Tier 1 Zombie

"Keep accelerating!" Su Huan's voice, laced with the effect of a tranquilizer, pierced through the darkness.

Liang Kuan's knuckles turned white as he gripped the control lever, the fluorescent glow of the dashboard casting shifting shadows across his sweat-beaded nose.

The train began to crush into the zombie horde with a violent momentum.

The screeching of the train wheels, mingled with the boiling roar of the zombies, entered the driver's cabin and gnawed at everyone's nerves.

The zombies blocking the front were like clay; they were scooped up by the cowcatcher, squeezed onto the ram, and finally shunted to both sides, their blood splashing against the tempered glass like a torrential downpour.

The zombie horde piled up on both sides of the windows, their hideous and terrifying faces pressed greedily against the glass, staring fixedly at the people inside the carriage.

Yu Yue clutched her daughter's arm, trembling so violently she didn't even dare to lift her head.

Wan Xing also bit her lower lip, staring straight ahead at the front of the train.

Su Huan remained indifferent to all the changes around him, focused on only one thing: converting the Pan-Energy within his body into high-voltage electricity to provide new power to the train.

"Bang!"

The train shuddered violently, its speed finally increasing, and the piles of zombies accumulated on both sides suddenly collapsed, left behind in the wake.

A collective sigh of relief echoed through the carriage.

But Su Huan's expression remained unchanged, his eyes locked firmly on the tracks ahead.

A massive, bloated foot stepped onto the rail, rolls of fat hanging over the sides and touching the wooden ties.

The figure slowly turned, its massive pectoral muscles resembling stacked granite, while beneath them hung a gargantuan belly that nearly reached its thighs; at 2.6 meters tall, it looked only slightly shorter than the locomotive.

The metal component it dragged—salvaged from construction machinery—emitted a crisp clanging sound.

It stood there like a small mountain, its black and red eyes examining the accelerating locomotive with interest.

It had no intention of dodging, its mouth stretched wide to the ears.

The horrific smile caused the driver's cabin to fall silent once more.

"What... is that thing?"

Wan Xing asked, her voice trembling.

"A Level 1 zombie, a Butcher." Su Huan's voice carried no emotion, cold and hard as stone.

"Liang Kuan, ram it."

"Understood!"

Liang Kuan gritted his teeth and pushed the speed to the maximum.

Su Huan pulled ten Pan-Energy Crystals from his pocket, clenched his fists, and a flash of madness crossed his eyes.

If he remembered correctly, upgrading Level 1 Pan-Energy Conversion to Level 2 required exactly ten Zombie Embryo-grade Pan-Energy Crystals.

Level 2 Pan-Energy Conversion would reach 20% efficiency, effectively doubling his power output instantly!

No matter how formidable the Butcher was, it was still just muscle, bone, and blood fueled by Pan-Energy.

He refused to believe it could withstand this.

A train approaching 100 km/h, combined with the locomotive's 30mm-thick armor and ram, would surely kill this son of a bitch!

The Pan-Energy Crystals in his palms were dissolving at a visible rate; he could clearly perceive the cold, thin streams of energy climbing up his spine, exploding at the medulla oblongata into billions of even smaller energy factors.

His dormant genes began to unwind and reorganize.

--Forming the evolutionary blueprint exclusive to an "Energy Provider."

Level 1 Pan-Energy Conversion --> Level 2 Pan-Energy Conversion.

In an instant, Su Huan felt something that had been restricting him shatter, and the familiar sense of fluidity returned.

His piercing gaze cut through the blood-stained glass and collided with the crimson in the giant zombie's eye sockets.

Neither side gave an inch!

The accelerating train vibrated again, its speed climbing crazily as it roared toward the Butcher to launch its charge!

The Butcher let out a wild roar, raised its arm, and swung the dragged metal component down toward the front of the train with a thunderous crash.

"Boom--"

Viewed from high above, the moment the small giant collided with the steel dragon, its iron-gray skin, wrapped around muscle and fat, was compressed by the locomotive like a balloon; in a split second, it reached its limit and shattered, splashing mixed bone fragments onto the front of the train.

The violent metallic collision left Su Huan slightly dazed, and it took a moment for him to realize he was still on the train.

The train beneath his feet continued to hum forward, the clack-clack sound like the drums of victory.

Light and joyful!

Su Huan couldn't help but grin to his ears.

No carbon-based lifeform could withstand the impact of ten thousand tons of steel; any zombie standing in his way would be crushed by the steel dragon beneath his feet!

The passengers in the rear carriages were the first to be awakened.

Because the steel plating only extended to the tenth carriage, they were treated to a wake-up call from the zombie horde pressed against their windows.

The green-skinned carriages were hammered with a deafening clang-clang by the zombies.

It wasn't until the train accelerated, shaking off these ordinary zombies, that the passengers in the rear finally recovered from their despair, kneeling on the floor to praise the Lord and every god in the heavens, while hurling the most vicious curses at the train conductor.

As for the narrow encounter between the train and the Butcher, to these passengers, it was nothing more than a trivial bump.

The shockwaves transmitted back to the rear carriages were far less terrifying than the initial roar of ten thousand corpses.

The carriage was pitch black, filled with the chaotic clatter of miscellaneous debris colliding.

Little Ghost, the tattooed man, crouched on a chair, spewing a frantic stream of abuse: "That son of a bitch Su, he only welded the steel plates up to the tenth carriage and didn't give a damn about the rest."

"He only cares about himself and doesn't give a damn if we live or die. Day after day, we risk our necks gathering supplies for him, while he sits in an air-conditioned carriage eating gourmet food and playing with women, treating me like a dog. I'll be damned..."

Squelch—

The sharp sound was masked by a sudden jolt.

A razor-sharp claw silently pierced in from the side, passing through his ribs and stabbing directly into his heart.

Little Ghost's eyes widened, his mouth hung open, and blood flowed out uncontrollably.

Brother Dog, sitting opposite him, looked sullen, unaware that Little Ghost was already dead.

He assumed the other man had just run out of breath from cursing and was taking a moment to catch his breath.

The train sped through the night at a modest seventy kilometers per hour.

The black iron plating was covered in vast swathes of scarlet blood, with zombie limbs carelessly left behind by the horde occasionally getting stuck in the gaps of the anti-riot nets or on the steel bumper strips.

Yet, this only added a touch of iron-blooded character to the Armed Train, like a hardened steel warrior fresh off the battlefield.

Inside the carriage, the calm voice of Su Huan rang out.

"Liang Kuan, check all the train's functions. Yu Yue, inspect every detail of the locomotive; check if the anti-riot nets are damaged or if the tempered glass is shattered."

"Yu Jing, check the dining car. Wan Xing, check the sightseeing carriage, and while you're at it, go to the second level and see if anything is clinging to the roof."

The person back then had mentioned a pile of Corpse Cocoons, but the only thing blocking their path just now was a single Butcher.

Perhaps there were other Tier 1 zombies following behind.

Beyond the strength-based types like the Butcher, zombies had many ways to evolve, and there was no shortage of those capable of catching up to a train.

Su Huan casually picked up a mobile phone from the dining car shelf.

He fed it a bit of power to turn it on, and using the faint light from the lock screen, he carefully inspected every corner of the carriage.

Although, in his memory, there didn't seem to be any zombies capable of piercing 12mm steel plating.

But caution had already become a habit.