Su Huan had his own considerations for winning over He Jie.

The most direct factor was naturally He Jie's ability. Although a Tier Three Evolver might sound somewhat middling, he was already a formidable force capable of commanding a region.

It's basically the pinnacle an ordinary person can reach.

Power, resources, talent, luck, temperament, and strength are all indispensable.

Missing any one of these would mean, like Huang Sea, even when advancing to Tier Two, half a life is lost.

If you don't want to take risks, it's like Su Huan in his previous life—finding refuge with a major power is safe, but the exploitation was so severe that, by the time he defected, he hadn't even advanced to Tier Two.

In his previous life, what the "Steel Council" was most famous for was the "One Head, Two Arms," where the "Head" was naturally Lin Jin, who broke through to Tier Five within four years, and the "Two Arms" referred precisely to He Jie and another Tier Three Evolver.

There's a gap in the middle.

But an anomaly like Lin Jin reaching Tier Five within four years was entirely due to the large population base.

The areas of High-temperature and Acid Rain Zones spanned nearly three provinces, and among hundreds of millions of people, only one such individual emerged.

Even if you exclude those who died from zombies or mutations, the probability remains one in tens of millions.

In fact, at the beginning, the zombification rate wasn't high, around 30% or so.

But due to a series of reasons such as the military disappearing and communication breakdowns, the infection spread and expanded rapidly, mutating 50-60% of the population.

The remaining deaths were mostly due to natural and human disasters, as well as attacks by Evolution Beasts, among other complex factors.

Even so, about 20% survived.

Take Mojiang City as an example; among a population of seven million, the number of survivors should be over a million, but after the high-temperature eruption, it's uncertain.

But there weren't as many deaths in the Acid Rain Zone.

Adding up all the survivors, it definitely reaches tens of millions, the number isn't scarce.

Yet under such a large base, there's only one instance like Lin Jin.

Secondly, He Jie is a rare large-scale battle commander.

In his previous life, he established his status through two critical campaigns, the "New City Plan" and the "Firewall Plan," and commanded many subsequent battles. There are many complex factors in this, but it also proves He Jie's talent.

The Armed Train wants to become a major power, and naturally needs this type of command talent.

Su Huan values his command abilities, even more so than his potential as an Evolver.

And then the most, most, most important point—He Jie has weaknesses, and Su Huan knows him inside and out!

Compared to a lone wolf like Lu Xiao, He Jie is easier to control.

…

The rear compartment was also having a meal, the food was the same as in the front, all wolf meat.

But it was as the old chef said, the young cook's skill truly wasn't great.

After all, he was just an ordinary person and had no experience with wolf meat, resulting in it being overcooked and tough.

A woman sat by the bed, using a small knife to cut off a small piece of wolf meat on an improvised tabletop, placing it in her mouth and chewing it. She then frowned and meticulously cut the dry, tough wolf meat into small pieces.

A feeble voice came from behind, "Miao Qiqi..."

"It's Miao, Qi!"

"I'm about to starve to death."

The woman paused, hiding the unusual look in her eyes, "It'll be ready soon."

"It's fine, I have good teeth, no big difference."

Miao Qi brought the cut wolf meat over, picked up a piece and held it to Lu Xiao's mouth, causing him to be slightly taken aback before taking a bite.

"Crack"

The chopsticks broke.

"Your teeth are indeed good."

Miao Qi commented lightly and then discarded the chopsticks, feeding Lu Xiao piece by piece with her hands.

Lu Xiao felt a bit awkward, it felt like a wife taking care of a bedridden husband.

'Just mutual needs.'

Shaking off the strange thought, Lu Xiao took the plate from her hand and started eating by himself.

Despite being severely injured during the day, Lu Xiao had recovered his energy and ate the meat ravenously. In no time, he had polished off the whole plate of a kilogram of wolf meat.

Converting it into energy using the most primitive method, it was transported throughout his body to restore strength and heal wounds.

"Where's your food?"

When he got to the last few bites, Lu Xiao realized and looked up at her.

Miao Qi had been watching him eat the whole time.

Her gaze was so tender that it made him shiver.

"It's too tough, I don't want to eat."

After a moment's thought, Lu Xiao, not one for formality, finished it all in one go.

Miao Qi took the empty plate and placed it aside, creating a silent atmosphere.

This was how things were between them most of the time.

Even when taking action, there was little sound.

"Did you evolve?"

Lu Xiao asked abruptly, his voice back to normal, steady and firm with a hint of hardness.

"Mm."

"You saw what happened during the day, Su Huan... he's very strong."

Hinting that if you cause trouble, the only outcome will be death.

Soft lips pressed against the corner of his mouth, silencing the rest of his words.

Lu Xiao was momentarily stunned, not following the woman's train of thought, and vaguely resisted by pushing her chest away.

"Thank you for saving me."

"Hmm?"

"You're the first man to shove me behind you in times of danger."

"Pfft, what about your dad?"

"Dead, never met him."

"Anyway, I don't suggest you—"

Slender fingers silenced his lips, the woman mouthed silently, "I want to."

Lu Xiao's mouth twitched, "Have you considered my leg?"

"Checked, that leg's fine."

"Mm..."

Lu Xiao let out a muffled groan tinged with pain, but the woman's gentle touch gradually smoothed his furrowed brow.

As he looked into her sparkling eyes, unsure of her thoughts, Lu Xiao felt a headache coming on.

"Crazy woman!"

He muttered and then retaliated vigorously.

…

After the meal, the acid rain outside became more intense, pounding on the carriage with a dull thud.

Fortunately, the temperature had dropped significantly, leaving only humidity which was tolerable.

Su Huan wearily rubbed his brow; today's intense exchange with He Jie had consumed a lot of energy.

Everyone was tired, and the task of organizing and storing weapons and ammunition was temporarily set aside; anyway, the ammunition was already on the train, and Lao San and his brothers would sleep in the fire truck tonight, so there was no urgency.

With just a few brief instructions, he returned to his room to rest.

He Jie was placed in carriage number 4; the first room was Yu Jing and her daughter, the next was Wan Xing, the third housed Xiaoba and Liang Kuan, and He Jie was arranged next to Xiaoba's room. If he tried anything, Xiaoba could immediately take him out.

It's a metal carriage, and he was sleeping on an iron bed.

Lately, Huang Sea had been tending to the four chickens and mutated plants in carriage seven, and eventually stopped returning to carriage four, settling directly in number seven, with assistant Xiaowang following suit.

Late at night, a rapid knocking on the door startled Su Huan from his sleep.

He opened his eyes sharply, the dim light of the corridor spilling into the room.

"Getting more and more careless..."

He thought to himself, grabbing his jacket and softly saying, "Come in."

Yu Yue entered, her hair dripping with water, looking anxious, "The acid rain's too heavy, the carriage is leaking! Everyone's rushing to repair it..."

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