Chapter 19: Roar, Unyielding Defense

As they reached Carriage No. 5, Su Huan’s footsteps suddenly halted, and he looked up abruptly toward the roof.

Then he pressed on. Inside the dimly lit storage carriage, the hum of a motor could be heard.

Qi Xiaoba’s figure emerged from the shadows.

Seeing Su Huan, he shook his head slightly, signaling that there was no danger.

Suddenly, a rapid sound of footsteps came from behind. Su Huan turned to see Wan Xing, her face anxious.

“There’s a zombie on the roof!”

Both Su Huan and Wan Xing looked up simultaneously. Two distinct sounds filled the air: Wan Xing’s footsteps inside the carriage and the scraping noise from above.

That creature had heard the noise and was approaching.

But for a long moment, nothing moved.

Su Huan shifted to the window and abruptly drew back the curtain.

“Clang!”

A long, sharp claw suddenly jabbed at the window, leaving a clear hole in the tempered glass. Centered around the hole, the entire pane shattered into a dazzling web of cracks, barely holding its form.

Because the claw’s tip was unusually thick, it was caught by the explosion-proof mesh!

Su Huan cursed inwardly—another pane broken.

This glass was far harder to replace than steel plates!

From the claw alone, Su Huan deduced what sort of creature it was and moved swiftly to the front.

A grotesque humanoid zombie clung to the window. Its hands had mutated into three razor-sharp claws, nearly half its body length.

Its frame was thin as a straw, but the ribs of its chest protruded sharply, bulging under the armpits like wings. Between each rib was a row of eyes, dense and numerous—nine on each side, eighteen in total.

At that moment, all of them greedily fixed their gaze on Su Huan.

Su Huan placed his hand on the metal window frame and sneered coldly, “No ticket, and still trying to force your way on?”

Sparks of electric arcs flickered instantly across the zombie’s body.

The creature let out a pained growl.

Without Su Huan needing to act further, countless steel spikes extended from the train’s outer steel plates, piercing deep into the zombie.

“A first-tier zombie night demon—high offense, low defense. Lock it to the carriage for now; we’ll deal with it tomorrow,” Su Huan said coldly.

Qi Xiaoba’s eyes gleamed like steel beads, staring coldly at the zombie outside.

One by one, they dragged the just-slain creature from the train, tightening it against the spikes to prevent it from pulling free.

Only then did Su Huan cut off the high-voltage current.

Deprived of the control keeping its limbs rigid, the night demon’s howling grew louder, but it no longer struggled.

No matter how it flailed its claws, only sparks flew against the steel plates.

With 12mm plus 3mm steel plating, not even a second-tier night demon could bite through such tough armor!

As its vitality drained, the night demon lost all strength to resist; its eyes faded from blood-red to a dead black.

All this happened in the blink of an eye.

Wan Xing, frozen where she stood, only approached once she realized the danger had passed.

“I just wanted to warn you…”

“It’s fine,” Su Huan shook his head.

If it couldn’t sneak in, it might as well try a frontal assault. As long as the night demon couldn’t break through the carriage’s armor, it would be killed sooner or later.

“Any news from the rear?” Su Huan turned to Qi Xiaoba.

“There was some initial commotion, but it quieted down after that,” Qi Xiaoba replied.

As they spoke, Yu Jing and her daughter came over.

“Liang Kuan said one of the train lights is broken, but other functions are intact; the windows are undamaged. However, the window on your Carriage No. 3 shows signs of damage—something tried to get in but was stopped by the explosion-proof mesh,” Yu Jing reported.

Su Huan nodded slightly, feeling somewhat reassured.

Looks like the past few days weren’t wasted after all.

But with steel plates and explosion-proof mesh protecting the front carriages…

Everyone’s eyes instinctively turned to Carriage No. 7.

Qi Xiaoba reached out, and several locks clicked open in sequence.

The group entered the passageway inside. It was quiet except for the clattering of wheels.

Through the glass, they could hear some disturbance inside the opposite carriage.

“There’s a monster!”

“The people in the rear are probably all dead.”

“Quiet, everyone calm down! I’ll find Boss Su!”

“What good will finding Boss Su do? Keep your voices down, don’t attract the monster…”

Su Huan gently rested his hand on Qi Xiaoba’s shoulder, who immediately unlocked the door to Carriage No. 7.

Several workers, alarmed by the noise, called out in fright.

“The… door… the door opened!”

“Stop screaming like idiots! Go find Gao Zhe,” Su Huan said, tugging at his ear.

At this, nearby workers finally realized, “Boss Su! It’s Boss Su!”

“Boss Su, there’s a monster at the back!”

“Silence!” A deep, angry voice cut through the clamor as Wang He pushed through the crowd.

Su Huan waved him off and asked directly, “What’s going on back there? All that howling and screaming?”

“There’s a monster in Carriage No. 10. It killed several zombies—I’m afraid everyone behind is already dead!” Wang He’s voice trembled despite his attempt at calm.

Su Huan frowned but didn’t move a muscle. “Bring Gao Zhe here.”

“I’m here. What do you want?” a clear voice rang out from the crowd.

Workers parted to reveal a shadowy figure in the dim carriage. Even with Su Huan’s keen sight, he could barely make out the silhouette.

But he didn’t need a clear view. Calmly, he said, “Kill that night demon and bring me its corpse. I’ll give you a permanent train ticket.”

Gao Zhe’s eyes flickered; he clearly knew quite a bit.

“This is your train. Why don’t you go? I have a three-month pass—more than enough.”

Su Huan sneered inwardly. You think I’ll let you sneak up behind me? I know this trick.

Only a fool would walk into a trap like that.

His tone dripped with detached sarcasm. “You can choose not to go. The monster will have to come through the back eventually. Where else can you run?”

“Xiaoba, lock the doors tight. Let them think it over.”

Without waiting for the anxious murmurs behind him, Su Huan led Qi Xiaoba and the others back to the storage room.

“Are you really locking it?” Qi Xiaoba asked.

“Of course.”

Su Huan turned on the storage room’s nightlight and saw the youth sitting there, a faint look of pity on his face.

Seeing this, he knew the boy’s sympathy was flaring up.

He needed to be guided properly.

Su Huan spoke calmly, “You want to say there are many innocent people back there?”

Qi Xiaoba nodded.

“But there are also many with malicious intent.”

Su Huan crouched down to meet Qi Xiaoba’s gaze, speaking slowly and clearly.

“But before protecting others, you must secure your own safety.”

“Right now, there are two ways to prevent their deaths. One is for us to deal with the night demon ourselves, but then we risk harm from those with ill intent.”

“The other is to force those malicious people to confront the night demon, ensuring our safety while protecting the majority.”

“So, which will you choose?”