Su Huan reached out and caressed her smooth face, a slight smile at the corner of his mouth, carrying a sense of playfulness, as if gazing down from above like a deity, "But you haven't earned my forgiveness yet..."

Yu Yue's eyes, in that moment, seemed like a disrupted palette, with waves of shyness, disappointment, nervousness, fear... all merging into a complexity beyond words, leading to a calm that was difficult to articulate.

The so-called forgiveness and punishment were just his excuses to toy with her.

Even without any leverage in his hands, tonight would have just been exchanged for another excuse.

She herself was his amusement.

It's just that for the past few days, Su Huan had been too peaceful with them, like a competent leader, teaching and guiding them to survive the apocalypse.

Making her forget that she and the others were merely lambs picked by this wolf from the pen.

Yu Yue quietly stripped off her wet clothes, looking up at him, her eyes filled with firm sincerity and humble plea.

It seemed she had truly embraced Su Huan's tyrant logic.

Believing she needed to earn forgiveness.

Su Huan frowned slightly, feeling like braised pork presenting a pair of chopsticks piously.

He had never seen anyone so obedient in his past life.

Uncomfortable, yet it didn't stop him from savoring the delicacy placed before his mouth.

He picked up a piece of braised pork, trembling with an amber glaze, melting like butter between lips and teeth.

The soft and sweet taste was pleasant but not meant for excess.

Yet he was unwilling to remove his hand.

He enjoyed feeling another's heartbeat against his touch.

The surrounding water flowed, mist swirling, wrapping around the skin with a slippery sensation.

The best braised pork has three layers, but Su Huan happened to enjoy the kind with a layer of pigskin.

Biting with teeth, there was a sound of breaking through the skin and meat.

He grinned, resting a hand on the woman's lower back, stroking the satin-like skin, concealing deep-set wisdom and subtle emotions.

"Now, sing a song."

Yu Yue was momentarily stunned, straightened herself up, and large tears unexpectedly rolled down from her apricot-like eyes.

She pulled at her mouth, unveiling a tragically beautiful smile.

Humming was her favorite thing.

It was also her escape from reality.

Yet now, this man had intrusively entered her awkward and saddest moment.

Her soft body moved uneasily.

Water waves rose and fell like tides, crashing against the tub's walls.

"Su Huan, you're truly humiliating... I just want to protect my daughter."

Inside the night-clad armored train, a voice, tender yet carrying a hint of sadness, seeped out from the gap in the door of carriage 1.

"...At this moment, as I look at you, there are so many things I want to say."

"If by tomorrow you grow a lot, will I feel at a loss?"

The voice was like soft flowing clouds, easily striking at one's heart, making you want to get closer, even amidst the clouds, just a little closer.

To explore, to occupy this voice.

Su Huan's eyes narrowed, sensing the creamy smoothness slipping from his fingertips, reaching to the neck.

Feeling the source of the vibration of this voice.

"..."

"You'll fall in love with someone too, giving so much, and guarding secrets not willing to tell me..."

...

An hour later, Yu Yue returned to the room, looking at her sleeping daughter, gazing at her tenderly for a long while.

Remembering when she was nine, coming alone to her university, calling her mother at nineteen.

Perhaps since then, she considered Yu Jing as her own child.

Clearly older, yet usually cared for by Xiaojing.

'I'm sorry, Xiaojing, I'm truly a failed mother...'

Even in apology, Yu Yue dared not speak, silently returned to her own bed, rubbing off the dried powder on her skin.

With her back turned to her, Yu Jing's eyelashes fluttered lightly.

...

"December 24th, 28°C"

"The whisky with ice is mellow, and people say it tastes refreshing too.'

Though indulging herself a bit last night, the disciplined conductor still got up early.

It was just past six, the sky gloomy and somber. Su Huan checked the supplies in the storage carriage, confirmed the roughly estimated quantities, then moved through carriage 7.

Two rows of sweet and spicy scallions emitted a faint glow, with rows of tall grass planted beside them.

After the apocalypse, maintaining a stable population was greatly attributed to this grass.

Once processed by gatherers, it yielded a flour-like powder.

The taste couldn't compare with flour, but it was good to have food at all.

A few chickens were sleeping in the cage, and the rooster had its beak tied with tape. Seeing Su Huan approach, it flapped its wings angrily.

Opening the iron door of carriage 10, he took a stroll through the crew section.

These people were now somewhat considered his own, deserving a bit of trust.

A few of them might have wanted to leave a good impression on Su Huan, as they were up early, washing up.

Situations like traveling and unstable environments reduce sleep.

After exchanging a few words, Su Huan took a map of Yijin and made his way to the driver's cabin.

Yijin is the southernmost city in Qingchuan Province, not as mountainous or hilly as Wen'an City, with a more open terrain. There are mountains on either side, like a large bag extending north.

No place to rely on, no place to defend.

When the zombie tide surged from the hot zone two months later, Yijin was directly submerged.

The "New City" of the Steel Council was then established in a small county north of Yijin, in Jinzong City, primarily to be close to the zombie source and acquire more new materials.

Although the apocalypse struck simultaneously, the evolution speed of zombies in the hot zone was much faster than in other areas.

As a result, many forces would set up bases in Qingchuan.

About a month later, various refuges, settlements, bases, and fortresses would spring up like mushrooms after rain.

But for now, Yijin was still quite "clean."

Various ordinary zombies and Tier One Zombies roamed in the city's shadows, while a vast amount of supplies waited quietly in city corners for people to retrieve.

Just like Su Huan's destination this trip, Arsenal 092.

"How much longer until we reach Yijin?"

"If we maintain this speed, about two hours, picking up speed though, just over ten minutes." Liang Kuan, who had stayed up all night, looked energetic.

His rest schedule had somewhat shifted from the others recently.

But there's no choice, only he could drive the train now, and Su Huan didn't trust anyone else.

"But I feel something's off here." Liang Kuan pointed outside the train's front.

"What's wrong?"

Su Huan stepped to the window.

He tried opening the window.

A faint mist breeze entered the carriage, carrying a metallic tang.

The sound of the wheels rolling became a little louder, with some noise.

The surrounding buildings were low and dilapidated, corrugated iron roofs curled and rusty, power poles toppled, exposing copper cores from which blue-green liquid flowed, pooling like an oily film in cement potholes.

Even the clothes worn by the zombies had lost their color, everything appeared gray.

Su Huan took a deep breath, feeling oddly at home.

In a way, it's not wrong.

Adding up the time before and after being reborn, he had only been away from the Acid Rain Zone for dozens of days.

Compared to four years, it was insignificant.

The rumbling of thunder echoed in the sky.

Glancing at the distant drooping gray-yellow tumorous clouds, he quickly closed the window.

Murky raindrops fell down without warning.

In quite a hurry.

Su Huan was all too familiar with the behavior of acid rain.

It shakes a bit before turning, acid rain just comes, no warning at all.

It was unclear how so much acid rain appeared without nuclear warfare.

Putting the Yijin map on the dashboard, he spoke in a deep voice, "Don't enter Yijin's city center; turn left at the junction and enter the Cyan Steel Industry's Yijin Steel transportation line, then halfway there, switch to an unnamed, unofficial railway line. Have Xiaoba move the track over and head there directly."

[After gathering feedback from my fellow colleagues, this type of content will not span multiple chapters in the future, but be used as accents in between story arcs]

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