On the second race day, from Hohhot to Yinchuan, the distance is 710 kilometers, passing through grasslands, deserts, and high slopes of loess.
The 300-kilometer special stage is divided into ten 30-kilometer sections.
After the warm-up on the first day, the following game days became more and more brutal. The race schedule is dense, intense, time-consuming, and the road conditions are poor, which is a great test for the performance of the vehicle.
The same is true for the competitors, engineers and support staff who follow the car.
Jing Ming and others set off for the arena at 7:30 in the morning. Before getting on the bus, they ran into Yang Shu and asked her how things were going. Yang Shu said that everything has been taken care of, so he can rest assured.
Du Ruo heard it and was curious: "What's the matter?"
Jing Ming curled his lips into a smile: "You will know when the time comes."
"...or about Pengcheng?"
"Um."
Du Ruo thought about it, and whispered: "Be careful, I'm afraid Dong Cheng will retaliate against you."
"It's okay." He smiled and patted her head.
I will run more than 700 kilometers today,
After the car drove out for a while, Jing Ming asked her, "Are you tired?"
"..." Du Ruo was speechless, "It's only early in the morning. I'm not that weak."
Jing Ming hooked the corners of his lips obliquely.
At the starting point of the race, the waiting car fans crowded the fences on both sides of the road, especially many female car fans who came and shouted the slogan of Prime.
Jing Ming was half paralyzed on the car seat, glanced out of the car window from the corner of his eyes, and lazily retracted.
Du Ruo was sour on him: "They all came to see you."
Jing Ming sighed: "It's useless to look at it, there is an owner."
"..." Du Ruo pursed her lips tightly, and her heart groaned.
He Wang was about to commit suicide, and opened the window: "I want to jump out of the car, don't stop me!"
Jing Ming: "Hurry up."
Get out of the car and walk inside, passing through the interview channel, Dong Cheng is being interviewed by reporters. But as soon as this Jing Ming appeared, the reporters swarmed over.
Jing Ming still refused to accept any interviews, and went directly to the garage.
When passing by Dong Cheng, the two looked at each other, and Jing Ming looked away coldly.
At that moment, it seemed as if he had seen his end today.
At eight o'clock, the convoy set off on time.
Today's first stage is 20 kilometers away from the starting point, which is a wilderness road.
This time, Pengcheng's car did not grab the first group of races.
Yesterday's car crash, although it appeared that Pengcheng's car technology was not up to standard and there was a mistake, but there was still a lot of swearing and cynicism on the Internet, saying "don't touch porcelain if you don't have enough technology".
Pengcheng avoided the limelight and stayed in the second group.
And due to the outstanding performance of Prime No.3 yesterday, many teams want to compete with him. AD did not grab the first group. Snatched by Japan, Russia and another US team.
The road in the wasteland was full of sand and dust, and the four cars galloped on the desert. It was very enjoyable.
No.3 won the first place in the group again.
After the race, the other three teams were very excited, thinking that their cars would perform better in the race against the stronger ones. Quan rushed up to exchange ideas with Prime, and the atmosphere was harmonious.
During the rest and adjustment period, Chen Xian called to report to Jingming that although there were too many drones on site, they had locked on the target.
Jing Ming ordered to follow the original plan.
Just as he was about to put down the phone, Chen Xian added another sentence: "Sister Yang Shu asked me to tell you that the officials of the organizing committee said that the Prime team did not accept the interview, so this will not work. We still need to cooperate with the publicity."
"..." Jing Ming said, "Got it."
He got into the car and watched the live broadcast with the team members.
The second group match is about to start,
At the starting point in Hohhot, the fans on the scene have not yet been separated from the excitement of Prime No.3 winning the first place in the group. They are looking forward to the live event broadcast on the big screen, looking forward to the second group competition.
At the start of the stage 20 kilometers away from Hohhot, the four cars of the second group are ready, and the other eight teams are waiting not far away.
On-site broadcast technicians and drone operators are preparing in their respective equipment trucks; authorized reporters are covering reports in front of the site, and everything is proceeding in an orderly manner.
At the moment when the command was issued, Pengcheng and the other three vehicles rushed out of the starting point and into the desert at the same time.
At the same moment, a drone took off between the Pengcheng logistics off-road vehicle and the broadcast equipment vehicle. At this moment, a reporter's interview vehicle suddenly lost control and accelerated towards the drone!
