Qi Xiaoba

Biodata

Feature	Details
Name	Qi Xiaoba (祁小八) 8
Alias(es)	Master Ba 7
Species/Race	Human
Gender	Male
Age	15 20
Affiliation	Su Huan's Armed Train team 20
Occupation/Role	Evolver; Manipulator; metal-control specialist and train-defense builder 10 11
Status	Alive; remains aboard the Armed Train during the confrontation with Su Huan's returning group 50
First Appearance	7

Background

Qi Xiaoba came from an orphanage in Wen'an City. By the time he speaks with Su Huan about his future, the orphanage has been destroyed and its director is dead, leaving him without a clear direction beyond survival 10.

He boards the Armed Train in a wheelchair alongside a woman from the orphanage. Su Huan immediately recognizes him from his previous life as the future Master Ba, a Tier 2 Manipulator renowned for being able to shape virtually any alloy and reconnect damaged railway tracks 7.

In Su Huan's prior life, Xiaoba became known for taking in apocalypse orphans and helping survivors, earning both the title “Master Ba” and a reputation as a saint 7 11. After the Blood Hound attack, Xiaoba chooses to accept Su Huan's guidance and join his team 20.

Appearance

Qi Xiaoba is a disabled teenage boy who ordinarily uses an electric wheelchair for mobility 7 16.

• Usually wears a black shirt 7 25.
• Has tousled hair that hangs over his eyes 25.
• His eyes are described as black-and-white, often taking on a metallic sheen when he uses Pan-Energy 7 9.
• His wheelchair can be levitated and moved through Metal Control, including ascending into train carriages 50.

Personality

Xiaoba is compassionate and protective, particularly toward Sister Xingzi. When she is infected, he asks Su Huan to save her and promises that, if she survives, he will owe Su Huan his life 8. His concern for vulnerable passengers also troubles him when Su Huan seals the rear carriages against the Night Demon threat 19.

His empathy can become guilt. After survivors fleeing beneath the viaduct are killed despite his intervention, Xiaoba believes that his actions caused their deaths; Su Huan responds by teaching him that ability users must bear the consequences of their choices 39.

Despite his gentle disposition, Xiaoba can be decisive and intimidating when defending the train. He faces Gao Zhe during the attempted takeover, warns him that Su Huan considers him dangerous, and keeps him from forcing his way through the carriage 25. He also accepts Su Huan's principle of using force to carry out mercy 20.

Abilities & Skills

Metal Control

Qi Xiaoba is a Manipulator whose core ability, Metal Control, allows him to influence metal with Pan-Energy 10 11.

• Levitates metal objects, demonstrated with a soup spoon and a brass bullet 11 31.
• Reshapes metal, including thinning a spoon, removing its wooden handle, forging rods from scrap, and creating seamless water tanks 11 13 22.
• Can manipulate metal at extreme range; however, energy expenditure rises with distance 39.
• Can use metal for flight and to levitate his wheelchair 11 50.
• Works more efficiently with precise operations, such as unscrewing fasteners rather than forcibly extracting them 13.
• Heavier metal, harder metal, and more complex shaping consume more Pan-Energy 11.
• Tier 1 Light Armor is four to five times more difficult for him to control than ordinary metal 38.

Structural Forging and Repair

Xiaoba is central to the Armed Train's physical modification work.

• Restored warped doors and windows after the Blood Hound attack, then formed the damaged metal into a plate that sealed the breach 9.
• Dismantled carriage partitions, removed screws, cut metal, and forged shelving components for Storage Carriage No. 6 13.
• Fused armor seams, sealed windows, and helped weld steel plates onto the train's carriages 16 22.
• Forged airtight stainless-steel water tanks without welded seams 22.
• Forged a large steel plate behind the train to sever and block the tracks against pursuing zombie hordes 43.

Combat and Train Defense

Xiaoba can turn the Armed Train's armor and surrounding metal into weapons.

• Restrained the Blood Hound with twisted door frames, allowing Su Huan to deliver the killing shot 8.
• Extended steel spikes from the train's plating to impale and immobilize a Tier 1 Night Demon 19.
• Used a flying explosion-proof mesh to capture and crush an Earth Ghost 40.
• Expanded the train's triangular side strips into a three-meter metal blade that shredded multiple zombies 41.
• Can use nearby metal spikes to kill zombies around distant survivors, though maintaining such long-range intervention strains his energy 39.

Equipment / Items

• Electric wheelchair — His usual means of movement; it can be levitated through Metal Control 16 50.
• Pan-Energy Crystals — Used to replenish energy after sustained construction work 16.

Relationships

• Su Huan — Mentor, teammate, and the leader Xiaoba chooses to follow. They cooperate closely in combat and train construction; Su Huan also attempts to temper Xiaoba's compassionate instincts with harsher survival lessons 8 19 20 38.
• Sister Xingzi / Wan Xing — Xiaoba is deeply concerned for her after her infection and urges Su Huan to save her 8 9.
• Yu Jing — Construction partner on the Armed Train; she directs much of the storage, water-tank, and armor work that Xiaoba enables with Metal Control 13 22.
• Liang Kuan — Fellow core team member who assists Xiaoba with boarding and transporting his wheelchair when needed 7 16.
• Gao Zhe — A wary adversary within the train. Gao Zhe considers Xiaoba more dangerous than himself, while Xiaoba prevents him from breaching the storage carriage 25.

Story Role / Major Arcs

Wen'an City and the Blood Hound Attack

Qi Xiaoba boards the train as Su Huan's sought-after Metal Manipulator. During the Blood Hound's assault, he binds the beast with warped metal frames, creating the opening Su Huan needs to kill it 7 8. He then restores and seals the damaged carriage window 9.

Armed Train Construction

As the train is converted into a mobile fortress, Xiaoba becomes its most important metalworker. He dismantles carriage interiors, makes shelves and reinforcement parts, seals armor seams, and forms water tanks and defensive fixtures with seamless precision 13 16 22.

Corpse Tide Defense

During the midnight corpse tide, Xiaoba seals off Carriage No. 7 to prevent chaos from spreading forward 17. He later deploys spikes and steel restraints against a Night Demon, helping demonstrate that the reinforced train can withstand Tier 1 zombies 19.

Water Plant Operations

Xiaoba assists Su Huan and Wan Xing in creating an Evolutionary Beast Inducer, reshaping a brass bullet into a specialized container during the process 31. He is subsequently assigned to guard Storage Carriage No. 6 during the water-purifier retrieval mission 33.

Mojiang City

While crossing the viaduct near Mojiang, Xiaoba attempts to save fleeing survivors with distant metal spikes but is devastated when several people are still killed 39. He later kills an Earth Ghost with the train's explosion-proof mesh and uses the train's side armor as massive bladed weapons against zombie hordes 40 41.

Notable Quotes

“If Sister Xingzi can survive, consider that I owe you a life.” 8

“I choose the second option!” 20

“There is no limit to the distance, only that the further it is, the more energy it consumes.” 39

Trivia

• Xiaoba has excellent routines and arrives at the dining car at 7 AM to await assignments, regardless of whether he was on night watch 37.
• He likes canned yellow peaches; Su Huan recalls that Xiaoba often gave such scarce fruit to children in the apocalypse 20.
• Su Huan considers Metal Control an exceptionally rare high-level ability, distinct from ordinary Metal Affinity 11.