Chapter 157: I Want To Save Su
Zhang Min’s pupils contracted sharply, the damned smiling face from her memory right in front of her.
Why was he here?
That was a Tier 2 Zombie with solid Corpse Armor.
A monster that even bullets couldn’t penetrate, yet in front of him, it was like paper.
She was clearly already a Tier 1 Evolver, had clearly gained strength that ordinary people could only look up to, clearly… was no longer that weakling abandoned by the Train.
But why, facing him, did she still feel like a cat with its nape pinched, unable to muster even the courage to struggle?
She felt the “Seed of Hatred” surging inside her, which should have been her source of power, her reliance for revenge, but at this moment, it was like a young beast cowed by a thunderstorm, shrinking back, trembling, not daring to feed her even a trace of malice.
Why did this man in front of her have not a shred of malice toward her?
No slaughter, no desire, not even a hint of disgust?
Or was he too strong, strong beyond the upper limit her ability could draw from…
The gap… how could it be this big?
She looked at the lingering lightning around Su Huan, at his eyes carrying a teasing glint, and suddenly realized—
The “become stronger” she thought she had achieved was, in his eyes, perhaps just a laughable self-consolation.
She had exhausted herself to climb to Tier 1, but he… was already standing at a height she couldn’t even see by looking up.
Why?
She bit her lips hard, until the taste of blood spread in her mouth.
Why, despite her desperate chase, couldn’t she even touch his back?
Why could the man she hated to the bone reappear before her in such a casual manner?
Unwillingness…
Anger…
Despair…
All sorts of emotions surged in her chest cavity, but in the end, they turned into a murmur so faint even she couldn’t hear it—
“Train Conductor, you… exactly… what monster are you…”
“The Train Conductor likes polite children, so I’ll let it slide this time.”
Although blood flowed uncontrollably from his mouth as soon as he spoke, and his body ached like it was splitting open, Su Huan still forced a perfect smile.
Propping himself up on his knees to stand, energy overflowed uncontrollably from his body, like a leaking balloon.
Within ten meters, it was all Su Huan’s lightning zone.
“Pa pa—”
The sniper rifle’s sound rang out steadily, helping Su Huan clear the surrounding approaching zombies and mutated beasts.
He looked coldly at Director Xu in front of him, “The person, the potion!”
When he rushed to the Experimental High Tower, he had run into this person in charge, grabbed him by the collar for a reckoning, found the Gene Primordium missing, and chased here in a flash of electric light, at 100,000 volts.
Director Xu hurriedly pointed to the shattered cockpit nearby.
Although he didn’t see the person, Su Huan sensed something very “delicious” in the driver’s cabin attracting him.
He tore open the deformed car door and looked inside.
The girl in front of him resembled Lin Jin by three or five points, but with more refined lines, an extremely skinny body, like a little bean sprout starved by the Steel Council, pretty though she was, he had no interest in this type.
“No.”
The girl suddenly said.
Su Huan’s gaze sharpened abruptly, a faint smile playing at his lips, “No what?”
The girl fell silent.
“Which two domains is she?” Su Huan looked at Director Xu.
The latter hesitated for a moment.
Another ability collapsed, but Su Huan showed no urgency, instead saying warmly, “The one below, your assistant or student? How about I dig him out, and you two do an extreme rapid-fire Q&A, whoever answers fewer or slower gets killed directly, what do you think?”
Director Xu had never seen such a barbaric person; even the directors with the most power in the Steel Council showed him basic respect.
“Manipulation and Collection domains.”
‘Collection…’ Su Huan savored the two words, looking at the little girl with a mischievous grin.
“Lin Xi, right? Your brother sold you to me as a wife.”
The girl’s expression was subtle.
Su Huan noticed the bloodstains on her skirt and suddenly frowned, lifting the skirt, running his hand down from the knee joint to the tibia, feeling cool and delicate skin like silken tofu.
‘Good, just some scraped skin and flesh, bones aren’t injured, or I’d have to carry her.’
Lin Xi showed no surprise at his actions, just quietly sizing him up with her pale gray eyes.
Once he finished checking the injury and dropped the skirt, she spread her arms and said softly, “Hug.”
“Hm?!”
Su Huan narrowed his eyes.
He bent down, one hand supporting her lower back, the other passing under her knees, and as he scooped her up, a large gush of blood surged in his mouth.
He didn’t hide it, turning his head to spit it aside.
