Storage Car

A few wandering zombies suddenly turned their gaze toward the pitch-black tunnel. Once they realized the noise was coming from there, they swarmed toward it.

The next moment, a hulking steel beast roared out, plowing through several zombies as if they were nothing but bugs.

It didn't even slow down. The only difference was a few extra spots of blood on its plow.

The train gradually slowed and stopped on the crisscrossing tracks outside the steel mill.

Several other trains stood parked on either side, while zombies in various uniforms wandered between them.

There weren't many overall, though.

Most people had been concentrated in the cities. The only ones in places like these factories were probably workers who'd been stranded when the apocalypse suddenly broke out.

"December 18. Early winter. Temperature: 26°C."

There were still seven days until the heat wave hit. Everything was going according to plan.

As usual, Su Huan took Liang Kuan out to clear away a few zombies.

Then he let the remaining passengers off. Today's special ticket was a steel plate. Bringing back one would meet the quota; if they brought back another, they'd earn a day of free meals—hot boxed lunches.

After the last passenger had gotten off, Su Huan gathered everyone in the dining car for a brief meeting.

They'd have breakfast while they were at it.

Breakfast was buttered mashed potatoes Yu Yue had just made that morning, along with luncheon meat sandwiches and canned yellow peaches.

After drinking the last drop of juice from his can, Su Huan said, "It'll be a while before they bring back the steel plates. We can't waste that time. Wan Xing, you'll handle your extraction task. Everyone else, help me sort the supplies inside and build some shelves so we can organize and store everything."

"We'll remove all the partitions in car six and turn it into a storeroom. We'll put the foods that are easy to store in there. Then we'll build shelves in every car and stock enough food for at least one person to eat for three months."

"Let's get started. Liang Kuan, go turn on the air conditioning in car six. From now on, keep it at a steady 22°C. You won't need to turn it off."

"Yu Yue, wash the dishes first, then come join us."

"The rest of you, come with me."

Everyone quickly got to work following Su Huan's orders.

The team was small, but everyone could do their part. Most importantly, it was easy to direct them, and no one dragged their feet.

That was what Su Huan liked most.

He brought Yu Jing and Qi Xiaoba to car six. The moment Yu Jing saw the tools, a light began to shine in her usually calm eyes.

Without waiting for Su Huan to say a word, she tied up her long hair and started rummaging through the sleeper compartments.

"This air pump is great. What a find!"

"Finally, an electric drill! A professional-grade lithium-ion drill, too, with a torque ring."

"..."

It was the first time Qi Xiaoba had seen Yu Jing like this. Confusion flashed across his small face. How could someone's demeanor change so much?

Su Huan curled his lip. "Ignore her. See if you can remove these annoying partitions."

"Okay!"

Su Huan felt a faint pulse of Pan-Energy spread from Qi Xiaoba.

The screws in the partition trembled.

Soon, several half-melted metal screws were pulled out and set aside.

Su Huan raised an eyebrow. "Try unscrewing them directly, or use finer control to reduce the energy you waste."

Qi Xiaoba paused, then fixed his gaze on a screw and activated his ability again.

The screw quickly turned loose.

"Like this? It really does save a lot of energy..."

Xiao Ba gripped the armrests of his wheelchair.

"Exactly. Keep going."

Su Huan shrugged.

Qi Xiaoba continued dismantling the fixtures inside the car while Su Huan took apart the nonmetal panels nearby.

They could save those lightweight materials for interior partitions. The exterior armor was already heavy, so the lighter materials would reduce the strain on the train.

This would have been a time-consuming job for anyone else, but for the two of them, it was effortless.

Whenever they came across a piece made from a single solid material, Su Huan simply melted it with high heat.

Before long, car six had been opened up into one continuous space.

"Su, I'm almost done taking things apart," Qi Xiaoba called.

Yu Jing came over with an electric drill in hand and surveyed the new space. "We'll need to balance the weight on the shelves so we don't damage the frame."

Su Huan straightened up with a seat in hand and scanned the open car. "First, melt the metal we have into steel bars. If we don't have enough, we'll take some from the cars behind us. Yu Jing, figure out where everything should go."

After a pause, he added, "Remember to leave room for water tanks and fuel tanks."

Yu Jing raised her chin slightly, thinking it over. "How much room should we leave for the water tanks?"

"Like the supplies, we need one in every car. What's the maximum they can hold?"

Yu Jing lowered her eyes and calculated silently. "A car could theoretically hold dozens of tons, but to avoid affecting the train, around ten tons would be more reasonable. Any more would put too much strain on it."

"Ten tons..." Su Huan considered this for a moment. "We don't need that much. Storage is the priority. Leave enough room for four tons of water in each car."

"What about the fuel tanks?"

Yu Jing asked seriously. Every one of this man's requirements seemed to be designed to recreate some predetermined result.

"Enough to power the flamethrowers."

Yu Jing looked excited, revealing a pretty little canine tooth. "Then fuel alone won't be enough. We'll need to add something with a little more kick."

Then Yu Jing began directing them as they built the shelves.

With Qi Xiaoba there, they could skip the most troublesome parts: cutting and welding metal.

Even scraps of metal could be shaped and stretched by Xiao Ba into neat metal bars.

Once they'd gotten started, Liang Kuan and Yu Yue joined them after finishing their other tasks.

"Move it a little farther to the side. That's right, and a little higher. The middle of the shelf should be easy to reach. There'll be more small items, so cut out a few more compartments..."

"Xiao Ba, seal that window at the back first... You're out of material?"

"Car five has plenty of metal. Take some more apart."

They all bustled about under her direction, leaving Su Huan with a much easier job.

As he watched the storage car gradually take shape and every window get sealed, he felt his sense of security slowly being built up as well.

Rows of metal shelves stretched all the way to the ceiling. They stood firmly in place, even when the train shook.

Bright lights illuminated the shelves, taking the place of sunlight.

They tossed the miscellaneous items outside. Liang Kuan brought in box after box of canned food that would keep well, while Yu Yue stood to the side with pen and paper, recording everything.

The woman was taking her new job from Su Huan very seriously.

Warehouse manager.

She recorded the inventory and how much of each supply they used every day.

Su Huan walked up behind her and glanced at the wild scrawl in her notebook, frowning slightly. "How much have we got?"

Yu Yue jumped in fright and quickly answered, "We have the most canned food and fresh water. There are all kinds of canned meats, fruit, and grains—more than three thousand cans in total."