Before the drone could fly high, it was instantly caught in the wheels and crushed.
Pengcheng's car also turned off in an instant, stopped in the road section, and let the other three speed away.
And at the end of the stage 30 kilometers away, Jing Ming slumped on his seat, staring at the video broadcast—
Pengcheng's car suddenly stopped moving.
The commentator was surprised: "Eh? We saw an accident at the scene! The Pengcheng team, which performed well yesterday, had a bad start today? I don't know why, so it stopped."
Because of an accident, a drone went to take pictures of the car at close range,
The narrator continued to explain: "The live footage was given to the Pengcheng team. I don't know what's going on."
But I didn't want to, the approaching camera happened to capture the situation near the starting point—
The reporter who caused the accident ran down from the car in a hurry: "I'm sorry I stepped on the gas pedal instead of the brake and broke your drone..."
Several technical controllers in the broadcast equipment vehicle also jumped down immediately to check the situation. When they picked it up, the shell of the drone was broken, and the contents inside were exposed.
In an instant, the technician's face turned pale, knowing that something serious happened.
A second later, there was a roar from the starting point: "Which team does this drone belong to?!"
At the same time, someone called out: "Why did Pengcheng's car stop halfway?"
High-definition cameras and radio microphones record all this clearly.
In the live video, the commentator was silent.
An eerie silence.
At the departure section of Hohhot, 20 kilometers away from the incident site, the audience was silent, shocked, and looked at each other in blank dismay.
Soon, the shooting drone quickly left Pengcheng, and did not show him any more shots, and the scene cut back to the three cars in front.
All of a sudden, a wave of discussions and protests erupted from the audience!
In the live broadcast room, the bullet screen appeared for the first time:
"Cheating! Someone cheating!"
"I'll go, I thought Pengcheng was awesome, but it turned out to be a remote control car!"
But the screen never cut back to the beginning of the stage.
In the off-road vehicle, there is silence,
He Wang asked, "What's the situation over there now?"
Jing Ming said, "Wait a little longer."
And back to the beginning of the stage,
At the moment when the technician roared, the contestants from more than a dozen teams looked at each other and asked the translator what was going on.
Everyone in the Pengcheng team was ashamed.
Even if laymen are easy to fool, the contestants present are all unmanned driving researchers. Looking at the car and the broken drone that suddenly stopped near the starting point, everything was clear in my heart.
With a dead expression on Dong Cheng's face, he hurried up to pretend to smooth things over, trying to pull the technicians aside to clear the air.
But with so many cameras and domestic and foreign media reporters at the scene, he would not dare to give the technicians a hundred courage. What's more, the members of the AD team and the French team were very angry and loudly stated that they would report and complain to the International Autonomous Driving Organizing Committee.
The technician pushed Dong Cheng away, turned around and said to the opponent: "Report to the organizing committee and send an investigation team immediately, someone is cheating!"
Dong Cheng panicked now, and couldn't even force himself to calm down. He immediately ran back to the car and called Ruifeng's headquarters. He must find a relationship to suppress the matter.
But how can this matter be suppressed, the live video taken by the "foreign friend", including the dialogue between Dong Cheng and the technicians, and the internal photos of the drone have been quickly circulated on the Internet, causing an uproar.
The foreign players present also sent emails and evidence to complain to the International Organizing Committee as soon as possible.
Jing Ming and the others sat in the car for a short time when they received a message from the staff of the Beijing Organizing Committee: Suspend the game, don't move forward, stay put and stand by.
Du Ruo worried: "Will the superiors hide it?"
Jing Ming: "No, maybe the organizers don't know about it."
"Then what if Pengcheng finds someone to clear it up?"
Jing Ming laughed: "He cheated at home and his international influence is too bad. Even with the support of ten Ruifeng, he can't save him."
What's more, the evidence has been sent to the International Competition Organizing Committee as soon as possible, and the Beijing Organizing Committee can't suppress it.
Sure enough, after waiting in place for an hour, I received the news again: all the convoys returned to Hohhot.
"Fuck!" He Wang got angry and shouted, "Here we come!"
But Du Ruo was a little worried, looking at Jingming: "Pengcheng won't suspect you, right?"
Jing Ming snorted coldly: "Who can blame me for the wrong thing I did?"
"But they are villains. Is it possible to expect them to know their mistakes?"
