Su Huan said patiently, "There's a canning factory nearby, but we don't know how much food will be left. I don't mind chatting with you a little longer, of course, but some people might miss the train tonight."
The discussion abruptly fell silent.
Everyone scattered and began heading out.
There were more than forty carriages, but only around a thousand people. That alone spoke volumes about Su Huan's character.
If they couldn't pay for their tickets, he really would throw them off the train.
Soon, most of the thousand or so people had left. Only a few who moved slowly remained.
A girl dawdled over to Su Huan.
Su Huan narrowed his eyes and asked pleasantly, "Is there something I can help you with?"
The girl rubbed her fingertips together and hesitated. "Could you..."
"No."
"Growl."
The girl's stomach rumbled.
Her eyes immediately reddened, and tears welled up as she pleaded, "I'm just so hungry..."
Su Huan suddenly understood. "Oh, it's you."
Last time, a few people hadn't gathered enough supplies and had barely scraped together enough for their tickets.
Without food, they'd naturally go hungry.
Su Huan pulled a loaf of bread from his pocket and handed it to her.
The girl immediately wolfed it down, finishing the whole thing in just a few bites after opening the bag.
Su Huan thoughtfully handed her a small 330-milliliter bottle of drinking water as well.
After drinking it, she looked up and smiled sweetly. "Brother Su, you're so kind."
Oh, she was a pretty little thing, too.
Su Huan casually wiped the tears from her face, smiling just as happily.
"Remember, you'll have to pay me back with six portions of supplies."
Then, without paying any attention to the girl's shocked expression, he headed back to the carriage to get his tools.
Liang Kuan went to move the metal plates they had prepared.
When Su Huan returned to the carriage, he spotted someone sneaking around by his door from a distance.
The familiar knitted sweater and curvy figure were all he needed to see. It was obviously Yu Jing's mother.
Su Huan activated his "skill" for walking silently.
He stood behind the woman, barely four inches from her. He could faintly feel the warmth radiating from her body.
Taking advantage of his height, Su Huan leaned over her shoulder and watched her twisting her fingers like a little girl.
His voice drifted out softly. "What are you doing here?"
The woman jolted in fright. Her knees gave way, and she lurched toward the compartment door. Luckily, it was close enough for her to catch herself with both hands.
The shock had come so suddenly that she couldn't even make a sound.
Not wanting her to fall too awkwardly, Su Huan reached out and caught her by the waist.
Only then did the woman twist around to look. When she saw it was Su Huan, she didn't relax—instead, she grew even more frightened.
Still bent in that strange position, she stammered, "I wanted to see my daughter. She didn't come back all night..."
"Oh."
Su Huan felt his fingers sink into her soft hip.
"Click!"
The lock opened, and Yu Jing opened the door, her hair tied in a high ponytail.
The woman lost her balance and fell into Yu Jing's arms.
Yu Jing held her mother, her dark, expressive phoenix eyes shifting between the two of them, a hint of confusion in them. "Are you here to check how things turned out?"
Su Huan acted as if nothing had happened. "I'm here to get some tools. Come along."
Yu Jing stepped aside. Her mother scurried to the other side like a startled rabbit.
She also avoided Su Huan's amused gaze.
The room was no longer cluttered with scattered parts. All the tools had been neatly arranged on the table.
The vehicle leaned at an angle in the middle of the room, its front wheel turned slightly left. The mechanical supercharger's intake gaped in the shadows like a set of fangs, its honeycomb-patterned inner walls resembling an insect's compound eyes.
The air still carried the sharp scent of motor oil mixed with leather, like the exhaust of some enormous beast.
Yu Jing furrowed her brows as she explained, "It's been restored, but it doesn't sound right. There must be a few small problems with the engine that need to be checked one by one."
Su Huan didn't think much of it.
Just a few minor problems.
Could they really be worse than the issues with the Biker's modified motorcycle, with its chainsaw and fuel-injection system?
A rider might get castrated and roasted just for hitting the brakes.
He could handle something that unruly, so what was a harmless little thing like this?
He simply answered her with the Biker's catchphrase. "There's a lot wrong with this world. As long as it starts, that's good enough."
"Well, if you say so... We can check it again when we get back." Yu Jing paused, then accepted his reasoning.
Su Huan first pushed the enormous vehicle to the sightseeing carriage, where there was more room.
Then he took Yu Jing and the welding tools toward the front of the train.
As they stepped down from the front carriage, they saw Liang Kuan struggling to move a massive steel plate.
The plate was a full 25 millimeters thick and V-shaped, just wide enough to cover the entire front of the train. Su Huan had welded it together at a factory a few days earlier.
"Are you planning to install... armor?" Yu Jing suddenly asked.
Su Huan, who had been about to step forward, looked back at her. "Is there a problem?"
Yu Jing answered calmly, "If we're dealing with zombies or obstacles on the tracks, a plow-shaped front might work better."
Su Huan's eyes lit up slightly. "That's a good idea. Do you know how to do it?"
Yu Jing walked to the front of the train and crouched to take a look. "It's simple. Just weld the plate on at a thirty-degree angle. It might be a little troublesome, though."
"Then that's what we'll do," Su Huan said firmly.
He was counting on this train to survive. There was no room for carelessness when it came to fortifying it.
"Liang Kuan, lift it up. I'll weld it. Yu Jing, go around to the back and adjust its position. Let's try to finish this morning."
After speaking, Su Huan picked up a welding rod. Without even connecting it to the power, he touched it to the gap.
Yu Jing froze for a moment. She was just about to warn him when the flying sparks nearly blinded her.
She stared again in disbelief. Su Huan was holding nothing but a welding clamp, with no power source at all, yet he was welding in midair!
It completely defied her understanding!
"What is this...?"
"Get it into position first. If you do a good job, I'll tell you how to become an Evolutionist," Su Huan said calmly, his back to her.
Yu Jing watched the mysterious man, light flickering in her eyes.
"Lift it a little higher. At that angle, it won't work as a plow."
"Hah!"
Liang Kuan exhaled as he lifted the heavy plate, his face straining red.
It took them an hour, but at last they finished welding the plate in place.
Looking at the front of the train, marked with rough welds, Su Huan nodded in satisfaction. It was the apocalypse—who cared if it looked good? As long as it was tough, that was enough!
"Next, the windows. Once we've welded the security grilles onto the dining car, we'll be done for today."
Liang Kuan dusted off his gloves, kicking up a cloud of dust. He hauled a large pile of security grilles out of Carriage 3 and started cutting them on the spot.
It was inconvenient to connect to the power outside, but that made things easier for Su Huan. He could just grip the plug directly.
Then Yu Jing held the security grille steady while he welded it with his other hand.
It felt a little awkward at first, but the three soon found their rhythm and worked incredibly quickly.
Before two o'clock, they'd finished welding security grilles over every window in the dining car.
Before you continue