Liang Kuan Awakens

Su Huan tilted his head to examine the streamlined carriage. Its primary white tone, accented with water-blue gradient stripes, looked far more high-tech than the wasteland-modified aesthetic of the Armed Train.

He estimated the height to be just over four meters, though each individual carriage was clearly longer than the old green-skinned trains.

He flicked out a few high-temperature rounds, buying Liang Kuan a moment to catch his breath.

In the thirty-plus-degree heat, swinging a shield to fight for one's life was clearly back-breaking work.

"Is this an electric train?" Su Huan asked, tapping his knuckles against the outer shell.

Liang Kuan wiped the sweat dripping into his beard and panted, "Hydrogen Train, aluminum alloy shell, moisture-proof and waterproof!"

With that, he raised his shield and slammed it into the zombies ahead.

Hydrogen energy—

This was a bit beyond Su Huan's expectations, but his eyes lit up when he heard about the moisture-proof and waterproof features.

They would be entering the Acid Rain Zone later, so the entire train needed to be sealed and waterproofed.

"Do you know how to drive it?"

"I do, I know a bit of everything!"

"If there's no hydrogen fuel, can this train still run?"

Su Huan's calm, unhurried inquiry drifted into his ears.

Liang Kuan shook his dazed head, taking three or five seconds to retrieve the answer from his memory.

"This train has a kinetic energy recovery design, the efficiency..." Liang Kuan swung his shield horizontally, knocking two zombies to the ground, "...I heard the efficiency is between 20% and 40%."

Liang Kuan walked over to open the carriage door, which seemed to be jammed by a suitcase wedged in the way.

Holding his shield in his right hand, he reached out with his left to pry the stuck door open.

He was completely unaware that Su Huan, standing behind him, had shifted his entire focus onto him.

The moment the train door slid open, a thick, bloody stench mixed with the sour odor of fermenting rotting flesh flooded his nostrils.

An instinctive tremor made his scalp crawl.

He jerked his head back.

Sharp claws grazed his Adam's apple, the blade-like air pressure drawing fine beads of blood across his skin.

His pupils contracted sharply; a Night Demon was hanging upside down from the narrow ceiling, its dagger-like claws driven into the interior lining like steel nails. Beneath its armpits, crimson compound eyes split into eighteen bloody lines in the darkness.

"You're courting death!"

The hair on the back of Liang Kuan's neck stood on end. Having walked the line between life and death, his ferocity was fully ignited.

He planted his sturdy calves on the threshold and lunged into the train.

Su Huan, standing behind him, withdrew his hand, which had been hovering in mid-air. He curled his lips slightly and followed him onto the train.

He pulled the door shut behind him.

The moment he stepped inside, he saw the Night Demon's claws piercing Liang Kuan's left chest, and his heart skipped a beat.

Just as he was about to step forward, he subconsciously activated his Pan-Energy Perception and abruptly froze. After a moment's thought, a bolt of cold blue electricity surged from the side wall, silently striking the Night Demon's foot.

The agile Night Demon's body stiffened violently.

Armed Train, Carriage No. 20.

The passengers were all rising, silently packing their belongings.

Every time the train stopped, they had to be ready to either scavenge for supplies or flee.

No one left their possessions on the train.

Because it was so stiflingly hot, there was little conversation, only the sound of rustling.

"Su Huan went out just now," Scarface said in a low voice, watching the scene outside.

"Temporarily, but I have a feeling he'll go out again."

The old man spoke with deliberation.

Due to the sweltering heat, his suit had been soaked through with sweat more times than he could count; it was sticky and tight, and his once-sharp silver hair was plastered greasily against his scalp. He no longer looked like the big shot he once was, appearing more like a destitute old beggar.

Only in those steady eyes could one still sense a trace of an unusual aura.

"Mojiang City should have what he needs, and this trip out is our last chance."

"What do you mean?"

Scarface's face twitched.

"He has known of our existence for a long time. Do you think that just because Gao Zhe is dead, he'll let us stay?"

