Chapter 26: Hard Currency
Gao Zhe halted his steps and turned around, his cold eyes sizing up Su Huan. “Reward?”
“The dining car is preparing breakfast. How about a hot breakfast?” Su Huan said.
Gao Zhe’s mouth twitched, revealing a slightly sarcastic smile, and he turned to leave.
Su Huan’s tasks were never that easy to complete; a breakfast wasn’t enough to make him risk his life.
Did they really think he was a slave?
“There’s steak, spaghetti, grilled sausage. If you don’t like those, there’s also steamed bun, fresh congee, and freshly squeezed soy milk…”
Su Huan rattled off the menu from behind like a waiter.
He didn’t look back.
……
Gao Zhe stepped into the mud in the water, frowned at the people lying on the ground, and shouted to Su Huan on the train, “Just need to check each one’s status and get them on the carriage?”
“Yes, and if you capture them perfectly alive, dinner comes with a glass of wine,” Su Huan said with a grin.
Gao Zhe took a deep breath of the damp air and walked toward the people on the ground, steel bar in hand.
The outermost one was an acquaintance, none other than Dog Brother, the burly guy.
‘Loser!’
A flicker of gloom passed through Gao Zhe’s eyes.
He swung the steel bar directly at his thigh with a muffled “bang.”
Dog Brother instantly curled up like a shrimp, hands weakly clutching his knees, mouth agape in a silent howl.
“No threat.”
Gao Zhe picked up the rope Su Huan had thrown down, bound him up like a dead pig, and tossed him onto the carriage.
Liang Kuan caught him, checked the knots, then stuffed some rags into his mouth.
Gao Zhe went one by one, smashing them regardless of whether they were really unconscious or faking it—a whack for each.
Muffled thuds mixed with the sound of bones breaking.
Hearing that teeth-gritting sound getting closer, Drooping Eye seethed inwardly while lying on the ground.
He’d been planning to play dead and counterattack, but that bastard had shocked him four more times!
His head was practically smoking from it!
If not for his evolver physique being astonishingly strong, he’d be down like the others.
He’d lain there recovering for a good while before coming to.
This time he admitted defeat and planned to surrender when Su Huan came over, but Su Huan didn’t, and instead a fierce god arrived.
This was to silence them all!
Drooping Eye didn’t dare stand up even more, the footsteps approaching like the call of death.
Drooping Eye roared and yanked his face out of the mud, lunging to hug the legs in front of him.
‘This feeling… Manufacturer, what a waste.’
Su Huan instantly grasped Drooping Eye’s details and felt a bit regretful; he desperately needed a manufacturer on his train, but this one was unusable.
“Capture this one alive first.”
Hearing Su Huan’s voice, Gao Zhe froze with the steel bar raised, frowned, tensed his muscles all over, and shook off the other’s hands.
He kicked Drooping Eye in the chest.
The other rolled out like a tumbleweed, squatting there gasping for breath.
But Gao Zhe didn’t pursue; he looked down, pulled up his pant leg, and saw red spots on his skin.
“Don’t worry, they’ll fade in a couple days—weaker than a skin condition.”
Su Huan’s calm voice came from the carriage.
General energy perception let him sense general energy fluctuation in an object, but he couldn’t discern professions—like Gao Zhe being an evolver, which was obvious as day to him.
Crystal clear, impossible to hide.
Today he was just casually probing the other’s evolution direction and speed, to keep tabs.
It’d be a huge joke if the shepherd got flipped by a sheep.
“Bang!”
Gao Zhe tied up Drooping Eye and threw him onto the carriage. “Remember the dinner.”
Then he limped back onto the carriage from the rear.
Su Huan looked down at the wretched Drooping Eye underfoot and put a hand on Liang Kuan’s shoulder, stopping him from approaching.
If asked which type of evolver was strongest in the apocalypse, it might vary.
But if asked which was the weirdest, “manufacturer” was definitely top choice.
Because of their core skill “general energy erosion,” they could alter material properties and trigger new changes, so they were also the first to cross taboos.
The red spots on Gao Zhe’s leg were from general energy erosion, but since he was an evolver too—the physically strongest defender—he’d tough it out in two days.
But Liang Kuan was just an ordinary person; if eroded, it’d be trouble.
Maybe day one just a red spot, day two an eye grows, day three it starts talking.
“…Don’t kill me, I surrender. My water plant has food to last half a year, purified water, cars, lots of gasoline, women—lots of women. Let me go, and they’re all yours!”
Drooping Eye spat out mud and said hurriedly.
Su Huan acted like he hadn’t heard, a red glow rising in his hand as he pulled a handgun from the other’s waistband, ejected the magazine—eight shiny 9mm bullets inside, beautiful.
This was good stuff, even years later amid rampant evolved creatures.
The distinctive gunpowder smokiness still lingered in the air.
And it was rugged and reliable, way better than those big company researched general energy firearms—hard currency in the apocalypse, a survival buddy.
“Click—clack”
After a quick check, Su Huan chambered a round in the firearm and gestured it at Drooping Eye’s head a couple times.
The latter’s eyes bulged, lips trembling.
“D-don’t, don’t kill me…”
“Where’d you get it?”
Su Huan asked curiously.
“Picked it up from the law enforcement bureau.”
Su Huan flipped the gun over and saw a buffed-out mark. “Any bullets left?”
“Water plant has some, 60 rounds.”
“Does the water plant have a water purifier?”
Drooping Eye paused, then nodded eagerly. “Yes yes yes, big ones and small ones.”
Su Huan smiled; looked like no need for harsh measures.
He pointed at the sixteen survivors in the carriage. “I’ll give you a chance to live. Pick the two most loyal from these, I’ll let him go back, have him dismantle and send over a small all-in-one water purifier, and you live.”
Drooping Eye’s eyes lit up. “Deal, I’ll get it done for you absolutely.”
“What’s your name?” Su Huan asked suddenly.
“Hu An, call me Little Hu,” Hu An said fawningly, eyes squinting flat.
Hu An…
Surprise flashed in Su Huan’s eyes; he hadn’t expected a familiar face.
Last life, only three convoys escaped the high-temperature zone total, and Hu An was third-in-command of the Mojian Mutual Aid Convoy—the largest one, with thousands gathered.
But he’d heard management was chaotic, so he hadn’t gone.
Not many powerhouses, but more evolvers than the other two convoys; if short on labor, maybe hit them up.
But this life with him around, whether that convoy even forms is questionable.
What Su Huan was really interested in was the other one, the Industry, Agriculture, and Medicine United Convoy.
