Huang Jie's eyes went red. He sprang up, grabbed his gun, flicked off the safety, and fired a whole burst at the train window through gritted teeth!
Rat-tat-tat!
Sparks flew and bullets ricocheted, but the window didn't budge.
Of course, he had no idea that the Juying 03E heavy Gas Turbine Locomotive was a first-generation model designed for the Orbital Ring. It could reach 450 km/h, and its windshield was made from special composite fibers and high-strength glass. Ordinary rifle rounds posed little threat to it.
"Keep it the fuck down!"
The gunshots echoed through the freight platform. His older brother, Huang Zhaojian, cursed furiously. "You want to get us killed? Draw those things here and we're all dead!"
"Bro... there's a girl!"
Huang Jie could barely contain himself. He stared at Chen Sixuan inside the carriage, swallowing repeatedly, his face full of frustration.
Huang Zhaojian climbed up too. One look inside made his pupils contract. A thought stirred, and his eyes flickered, but he quickly put on a stern face.
"Don't rush. She's not going anywhere. Once we get that guy out and take the train keys, we'll have everything!"
"Right, right!"
Huang Jie nodded eagerly. "Ptooey!" He gave the carriage another heated look, but Chen Sixuan had already hidden herself. He could only spit viciously.
"Just you wait, sweetheart..." He started to leave, then stopped with a leering grin. He unzipped his pants and pissed on the window, as though satisfying some twisted urge, before finally walking off with his gun.
[Scan complete. Iceer TG-56 commercial freezer blueprint acquired.]
Inside the cold-storage room, Lin Xian listened as Chen Sixuan reported what was happening outside. A cold glint flashed in his eyes.
"Don't worry about them. Just rest in Carriage 1. If you're hungry, help yourself to some food."
"Lin Xian..." Chen Sixuan's voice trembled. "You'll be okay, won't you?"
"I will," Lin Xian said calmly.
He put away the walkie-talkie. With the freezer blueprint scanned and collected, he placed his hand on the unit and began using Mechanical Devour, racing against time.
[Devouring progress: 1%]
As soon as the progress bar appeared, Lin Xian realized this massive freezer was nearly as difficult to devour as the small truck had been.
And there was more than one freezer like it in the cold-storage room.
"I've got plenty of time today. I might as well devour them all!"
An opportunity like this was rare for Lin Xian. Escaping Jiang City's Dark Tide mattered far more than devouring machinery, but circumstances had trapped him here. He could only make the most of it and strengthen his ability.
"Where's that kid?"
Outside the cold-storage room, Huang Zhaojian returned with his younger brother, Huang Jie. His wife, Gong Li, and their son were waiting there. The old woman spoke irritably from the side.
"He hid in there. Leave him for now. What's the situation on the train?"
Huang Jie looked excited. "Mom, my brother and I checked. There really is only one woman. I bet those carriages are packed with supplies. We've struck it rich!"
The old woman nodded. "You two find some tools and see if you can pry open the cold-storage door while it's still light. The fewer complications, the better. I'm worried things will get worse if we wait. In a few days, it'll probably stay dark around the clock again. These old bones of mine might not last through a night that long."
"That's what I was thinking too."
Huang Zhaojian was anxious as well. They had stumbled across such a good opportunity; naturally, he wanted to seize it as quickly as possible.
After a brief discussion, they went looking for steel pipes and crowbars to pry open the cold-storage door.
Time slipped by. It was already 17:00, with less than two hours until dark. If they couldn't open the door before nightfall, they would have to wait until tomorrow.
Meanwhile, in a dark corner of the cold-storage room, Lin Xian endured the stench as he devoured the freezer.
[Devouring progress: 80%] [Devouring progress: 95%]
At last, after more than an hour, the enormous freezer was nearly devoured. By then, waves of prying and kicking echoed from the cold-storage door.
