Integrated Water Purifier

"Adrenaline goes without saying. It keeps you alive. And last is a little something I made myself."

Su Huan picked up a cylinder and bit down on it, mumbling, "Don't expect this thing to save your life. When it really comes down to it, just bite down on it like this, then press the button."

"Beep, beep."

A sound rang out.

Yu Jing's expression changed slightly.

Su Huan took it out of his mouth and tossed it out the window.

A muffled bang sounded.

He spread his hands and grinned at them. "I guarantee you'll go out in a flash."

"But I made it by hand, so it might not be that reliable. If you're unlucky and it only blows you halfway to death, be more careful in your next life."

Everyone had grown used to Su Huan's flippant attitude toward life and death.

Still, it was a little hard to take.

After he finished explaining, and seeing that no one had any objections, Su Huan waved his hand.

"Let's go."

The front and rear doors opened, and Wang He hurried after Su Huan with the others.

It was their first excursion since the apocalypse, so Su Huan stayed on high alert. They used no lights, relying entirely on his hard-earned survival experience as they moved through the suburbs.

Liang Kuan guarded their flank with a sniper crossbow, while Yu Yue carefully kept close to Su Huan.

Every so often, they had to stop and listen.

"Watch where I step. Don't tread on those weeds," Su Huan quietly warned from the front.

Yu Yue nodded, then tugged at Su Huan's clothes and pointed to the front left. "There's breathing over there."

Su Huan's eyes narrowed sharply. He chambered a round, then signaled to Liang Kuan behind him.

Liang Kuan cautiously moved forward. A moment later, they heard the click of a trigger.

Su Huan followed and saw a Terror Claw Cat with only half its body left. Its lower half was gone, and it was gravely wounded, on the verge of death. He had Liang Kuan finish it off with a crossbow bolt.

Like the Blood Hound, this cat was a Tier One Evolutionary Beast. Its body was gaunt and hairless, but its four claws had evolved into something terrifying—huge, sickle-like blades.

After crossing the stretch of wilderness, they reached the cement road, which was much cleaner.

Cars had been pushed to the sides, and large numbers of zombies lay sprawled on the ground.

Terrifying claw marks on the streetlights, chunks missing from the corners of walls, dark red bloodstains on the pavement...

Signs of fighting were everywhere.

Fortunately, it was too dark for the workers behind them to see, so they were spared the anxiety.

The walk to the Water Plant went smoothly, without much trouble.

Looking at the wall ahead, Su Huan turned to Yu Yue. "Listen and see what's inside."

Yu Yue's gaze went slightly unfocused as she concentrated on listening. After Su Huan had comforted her earlier, she wasn't as afraid of the sounds.

After a moment, she replied, "There are about sixty sound sources, mostly inside the buildings. I can hear water splashing in the water tower, and something scraping inside the guardhouse to the left of the entrance."

Su Huan couldn't help grinning. In his previous life, he hadn't had a regular team.

Having an Evolutionist with perception abilities could help them avoid a lot of danger.

They didn't enter through the main gate. After circling around, they found a huge breach in the side, as if a truck had crashed through. The cement ground was covered in damp water.

Their footsteps splashed as they walked over it.

The group quickly made their way into the Water Plant.

"Something's swimming toward us! Ten meters to the front right!"

Yu Yue's face turned pale, and her voice trembled slightly.

"Mm."

Su Huan answered calmly. He paused for two seconds, then a compressed, cold-blue arc of electricity sprang from beneath his feet and shot toward the spot Yu Yue had indicated, traveling along the water on the ground.

In the flash of light, they all saw the thing.

About a meter in diameter and more than half a meter tall, it charged at them sideways at great speed, raising two enormous pincers.

It was a river crab.

But no matter how fast it was, it couldn't outrun Su Huan's high-voltage electricity. In an instant, the current paralyzed it, and it flipped onto its back.

With 20% energy output and Energy Compression, it was practically a one-shot kill.

Still, Su Huan wasn't satisfied. He went over and fired three high-temperature shots to finish it off.

He stopped only when they could smell its delicious, savory aroma.

That was how an Energy Provider fought: simple and crude. Use overwhelming energy to take your enemy down. If that wasn't enough, use more.

Before anyone could react, the river crab was already dead, and they continued onward.

Things went much more smoothly after that. With Yu Yue around, they avoided whatever they could. When they couldn't, Su Huan went over and whipped up a quick little seafood cookout. They made rapid progress.

Then they found a small red Forklift in the courtyard, complete with its lifting arm.

After twenty minutes of searching in the dark, they finally found the small Integrated Water Purifier.

Su Huan took a deep breath, suppressing his excitement, and pointed at the purifier. "Wang He, get it dismantled within twenty minutes. I'll give you a permanent train ticket. As long as your construction crew is on the train, I'll provide you with clean water."

A look of difficulty crossed the man's eyes. "Boss Su, taking it apart is easy, but transporting it won't be."

Su Huan's voice turned cold. "There's a vehicle in the courtyard. I don't care how you do it. You're bringing it back."

Wang He gritted his teeth and agreed, then got twenty workers started.

Liang Kuan strode over and spoke quietly. "We found quite a bit of diesel and gasoline in the building next door."

Su Huan's eyes lit up. The Armed Train still ran mainly on diesel for power and fuel.

His ability only served as an auxiliary power source.

To truly get the train running, he needed to become a Tier One Energy Storage Core, at the very least.

"Let's go. We'll bring it all back. Yu Yue, come with us!"

With that, Su Huan headed next door.

He pushed open the door and found more than a dozen oil drums lined up inside.

They split up: Liang Kuan brought the drums out, while Su Huan went to get a vehicle.

Unlike trains, ordinary cars didn't have all sorts of restrictions. He could bypass the ignition key and supply power directly to the car's circuits to start the engine.

Before long, he drove a pickup over.

Yu Yue kept watch nearby as the two men quickly loaded the drums.

Su Huan had evolved once, giving him excellent physical strength. Liang Kuan was simply big and strong, and was even stronger than him.

The two of them loaded eight 55-gallon drums, each measuring 58 by 88.

They could have loaded a few more, but the vehicle couldn't handle the weight.

To be safe, they left the rest behind.

After more than twenty minutes of work, Wang He reported the good news: they had dismantled the purifier.

They used the Forklift and two vehicles to haul it away.

Now that they had secured their main target, Su Huan didn't get greedy. They didn't even search for the remaining supplies. Instead, he led everyone straight out in a large group.

Two more Evolutionary Beasts came after them along the way, but both were aquatic, so Su Huan had the perfect counter.

Su Huan also had the workers load the river crab onto a vehicle.

They had approached cautiously, but they ran back at full speed.

Everyone except those who had to drive, Su Huan included, jogged behind the vehicles.

The Forklift had to stop from time to time to clear debris from the road.