Chapter 27: The New Evolver

A motorcade formed by students and teachers from several universities gathered a wealth of high-quality talent. Naturally, they were currently huddled within their campuses, only waiting until they discovered the temperature had multiplied before beginning their flight. If these people could be captured beforehand, many technical problems could be resolved.

If one were to ask what was most precious in the apocalypse, some might say food, others industrial goods, but in reality, it was the talent forged under the pre-apocalyptic education system. This was the only truly irreplaceable resource; every life lost was one fewer remaining. These top-tier scientific research talents were all claimed by major factions, with very few left to drift outside. If Su Huan wanted his armored train to remain independent, he had to build his own reserve of scientific talent. Otherwise, once his initial advantages were exhausted, the gap between him and others would only widen.

...

The atmosphere inside Carriage No. 2 was oppressive, accentuated by the various tools scattered about. Hu An eventually picked out two henchmen with intact limbs from the group of cripples and looked at Su Huan.

"Just these two."

Su Huan nodded and glanced at Yu Yue and the others. "Yu Jing, go get the small items on the table in my room. Everyone else, go back."

Suspecting that Su Huan might be about to do something unscrupulous, Wan Xing hurriedly pushed Qi Xiaoba back to their room. Yu Yue naturally went to prepare breakfast, leaving only Liang Kuan behind.

Su Huan looked at the two lucky ones chosen. Both were tall and sturdy, about his own height. He examined them with satisfaction, poking and prodding them with his fingers. It felt as if a butcher were assessing a pig on a cutting board, deliberating where to make the first cut. The two men felt a chill crawl down their spines from his touch.

Su Huan thought for a moment and ordered, "Liang Kuan, take off their pants."

As soon as these words were spoken, every living creature in the carriage couldn't help but squeeze their legs together. Even in Hu An’s eyes as he looked at Su Huan, there was a flash of genuine terror. Liang Kuan hesitated for a moment before stepping forward and yanking their pants down, pulling their underwear down to their ankles as well.

With their hands bound and their mouths stuffed with rags, the two men struggled to breathe, curling their bodies as much as they could. They let out muffled whimpers, their eyes filled with a mix of prayer and fear as they stared at Su Huan.

Su Huan stroked his chin and gave Liang Kuan a look. "Make them bend over."

This time, even Liang Kuan’s gaze toward Su Huan grew complex, but he still turned the two men around, pressing them against the table with their backs to Su Huan. In Liang Kuan’s grip, they had no room to struggle, looking like mere chicks. Hu An silently turned his head away, refusing to meet the pleading eyes of his henchmen.

Yu Jing had just walked over when she saw this eye-stinging scene. Her phoenix eyes narrowed as she scanned Su Huan and Liang Kuan, a look of realization dawning on her face. She held up the cylindrical object in her hand and asked, "Is it this?"

"Yes, that’s the one." Su Huan’s eyes brightened slightly. Everyone watched as he adjusted the remote-control-like device, looked around, walked to the window, and tapped on it a few times. A chorus of zombie howls erupted outside.

*Are they going to feed us to the zombies?* The people lying on the floor shivered in horror. The two men sprawled on the table, their backsides exposed, were even more terrified; one of them even began to sob.

Seeing a zombie approach outside, Su Huan threw the cylinder out and pressed the button on the remote. The cylinder traced a graceful arc, landing perfectly in the zombie’s chest pocket.

"Bang—clack!"

The zombie’s upper body was instantly shredded by the micro-explosion, bits of flesh splattering against the train’s armor. Su Huan nodded in satisfaction—his touch hadn't faded. He tossed the remaining two cylinders to Liang Kuan. "Alright, stuff these into their backsides."

The people on the floor felt their sphincters tighten, and they even began to feel lucky that their broken limbs had spared them from being chosen. If this thing exploded inside one’s backside, wouldn't it be a fatal thrill?

Ignoring the wailing and howling, Yu Jing looked at Su Huan with confusion. "You can make bombs, too?"

"Just a little hobby." Su Huan lifted his chin proudly, glancing at the two burly men who were cowering with their legs clamped shut.

...

The water vapor rising from the high heat clung to the tracks like thick, grey-white cotton. The armored train ground over the dew-slicked rails, while in the mud on either side, rotting corpses crawled, with spiderweb-like red grass stalks sprouting from their chests. Suddenly, a grey-blue arm reached out from the mire; a zombie, buried waist-deep in the swamp, struggled to lift its head, its turbid eyes tracking the roar of the train with mechanical precision.

"Thud!"

A body was tossed down, crushing it back into the mud. Su Huan wiped the sweat from his forehead, closed the door, and looked at the pale-faced Hu An behind him. He patted his shoulder and smiled. "In two months, the weeds on both sides of these tracks will grow lush."

"Bright red. It will be incredibly beautiful."

Hu An looked at Su Huan’s fair fingers, his skin trembling. He had watched with his own eyes as this man pressed those reddened fingertips against the foreheads of his subordinates, leaving a bloody hole with each touch. Then, as the train moved on, he had tossed them out one by one.

Yu Jing walked over, caught the scent of scorched pig trotter in the air, and frowned slightly. "Gao Zhe has already left with those two, and the forklift has been driven away."

"Tell Liang Kuan to drive slowly; it will take them a while to move the water purifiers." Su Huan first hung Hu An on the wall, then went to wash his hands.

"Understood. There is something I need to report to you," Yu Jing said.

Su Huan raised his eyebrows in surprise. This was the first time they had taken the initiative to report something. "What is it?"

Yu Jing glanced at the hanging Hu An, who immediately closed his eyes and played dead. Su Huan understood, and the two walked to the dining car. The tables that had been scattered were now merged into a large, long rectangular table. At this moment, apart from some decorative plants, there were several menacing claws on top of it, alongside a broken glass.

Wan Xing, Qi Xiaoba, and Yu Yue were all sitting by the table, their faces still wearing lingering expressions of shock.

"What happened?" Su Huan asked curiously, subconsciously activating his Pan-Energy perception. Two fluctuations of Pan-Energy immediately caught his attention. One was the claws on the table; needless to say, they were materials dismantled from a Night Demon. The other, surprisingly, was Yu Yue, who sat nearby.

Su Huan looked at Aunt Yu in surprise. She must have washed up today; her soft, long hair was coiled into a bun at the back of her head, and she was wearing a ginger-yellow long-sleeved shirt. Her shoulders looked rounded, and the oversized shirt seemed to hang loosely upon her. She didn't look like a mother who had raised a child, but more like a girl in her early twenties.

Seeing Su Huan walk over, she quickly stood up and bowed her head in greeting. "Brother Su."

"You have successfully evolved?"