice was likely made out of necessity.
Because large-scale evacuation would not only require ergency mobilization of transportation capacity and supplies, but also research into where to evacuate people and how many people to group together for evacuation.
Not to ntion the city's population exceeded ten million, each person with their own ideas. Even if clearly told that snowfall was related to regional population density, many might still choose to stay and gather in large cities.
They would still believe that large cities had more supplies, better equipnt, and were safer, while evacuating to remote areas offered no sense of security.
This thinking couldn't be called wrong, because no one could guarantee safety by evacuating to remote areas. Yes, the snow might be lighter there, but if food and supplies couldn't keep up, they might still face starvation.
Such hesitation would waste precious ti to leave the city.
Unless individuals or small groups were determined and set off imdiately after learning the hidden rule content, they could still outpace the blizzard.
Otherwise, with just a little delay, given the snowfall rate of a severe blizzard, roads other than the city's main arteries continuously treated with de-icer and cleared by snowplows would soon pile up with snow, becoming impassable.
This was the principle of "a small boat turns easily."
When the boat is large, even if the captain wants to turn the helm fully, it takes a long ti.
In this situation, the smallest unit of "boat" was undoubtedly the individual.
Guan Tong increased his speed, getting closer to the city's edge where official departnt vehicles beca fewer.
With fewer snowplows, the snow accumulation on the road was visibly much heavier than in the city center.
"No good, can't use autopilot anymore."
Guan Tong imdiately turned off the autopilot and took control himself.
Autopilot had built-in legal restrictions with very low speed limits within the city.
Driving at this speed, Guan Tong worried that before reaching his destination, the road snow would beco too deep, leaving the car stuck and himself in a dilemma.
Moreover, roads outside the city wouldn't have snowplows clearing the snow. He absolutely couldn't assu conditions outside the city would be like those inside.
He accelerated, arriving at the new city developnt zone over twenty minutes later.
The place looked completely dead, without any movent. Between heaven and earth, it seed only the rustling sound of falling snow could be heard, giving Guan Tong a chilling sensation.
He knew this area mostly contained Dark Factories, which had few people to begin with. With the heavy snow, everyone had likely already fled into the city.
Guan Tong took a deep breath and continued forward.
He knew that since he had chosen from the beginning to stay away from crowds and cities, there was no turning back. He could only follow this path to the end.
He drove out of the new city developnt zone at the fastest speed possible, reaching outside Yunhua City and entering its affiliated township areas.
Once outside the city, road conditions worsened significantly, with snow visibly accumulating rapidly.
Guan Tong gripped the steering wheel tightly, driving with full concentration, not letting his mind wander, and certainly not checking his phone for the latest online updates.
He had only one goal now: reach Mingdao Mountain as quickly as possible while paying attention to road conditions and driving carefully to avoid accidentally skidding off the road.
After driving for over an hour, Guan Tong looked at the size and speed of snowflakes falling outside the window and had a clear feeling: the snow was lighter.
Yes, he had vaguely felt this earlier. Now, as he moved further from Yunhua City, this phenonon beca more apparent.
In Yunhua City center, the snow didn't fall like snow—it was more like snow being poured! As if a giant stood in the sky holding an enormous snow-filled basket, continuously dumping it down!
But now, far from the large city, the roads were surrounded by villages. These villages, being around a major city, actually had considerable populations, much livelier than remote area villages.
Even so, the snow was visibly lighter. Though still heavy compared to normal winter snowfalls, this change lifted Guan Tong's spirits.
He knew that as long as he kept driving forward, moving further from populated areas, the snow would only get lighter!
Keep going forward!
Guan Tong didn't have ti to stop for lunch. He pulled a chocolate bar from his bag, ate it for energy, refreshed himself, and continued driving.
Another hour passed.
Crunch crunch crunch...
The sound of tires crushing snow beca particularly pronounced. Guan Tong looked at the snow layer on the road ahead—less than three hours after the rules took effect, the accumulation was already seven to eight centiters thick, nearly half the height of car tires.
And the distance to the target was...
Guan Tong glanced at the navigation: about two hundred kiloters to Mingdao Mountain.
Two hundred kiloters—if he could drive at one hundred kiloters per hour, he could arrive in two hours.
But even with almost no other vehicles on the road, facing such snowy conditions, Guan Tong didn't dare drive that fast.
Guan Tong checked the ti: "It's 12:13 now. If I maintain 70 kiloters per hour, covering 200 kiloters will take about 3 hours. If all goes well, I can arrive before 4 PM."
This timing was acceptable to Guan Tong. Any later, around 4 or 5 PM, he might face darkness.
Normally, June days wouldn't darken so early, but after the rules took effect, thick clouds covered the sky. It was already quite gloomy at 12 PM; by 5 PM, it would definitely be pitch black.
Even if the snow had lightened by then when reaching Mingdao Mountain, entering the mountains in darkness would undoubtedly be very dangerous.
Having planned his speed and timing, Guan Tong stopped overthinking and focused on execution.
He couldn't afford any distraction to ensure his safe driving.
"Continue straight. Current distance to destination Mingdao Mountain: 178 kiloters."
Moreover, roads outside the city wouldn't have snowplows clearing the snow. He absolutely couldn't assu conditions outside the city would be like those inside the city.
"Rain and snow weather, please slow down."
"Distance to destination Mingdao Mountain: 109 kiloters."
The electric vehicle operated quietly. Besides the sound of tires crushing snow and the navigation voice prompts, Guan Tong could only hear his own breathing.
As the navigation kept announcing, Guan Tong's distance to Mingdao Mountain kept decreasing.
From over two hundred kiloters, to over one hundred, then ninety, eighty, seventy...
"Distance to destination Mingdao Mountain: 31 kiloters."
Almost there, nearly arrived!
Guan Tong felt cheerful, even humming a song unconsciously.
Because he clearly saw the snow outside getting lighter and lighter, now roughly at normal heavy snow levels.
Although normal heavy snow continuing for a month would still be a significant disaster, with careful handling, at least he wouldn't easily die from the disaster!
"Distance to destination Mingdao Mountain: 17 kiloters."
"Distance to destination Mingdao Mountain: 9 kiloters."
Through the front windshield, Guan Tong could vaguely see the outline of the large mountain.
Just then, he suddenly noticed several vehicles parked on the road ahead and quickly hit the brakes.
"Sssssss—thump!"
Although Guan Tong reacted relatively quickly, the slippery road conditions and poor braking caused the car to lightly collide with one of the blocking vehicles.
"Collision detected, automatically alerting authorities!"
Guan Tong took several deep breaths, smiled wryly and muttered: "What's the point of alerting? If traffic police were coming here, they would have cleared those blocking vehicles long ago..."
The shared car automatically shut down after the accident. He got out and carefully looked ahead.
It seed four or five vehicles had been involved in a chain collision earlier, completely blocking the road. Because this place was remote and new rules were imminent, no one had co to handle it, leaving these vehicles stuck here.
"This is troubleso..."
The road had deep ditches on both sides. Even if Guan Tong reversed, he couldn't go around.
"Less than ten kiloters left. Should I just walk there? But..."
Guan Tong looked down at his feet—the snow already reached above his lower calves. Walking in these conditions would offer great resistance. Plus, he had a large backpack, a small backpack, and sleeping bag supplies to carry.
After thinking for a mont, Guan Tong put all his supplies on his back, then took out the Wordless Book and summoned Shadow.
He had Shadow carry him and run forward at the fastest speed possible!
He would utilize Shadow's unlimited stamina characteristic to transport him as far as possible during its duration. Then he would walk the remaining distance himself.
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