The dark blue daylight seeped into the carriage through the gaps in the explosion-proof net, casting mottled cold tones on the metal shelves.
The humming sound of the air conditioner maintained at 22ºC intertwined with the rhythmic tremor of the wheels rolling over the tracks.
Yu Jing curled up in the corner of the metal rack in the storage room, resting her head on a large bottle of cola. The round plastic bottle conveyed a slight chill, creating a subtle pull against the thin sweat on the back of her neck.
Su Huan fiddled with a small electronic watch in his hand, and as his thumb swiped across it, it showed 05:27. He casually magnetically attached the watch to the nearby shelf.
Last night, apart from the Night Demon that Gao Zhe killed, there was no other danger.
He continued to rest his eyes.
Su Huan was very experienced in staying up all night. He could enter a state of light sleep that was half-dream and half-awake.
He entrusted the night watch entirely to his body's instinct.
This light sleep state had once sustained him through four days and two nights, until the Evolution Beast left due to excessive hunger.
Suddenly, there was a sound of metal clashing from carriage No. 4. Su Huan reflexively tensed his back until he heard Yu Yue's distinctive light footsteps, and only then did his Adam's apple slowly relax.
She must be preparing breakfast.
He suddenly thought, hoping to drink a bowl of seafood porridge.
The sound of Yu Yue's footsteps came from behind. The woman looked at her daughter in the corner and asked softly, "Mr. Su, what would you like for breakfast?"
Su Huan lay on the chair, squinting, "Don't be so polite, otherwise I feel like you're mocking me."
Yu Yue bit her lower lip, a bit embarrassed. She was much older than Su Huan, but she couldn't call him Xiaosu, could she?
"Su... Brother Su?"
Aunt Yu slightly softened the pronunciation, not obviously, but it differed from what the others called him.
Su Huan suddenly felt that fussing over this was meaningless, so he casually said, "I remember there are quite a bit of frozen seafood in the dining car's fridge. Let's make some porridge. In the future, prioritize eating the frozen stored food."
"Okay."
Having been disrupted, Su Huan couldn't continue squinting and simply got up to carriage No. 5 to pull the curtains open.
The sudden bright daylight crisscrossed the carriage in a play of light and shadow.
Squinting slightly, Su Huan looked out the window, seeing lush vegetation in the wilderness, with plenty of bright red plants amidst what used to be a vibrant green color.
It seemed as though deep in the shadows, pairs of eyes were observing the train.
As the train advanced, the land and scenery were gradually left behind.
Su Huan returned to carriage No. 6, approaching Yu Jing.
She had come relatively early last night, replaced her mother, and stayed up half the night, so by morning she was exhausted and lay here for a while.
Her gray little shirt was pulled up by the raised curves, revealing the delicate skin of her abdomen.
Feeling playful, Su Huan squatted down and gently rubbed near her navel with his fingertip.
Without using force, just using his fingerprint to scratch.
After a moment, Yu Jing opened her bloodshot eyes, glanced at Su Huan, and turned her head to continue sleeping.
Her graceful, fair neck was thus exposed before him.
Not long after, Yu Jing felt a slight itching sensation on her neck and let out a faint sigh, "Why don't you just end it for me?"
"I won't."
Su Huan sneered, continuing to play the childish game of teasing her with his hair.
Do you think you can just give in to me?
Who actually calls the shots?
Moreover, he found that mentally torturing Yu Jing gave him more pleasure than directly doing that thing.
After all, it's like candy in the mouth; the longer the taste is savored, the sweeter it feels when finally consumed.
Yu Jing could not fall asleep at all, looking at Su Huan's indifferent smile, feeling irritated. She regretted not yielding to him that night.
By now, it might have been over.
But now, she had triggered that damn male desire for conquest, not knowing how much trouble lay ahead.
Yu Jing's lips curved upward into a beautiful smile, "Brother, how about we go inside?"
"Shut up, disgusting!"
Yu Jing: "..."
This round ended with Yu Jing fleeing in disarray.
Su Huan, though his body was weary from sleeplessness, felt in extremely high spirits.
He first returned to his room, put down his sniper crossbow, and then took out a notebook to jot down the day's log.
"December 19, early winter, 28°C—"
"I think I have forged a hero."
—— "Train Conductor's Log"
Entering the dining car, he saw a khaki blanket on the sofa, printed with a chubby orange cat, smiling mischievously, adding a homely touch to the carriage.
Yu Yue noticed his gaze, saying, "I thought the blanket was idle, it felt nice to put it here..."
"That's fine, such things do as you please, no need to ask me," Su Huan replied indifferently with a wave of his hand.
Sinking into the sofa, he zoned out.
Around seven o'clock, Wan Xing and Qi Xiaobai also came out.
The train slowly came to a stop at the outskirts.
Liang Kuan, with bloodshot eyes from exhaustion, walked into the dining car, "The nearest water plant is about ten minutes away, we'll get there soon."
Su Huan took the seafood porridge Yu Yue handed him, sniffing the aroma, "No rush, let's drop the passengers off first, then you can go rest."
"Understood."
Liang Kuan took the porridge, gulping it down.
Su Huan turned his gaze to Wan Xing, "Later, you'll collect the Night Demon's corpse from the storage carriage. Besides the Pan-energy Crystal, see if you can gather some other materials."
The biggest contribution of a zombie isn't the Pan-energy Crystal, but the various weird paths of physical evolution.
This was what a researcher from a big company Su Huan knew in his past life had told him.
But currently, Wan Xing's development of abilities was too low, and utilizing zombies deeply at the genetic level was difficult.
Su Huan didn't have high expectations of her; it was enough if she could disassemble some useful materials.
Those claws, for example, were all high-strength materials.
Gather them up; they'll be useful in the future.
Wan Xing silently nodded.
What she knew, Su Huan understood her capabilities better than she did, so there was no need to doubt, just follow the instructions.
Looking at the rising mist of seafood porridge, Su Huan contemplated, "Today's task is to check the train's damage and continue with phase one of the armored train plan."
The others responded.
...
The present carriage was rather "transparent."
Su Huan thought for a long time before coming up with this precise and vivid descriptive word.
Hundreds of coin-sized holes densely perforated the surface of the green-skinned carriage, penetrating through the buffer and insulation layer, creating a cavity.
Among twelve pairs of glass, only two panels were intact, the rest shattered into various shards.
The relatively flimsy roof had even been clawed into a large dent by the Night Demon.
Honestly, Su Huan even considered removing this carriage altogether.
After all, there was no immediate need for so many carriages, particularly as the passengers had decreased by 63 overnight.
What surprised him more, however, was that Brother Dog survived, and so did that family's daughter-in-law, though she appeared startled, but not a scratch of blood was on her.
The tattooed man's death was also a simple one, a swift kill.
Besides this, the carriages behind, those without steel panels, more or less bore several claw marks, but none as severe as this one.