Born to Head North

After climbing into the dining car, Su Huan indulged himself with another handwashing, pulled out a bottle of mineral water, and gulped down a big mouthful. Then he took out two more bottles and tossed them to Liang Kuan and Yu Jing.

"Have some water and rest for a bit."

The two drank as they slowly regained their strength nearby.

Su Huan slumped onto the sofa, drenched in sweat. "Liang Kuan, turn on the dining car's air conditioning. No need to turn it on in the other cars."

A few minutes later, cool air began blowing from the vents.

Enjoying the refreshing sensation as the pores all over his body opened, Su Huan lazily gazed out the window.

Although the protective mesh divided the scenery outside into little squares, it actually put him in a better mood.

"Ask whatever you want while I'm in a good mood."

Yu Jing thought it over before asking, "I want to know what happened to the world."

Su Huan raised his eyelids slightly. She really had asked the right question.

She was quite clever.

"I don't know much about the apocalypse either. I'll just tell you what I know."

"Eight days ago, an unknown energy appeared. Let's call it Pan-Energy for now—a general term for energies we don't understand. It filled every corner like air and disrupted most of the communication methods we know."

Su Huan glanced around, picked up a small radio from the shelf behind him, turned it on, and randomly tuned to a few channels.

There was nothing but static.

Seeing that Yu Jing still looked eager to try, Su Huan simply tossed her the radio and let her tune it herself.

But no matter how she fiddled with it, she couldn't pick up a single meaningful sound.

"There are a few more radios in my room. If you don't believe me, you can try them yourself later," Su Huan said flatly.

Yu Jing didn't actually doubt him; she just couldn't bring herself to accept the result.

With a sigh, she put down the radio.

"Then where are we going?"

"North. It's colder there, so there's room to survive. But I have a feeling the current heat is only the beginning. Our only chance of survival is the train beneath our feet. If the apocalypse continues, this will be the only shelter we can rely on."

After hearing this, both their expressions grew somber.

"So we need to prepare to live on the train for the long term. I need to gather supplies and upgrade the armor, but I also need to build a water purification and circulation system, an air circulation system, a car for growing crops, a defense system, an attack system, and a complete medical and supply system..."

Su Huan paused. "Of course, you can't build a skyscraper in a day, and we won't be able to outfit the train in a day either. I'm telling you this so you know what to expect."

There was another reason the train had to keep heading north, but Su Huan didn't mention it.

His home was up north, and all his connections, along with most of his... memories, were there.

"So here's to surviving up to this point, and to living even better in the future."

Su Huan raised his bottle of mineral water.

The two lifted their hands in response.

After a moment, when neither of them seemed inclined to speak, Su Huan raised an eyebrow. "I thought you'd ask about Evolutionists."

Liang Kuan acted as though he hadn't heard him. Yu Jing replied calmly, "You'll tell us when you need to."

Su Huan smiled. The most important thing right now was to outfit the train. The matter of forming an Evolutionist team could wait.

He focused his mind and turned his attention inward.

["Energy Provider" lv1 Pan-Energy Conversion, lv1 Energy Compression, lv1 Pan-Energy Perception]

This wasn't a system. It was information etched into one's genes after evolving. There was no need to learn it; the moment their evolution was complete, Evolutionists could use and understand these abilities by instinct, just as they could "swallow" or "raise a hand."

It was like a lion cub swiping its paw. It might not know what the result would be, but it wouldn't forget how to "swipe."

With a bracelet made by Deep Blue Data, one could also see some basic statistics.

Things like the total amount of energy in the body and its recovery speed. Su Huan had bought one in his previous life, but sold it after two days.

He didn't want a bunch of people secretly studying his data. Even if it was all information that fluctuated constantly, it was far too dangerous in the apocalypse.

Besides, losing access to precise data didn't make much difference.

Although Evolutionists couldn't know their exact physical stats, they could sense their general condition—for example, how long a skill could be maintained and how long it took for Pan-Energy to recover.

They could estimate whether their bodies could withstand using a particular skill, too.

And these sensations came faster and more directly than numbers.

"Should I prepare lunch?" A woman's timid voice interrupted Su Huan's thoughts.

He looked up and saw Yu Jing's mother standing quietly nearby, looking both reserved and anxious.

Her personality was the complete opposite of Yu Jing's.

Yu Jing and Liang Kuan had already gone to rest.

"What's your name?"

"Yu Yue."

"Cook the food in the fridge that'll spoil first."

Su Huan gave the order flatly, then got up and walked toward the cars behind them.

A somewhat disheveled figure stood outside the fifth car.

Her black high-waisted jeans were scuffed in several places. She'd somehow gotten hold of an oversized black hoodie and was struggling to carry a black backpack. Her eyes were full of ingratiating hope.

"Well, look who it is—our little beauty! You've already gathered six portions of supplies?"

Su Huan never skimped on smiles for high-quality passengers.

The girl looked a little embarrassed, but seeing the smile on his face gave her hope. Tentatively, she asked, "Brother Su, I might not have gathered enough supplies. Do you think you could..."

Su Huan's smile faded, and his brow furrowed. "How much are you short?"

The girl took off her backpack and held it out with both hands, her face anxious as she waited for Su Huan to pass judgment.

Su Huan dumped everything in the backpack out at once.

There was quite a bit of miscellaneous stuff.

"Two portions of bread, four potatoes, ten heads of garlic. I suppose that counts as a day's worth of food. Oh, there are potato chips too, but they won't fill you up. Four bags count as one meal. Add five packs of instant noodles and a pack of four sausages, and that only adds up to two and a half portions of food..."

Su Huan counted it all up, his tone unfriendly.

The girl quickly pointed to a few other items. "And those. Didn't you say tools could count as one train ticket?"

Su Huan picked up a screwdriver, looking amused. "You want to use this in place of a train ticket?"

The girl's smile stiffened, but she still nodded, bracing herself.

Su Huan kept smiling, but his eyes had turned completely cold. "You're saying you want to trade a lousy screwdriver for a precious train ticket that'll let you sleep safely through the apocalypse? Are you stupid, or am I?!"

Yu Yue, who was washing dishes nearby, felt her heart tighten. She lowered her head and silently continued working.

The girl went pale. Thinking about being thrown off the train and left to face those terrifying zombies in an unfamiliar place, she shuddered, and huge tears rolled down her cheeks.

She pleaded through her sobs, "But I really have no other choice, Brother Su. As long as you let me on the train, I'll do whatever you say."