Jing Ming remained silent, looking at the horizon outside the window, the sun had just risen from the field.
When he saw Dong Cheng this morning, he was still in high spirits. At this moment, he should be burning with anxiety.
Jingming suddenly remembered the words his parents taught him when he was a child: Don't have the intention to harm others.
Dong Cheng's parents must have never taught him this.
If Dong Cheng didn't want to harm "Wei Yi" and hit it deliberately, how could Jing Ming be sure that the car was abnormal. And why did players from other teams discover the anomaly, and everyone cooperated to expose him.
Otherwise, maybe Pengcheng might even win an award after finishing the race.
But Pengcheng chose to harm others, and in the end, he ended up harming himself.
Soon, all the relevant personnel of the competition returned to the starting point.
The officials of the International Organizing Committee held a press conference in front of the contestants, media reporters and many car fans present, stating the fact that Pengcheng Automobile cheated, and made a decision to permanently remove Pengcheng from various driverless competitions around the world. punish.
At the same time, it is guaranteed that other equipment and vehicles will be strictly checked again to ensure that there is no cheating. It will also quickly upgrade and introduce higher-end anti-cheating shielding equipment, and welcomes all sectors of society, including contestants, to report suspicious behavior.
Officials of the Beijing Organizing Committee also stated that they will closely cooperate with the International Organizing Committee to continue to investigate the matter in depth, investigate and deal with the relevant persons involved in the case, and reply to the society as soon as possible.
The response was swift, decisive and effective.
Immediately dispelled all the speculation and official doubts at home and abroad. Foreign media are very satisfied with this response. Domestic public opinion turned to accusations and criticisms against Pengcheng, as well as support and hope for Prime, the only remaining Chinese team.
The topic of "Pengcheng cheated and shamed the country" hit the media, even surpassing the enthusiasm of the first day of the competition, more or less, but it also promoted the competition to a certain extent to let the whole people know. . . .
chapter 89
All competitions on the second competition day were cancelled, waiting for the organizing committee to urgently deploy newly upgraded anti-cheating equipment.
As for the first group match of the first stage that has already been played, the organizer announced the results as invalid after communicating and coordinating with the four participating teams—especially Prime—and obtaining consent.
All competitors and vehicles were unexpectedly given a day off.
The organizer simply sent staff to take the players on a one-day trip to the grassland.
They are calm and calm, but the outside world is already surging.
Within a day, Pengcheng's investors and partners withdrew capital and technicians one after another, cut off cooperation and drew a clear line. The Ministry of Science and Technology has also begun to file a case to investigate Pengcheng's misappropriation of special funds.
It even implicated the stock of the parent company Ruifeng Automobile to drop to the limit instantly as soon as the market opened.
And Prime's generous act of agreeing to void the grades has won widespread praise.
But Jing Ming and the others stopped paying attention to this series of follow-up events.
The contestants from other countries also had a peaceful mind, enjoying the prairie customs wholeheartedly, riding horses, drinking tea and roasting whole sheep, singing and dancing to watch Mongolian performances, with constant laughter.
The grassland people were hospitable and hospitable, and a grand bonfire was held that night.
The Mongolian men and women with the loudest voices in a radius of dozens of miles sang Mongolian songs to welcome guests from afar.
After the host has finished singing, it is the turn of the guests.
Those foreign contestants who are usually serious and rigorous have all let themselves go at this moment.
The Canadian team sang "Red River Valley", the two American teams sang "Oh Susanna", the British team sang "London Bridge is Falling Down", and the Russian team sang "Katyusha".
As for the Prime team at home - Jing Ming, He Wang, Du Ruo and others simply sang along with them, singing the Chinese version corresponding to the folk songs of various countries.
Different languages have the same melody and notes, and the singing voice is full of sympathy and tacit understanding that cannot be described in words. They merge into one, echoing over the grassland and drifting into the endless night.
Above the head, the starry sky on the spring grassland is ancient and brilliant.
Du Ruo looked up at the sky, and couldn't help but put a big smile on the corner of her mouth.
Jing Ming saw it, and asked in a low voice, "Are you drunk from tea?"
Du Ruo smiled: "Don't you think that this is the atmosphere that the game should have?"
The corner of Jingming's lips curled up: "Who said no?"
She giggled, tilted her head, and leaned on his shoulder.