This scene made Director Xu beside him thoughtful.
Su Huan felt something touch his lips, and turning back, saw the girl lifting her sleeve to carefully wipe the blood from the corner of his mouth.
The searchlights to the south had largely gone out, leaving only sporadic ones illuminating a corner of the frenzied zombie tide.
A personnel carrier skidded to a stop in front of Su Huan, the door opening to reveal Jiang Rong’s voice.
Ignoring her futile efforts, he said gravely, “Take the Gene Primordial Agent, go!”
Director Xu hurriedly said, “There’s general energy detection equipment in the vehicle!”
Hearing this, Su Huan’s gaze sharpened.
He had indeed heard of this thing, something the Steel Council had obtained at great cost before the apocalypse.
Forget armored trains—even the current Steel Council couldn’t research equipment that combined with general energy.
Doing scientific research in the apocalypse wasn’t simple.
Besides talent, it required all sorts of supporting basic industry.
In the short term, armored trains had nothing to do with scientific research.
Looking at the oncoming mutated beasts ahead, Su Huan decided instantly, “You two get in the vehicle first!”
He turned and ran toward the back of the carriage.
Casually condensing a lightning long whip, he yanked a Tier 1 Night Demon from a nearby building upstairs and chopped off its head with one slash.
Using the momentum, he hurled the long saber out; lightning snakes writhed around the blade, nailing a Blood Hound attempting a sneak attack twenty meters away to a concrete wall, the residual current crackling as it scorched the corpse.
Tearing open the carriage, he quickly found the general energy surveillance device.
Hoisting the device back to the carriage, he beckoned casually, and the solidified current brought the long saber back from the wall.
The personnel carrier charged out fiercely.
Leaving wreckage behind.
Amid the wreckage, Zhang Min felt her consciousness growing fuzzier; massive blood loss gave her the illusion of drifting off to sleep.
‘Abandoned… again?’
In the corner of her vision, a nimble shadow flashed by.
Just as she thought zombies were coming to gnaw her corpse, she realized it was a woman.
Dressed in tactical suit, carrying a sniper rifle on her back, with slightly drooping eye corners and a gentle neighborly sister vibe.
She remembered this person; back when boarding the train, it was this woman washing dishes.
At the time, she had foolishly thought she would replace her.
Before Zhang Min could react, cool liquid was poured into her mouth.
The liquid entering her stomach instantly turned into a scorching warm current; the cold receded, and sensation returned to her numb limbs.
Seeing signs of improvement, Yu Yue shifted some of the wreckage pinning her body aside.
With a flick of her wrist, she drew the handgun from her waist, precisely harvesting several surging mutated beasts, each bullet drilling into the skull’s weakest point like it had eyes.
“Why save me?”
Deep confusion showed in Zhang Min’s eyes.
Holstering the gun, Yu Yue said softly, “You make him very happy.”
A completely unexpected answer.
Even after Yu Yue vanished from beside her, Zhang Min still hadn’t snapped out of it.
“I live… just to make him happy?”
“Why, why do you get all the best?”
“Heh heh”
Zombie roars mixed with sickly low laughter echoed in the area.
……
After boarding the carriage, Su Huan’s vision went black.
Two of the three “Fighter” abilities collapsed directly.
His eyes turned completely crimson in others’ view, no different from the zombies outside.
Meeting Su Huan’s gaze, Director Xu’s scalp tingled, “You’re mutating?!”
Su Huan only felt excruciating pain like his whole body was splitting, gritting his teeth, “Gene Primordial Agent.”
Director Xu paused, then hurriedly opened the briefcase, taking out a gene potion, explaining, “Let me tell you in advance, using the Gene Primordial Agent means no going back, only three to five years of lifespan left, and we didn’t bring much maintenance potion, just enough for you… both for one year.”
“Heh… three to five years, there’s such a good deal?”
The potion was syringe-shaped; he uncapped the needle and jabbed it hard into his heart.
The energy storage heart throbbed violently once, making everyone in the vehicle feel their breath catch, as if the nutrients in the air were instantly squeezed away.
Cool liquid injected into the heart; Su Huan could no longer hold on and passed out on the vehicle.
Director Xu beside him glanced at the driving Jiang Rong, sighed faintly, leaned back against the carriage, and resigned to fate.
Looking at the unconscious Su Huan, Lin Xi scooted forward, persistently wiping the blood from Su Huan’s mouth with her sleeve, muttering softly.
