A Sliver of Hope

Lu Xingyuan said nothing.

He was thinking that the last zombie turned out to be that scrawny old man.

As long as they took it out, the mission would be complete, right?

So the question was, could they kill the scrawny old man in advance as soon as the mission began?

They probably could.

Then he thought, What a pity. If Gu Wanqing had come through this stop, we would've learned this crucial piece of information.

"He may be out of ideas, but I'm not!"

A vicious glint appeared on Sun Yi's pained face!

That attack had only grazed past his back, but it was painful enough—and deadly enough!

Veins like writhing earthworms bulged on his forehead, yet he managed to grit his teeth without groaning. He was something of a man, at least!

"President Sun!"

"If you have a plan, spit it out already!"

His words instantly drew everyone's attention back.

The two male conductors hurriedly spoke up!

"Yeah! This is an absolute emergency!"

Sun Yi gritted his teeth and said:

"The only way to survive is to return to the train!"

"As long as we hold out on the train until departure time, we'll live!"

"Otherwise, staying here means certain death!"

This...

The two male conductors both wore extremely strange expressions.

This counted as a plan?

Who didn't know that returning to the train was their only chance of survival?

After all, there was not much time left until the train departed at eleven.

Once the train left, the fusion zombie would be unable to do anything to them, no matter how powerful it was.

But the crucial question was: how could they evade the fusion zombie's pursuit and return to the train safely?

Would the fusion zombie really be so friendly that it would watch them escape without doing anything?

The girl with glasses was even more direct. She did not bother putting on an act!

"That won't work at all!"

"So someone has to make a sacrifice at a time like this!"

A resolute look shone in Sun Yi's eyes.

"The philosophy of our Mutual Aid Association is to help one another!"

"Sacrifice the small self to fulfill the greater self!"

"Some people are born to become heroic sacrifices. But their sacrifice is not meaningless—it is for the continuation of human civilization!"

Lu Xingyuan nodded thoughtfully.

"You mean someone should act as bait to lure the fusion zombie away and buy us time to run?"

Sun Yi glanced at him and nodded.

"That's right!"

Lu Xingyuan asked again, "Then who will be the bait?"

"Of course..."

Sun Yi's gaze lingered briefly on Lu Xingyuan. Naturally, he desperately wanted Lu Xingyuan to become the bait and sacrifice himself.

But he knew that was impossible. Lu Xingyuan would never agree.

Besides, this guy was in such good condition that forcing him was unrealistic anyway.

His gaze quickly shifted to the girl with glasses.

"Me???"

The girl with glasses' expression changed at once. She pointed at herself in disbelief.

"Really? Me???"

"Are you unwilling to make a small sacrifice for the continuation of human civilization?"

Listening to the sounds of destruction drawing ever closer, Sun Yi's expression became somewhat crazed.

"Out of everyone here, you're the most useless!"

"I can already smell the aura of weakness on you!"

"Stop pretending! You're nothing but a complete weakling. If you don't accept that, tell us your talent."

The girl with glasses instantly flushed red.

"M-My talent is... the food I make becomes very fragrant and delicious."

Lu Xingyuan: "..."

Even he fell silent this time!

What kind of bullshit talent was that?

Could a talent like that really serve even the slightest purpose in this perilous train world?

"See? With a talent like yours, if not you, then who should be sacrificed?"

Sun Yi's words carried a warning and a threat!

"Get out there immediately and run in the opposite direction. Buy us time and space to escape, understand?!"

"I... I can't do it..."

The girl with glasses burst into tears.

"Please don't sacrifice me, okay?"

"As the ancients said, everyone is born with a purpose. Maybe my talent will be of great use someday!"

Sun Yi roared, "What the fuck kind of nonsense is that?!"

"Everyone is born with a purpose? That's a lie!"

"Trash is trash! You'll never be useful in this life!"

Sun Yi raised his hand.

"Let's vote by raising our hands. Hurry up! Raise your hand if you agree to make her the bait!"

The two male conductors hesitated, but ultimately raised their hands. After all, they were not the ones being made into bait.

Besides, they would benefit from it too.

Sun Yi looked at Lu Xingyuan. "What about you?"

The girl with glasses looked at Lu Xingyuan pleadingly, her voice full of desperation.

"D-Don't..."

Lu Xingyuan did not raise his hand.

Sun Yi did not care. He sneered. "Out of five votes, we already have three. It makes no difference whether you raise your hand or not."

"Come on, hurry up and throw her out."

But before they could make a move, an intense chill swept over them from behind!

When they turned around, they saw a pair of pale eyes staring at them through the window!

Fuck!

Why was this thing like a homeroom teacher, always appearing at the window out of nowhere to spy on you?!

Crack!

A shattering sound rang out!

The window instantly broke open, and the fusion zombie charged in with unstoppable momentum, lunging straight at Sun Yi.

"Fuck!"

"Why me?!"

Sun Yi completely lost it!

His body was violently flung away again. He slammed into the ground and vomited blood without end!

Just as the fusion zombie was about to press its attack, its body suddenly froze in place. It clutched its head and struggled in agony.

Its head abruptly split in two, revealing the shadows of the strength-type zombie and the speed-type zombie, which howled and wailed without pause.

"What the hell is going on?!"

The other two male conductors had already been scared senseless and could only stare helplessly at the scene.

A cold gleam flashed in Lu Xingyuan's eyes. He smelled it—the scent of opportunity!

He immediately dashed forward and swung the Nether Breath Dagger in his hand!

Stab! Stab! Stab! Stab! Stab! Stab! Stab! Stab!

If Rong Momo had possessed Lu Xingyuan's technique back then, Little Swallow would have been dead long ago.

No one knew how many times he stabbed it, but the fusion zombie's body suddenly stiffened before it fell straight backward, never making another sound.

At the same time, mission notifications appeared before everyone's eyes:

[Mission completed within the allotted time!]

This...

Everyone stared at the scene before them in astonishment, unable to believe that the mission had actually been completed.

One of the male conductors suddenly realized something.

"Fuck! I get it! That fusion zombie was extremely unstable and couldn't properly balance the two powers, which was why it collapsed."

This mission had deliberately given the challengers a sliver of hope. It depended on whether they could seize that fleeting opportunity.

Fortunately, Lu Xingyuan had seized it!

"Great! Not only did we survive, we even got the reward!"

The girl with glasses smiled through her tears!

But just then, gunshots suddenly rang out!