"One, two, three, four... five? Almost forgot, Juan is an Evolver."
Su Huan counted carefully as he plucked a few fruits.
If the water purifier deal went well, he might give Juan a chance to live.
But if the deal fell through, he couldn't find a reason for Juan to survive.
As for the supplies at the water plant, and the fair-skinned women, he wasn't too interested. The only benefit was what was already in his pocket, and the quickest option now was Juan's fair-skinned flesh.
Feeding the Bloodthirsty Vine could even grow more Bloodthirsty Fruits.
After picking the fruits, Su Huan walked towards the train.
Liang Kuan was leading some passengers in a zombie cleanup operation. Groups of them, armed with long sticks and the like, knocked down zombies and then beat them up together.
These zombies, not even Tier One, posed no real threat to organized humans, not even comparable to large carnivorous animals.
"Move all the zombie corpses to Carriage No. 2." Su Huan casually instructed as he passed by.
"Understood."
Once on the train, Su Huan looked around and found Wan Xing in the dining car.
Wan Xing was holding a potted plant, sitting on the sofa, her serene face gazing out the window.
The people killing zombies outside the train window looked like an ironic painting, blending civilization and savagery, death and hope.
Yu Yue was tidying up the bottles and jars in the kitchen; the occasional clear clash of sound brought a rhythm of life, pulling people back to reality.
Since Su Huan had no time to cook, the dining car kitchen had become her domain.
As Su Huan's figure appeared, the two instinctively directed their gaze towards him, their expressions tensing slightly.
Su Huan went straight to Wan Xing, took out five Bloodthirsty Fruits, and said, "Try to extract these today."
Wan Xing sat up, curious, "What are these?"
"Bloodthirsty Fruits, fruits formed by a mutant plant absorbing blood and flesh. They promote biological evolution but can't be eaten raw, or you'll die suddenly."
"Alright, I'll give it a shot."
Wan Xing took the fruits, got up, and went to Carriage No. 2, which had been turned into a garage and large tool room from a weapons carriage.
The air still carried a faint smell of blood, as if the metallic scent couldn't be dispersed even with the air conditioning on full blast.
"Later, they'll bring the zombie corpses here. You should extract as well, keep an eye out for things other than Pan-energy Crystals. Call me once extraction succeeds."
After instructing, Su Huan went straight to the second floor, still drenched, but now wasn't the time to worry about that.
His gaze passed through glass and blast-proof nets, over the clustered buildings, and landed on the tall water tower. Thinking of Gao Zhe hiding in some shadow waiting for him, Su Huan couldn't help but lick his lips.
"You better hide well and don't show yourself."
He took out a Tier One Pan-energy Crystal from his pocket, extracted from the Night Demon, and sat on the ground quietly extracting the pan-energy within.
...
The outer wall of the storage tank in the water plant was crawling with dark green moss, and the broken pipes cast snake-like shadows on the ground.
Gao Zhe held a blood-dripping steel bar in one hand, creating a staccato vibration on the metal stairs.
Pressing on the nerves of the guards inside.
Three people in security uniforms were tensely staring at the iron door of the monitoring room, suddenly feeling a slight movement behind them.
"Who's there!"
The tense guard shouted loudly.
As they turned around, they saw nothing but the other half of a bloody steel bar flying straight at them.
"Bang—"
The steel bar pierced the eye socket, pinning the guard directly to the wall.
A large stain of crimson spread.
The other two turned around just in time to see a one-armed figure in a hooded sweatshirt jumping down from the window.
He stepped with one foot, like a crouching tiger springing up, crashing into the two's embrace, the sound of bones cracking was teeth-aching to hear.
"Boom!"
Gao Zhe slammed them against the wall, braced one hand on the ground, twisted his sturdy waist, stood up, and pulled the steel bar from the wall, swinging it at the two guards who were whimpering softly.
After the crisp sound of a cucumber breaking, the room fell silent.
Only a rustling sound came from the bedroom.
Gao Zhe pressed against the wall, walked to the inside room, placed his hand on it, took a deep breath, and suddenly pushed it open.
But no further action was taken for half a day, his tall body was stiff there, pupils constricted to the extreme.
A stench of rotten meat filled the room.
The thirty-square-meter space was filled with moldy food packaging bags. More than twenty women hung from the ceiling, their hands bound, tiptoes touching the ground, constantly balancing to keep from falling.
Four people hung from the ceiling fan in the middle, forced to walk with its rotation, two of them exhaling more than inhaling, with black-purple bruised arms, dragged in circles while hanging, leaving bloody tracks on the floor.
Seeing Gao Zhe come in, the eyes of these women still showed no fluctuation, silent like mutes.
Even if Gao Zhe considered the armed train to be hell, it paled in comparison to this small thirty-square-meter room.
People hung there like drying cured meat, bare and exposed.
"You all..."
The rough voice startled Gao Zhe, it was hard for him to imagine that this sound came from himself. After a pause, he hurriedly found the fan switch on the wall.
He turned off the rotating fan.
Then went forward to carry the nearest woman down, "You, them...never mind, I'll get you all down first."
He realized for the first time how inadequate his words were.
He could only move faster, trying to reduce their suffering.
Just as he got everyone down, he heard the sound of a window being opened, puzzled, he turned around in time to see a woman leaping out of the window.
"No—"
A shudder ran through Gao Zhe's heart.
This was the sixth floor!
Feeling the struggle in his arms, he hurriedly looked down.
The woman crawled out of his embrace, knelt on the ground, and bumped her head heavily three times towards him, then crawled towards the window.
Gao Zhe reached out to pull her back, gritting his teeth, "There's a train outside, with food, if you come with me, you can survive!"
But the woman turned back, opened her mouth, revealing the empty cavity inside.
There was no tongue, not even teeth.
The woman smiled with a grin that was incredibly ugly, knelt backward, and finally crawled to the window, emulating the first woman, and jumped directly down.
Gao Zhe stiffly withdrew his hand, clenched his fist tightly, pounded it heavily on the ground, his jaw clenching, his expression so gloomy it seemed as if water might drip.
"Bang, bang, bang..."
The sound of heads striking the ground echoed throughout the room.
After a while, except for a few women who had died long ago, only Gao Zhe remained in the entire room.
The sky finally cleared, the tawny sunlight streamed in from outside the window, slicing a block of yellow light on the wall.
Gao Zhe collapsed in the junction of light and shadow, his expression somber.
"I...I was wrong...no, I wasn't wrong! Exploiters and those who toy with others deserve death alike!"
"Su Huan!"