Yet Lin Xian wasn't particularly worried. He had scanned the door when he first locked it. This low-temperature cold-storage door was 150 mm thick, with stainless steel and aluminum on the outside and heavy polyurethane insulation and fiberglass inside. With its core locked tight by his ability, opening it by hand or with simple tools like steel pipes and crowbars was almost impossible.
They would need hydraulic cutters or a cutting machine. If they had anything like that, they wouldn't have spent over an hour banging away at the door.
So Lin Xian simply put up with the grating noise and continued devouring the freezer at his own pace.
Elsewhere, a distraught Chen Sixuan paced back and forth through the carriage. She soon realized worrying would accomplish nothing. After checking on the young girl, she used the remaining daylight to organize the supplies in the three carriages and clean up.
[Devouring successful. Mechanical Origin Points +25. Mechanical Devour skill proficiency +8. Bonus reward: Strength +3, Defense +1.]
Deep inside the cold-storage room, Lin Xian's eyes lit up at the panel before him.
What a haul!
He took a quick look around. There were four massive freezers here. If he devoured all of them, he would make a killing.
[Mechanical Devour LV.1 286/300]
Mechanical Devour was close to leveling up too. Once it did, his devouring efficiency ought to improve!
Filled with confidence, Lin Xian wasted no time. He went straight to the second freezer and began devouring it.
Outside the cold-storage room, meanwhile...
The Huang brothers were red-faced with exhaustion. Steel pipes and crowbars lay scattered across the floor, and both men were drenched in sweat and panting hard.
"Fuck... it won't open at all..."
The old woman stood beside them. She glanced at the sky outside, her expression darkening.
"Mom, we've been hiding in there at night these past few days, and even those monsters outside couldn't open it. It'll be hard for Zhaojian and the others to get this door open too," Gong Li said anxiously.
"Yeah. This damn door's way too tough. Fuck!"
Huang Jie cursed and threw his steel pipe to the floor. For all his swearing now, he had prayed every night for that door to be even sturdier. He was of two minds about it.
"That's enough. Stop trying."
The old woman knew they were wasting their effort. Worse, all the noise had drawn the sound of approaching footsteps toward the warehouse.
"It'll be dark soon. Let's hide for now. We've chained the door shut from outside, so he can't run."
"Looks like the train can't leave without that man. As long as they're stuck here, they can't outlast us."
"Mom's right!"
"Then that's what we'll do..."
"Dad, aren't we getting on the train today?" the chubby boy asked, disappointed.
"Not yet. We'll stay here one more night."
For the past few days, the family had been hiding in the cold-storage room they had used to bait their trap. Its lock was broken, but they had secured the door from inside with several steel pipes and spent their nights there safely.
Beep, beep.
The alarm on Lin Xian's watch sounded. Inside the cold-storage room, his brow tightened. Night was coming.
On the train, Chen Sixuan drew every blackout curtain and anxiously waited for Lin Xian to respond. Her gaze fell on the unconscious young girl again, and she couldn't help walking over to check her breathing. Only after confirming that the girl was still alive did she look at her in astonishment.
The girl had been asleep for two whole days...
At 18:45, night fell, plunging the entire freight platform into darkness.
Low zombie growls, strange footsteps from something unknown, and faint rustling sounds grew louder and louder in Chen Sixuan's ears. She lay on the sofa clutching the walkie-talkie and pulled the blanket tight over herself.
The Huang family had also hidden in another cold-storage room. After barring the door with steel pipes and crowbars, they huddled in a corner deep inside, eating as they discussed their plans.
At 19:32, Lin Xian finished devouring the second freezer.
[Devouring successful. Mechanical Origin Points +25. Mechanical Devour skill proficiency +8. Bonus reward: Strength +2, Speed +1, Defense +1.]
At 21:14, he finished devouring the third freezer.
[Devouring successful. Mechanical Origin Points +25. Mechanical Devour skill proficiency +8. Bonus reward: Strength +1.]
This one had granted few attribute bonuses, but Lin Xian was more excited that his Mechanical Devour skill had reached LV.2!
Before you continue