Chapter 161 - 159 All-Terrain Vehicles

Words : 1009 Updated : Sep 19th, 2025

Although Li Yulong brought Chen Xin a fruit and vegetable machine, it’s still not like those large drying machines. Chen Xin had to slowly dry the harvested rice batch by batch. Fortunately, this machine can dry twenty trays of grain at a time, processing thirty to forty jin each time. A bag of grain can be dried in two rounds, so three bags take six rounds. He occasionally reached in to toss the grain. Besides swapping the moist bottom layer to the top, Chen Xin also felt the dryness level with his hand. Only when he confirmed the rice was completely dry, with no trace of moisture left, could he bag and store them. More than two hundred jin of rice, after drying and husking, would yield about one hundred seventy jin of rice, enough to feed Chen Xin for most of the year. If he could harvest twice a year, that would guarantee his food supply. In the greenhouse, without worrying about temperature and humidity changes, he could plant under ideal conditions, with ninety to one hundred ten-day cycles for three seasons a year. Calculated this way, Chen Xin could harvest roughly six hundred, close to seven hundred jin of rice annually, resulting in more than five hundred jin of rice, plus over a hundred jin of husk. He also harvested several hundred jin of vegetables monthly from his greenhouse, enough food to sustain two to three people. "As long as the old farmer brings fish, and Xiaolong and Alan get new seeds... it’s finally worry-free eating and drinking." Chen Xin calculated the output of his greenhouse, feeling relieved. There is an old saying in Flame Country, "With grain in hand, there’s no panic in mind," which is always pertinent. After tallying the resources he had, ensuring the food supply for three people, Chen Xin finally put the plan to bring his parents home into action. The reason for not acting immediately was because Chen Xin understood if he couldn’t guarantee adequate food supply, bringing his parents back was pointless. Now that he could ensure a food supply, he had the necessary preconditions to officially consider bringing his parents back. To bring his parents back, Chen Xin needed to cross four provinces, a journey of over six hundred kilometers. Previously, it was possible to drive on the highways non-stop and complete the journey in half a day. But now, with everything frozen and snow piling almost one meter deep, crossing such a long distance would not be easy. Therefore, Chen Xin first needed a vehicle that could cope with the current environment, could complete the journey and make a return trip. Such vehicles exist and are usually called all-terrain vehicles. They can negotiate various complex terrains and conditions including jungle, mountains, desert, snow, beaches, swamps, and water networks. Among the many types of all-terrain vehicles, Li Yulong’s modified luxury RV also belongs to this category, but compared to his luxury RV, Chen Xin preferred the "Robust" and "Gallop" models used by the Flame Country’s military. The "Robust" and "Gallop" are articulated two-compartment tracked all-terrain vehicles, with a cabin in the front and a trailer in the rear. The Robust is a heavy-duty vehicle, weighing thirty tons and capable of carrying thirty tons, making it a powerful and reliable transport vehicle. The Gallop is slightly smaller, weighing about ten tons, with a top speed of sixty kilometers per hour and a range of five hundred kilometers. It can easily cross 1.5-meter wide ditches and climb over 0.6-meter vertical obstacles and ascend slopes over 30°. Compared to Chen Xin’s SUV, the difference is as notable as between an elephant and a horse. Chen Xin envisaged getting a Gallop and transforming the rear compartment into an RV-style living cabin to meet the needs of this journey. Of course, having a Robust would be even better, as the larger, heavier body of the Robust means a larger compartment, capable of carrying more supplies and providing more living space. It’s a pity that before the disaster, Chen Xin hadn’t thought of this, otherwise getting a Gallop wouldn’t have been out of the question. However, now he could still upgrade his SUV to create an all-terrain vehicle. Honestly, with the snow deepening, Chen Xin’s SUV was increasingly inadequate for travel needs. Without Li Yulong’s RV’s one-meter high tires, driving on nearly meter-thick snow meant any careless move could get the wheels stuck in the snow. After consideration, Chen Xin’s first thought was to replace his car’s tires with tracks. In terms of speed, tires absolutely prevail, but in terms of traversal ability, the gap between tires and tracks is as significant as their speed difference. Switching to tracks meant the engine needed alteration, since tracks have greater load demands than tires, requiring the engine to have stronger output power. In this situation, a high-powered diesel engine is indeed more suitable than a gasoline one. However, regarding the power system for the vehicle, Chen Xin preferred electric drive instead of fuel power. Firstly, electric drives are cleaner and more efficient, and electric cars aren’t new. Besides battery and charging issues restricting their usage, this new form of vehicle has been accepted and recognized as the future automotive trend. For Chen Xin, the constraints on electric vehicles don’t exist. With the Isotope Thermoelectric Battery for power and high-performance energy storage batteries as the battery pack, an electric vehicle could run for decades nonstop. For others, this might be a distant laboratory concept, but for Chen Xin, it’s just a matter of upgrading with survival points. He seriously planned to do this, intending to upgrade his car after completing overall upgrades to the shelter. While considering the power system and mode of travel, Chen Xin also contemplated the design of the car’s living cabin. Should it be like the articulated cabin of the Robust and Gallop, or a unified design like Li Yulong’s car? Both have their advantages, but they also come with their respective issues. Chen Xin stroked his beard, deep in thought.

Chapter 161 - 159 All-Terrain Vehicles

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