Crane Arm

Having said that, she jumped down along the edge of the carriage roof.

"Thwack."

Su Huan reached out to catch her feet, steadied her shins, and pulled her into his arms in one fluid motion.

Shaking out his sore, numb wrists, Su Huan asked, "How was the penetration test up there?"

"No problems. It's even more perfect than a welded seam."

Yu Jing unscrewed a canister of dye penetrant, the magenta liquid flowing along the weld on the side of the carriage.

Ten minutes later, after the developer was sprayed on, there wasn't a single crack or bleed-through.

Su Huan nodded; after all, with her Metal Manipulation, her craftsmanship was beyond reproach.

By now, it was nearing dusk, and the sun was about to set.

The most complex part, the ramming prow on the locomotive, was finished. The 1.2cm armor on the first five carriages, including the engine, had been welded shut, with machine gun mounts reserved on the roofs.

The steel plates on the sides of carriages six through nine were finished, and most of the windows had been sealed off, leaving only two on each side to ensure basic lighting.

Welding this way meant Qi Xiaoba didn't have to waste his ability on precise cuts; he could just patch the whole steel plates directly onto the frame.

Heavy footsteps sounded from the carriage as Liang Kuan walked out carrying a corpse wrapped in a plastic bag, his light gray short-sleeved shirt soaked with sweat across his chest.

He jumped down from the carriage and tossed the bundle a good distance away from the locomotive.

A dozen black bags were already piled up there.

"How many is that now?" Su Huan asked when he returned.

Liang Kuan scratched his head. "Should be twelve."

Su Huan nodded. "Get on the train first."

The three of them boarded from the sightseeing car. Even though the air conditioning was cranked to the max, they were hit with a thick, putrid stench the moment they stepped inside.

Mixed with the chill of the AC, it felt like they had walked into a morgue.

Su Huan, however, took a deep breath.

"A familiar scent."

The carpet on the carriage floor had long been ripped out and replaced with a large plastic sheet, most of which was empty, save for traces of gore and blood.

Only one zombie lay in the center.

Various tools were arranged on the surrounding black iron racks: nail guns, electric drills, electric hammers, chainsaws...

It looked exactly like a serial killer's dismemberment chamber.

Wan Xing sat on a small stool next to the zombie, eyes closed in concentration as she harvested the Pan-Energy Crystals.

After a long while, Wan Xing slowly opened her eyes. Seeing Su Huan enter, she placed eleven Pan-Energy Crystals, each the size of a pinky nail, on the table. Her voice was slightly hoarse. "I harvested twelve Pan-Energy Crystals in total. I ran low on energy, so I used one."

"But after the tenth one, no matter how much energy I had in my body, the harvesting speed kept getting slower, and I've had this lingering sense of exhaustion."

Su Huan picked up the crystals, cautioning her, "That's because your mental energy has reached its limit. Don't force it; a good sleep will restore you."

"You can take a break and continue later, but be careful not to push yourself until you're dizzy. Stop when you feel like you've had enough."

Wan Xing nodded and added, "I've noticed a pattern: the longer a zombie has been dead, the more Pan-Energy leaks out, and the smaller the condensed crystal becomes. I evened these out a bit for you, though."

Su Huan toyed with the transparent crystals in his hand, examining them closely, but he couldn't spot any difference.

He really hadn't noticed that in his past life.

He supposed harvesters must have a unique way of gauging energy.

"By the way, we're out of zombies," Liang Kuan said from the side.

"Heh, there's a whole pile in the rear carriages," Su Huan replied, the corner of his mouth twitching.

The reason those zombies hadn't been cleared out was specifically to keep them as raw material for evolution.

Otherwise, he'd have to send people out to catch more whenever he needed them, which would only add unnecessary trouble.

Leaving Yu Jing to help Yu Yue with dinner, Su Huan took Liang Kuan off the carriage. Qi Xiaoba was still outside, assisting the workers with welding the steel plates.

Just as he stepped off, he saw Wang He walking over.

Su Huan raised an eyebrow. "What is it?"

Wang He looked troubled. "It's just... why are there so many zombies packed into Carriage 10? The boys are too scared to touch them."

The sun had completely dipped below the horizon by now. Though there was still a faint glow in the sky, the world was already surrendering to the night.

Su Huan pondered for a moment. "That's enough for today. You lot head into Carriage 7 later; I'll have someone send food over. Before you board, clean everything up and make sure all the steel plates are moved up. Don't leave a single one behind."

Hearing the big boss give the order, Wang He let out a sigh of relief.

Thinking about the meal he'd be having soon, he couldn't help but swallow hard, a look of joy appearing on his face after days of hunger.

He hurried off to gather the workers to board.

Su Huan followed. Qi Xiaoba was sitting in his electric wheelchair, the dim night light masking the trace of exhaustion on the boy's face.

Su Huan handed him a Pan-Energy Crystal. "Is the energy drain too much?"

Qi Xiaoba chuckled, taking the Pan-Energy crystal into his hand. "It's alright, just a bit sunny."

Su Huan couldn't help but laugh. "My oversight. I'll get you a parasol tomorrow."

Liang Kuan watched the two of them joking around in silence; even a fool could see that Su Huan's attitude toward Qi Xiaoba was anything but ordinary.

It wasn't just about the value he placed on him.

It was something akin to... a feeling of friendship.

Liang Kuan found it strange that he would even have such a thought.

Could a guy as cold and inhuman as Su Huan actually be capable of friendship?

Shaking his head, Liang Kuan cast aside these messy thoughts and helped lift Qi Xiaoba into the vehicle.

The construction crew boarded the vehicles behind them, along with a few other passengers returning one after another.

Although moving steel plates while surrounded by zombies was difficult, under Su Huan's tempering, they had already developed the death-defying resolve to complete any task.

Su Huan stood by the window, watching.

It wasn't until nightfall that he finally saw a dark shadow rushing toward the train; in front of the vehicle was a pillar, looking like an armored sea beast extending a steel tentacle.

As it drew near, the shadow revealed its form: it was a red forklift.

And in front of the forklift was a hexagonal, multi-section telescopic crane boom.

When the vehicle pulled up close, a young man in a tank top jumped out of the driver's cab.

His left leg was slightly bent, with his weight shifted onto his right foot.

There were only two reasons for such a strange landing: either he was in a very relaxed state, or his left leg was injured and couldn't bear weight.

"I brought the crane boom back. Does the three-month free ticket offer still count?"

The young man asked in a deep voice.

Su Huan looked at him with a meaningful gaze, a smile playing on his lips. "Of course. This train is very happy to be at your service in the coming days, Mr. Gao Zhe."

Gao Zhe didn't bother with Su Huan, simply boarding the train on his own.

Su Huan's gaze remained fixed behind him until he disappeared into the carriage.

Only then did he turn back and call out, "Liang Kuan, throw down two steel plates, drive the forklift up, and ask Xiaoba to help with the towing—this is a big one."

From the room behind him, Liang Kuan acknowledged the order and strode out.

A creaking sound came from behind, and Su Huan instinctively glanced over to see Yu Yue pushing a dining cart from the train toward Carriage 7.

It was piled high with freshly prepared boxed meals.