Devouring the Large Freezer

Huang Jie's eyes went red. He stood up at once, grabbed his gun, flicked off the safety, and gritted his teeth as he unloaded a whole magazine into the carriage window.

Rat-tat-tat!

Sparks flew, stray bullets ricocheted everywhere, but the windshield didn't even flinch.

He had no idea, of course, that this Juying 03E heavy gas-turbine locomotive was originally designed for the first-generation gas-turbine trains on the Orbital Ring, with a top speed of 450 km/h. The windshield was made from special composite fibers bonded with high-strength glass—ordinary rifle rounds posed little threat.

"The hell you think you're doing—keep it down!!"

The deafening gunfire echoed across the entire freight platform. His Big Brother Huang Zhaojian roared in fury, "You wanna die?! Lure those freaks over here and we're all dead!"

"Bro... there's a chick!"

Huang Jie was beside himself with impatience now. Staring at Chen Sixuan inside the carriage, he kept swallowing hard, his face twisted with unwillingness.

Big Brother Huang Zhaojian climbed up too. The moment his gaze landed inside, his pupils shrank. His mind churned with complicated thoughts, but he quickly forced a stern expression.

"Easy. She's not going anywhere. Once we get that guy out and grab the train keys, we'll have everything."

"Right, right, right!"

Huang Jie nodded eagerly. "Hah—ptoo!" He shot another burning look into the carriage, but Chen Sixuan had already ducked out of sight. So he just spat viciously.

"Little beauty, you just wait for me..." He was about to leave when he stopped, grinned lewdly, unzipped his fly, and pissed on the window as if getting some twisted thrill. Only then did he pick up his gun and walk off.

Scan complete. Acquired blueprint for the Bing'er TG-56 commercial freezer.

Inside the cold storage, Lin Xian listened as Chen Sixuan reported the situation outside. A cold glint flashed in his eyes.

"Don't worry about them. Just rest in Carriage 1. If you're hungry, grab something to eat."

"Lin Xian..." Chen Sixuan's voice trembled. "You'll be okay, right?"

"I will." Lin Xian's tone was calm.

He put away the walkie-talkie. After finishing the scan and collection of the freezer blueprint, he placed his hand on the freezer and began Mechanical Devour without wasting a second.

Devour progress: 1%

As soon as the progress bar appeared, Lin Xian realized that this large freezer was on par with the earlier small truck in difficulty.

And there was more than one freezer in this cold storage.

"I've got time today. Might as well go all out and devour every single one!"

Opportunities like this were rare for Lin Xian. Sure, escaping Jiang City's Dark Tide as fast as possible was the top priority, but he was stuck here anyway. Since that was the case, he might as well make the most of it and boost his ability.

"Where's that kid?"

Outside the cold storage, Huang Zhaojian came back with his younger brother Huang Jie. His wife Gong Li and their son were waiting outside. The old woman stood off to the side, grumbling irritably.

"He hid inside. Forget him for now. What's the situation on the train?"

Huang Jie was pumped. "Mom, me and Big Brother checked it out. There's only one woman in there. I bet those carriages are loaded with supplies. We've hit the jackpot!"

The old woman nodded. "You two find some tools. While it's still light, see if you can pry open that cold storage door. Better safe than sorry. I'm worried the longer we drag this out, the more trouble we'll have. In a few days, it'll be dark again and won't see daylight for a while. These old bones of mine won't survive that long a night."

"I was thinking the same thing."

Huang Zhaojian was getting anxious too. They'd stumbled onto such a golden opportunity—the sooner they got their hands on it, the better.

After a quick discussion, they decided to find some steel pipes and crowbars to pry the cold storage door open.

Time ticked by. It was already 17:00 in the afternoon, less than two hours until dark. If they couldn't get the door open before nightfall, they'd have to wait until tomorrow.

On the other side, in a dark corner of the cold storage, Lin Xian endured the stench as he kept devouring the freezer.

Devour progress: 80%

Devour progress: 95%

Finally, after nearly an hour, the massive freezer was almost completely devoured. By now, the cold storage door was rattling with a steady rhythm of prying and kicking.