In the long grassland night, the spring breeze is intoxicating.
Since there was still a competition the next day, everyone set off for the hotel at nine o'clock.
On the way back, Team Prime and Team AD boarded the same bus.
The captain of AD, a young man from the United States, is very humorous. He said with a smile that their car was jet-lagged yesterday, and they were not used to it. Prime stole the limelight. The following games will not give way.
Jing Ming replied quickly: "Okay, you won the first place in a stage, and I will treat your whole team to hot pot."
The captain was curious: "What is hot pot?"
Jingming: "..."
Du Ruo described them enthusiastically and in detail, such as base ingredients, soup pots, and side dishes.
The captain's eyes widened when he heard this, and he became even more curious, saying that he would eat it if he won the first place in the stage.
Jingming: "..."
Yep, successful crooked building.
On the second day,
I went to the racetrack at 7 o'clock in the morning. In the early morning, the number of car fans waiting at the starting point only increased, almost twice as many as yesterday. Both sides of the road were crowded with people.
Everyone is shouting, for Prime, for AD, for the French team, the British team, the German team, cheer for every team.
The fans chanted the slogan "fair race, technology first" in both Chinese and English.
For a moment, the contestants from all countries were moved.
Everyone put the haze of the previous day behind them and set off again.
On the second day of the competition, the cars of the AD team really performed well. They grabbed the first group today and competed with Prime. After running 30 kilometers, their car won Prime No.3 by 3 seconds.
After all the four groups of competitions in the first stage were over, the statistical results came out, and AD won the first place in the stage.
Jing Ming met the AD team and laughed: "It seems that the jet lag is fine."
The other party happily gave them a wink.
The team continued to move forward and ran more than 400 kilometers. After finishing the fifth special stage, it was already one o'clock at noon.
The game in the morning can be said to be blooming everywhere.
AD, Prime, Russia, the British team, and the German team each took the first place in a stage.
At lunch time, the logistics team of the organizing committee is equipped with boxed lunches.
People are in the wild, and the conditions are difficult.
Everyone sat on the ground.
The sky is high and the earth is wide, but it is not interesting.
Du Ruo chatted with the team members in a good mood, but didn't eat much. She felt uncomfortable in her stomach, maybe she was too tired during this time, or maybe she was not used to the Mongolian meal she ate yesterday.
She had a bad appetite and was pressed for time, so she hurriedly packed her things and rushed to the next stage.
The convoy traveled all the way to the west, from the grassland to the desert, and the scenery outside the window changed.
On the golden land, vehicles are galloping, and yellow sand is flying.
Each stage is more difficult, and each competition is more intense. Along the way, you can encounter malfunctioning unmanned vehicles and ordinary vehicles, and technicians are urgently repairing them. There are also many staff members who couldn't stand the bumpy road and vomited on the way.
This is the cruelty of the rally, which tests the endurance of everyone and every car.
In this way, the convoy traveled through different landforms and scenery all the way, and finally reached the loess high slope.
In the five stages in the afternoon, Prime won two first places. AD, Japan, and France each took one.
It was already past seven o'clock in the evening when we reached the finish line of the Yinchuan stage.
It was completely dark.
In the night, the waiting fans cheered loudly for the team in their hearts.
When passing through the interview channel, many team members were being interviewed.
Jingming and the others also stopped this time. At this stop, media reporters swarmed up.
Du Ruo was at the end of the team. Looking at the team members being interviewed, she didn't step forward.
After a day of tossing, she was very tired and her mind was a little numb.
She walked through the interview channel alone, and waited for Jing Ming and the others at the end.
She looked at Jing Ming who was being interviewed in the crowd from a distance. The man's profile was sharp and his expression was calm.
Well, for no reason, she pursed her lips and smiled.
She smiled and lowered her head, touched her nose, and inadvertently looked away from the infield, her smile froze.
Just now she vaguely saw a somewhat familiar figure flashing past, heading towards the garage.
That person looks a bit like Guo Hong,
How could he come to Yinchuan
I read it wrong
Du Ruo was suspicious and chased after him.
As soon as she ran down, she saw a few sneaky reporters walking towards the garage with camera equipment in the night. The group gestured to Guo Hong, and then hid behind the security door.
And Guo Hong walked towards Prime No.3 parked in the garage with an instrument in his hand.
The library was quiet and empty.
