Born to the North

Climbing into the dining car, Su Huan luxuriously washed his hands once more. He pulled out a bottle of mineral water, took a massive gulp, then tossed two more bottles to Liang Kuan and Yu Jing.

"Drink up, take a break."

The two drank the water, slowly recovering their strength on the side.

Su Huan slumped onto the sofa, sweat pouring off him like rain. "Liang Kuan, go turn on the dining car's air conditioning. Don't bother with the other carriages."

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

Feeling his pores open up in relief, Su Huan looked lazily out the window.

Although the blast-proof mesh cut the scenery outside into tiny squares, his mood actually improved.

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

Yu Jing deliberated for a moment before asking, "I want to know what exactly happened to the world."

Su Huan raised his eyebrows slightly. She really knew how to hit the nail on the head.

She was indeed quite clever.

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

"Eight days ago, an unknown energy appeared—let's call it Pan-Energy, a catch-all term for energy we don't understand. This energy permeates every corner like air, blocking almost every means of communication we know."

Su Huan looked left and right, picked up a small radio from the shelf behind him, and flipped through a few channels.

There was only the static of white noise.

Seeing that Yu Jing still looked eager to try, Su Huan tossed the radio to her so she could tune it herself.

But no matter how she fiddled with it, she couldn't pick up any meaningful signal.

"I have a few more radios in my room. If you don't believe me, you can go test them yourself later," Su Huan said indifferently.

Yu Jing didn't doubt Su Huan; she just couldn't bring herself to accept the reality.

With an internal sigh, she put the radio down.

"Then where are we going?"

"North. The temperature is lower there, and there's room to survive. But I have a feeling this heat is just the beginning. Our only chance at survival is the train beneath our feet. If the apocalypse continues, this will be the only sanctuary we can rely on."

After hearing this, the two looked somber.

"So, we need to prepare for long-term survival on this train. I'm not just going to collect supplies and upgrade the armor; I'm going to build a water purification cycle, an air circulation system, a carriage farm, defense systems, attack systems, comprehensive medical care, supplies..."

Su Huan paused. "Of course, Rome wasn't built in a day, and the train won't be fully armed in a day. I'm telling you this so you can manage your expectations."

There was another reason Su Huan didn't mention for why the train had to keep heading north.

His home was in the north. All his personal connections and most of his... memories were in the north.

"So, let's toast to surviving until now and living even better in the future."

Su Huan raised his mineral water bottle.

The two followed suit and raised their hands.

After a moment of silence, seeing that neither of them intended to speak, Su Huan raised an eyebrow. "I thought you would ask me about Evolvers."

Liang Kuan acted as if he hadn't heard, while Yu Jing said calmly, "You'll let us know when you need to."

Su Huan smiled. The most important thing right now was to arm the train; the matter of an Evolver team could wait.

Focusing his mind, Su Huan turned his attention inward.

["Energy Provider" Lv1 Pan-Energy Conversion, Lv1 Energy Compression, Lv1 Pan-Energy Perception]

This wasn't some system, but information etched into his genes after evolution. It didn't require learning; the moment evolution was complete, an Evolver could drive and understand these abilities by instinct, just like "swallowing" or "raising a hand."

Like a lion cub swiping its claws, it might not know what result it could cause, but it would never forget the action of "swiping."

If he had a bracelet produced by Deep Blue Data, he could see some basic stats.

Things like total energy capacity, recovery speed, and so on. But in his past life, Su Huan had sold his after playing with it for two days.

He didn't want his data being secretly studied by a group of people. Even though these were things that fluctuated constantly, they were far too dangerous in the apocalypse.

Besides, losing accurate data didn't change anything.

Although Evolvers couldn't know their exact body stats, they could sense their general state—how long a certain skill could last, how long Pan-Energy recovery would take.

They had an estimate of whether they could withstand a certain skill.

And this feeling was faster and more direct than data.

"Do you need me to prepare lunch?" A woman's timid voice interrupted Su Huan's deep thoughts.

He looked up to see Yu Jing's mother standing there, quiet and anxious.

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

Yu Jing and Liang Kuan had already gone to rest.

"What is your name?"

"Yu Yue."

"Cook the perishable food in the fridge first."

Su Huan gave the instruction indifferently, then rose and walked toward the rear carriage.

A somewhat disheveled figure stood outside Carriage No. 5.

Her black high-waisted jeans were covered in scuffs, and she wore an oversized black hoodie of unknown origin, struggling under the weight of a black backpack while her eyes brimmed with sycophancy.

"Yo, isn't this our little beauty? Did you manage to collect six portions of supplies so quickly?"

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

The young beauty looked slightly embarrassed, but seeing the smile on Su Huan's face gave her a glimmer of hope. She probed, "Brother Su, the supplies I collected might not be enough. Do you think you could..."

Su Huan withdrew his smile, his brows furrowing. "How much are you short?"

The girl took off her backpack and held it up with both hands, waiting in trepidation for Su Huan's judgment.

Su Huan dumped everything from the backpack out in one go.

There was quite a scattered pile.

"Two portions of bread, four potatoes, ten heads of garlic—I'll count that as one day's food. Oh ho, and potato chips, though these don't keep you full; four bags count as one meal. Plus five packs of instant noodles and a four-pack of sausages. All together, this is only two and a half portions of food..."

Su Huan counted them up, his tone unpleasant.

The girl hurriedly pointed to a few other items. "And those. Wasn't it said that tools could count as a ticket?"

Su Huan picked up a screwdriver with an amused expression. "You want to use this to replace a ticket?"

The girl's smile stiffened, but she bit the bullet and nodded.

The smile remained on Su Huan's face, but his eyes had turned completely cold. "Are you saying you want to trade a broken screwdriver for a precious ticket that lets you sleep soundly during this doomsday crisis? Are you stupid, or am I?!"

Yu Yue, who was washing dishes nearby, felt a jolt in her heart and lowered her head to work in silence.

The girl turned pale. The thought of being kicked off the train to face those terrifying zombies in an unfamiliar place made her body tremble, and large teardrops rolled down her cheeks.

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