Still, he wasn't too worried. When he first locked the door, he had scanned it. This kind of low-temperature cold storage door was 150 mm thick—the outer layer was stainless steel and aluminum, the inside thick polyurethane insulation and fiberglass. With the door core locked by his ability, prying it open by hand or with simple tools like steel pipes and crowbars was nearly impossible.

Unless they had hydraulic pliers or a cutting torch. But if they had gear like that, they wouldn't have been banging and clanging for over an hour.

So Lin Xian just endured the irritating noise and calmly kept devouring the freezer.

Meanwhile, Chen Sixuan paced back and forth inside the carriage, her mind in turmoil. But soon she realized panic wouldn't help. She first checked on the young girl, then, while it was still light, started organizing the supplies in the three carriages and tidying up.

Devour successful. Mechanical Origin Points +25. Mechanical Devour skill proficiency +8. Bonus reward: Strength +3, Defense +1.

Deep in the cold storage, Lin Xian's eyes lit up at the interface.

Big haul!

He did a quick count. There were four of these big freezers in here. If he devoured them all, he'd rake in a huge profit.

Mechanical Devour LV.1 286/300

Mechanical Devour was about to level up too. Once it did, his devour efficiency should improve!

With that thought, Lin Xian felt a surge of confidence. He didn't waste any time and moved straight to the second freezer to start devouring.

Outside the cold storage, Huang Zhaojian and Huang Jie were both red-faced and exhausted. Steel pipes and crowbars lay scattered all over the ground. They were drenched in sweat, panting heavily.

"Fuck... can't open it at all..."

The old woman stood nearby, glancing at the sky outside, her eyes flickering with uncertainty.

"Mom, we've been hiding in there at night these past few days, and those monsters outside couldn't break in. Zhao Jian and his crew definitely won't find it easy to crack this door either," Gong Li said, a bit anxious now.

"Yeah, this damn door's way too tough, shit!"

Huang Jie cursed and tossed the steel pipe he was holding to the ground. Despite his foul mouth right now, the truth was he prayed every night for the door to hold even stronger—pretty schizophrenic, really.

"Alright, stop messing with it."

The old woman knew this was pointless, and the racket they were making had already drawn the sound of footsteps heading toward the warehouse.

"It's almost dark. Let's hide first. We've got him chained up outside anyway, so he's not going anywhere."

"From the looks of it, without that guy, the train probably won't move. As long as they can't get away, they can't outlast us."

"Mom's got a point!"

"Then that's the plan..."

"Dad, aren't we getting on the train today?" the chubby kid asked, disappointed.

"Not yet. We'll stay one more night."

This family of a few had actually been hiding in that cold storage room where they'd been fishing earlier. But the lock on that door was broken—they'd only managed to secure it from the inside with a few steel pipes to get through the night safely.

Beep, beep, beep.

The alarm on his watch went off. Lin Xian, inside the cold storage, narrowed his eyes—he knew night was falling.

On the train, Chen Sixuan pulled all the blackout curtains shut and waited anxiously for Lin Xian's reply. Her gaze fell on the sleeping girl again, and she couldn't help walking over to check her breath. Confirming she was still alive, a look of surprise crossed her face.

This girl had been asleep for two whole days...

18:45. Darkness fell, plunging the entire freight platform into blackness.

The low growls of zombies, some eerie, strange footsteps, those rustling sounds—they all grew louder in Chen Sixuan's ears. She lay on the sofa, clutching the walkie-talkie, wrapping herself tightly in the blanket.

That Huang family had also slipped into another cold storage room, barricading the door with steel pipes and crowbars. They huddled together in a corner deep inside, eating while discussing their plans.

Time reached 19:32. Lin Xian finished devouring the second freezer.

Devour successful. Mechanical Origin Points +25, Mechanical Devour skill proficiency +8. Bonus reward: Your Strength increases by 2, Speed increases by 1, Defense increases by 1.

21:14. The third freezer was fully devoured.

Devour successful. Mechanical Origin Points +25, Mechanical Devour skill proficiency +8. Bonus reward: Your Strength increases by 1.

Though this one didn't grant many stat bonuses, what Lin Xian was really looking forward to now was his Devour skill leveling up to LV2!

New book—please keep reading!