Guo Hong quickly slipped to the side of the car, took out tools from the console beside him, and was about to open the bonnet of Prime No.3 when he heard an angry reprimand: "What are you doing?!"
Guo Hong had a ghost in his heart and was startled. When he turned around and saw Du Ruo alone, he didn't panic anymore: "Yo, Miss Du."
Regardless of his teasing, Du Ruo kept his eyes on the back of him and strode over: "What is that?"
Guo Hong quickly took it away, but Du Ruo had already walked to him and saw it clearly:
Remote operation terminal.
She was taken aback.
Thinking of the reporter hiding behind the security door, I instantly understood.
Guo Hong put the things in, and after a while, Prime came down to repair the car, opened the hood and found foreign objects and took them out, and the reporter they arranged would take a serious photo.
Du Ruo was angry and disgusted, and scolded: "Where do you have the cheek to do such a thing!"
Seeing that his deeds were exposed, Guo Hong didn't cover up any more, and scolded: "You must have done something about Pengcheng—"
"It's Pengcheng himself who is doing the tricks! If you have the slightest sense of shame and honor, you shouldn't cheat, and you're still cheating on your own home field. Now you're here to frame us? Let's go!" Du Ruo went up to drag him, "The reporters and the media all Out there! I'm going to—"
"Go to hell you bitch!"
Guo Hong pushed hard.
Du Ruo was thrown and hit the tool rack, making metal ping-pong noises.
"I'll clean you up when I'm done!" He cursed and was about to drive the car.
Du Ruo rushed up, grabbed the terminal device and threw it on the ground forcefully, smashing it to pieces.
"I'll fuck you to death!" Guo Hong was furious, and slapped Du Ruo on the face.
Du Ruo's brain exploded like a heavy hammer, he hit the car, his abdomen hit the rearview mirror, and there was a sudden sharp pain.
She hugged Wei Yi tightly, almost fainting from the pain. She opened her mouth wide, but she couldn't make a sound, her eyes were red, and her mouth and nose were full of bloody smell.
Guo Hong was furious, seeing that this woman was too slender to fight back, he smiled lewdly, grabbed her neck with his big palm and brought him to him, before he could make another move, he heard the sound of footsteps rushing towards her.
Guo Hong turned around.
Jing Ming's face was ashen, and he kicked his heart. With such great force, Guo Hongfei drove a few meters and hit the wall, his expression twisted in pain for a moment.
Jing Ming didn't say a word, his whole body exuded hostility, his eyes swept over the tool shelf, he raised his hand and pulled out a steel pipe, and walked towards Guo Hong, his eyes were fierce to kill.
Guo Hong backed away tremblingly, raised his hand: "Don't, don't, I..."
Du Ruo leaned against the side of the car, panicked and frightened when he saw this, he tried his best to stand up: "Jingming, I didn't—"
Jing Ming hit Guo Hong's head with a stick, and there was a crisp and muffled "bang", penetrating.
Du Ruo was shocked, her legs went weak.
In an instant, Guo Hong's head was bleeding, he vomited blood, and his face was as pale as a dead man's.
The first stick rubbed against the wall, with a certain buffer. Guo Hong was still able to move, and his desire to survive drove him to run away. But he was seriously injured, so there was no way he could escape.
Jing Ming looked at it coldly, and grabbed the steel pipe again with his fingers.
Du Ruo was so scared that tears came out: "Jing Ming, don't do this! Jing Ming!"
But as if he didn't hear it, he hit him hard on the back of the head with a stick again!
"Jingming!" Wan Ziang Hewang and the others who rushed over shouted.
"Jingming!" Du Ruo rushed up and threw himself into his arms, crying loudly, "I'm fine, I'm fine! Jingming, don't do this! I'm fine!"
He hugged her frightened and trembling body tightly, her chest heaved, her eyes were bloodshot, and he gritted his teeth and wanted to kick her again.
Du Ruo desperately stopped: "Jingming, I..."
Suddenly, the severe colic in her abdomen hit her, and her eyes went black from the pain, and she knelt down along his body.
Jing Ming immediately knelt down to support her, and said nervously, "What's wrong with you?"
Du Ruo grabbed his arm tightly, opened his mouth, but spit out a mouthful of blood on his chest.
Her eyes were slack, and she only saw Jing Ming's panicked and stunned face, and her vision was completely plunged into darkness.