“Liar.”
Because transporting the general energy detection device had delayed some time.
Even with Yu Yue and Liang Kuan’s escort all the way, the two vehicles were gradually encircled by zombies; from high altitude, the Steel Conference’s inverted pyramid headquarters only had organized resistance in the northeast direction.
Precisely the Steel Council family area.
He Jie held two heavy machine guns, standing on the pickup truck picking off the chaotic zombies and mutated beasts in the family area, while bellowing at the top of his lungs.
“Han Qin!”
His roar pierced through the chaotic cries in the family area.
Drawing glances from the panicked fleeing crowd.
A hundred meters away, a woman with blood on her face whipped around.
“Old He?!”
Han Qin’s voice cracked.
She was dragging her eight-year-old son, with her fifteen-year-old daughter following behind.
Five or six neighbors behind her erupted upon hearing He Jie’s roar, “It’s Captain He! He’s still alive!”
“Quick, head toward Captain He, he’s a Tier 1 Evolver!”
Due to secrecy, most thought He Jie had just gone missing, unaware he had betrayed the Steel Council.
Hearing the responses, He Jie’s eyes burned.
“Bang!”
The pickup rammed down zombies chasing them; He Jie on the vehicle jumped down directly, charging into the crowd, his bulging muscled arms scooping up wife and daughter, the smell of gunpowder mixed with blood hitting his nose.
“Daddy…”
Daughter buried her face in his neck, warm tears soaking the combat suit.
He Jie held his gun, “Get in the vehicle quick, sit in front!”
Han Qin hurriedly got the two children in the vehicle.
There were already two people on the vehicle: a young woman sitting in the back, the driver an ordinary Steel Council soldier, also an evolver but in the early stage of main skill activation, only slightly stronger in physical fitness than ordinary people.
The two were a young couple He Jie had temporarily grabbed to drive.
The crowd surged toward the pickup like startled lemmings.
He Jie roared, “Women and children can sit in front, the rest get to the back!”
Several men hurriedly shoved their wives and daughters up front, then stood in the pickup’s bed.
He Jie retreated while covering, suddenly grabbed by the tactical vest; Han Qin had doubled back, stuffing a warm object into his hand.
“Take it!” Before turning, her wide eyes reflected the muzzle flash, “If you leave me and the kids even half a step, we’re divorced!”
He Jie looked down; a peace knot woven by his daughter lay in his palm.
He grinned, smashing a sneaking zombie flat with a gun stock, raising his gun at the two off-road vehicles and soldiers charging from ahead, roaring, “Anyone who recognizes this face, get down and follow my command!”
Total of twelve armed soldiers; though not as elite as his former subordinates, they had two years of professional training and coordinated seamlessly.
With survivors integrated, He Jie had more firepower, but greater pressure too.
More zombies and mutated beasts focused their goal on this group.
……
North end of Heavy Industrial Zone, freight platform.
An armored train covered in bloodstains, pockmarked bullet holes, and acid rain corrosion marks had been stationary for ten minutes.
Far exceeding the planned forty minutes.
In the dining car, Xiao Ba’s tone was calm and firm, “Su needs our help.”
Lin Jin, long agitated beside, stood up, “I’m going too!”
Old San was stunned, glancing at the row of squatting soldiers on the ground and Li Tao tied to the stretcher, “What about them?”
Xiao Ba wheeled to Li Tao, saying seriously, “Su said you’re very dangerous and important, and told me to watch you.”
Li Tao’s eyes held a trace of gloom, looking at this metal manipulator who had caused him great trouble, sneering, “He’s deranged, drawing a million-zombie tide to devour humans, now he’s gotten himself in it—call it retribution.”
Xiao Ba pursed their lips, saying slowly, “I don’t agree with this method either, but I won’t try to stop him; he never stops me from saving people, so I shouldn’t stop him from killing; he’ll do what he must, and I’ll do what I must.”
Li Tao fell silent for a moment.
He surprisingly agreed with this view, though it came from a twelve-year-old boy.
“So what are you going to do now?”
“Sorry.”
Sharp stabbing pain suddenly hit his heart; Li Tao looked up in disbelief at the youth’s sincere eyes, mouth opening but no words coming.
“I have to save Su, so I have to kill you.”
(Moving house these three days, leaving Nanjing, daily four updates, will make up later)