"Sooner or later, even if Su Huan doesn't kill us directly, how many more scavenging runs can you survive?"

"We are all old passengers here; you know as well as I do how fast the newcomers replace the old ones on this train."

The old man's gaze was calm, yet his words left no room for maneuver, shattering Scarface's fantasy of burying his head in the sand.

Scarface's face was so gloomy it looked as if it could drip water; he glanced at his two lackeys who refused to show their heads, gritted his teeth, and asked, "What should we do?"

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

It was as if two ferocious beasts had entered the train; whether it was sharp claws or shield edges like axes and blades, everything inside the carriage was being shredded to pieces.

The searing pain in his left shoulder caused bloodshot veins to burst in Liang Kuan's eyes.

Yet the fire within his body burned ever more intensely, as if it were about to melt him down.

He simply tore his clothes to shreds, revealing his knotted arms and a physique of rugged muscle, with blue veins bulging like purple snakes coiled around his limbs.

The immense, stifling heat inside the carriage made him feel as if he were trapped inside an iron can.

His entire consciousness felt like a tin can over a flame, his brains bubbling and churning.

He had long since forgotten about Su Huan behind him, and had even forgotten why he had come up here in the first place; only one thought remained in his mind: tear open this damn can!

"Roar!"

The serrated edge of his shield wedged fiercely into the iron roof of the carriage, his already massive pectoral muscles suddenly swelling by two sizes, his shoulders and back resembling a rampart of sandbags on a battlefield.

Following the explosive sound of muscle fibers tearing, the entire section of the carriage roof was ripped away by his raw strength.

In the split second Su Huan's eyelids twitched wildly, the Night Demon's claws pierced through his lower abdomen once again.

"Die for me!"

He bit down on the surging blood with his white teeth, his once gentle face now twisted into a mask of ferocity and madness.

He looked like a flayed beast, bathed in blood yet growing more frantic with every strike; the edge of his shield scraped against the iron walls of the carriage, trailing a stream of sparks as he slammed the Night Demon waist-deep into the wreckage of the seats.

Leather and steel frames buckled under the immense pressure.

His size-ten boot slammed into the Night Demon's chest, causing the entire carriage to groan and creak.

"Die!"

He flipped the shield in his right hand, whistling as he brought it crashing down toward the Night Demon's head!

"Boom!"

Viscous brains sprayed outward along the flat surface of the shield, and Liang Kuan felt as if countless shards of glass were shattering within his blood vessels.

It was as if he were standing in the North during the spring thaw, the sound of ice cracking and splintering filling his ears.

"It's done."

Su Huan watched Liang Kuan in the midst of his evolution, his eyes filled with joy.

Blue electric currents suddenly erupted from beneath his feet for no reason.

A black shadow at his side instantly froze against the wall.

It was, unexpectedly, another Tier 1 Night Demon.

Su Huan stepped forward and placed his palm on the Night Demon's head; amidst a burst of high-temperature flames, the head was incinerated into ash.

Losing its support, the Night Demon collapsed limply to the floor.

Su Huan looked at his palm and muttered, "Little punk, did you really think I couldn't one-shot you?"

Standing where he was, Liang Kuan's muscle fibers tightened like steel cables, and the wounds that had been pierced through began to knit together at a speed visible to the naked eye, turning into tender red scars.

Clang. The shield fell to the ground.

Having regained his senses, Liang Kuan looked down at his body, which had swollen by two sizes; with the slightest movement, the purple-red veins beneath his skin writhed like living snakes.

He raised his hand in a daze and clenched his fist, his knuckles popping with the sound of frying beans.

Looking at the chaotic mess of the carriage and the sky torn open above him, he had lingering memories, but he still couldn't quite believe he had done this.

As if remembering something, he subconsciously turned to look at Su Huan.

He hesitated, "This... did I do this?"

Su Huan gave him a thumbs-up, "You were as fierce as a god of war."