Hard Currency

Gao Zhe paused his steps and turned around, his cold, grim eyes sizing up Su Huan. "Payment?"

"The dining car is preparing breakfast. How about a piping hot meal?" Su Huan said.

The corner of Gao Zhe's mouth twitched, revealing a mocking smile before he turned to leave.

Su Huan's tasks were never easy to complete; thinking he could get him to risk his life for a breakfast was ridiculous.

Did he really take him for a slave?

"There's steak, pasta, grilled sausages. If you don't like those, there are steamed buns, fresh porridge, freshly squeezed soy milk..."

Su Huan recited the menu from behind him.

He didn't even look back.

Gao Zhe stepped into the muddy water, frowned as he looked at the people lying on the ground, and shouted to Su Huan on the vehicle, "Do I just need to check their status and toss them into the carriage?"

"Yes. If you capture them perfectly alive, I'll even throw in a glass of wine with dinner," Su Huan said with a beaming smile.

Gao Zhe took a deep breath of the damp air, gripped his steel bar, and walked toward the people on the ground.

The one closest to the edge was an acquaintance—the burly Brother Dog.

"Trash!"

A flash of gloom crossed Gao Zhe's eyes.

He swung the steel bar directly onto the man's thigh with a dull thud.

Brother Dog instantly curled up like a shrimp, his hands clawing at his knees, his mouth wide open in a silent roar.

"No threat here."

Gao Zhe picked up the rope Su Huan had tossed down, bound him up like a dead pig, and threw him into the carriage.

Liang Kuan caught him, checked the knots, and stuffed a piece of rag into the man's mouth.

Gao Zhe went on smashing them one by one; whether they were truly unconscious or faking it, he gave them all a whack regardless.

Each dull thud was accompanied by the sound of breaking bones.

Hearing those teeth-grinding sounds drawing closer, Slanted Eyes, who was lying on the ground, felt a surge of hatred.

He had been planning to feign unconsciousness to plot a counterattack, but that son of a bitch had shocked him four more times!

His brain felt like it was smoking!

If it weren't for the fact that his physique had become astonishingly strong after becoming an Evolutionist, he would have been laid out just like the others.

He had spent a long time lying there just to recover.

This time, he admitted defeat and intended to wait for Su Huan to come over so he could surrender, but the man never came. Instead, a fierce god had arrived.

He was going to silence them all!

Slanted Eyes didn't dare stand up, listening to the footsteps drawing closer like a death knell.

With a roar, Slanted Eyes pulled his face out of the mud and lunged forward to grab the legs in front of him.

"This feeling... a Crafter. What a waste."

Su Huan immediately grasped the background of Slanted Eyes and felt a twinge of regret. What he lacked most on his vehicle right now was a Crafter, but unfortunately, this one couldn't be used.

"Keep this one alive."

Hearing Su Huan's voice, Gao Zhe froze with his steel bar raised. He frowned, his muscles tensing, and with a sudden jolt, he shook the man's hands off.

He kicked Slanted Eyes in the chest.

The man rolled away like a tumbling gourd and sat there, gasping for air.

Gao Zhe didn't pursue him; he looked down and pulled up his pant leg, seeing several red spots appearing on his skin.

"Don't worry, they'll fade in a couple of days. It's weaker than a skin rash."

Su Huan's indifferent voice came from the carriage.

Pan-Energy Perception allowed him to sense the fluctuations of pan-energy within an object, but it couldn't determine a person's profession. However, Gao Zhe's status as an Evolutionist was as obvious as a lantern in his eyes.

It was clear at a glance; there was no way to hide it.

Today was just a way to probe the man's evolutionary direction and speed to keep tabs on him.

It would be a real joke if the Shepherd were to be flipped over by his own sheep.

"Bang!"

Gao Zhe tied up Slanted Eyes and threw him into the carriage. "Remember to send the food."

Then, he limped onto the carriage from the back.

Su Huan looked down at the disheveled Slanted Eyes at his feet and reached out to rest a hand on Liang Kuan's shoulder, keeping him from getting too close.

If one were to ask which type of Evolutionist was the most powerful in the apocalypse, there might be many different answers.

But if one were to ask which type was the most bizarre, the "Crafter" would definitely be the top choice.

Because of their core skill, "Pan-Energy Erosion," these people could alter the properties of matter and trigger new mutations, making them the first to cross the forbidden line.

The red rash on Gao Zhe's leg was caused by Pan-Energy Erosion, but since he was an Evolutionist—and a Defender with the strongest physique at that—he managed to pull through after toughing it out for two days.

However, Liang Kuan was just an ordinary person; if he were to be eroded by the other party, it would be quite troublesome.

Perhaps on the first day, it would just be a red patch, but by the second day, an eye might grow out of it, and by the third day, it would start talking.

"...Don't kill me, I surrender! I have enough food in my water plant to last half a year, plus purified water, cars, plenty of gasoline, and women—lots of women! Just let me go, and they're all yours!"

Slanted Eyes spat out a mouthful of mud and spoke in a rush.

Su Huan acted as if he hadn't heard a word. A layer of red light shimmered over his hand as he fished a pistol from the man's waistband and ejected the magazine. Inside were eight 9mm rounds, gleaming yellow and looking absolutely beautiful.

These were good things, even years later when various evolved creatures ran rampant.

The distinct, acrid scent of gunpowder still lingered in the air.

Moreover, they were sturdy and durable, far more reliable than the Pan-Energy firearms developed by the big corporations; they were the hard currency of the apocalypse and a survivor's best friend.

Click-clack.

After a quick inspection, Su Huan chambered a round and gestured with the gun at Slanted Eyes' head.

The latter's eyes bulged in terror, his lips trembling uncontrollably.

"Don't, don't, don't kill me..."

"Where did you get this?"

Su Huan asked with curiosity.

"I picked it up at the Law Enforcement Bureau."

Su Huan flipped the gun over and indeed saw a mark that had been filed away. "Are there any more bullets?"

"There are at the water plant, sixty rounds."

"Does the water plant have a water purifier?"

Slanted Eyes froze for a moment, then nodded frantically. "Yes, yes, yes, we have both large and small ones."

Su Huan smiled; it seemed he wouldn't need to resort to torture.

He pointed at the sixteen survivors in the truck bed and said, "I'll give you a chance to live. Pick the two most loyal people from this group, and I'll let them go back. Have them dismantle a small integrated water purifier and bring it here, and you can live."

Slanted Eyes' eyes lit up instantly. "Deal, I will definitely get it done for you."

"What's your name?" Su Huan suddenly asked.

"Hu An. You can just call me Little Hu," Hu An said with a fawning smile, his slanted eyes even leveling out.

Hu An...

A flash of surprise crossed Su Huan's eyes; he hadn't expected to actually run into someone he recognized.

In his past life, only three convoys managed to escape the High-Temperature Zone, and this Hu An was the third-in-command of the Mojiang Mutual Aid Convoy, which was the largest of the three, gathering several thousand people.

However, he had heard the management was chaotic, so he never joined them.

They didn't have many powerhouses, but the number of Evolutionists was generally higher than in the other two teams. If he were short on labor, he might be able to set his sights on them.

But with him around in this life, it was uncertain whether that convoy would even be able to assemble.

What Su Huan was truly interested in was the other group: the Worker-Farmer-Doctor United Convoy.