Chapter 12: I Hope You Hurry Up

Su Huan calculated the 3,000 steel plates listed by Yu Jing. With forty-two carriages plus the locomotive, fully covering the train in steel plates was a massive task. Yet, there wasn’t much else on the train aside from the large number of people.

Qi Xiaoba’s job was simply to cut and weld, which didn’t consume much energy.

Su Huan pinched his fingertips, glancing toward Wan Xing. “Your mission tomorrow is to collect the pan-energy crystals inside the zombies. As for the zombies themselves, don’t worry—I’ll handle them.”

“Okay,” Wan Xing replied decisively.

“Liang Kuan, you have two tasks. One is to organize and sort the collected supplies. The other is to bring the zombie bodies here yourself. Don’t let the others onto the train,” Su Huan instructed.

“Understood.”

With pan-energy crystals, the problem of endurance was solved.

These crystals could be directly absorbed by evolved beings; the absorbed portion would vanish into thin air, while the remainder would remain stable as crystals.

However, this state was temporary, and only the collectors could maintain the crystals’ form long-term.

Su Huan glanced at his watch during a break. Unconsciously, it was already ten at night.

It had to be said—time without entertainment was truly a test of endurance.

“That’s enough for today. Everyone can rest now. You’re free to choose any soft sleeper compartment in Carriage Four.”

Su Huan stood up first and headed toward Carriage Three.

The entire carriage was reserved for himself.

Standing at the door, Su Huan hesitated before entering. After a moment, he turned back and looked at Yu Jing, who stood calmly behind him. With a hint of suspicion, he asked, “Why aren’t you going to sleep? Why are you following me?”

“You have a lot of tools in your room. I want to borrow some,” she replied.

Su Huan cast her a sideways glance, thinking she must have reconsidered and come willingly.

Pushing the door open, the room appeared entirely renewed. Various tools were arranged along the walls on a makeshift shelf. Scattered pencils and steel rulers were neatly lined up on the desk.

The carpet had been replaced and was free of grease stains. The bed was clean and tidy.

“My mom cleaned it,” Yu Jing said naturally as she entered and selected a few items.

Just as she was about to leave, she noticed Su Huan standing at the doorway with an ambiguous expression, showing no intention of stepping aside.

Yu Jing lifted her fair chin, her phoenix eyes sparkling with inquiry. “Do you want to sleep with me?”

The question caught Su Huan off guard. He wasn’t expecting such directness, and for a moment, it felt like he had stepped into the world three years after the apocalypse.

Back then, girls were just as passionate and bold.

But this was different—her face bore no hint of shyness or desire; she simply asked the question plainly.

Su Huan wasn’t about to back down. A smile curled at the corner of his mouth. “I want to, all of it.”

Yu Jing frowned but then relaxed. “I see. Physiologically, no problem. Ethically, this is the apocalypse—there’s no hesitation. But my mom might not accept it.”

Su Huan felt as if he had met his match, a perversion meeting perversion. Though desire had lost this round, his fighting spirit surged.

“I’m a beast who’s survived four years after the apocalypse. You little girl won’t control me.”

“So you’re saying you’re okay with it?” Su Huan pressed forward, his hand gently gripping Yu Jing’s slender waist.

She was delicate but resilient.

Her high-waisted jeans hugged her legs tightly, accentuating her slender, elongated limbs and the curves of her hips.

Just like her self-introduction—full of vibrant, healthy life.

Wrapping his hands around her, a sense of control welled up, along with a hint of status.

Su Huan hadn’t done well in high school, barely scraping into university, and harbored a subconscious longing for status. Undeniably, Yu Jing’s excellence stirred his desire.

Yu Jing showed no reaction to Su Huan’s touch. She calmly glanced at her left wristwatch. “If you need, can I take a shower first?”

Su Huan narrowed his eyes, a dangerous glint in them. “Are you in a hurry?”

“Don’t worry. I’m 22, never had a boyfriend, this will be my first time. I’m healthy with no illnesses and can fully satisfy you. But I’d like to sketch some drafts before sleeping, so please be quick.”

“I’m slow at that kind of thing,” Su Huan teased.

His fingertips slid down to the metal buckle at her waist, flicking it gently. A thrill like unwrapping a gift flooded his mind.

Yu Jing’s gaze was calm but tinged with puzzlement. “If it lasts more than ten minutes, sensations get numb. Beyond that, the pain outweighs the pleasure.”

Watching Yu Jing analyze this so seriously, Su Huan chuckled angrily. He realized she wasn’t pretending to be composed—she truly didn’t care about sleeping with him.

Su Huan tapped her flat abdomen firmly. “Would you also not care if it were someone else?”

Yu Jing looked up, surprised. Her soft fingers swiftly brushed Su Huan’s chin. A smile spread across her face, like a moment when an iceberg shatters and slips into the sea—strangely beautiful. “No, that won’t do. You’re still somewhat handsome.”

With that, while Su Huan was still stunned, she bent down and slipped out from under his arm.

Leaving the room, her brow eased and her smile faded.

She didn’t dislike Su Huan, but that was all.

Her reasoning wasn’t emotional—it was the best solution for the moment.

Men were simple creatures. When denied, they acted like cats, sniffing and pawing, making life unbearable.

Better to let him have his fill once and for all, so his attention would return to her abilities and value.

Yet she didn’t want to rely on her body to establish a foothold on the train.

She liked the appreciation in Su Huan’s eyes but didn’t want it mixed with a man’s desire for a woman.

Besides...

She also quite liked this mad plan to retrofit the train and resist the zombie tide.

...

Under faint light, a pencil drew straight lines on white paper. But at the last moment, it slipped, marring the perfect scene with a harsh “snap.”

Su Huan broke the pencil in frustration.

Clenching his restless hands, heat surged up, burning the freshly drawn interior design sketches of the carriage.

“Damn it, I’m being played!” he cursed.

“Forget it. Sleep now. Once I have free hands, I’ll have something nice of my own sooner or later,” Su Huan thought bitterly.

That night, the train conductor was too angry to write a log entry.

...

Inside Carriage 24.

In the pitch darkness, a rough voice swore, “Who knows what that Su fellow is thinking, bringing all this trash onboard? That little brat even dared to steal from me. I just twisted his finger, and that whole damn family dared to mess with me! They don’t know their place!”

“Calm down, Dog Bro,” said a young man with a bandit’s face, lying back in his seat.

He rested his foot on the shoulder of a busy woman below him. “Go, cool Dog Bro off.”

The woman shrank back, quickly turning to fumble in the dark.

Before she could find what she was looking for, she stumbled as someone bumped into her from behind.

The young man panted heavily, “That Su guy’s methods are too ruthless. Let the people in Carriage Seven go first.”

The man called Dog Bro grew impatient with the fumbling hands beneath him and slapped them away.

“Useless!”

The woman stifled a groan but dared not make a sound.

Dog Bro sighed with satisfaction. “They came to me. Just like I thought. Let them try. I’m not the one to stick my neck out.”

“Right, send a few people to bring that old lady’s daughter-in-law here. If they started the fire, they should put it out themselves!”

Laughter filled the surrounding darkness.