"If you guys aren't eating, I sure am."

Su Huan unabashedly took a large piece of crab meat from the pot and popped it into his mouth.

The crab meat, stewed all afternoon, was tender and juicy, turning into a delicate balm on the tongue and sliding smoothly down the throat.

The savory heat settled warmly in the stomach.

Lao San watched Su Huan's face, hazy with steam, gritted his teeth, and said to his brothers on either side, "Hurry up and eat now, or it'll be us getting eaten later."

With that, he picked up his rice bowl and started eating heartily.

It had been a long time since they had such fragrant, hot food, and once they started eating, the primal craving was unstoppable.

All thoughts of zombies and the stench were cast aside.

Lao San ate voraciously, as if he was about to swallow his tongue.

The Boss and Lao Er hesitated for a moment but then also picked up their bowls and chopsticks.

"Where is the train headed?"

Hearing this, Huang Sea and the others also looked up at Su Huan; it was the question on everyone's mind when they boarded.

"In two hours, the train will break out of Mojiang City, cross the Mojiang, and rush north. It's colder there, with fewer natural disasters, easier to survive," Su Huan said.

Yu Yue, just hearing "Mojiang," felt a chill penetrate her heart, as memories of cold, slithering scales on the ground resurfaced.

She shivered involuntarily.

She instinctively looked at Su Huan, catching a glimpse of a slightly strange smile on his face.

"Yes, we're crossing over 'Mojiang' from above it."

"Can't we go around it?"

Su Huan smiled but said nothing.

The Mojiang spans three provinces; if they tried to go around it, they'd be long dead by then.

...

In the eleventh carriage.

Wang He lay on the floor, feeling the dense tremors of the wheels, like rolling over a patch of densely packed watermelon fields.

Frightening howls surged from all directions,

like cold, slick leeches, wrapping layer by layer around the people.

Thick blood mixed with bits of flesh seeped through the window seams, the stench overpowering the sweaty smell inside the carriage.

"Boss Wang, could the train tip over?" a sudden voice asked.

Wang He recognized the voice immediately, the two had never gotten along even back when they worked at the factory.

Now that Wang He had become the leader of over a hundred workers, that guy disliked him even more.

"You know better than me how heavy a standard steel plate is; our carriages are armored, so how could they tip over?"

He spoke calmly, but with each dull sound from the carriage, his heart tightened.

What on earth could dent a 1.5 cm thick steel plate like that?

"You never know. We're in the very center of Mojiang City now; there are seven million people here. Even if they just piled up, they could bury the train!"

The voice said coldly.

The workers who heard this breathed heavily.

The more Wang He thought about it, the less confident he felt, angrily yanking off his smelly shoe and tossing it at the guy's face. "If you can't say something useful, just shut up already!"

The guy didn't hold back either and kicked the worn shoe back.

"No, given the weight of the train, zombies shouldn't be a problem once it's moving. Plus, I checked earlier. We've already passed Mojiang South Station, which means the conductor has a way to avoid other trains."

A calm and coherent analysis suddenly drew everyone's attention in the carriage.

The workers turned to look; it was a new passenger who had boarded today, dressed plainly but with a commanding presence.

Seeing everyone look at him, the man didn't hesitate and said in a deep voice, "But from the direction we're heading, it's the Mojiang Bridge where the real crisis lies."

"Crisis? What crisis?"

A worker immediately asked.

They couldn't understand what crossing the bridge had to do with them.

The man continued, "When I was stuck in the company, I found that besides zombies, many animals have also mutated. There was a girl at our company who often fed stray cats, so there were a lot of stray cats in our area. Just downstairs, among the thirty-four regulars, six turned into terrifying Evolution Beasts."

Those around him exchanged glances.

Most were escapees, aware of how troublesome Evolution Beasts were and that they were far more dangerous than zombies.

This man had managed to sneak away from under the eyes of six Evolution Beasts. He was no soft target.

"What I'm saying is that the probability of Evolution Beasts could be as high as one in six. While my data might not be precise, consider how many creatures are in Mojiang..."

"Hiss..."

The crowd collectively sucked in sharp breaths.

The Mojiang River's surface was over a kilometer wide!

How many fish and aquatic animals must there be in there?

Even if the ratio was one in ten, or even one in twenty, it would still be a terrifying number.

Wang He hesitantly asked, "But even if the fish in the river have evolved, aren't they still fish? Could they pose a threat to the train on the high bridge?"

The man shook his head, "From my observation, those cats haven't evolved the ability to fly, but who knows..."

"Damn, who knows what kind of monsters this damn world has grown."

"Even if fish can't fly, what if they collapse the bridge..."

Imagining the train crashing into a river teeming with monsters, everyone's hair stood on end.

"Well, it all depends on what the conductor decides."

"Decide what? No matter how skilled he is, he can't carry the train over the Mojiang." Wang He's coworker sneered.

The train suddenly shook, and everyone fell silent.

...

"December 21, 35°C-41°C"

"He died and achieved nothing."

"The timing's no longer accurate; the heat seems ready to explode at any moment."

Su Huan pondered for a long time before writing these sentences in his journal.

Hearing nothing outside for a while, Su Huan opened the steel plate a bit.

With a clatter, sticky flesh and blood fell through the gap into the carriage, but it was the hot stench that really made him frown, like a sauna stove suddenly doused with water, unleashing an even fiercer heatwave.

"Can you hear anything?" Su Huan asked Yu Yue, who was tidying up the kitchen beside him.

"The surface is still, but below, it's noisy, like a chaotic mix of spices, hard to distinguish the exact flavor," Yu Yue said after thinking for a moment.

"Hmm."

Su Huan opened his palm, showing the Tier One Pan-energy Crystal that was almost consumed.

His eyes faintly gleamed as he swallowed the last piece.

He turned to Lao San, who was holding a gun and watching outside, "There are oil barrels at the back of the train. Take one to the second floor of the observation carriage, and grab a grenade from the fire truck for me. I remember there are quite a few left."

Lao San left with his two brothers.

Huang Sea and the young man looked at Su Huan.

"You two...take some food to Liang Kuan in the driver's cabin," Su Huan said.

As for Yu Jing, she headed to repair the water pipes, pliers in hand, before Su Huan could even speak.

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