Try This?

Brother Dog's face revealed a look of trepidation. Thinking of Su Huan's mysterious methods, he whispered a warning, "Keep it down, everyone. That guy surnamed Su is an Evolutionist; he's elusive as a ghost."

Lao Hu's eyes showed mockery at these words. An Evolutionist?

Who isn't one these days?

But even Evolutionists fear the truth of a bullet.

Lao Hu subconsciously touched the cold piece of hardware tucked into his waistband, his mind flashing to the man who could manipulate flames.

That fire was truly wicked; it had roasted three of their men, only to be sent off by a single gunshot from him.

Now, those corpses had been gnawed down to skeletons by zombies.

This was the source of his confidence in coming to seize the train, even after hearing the target was an Evolutionist.

The drizzle of the early morning, wrapped in muggy, humid air, pelted their bodies as several dark shadows moved through the mud, stepping heavily and unevenly.

Finally, they reached their destination.

Slanted Eyes' security uniform was soaked through by the rain, sticking stickily to his back. He wiped his face and looked at the steel-forged train, his eyes burning with eagerness.

"This is the carriage!" Brother Dog lowered his voice, pointing at Carriage 3. The mechanical bolt gleamed coldly in the rain.

"Don't mess this up."

"I've been observing for a long time; that guy Su lives in this one. Once we take him out, the remaining women and the cripple will be ours to do with as we please!"

Slanted Eyes sneered inwardly at Brother Dog's lack of ambition. In the apocalypse, there was no shortage of anything except women.

At first, they would use food to trade for them.

Later, they stopped trading altogether; if they took a liking to someone, they just snatched them.

"As long as we get the train, those women are all yours, Lao San!"

When Lao San, who was picking the lock, stepped into a puddle, it made a splat sound, earning him a fierce glare from Slanted Eyes.

Lao San tremblingly pulled out his tool kit, biting his flashlight as the beam swept over the keyhole, his heart relaxing slightly.

"It's an old-fashioned mechanical lock. If it were electronic, I really wouldn't have a way."

Slanted Eyes twitched his nose in excitement, a cruel, venomous light in his eyes. "Then hurry up and get it done. Once we're inside, the brothers will have a good meal."

The group excitedly surrounded the train, those near the windows even crouching down.

They stared intently at the small tools in Lao San's hands.

Lao San didn't make a sound, burying his head in his work.

The faint, scratching noises sounded like a small mouse.

Thirty seconds passed, and Slanted Eyes remained excited.

One minute passed, and Slanted Eyes' expression tightened.

Three minutes passed, and Slanted Eyes' face grew rigid.

Five minutes passed, and Slanted Eyes' expression turned gloomy.

Ten minutes passed, and Slanted Eyes' face began to twitch.

"I'm starting to think the neighbor's wife left the door unlocked for you."

Brother Dog offered a dry, biting sarcasm.

"Logically, it should have opened by now. This type of lock is supposed to be..." Lao San's palms trembled as he twisted hard, but the lock remained unmoved.

"Useless trash!" Boss Hu grabbed Lao San by the collar, his face cast in shadow by the light from Lao San's lamp. "Didn't you say there wasn't a lock you couldn't pick?"

"G-give me ten more minutes..." Cold sweat mixed with rain slid down Lao San's forehead as his screwdriver scraped against the keyhole with a harsh, grating sound.

In the distance, the dragging footsteps of zombies approached. The sound of the rain was punctuated by the low growls of the horde, and the hands gripping their machetes grew increasingly slick with sweat.

"Hurry up!" Boss Hu cursed under his breath.

Five minutes later, the lock suddenly gave a crisp creak.

As they looked on, the screwdriver in Lao San's hand snapped off inside.

The look on Slanted Eyes' face vanished completely, his dark expression so grim it seemed water could drip from it. "Lao San, you've been with me for a year now, haven't you?"

Lao San's face looked worse than if he were crying. "Boss Hu, give me one more chance..."

"Don't be in such a rush. Why not try this?"

Someone nearby handed over a pair of needle-nose pliers. Lao San was overjoyed and reached out to take them. "This will work, this will work."

Halfway through the reach, his hand suddenly froze, his expression one of having seen a ghost.

A figure, completely hidden in the darkness, stood inside the train window, holding out a pair of needle-nose pliers through the anti-riot mesh.

A stray gust of rain hit the window frame, and the jumping droplets caught the cold light, illuminating a young face wearing a gentle smile.

Slanted Eyes, standing to the side, was also struck with terror, never expecting that the target they were plotting against had been right beside them the whole time.

Ignoring the cold sweat streaming into his eyes, he subconsciously reached for the pistol at his waist.

"You don't need it..."

The smile on Su Huan's face faded, and his fingers loosened their grip on the needle-nose pliers.

The pliers struck the ground, splashing into a puddle.

Steel, a rainy night—this was his home turf.

Su Huan sighed inwardly as high-voltage current surged from beneath his feet and flooded into the train.

Cold blue arcs of electricity, guided by the raindrops in the air, transformed into thousands of blue threads that suddenly slashed down upon the people outside the train.

Slanted Eyes felt his hair stand on end; it was as if he had been violently stabbed, his muscles tensing in agony.

The motion of drawing his gun was only half-finished before his entire body began to convulse.

His palm pressed against his waist, his eyes rolling back into his head.

"Thud, thud..."

A series of bodies hitting the ground echoed through the air.

After a moment, Slanted Eyes managed to catch his breath; his muscles were no longer locked, and he struggled feebly to crawl up and beg for mercy.

"Snap—"

Another arc of electricity flashed, emitting a sharp, crackling sound.

This time, Slanted Eyes lay obediently in the mud, no longer struggling.

"It would have been so much better to just buy a ticket, but you had to take the crooked path."

As Su Huan muttered to himself, an invisible wave of Pan-Energy spread out from beneath his feet, its edge just barely touching the body of Slanted Eyes on the ground.

lv1 Pan-Energy Perception

Inside Storage Carriage No. 6, the night light provided steady illumination.

Gao Zhe stood in the carriage bridge, his only remaining hand gripping a piece of rebar, frowning as he looked at the metal door that resembled a hedgehog.

The tips of the spikes were stained with a crimson hue.

Through the gaps in the metal, one could see a youth in a black shirt sitting upright in a wheelchair, his eyes beneath his tousled hair filled with focus.

If he still had both hands, he would be confident in breaking through the door in one strike and taking a life in one blow.

After all, the youth had limited mobility.

But now that he was missing a hand, a forced breakthrough would only result in a mutual kill.

"Su said you were dangerous," Qi Xiaoba said, staring at Gao Zhe.

While observing his opponent's state, Gao Zhe retorted without hesitation, "You are far more dangerous than I am."

Clear footsteps sounded from the other side of the door. Seeing Su Huan walking over with an unhurried air, Gao Zhe knew his chance was gone.

He sighed inwardly; he had considered that Brother Dog might fall, but he hadn't expected it to happen so quickly.

From the beginning until now, he had only exchanged one move with Qi Xiaoba.

"Mr. Gao, staying up so late—is there something you need? The train does offer a late-night snack service, you know."

Su Huan wore his habitual fake smile, though his eyes remained cold.

Gao Zhe turned and left, not even bothering to throw out a parting threat.

He wasn't even certain he could take down one of them; with both of them together, and in the cramped confines of the carriage, he had absolutely no chance.

To strike now would be to end up like that Night Demon, crowd-controlled to death.

Unless... Su Huan left the train.

"Wait a moment. I have a little job here; I wonder if Mr. Gao might be interested."