Su Huan's Favors Compound Like Interest

Su Huan said patiently, "There is a cannery nearby, but it's uncertain how much food remains. I certainly don't mind chatting with you all a while longer, but some people might not make their train tonight."

The murmurs came to an abrupt halt.

The crowd scattered, beginning to head outside.

With over forty carriages but only a thousand or so people, it already spoke volumes about Su Huan's character.

If you couldn't pay the fare, he would truly toss you out of the train.

Soon, the thousand-plus people had mostly cleared out, leaving only a few who moved slowly.

A girl dawdled her way over to Su Huan's side.

Su Huan narrowed his eyes, his tone easygoing, "Is there something I can help you with?"

The girl twisted her fingertips, hesitating, "Could you..."

"No."

Gurgle.

The girl's stomach let out a sound.

Her eyes instantly reddened, tears welling up as she pleaded, "I'm just so hungry..."

Su Huan realized with a start, "Ah, it's you."

Last time, there were a few people who hadn't collected enough supplies and had barely scraped together the fare.

Without food, they were naturally going to starve.

Su Huan pulled a loaf of bread from his pocket and handed it to her.

The girl immediately devoured it, finishing the entire thing in just a few bites after opening the bag.

Su Huan even thoughtfully handed her a small 330ml bottle of drinking water.

After she finished drinking, she looked up and smiled sweetly, "Brother Su, you're such a good person."

Oh, she's quite the little beauty.

Su Huan casually wiped the tears from the girl's face, smiling just as happily.

"Remember, you need to bring back six portions of supplies."

With that, he ignored the girl's stunned expression and headed back to the train to grab his tools.

Liang Kuan, meanwhile, went to haul the prepared metal sheets.

Su Huan returned to the carriage and saw a figure skulking in front of his door from a distance.

Looking at the familiar knit sweater and the full figure, he didn't even need to guess that it was Yu Jing's mother.

Su Huan activated his "skill" of walking silently.

He stood behind the woman, barely ten centimeters from her body, faintly sensing the heat radiating from her.

Taking advantage of his height, Su Huan leaned over her shoulder, watching her twist her fingers like a little girl.

He said in a ghostly voice, "What are you doing here?"

The woman shuddered violently, her legs giving way as she lunged toward the cabin door; fortunately, she was close enough to catch herself with her hands against the door.

Because the fright had been so sudden, she hadn't even managed to let out a sound.

Afraid she would fall too clumsily, Su Huan reached out to steady her waist.

The woman turned around to look, and upon seeing it was Su Huan, she felt no relief—only increased terror.

Maintaining her awkward posture, she trembled, "I wanted to come see my daughter; she hasn't returned all night..."

"Oh."

Su Huan felt his fingers sink into her soft hip.

Click!

The lock disengaged, and Yu Jing, wearing a high ponytail, opened the door.

The woman lost her balance and fell into Yu Jing's arms.

Yu Jing held her mother, her dark, spirited phoenix eyes darting between the two of them with a hint of confusion, "Are you here to inspect the results?"

Su Huan acted as if nothing had happened, "I'm getting some tools; you come along too."

Yu Jing stepped aside, and her mother scurried to the other side like a startled rabbit.

She also dodged Su Huan's playful gaze.

The chaotic mess of parts in the room had vanished, and various tools were now neatly arranged on the table.

The vehicle body leaned diagonally in the center of the room, its front wheel slightly turned to the left. The intake of the supercharger opened its fangs in the shadows, the honeycomb pattern on its inner walls resembling the compound eyes of an insect.

The air still held the cold, sharp scent of a mixture of machine oil and leather, as if it were the exhaust exhaled by some giant beast.

Yu Jing frowned as she introduced it, "It's restored, but the sound isn't right. There must be some minor issues somewhere in the engine that need to be checked one by one."

Su Huan didn't take it to heart.

They were just a few minor glitches.

Could they be worse than the problems with the chainsaw-plus-fuel-injection motorcycles modified by those gearheads?

A rider might get castrated and roasted just by hitting the brakes on one of those.

If he could tame a beast that volatile, these safe and harmless little things were nothing.

He simply replied to her using a gearhead catchphrase, "There are too many broken things in this world; as long as it can start, that's enough."

"Hmm, since you say so... we'll overhaul it when we get back," Yu Jing said, stunned for a moment before looking relieved.

Su Huan first pushed the big guy into the sightseeing carriage, where there were plenty of empty spots.

Then, he took Yu Jing and the welding tools toward the front of the train.

Stepping down from the locomotive, they happened to see Liang Kuan struggling to move a massive steel plate.

The steel plate was a full 25mm thick and V-shaped, designed to cover the entire front of the train; Su Huan had welded it at a factory a few days ago.

"Are you planning to install... armor?" Yu Jing suddenly asked.

Su Huan, who was about to step forward, turned back to look at her, "Is there a problem?"

Yu Jing said calmly, "If you're facing zombies or obstacles on the tracks, a plow-shaped cowcatcher might be more effective."

Su Huan's eyes lit up slightly, "That's a great idea. Do you know how to execute it?"

Yu Jing walked to the front of the train, crouched down, and inspected it, "It's simple. Just weld the steel plate at a 30-degree angle. It's just a bit tedious."

"Then that's what we'll do," Su Huan said with a resolute tone.

He was relying on this train to survive; he couldn't afford to be sloppy with the armed modifications.

"Liang Kuan, lift it up. I'll weld. Yu Jing, you go to the back and align the position. Let's try to finish by noon."

As soon as Su Huan finished speaking, he gripped a welding rod and, without even connecting the power, began tapping it against the seam.

Yu Jing was stunned for a moment, and just as she was about to warn him, the erupting sparks nearly blinded her.

She looked again in disbelief; Su Huan was holding nothing but a welding clamp, with no power source connected, yet he was welding in thin air!

It completely challenged her perception!

"This is..."

"Align the position first. If you perform well, I'll tell you how to become an Evolver," Su Huan said calmly, his back to her.

Yu Jing looked at this mysterious man, arcs of light flickering in her eyes.

"Lift it a bit higher; the angle is too low to have a plowing effect."

"Hup!"

Liang Kuan exhaled sharply, lifting the heavy steel plate until his face turned beet red.

After an hour, the group finally finished welding the steel plate.

Looking at the front of the train with its rough welding marks, Su Huan nodded in satisfaction. It was the apocalypse, after all; who cared if it looked good? As long as it was fierce, that was enough!

"Next are the windows. Weld the blast-proof mesh onto the dining car, and today's tasks will be complete."

Liang Kuan clapped his gloves together, kicking up a cloud of dust, and dragged a large pile of blast-proof mesh out of Carriage 3, beginning to cut it on the spot.

It was difficult to connect to power outside, but it saved trouble; Su Huan just held the plug himself.

Then, Yu Jing helped hold the blast-proof mesh while he used his other hand to weld.

It felt strange at first, but the three of them soon developed a rhythm, and their speed became incredibly fast.

Before two o'clock, they had finished welding the blast-proof mesh onto all the windows of the dining car.