Chapter 50: Exploiting oneself so ruthlessly even oneself isn't spared

Outside the carriage, the sounds of people walking and talking still lingered, but inside, the atmosphere plunged into an eerie silence. Even though the three brothers were somewhat dense, seeing Su Huan sitting there as comfortably as if he were in his own home made everything abundantly clear.

"You've been conned, Third Bro!"
"He's the train conductor all along!"
The eldest and second brothers shouted from left to right, anxiously tightening their grips on their guns.

"Shut up, both of you, stop talking nonsense! I know!"
The third brother roared back irritably, yet his eyes remained fixed on Su Huan. It was a complex and shocking gaze—the kind of look you get when you discover your sworn brother has secretly passed both the civil service and postgraduate exams, gotten hooked up with a wealthy sugar mommy, and achieved ultimate success in both career and romance.
Incredible, disappointed by his lack of resolve, and consumed by the bitter envy of not being able to take his place!

Observing the rich expressions playing across the third brother's face, Su Huan felt a rare twinge of guilt, fearing they might do something impulsive. Two subtle currents of electricity surged from the iron plates under the soles of his shoes, passed through the metal of the carriage, and conducted directly into the bodies of the eldest and second brothers.

The two men felt a sudden numbness in their hands and feet, and their submachine guns clattered to the floor.

Su Huan stood up, opened his arms in a friendly gesture, and chuckled, "I was just afraid you'd keep holding those guns and accidentally fire out of tension."

The third brother looked at him deeply. "So you were capable of taking us down all along? Why bother putting on an act?"

*Naturally because I couldn't bear to part with those three fire engines.*
After all, no matter how formidable he was, he couldn't drive three vehicles by himself. What if something unexpected happened along the road if he had resorted to brute force? He hated troubles outside his plans the most.

Yet his tone suddenly dropped. "You say I was acting? Are you implying that I deceived you?"
"Absolute nonsense! Every single word you said was a lie!"
Su Huan narrowed his eyes. "Oh? Which word?"
"You said the train conductor was exploiting the passengers!"
"And haven't you seen it for yourself? Hasn't the train conductor been exploiting the passengers?"
The third brother choked, suddenly feeling that something wasn't quite right.

The eldest and second brothers chimed in from the side, "You also said the train conductor had six or seven people occupying the train!"
Su Huan pointed to Liang Kuan behind him, Xiao Ba sitting in the wheelchair, Yu Yue standing beside him... and finally pointed back at himself, his eyes clear and innocent. "Add the two you've already seen, isn't that exactly six people?"
"You even said the train conductor snatched someone's well-behaved and tender young wife!"
Su Huan glanced at Yu Yue, whose pretty face was slightly flushed, and nodded. "She is indeed very well-behaved, that's correct."

The third brother stopped his brothers from speaking further and said with a gloomy expression, "But you never mentioned that you were the train conductor. You said the train conductor was exploiting *you*."
"That's right, when I get ruthless, I even exploit myself," Su Huan said with unblushing righteousness.
*What an absolute... scoundrel.*
Yu Yue, standing nearby, couldn't help but turn her head away, terrified she would burst out laughing in such a tense atmosphere.

The third brother frowned, trying hard to find loopholes in Su Huan's words, but suddenly realized that as long as one was shameless enough to claim all the insults he had previously hurled at himself as true, this logic didn't seem flawed at all.

Su Huan spoke in a gentle tone, "Third Bro, let's put that aside for a moment. What did we come onto this train to do?"
The eldest brother's eyes widened. "Take out the train conductor! Seize the train!"
Even Liang Kuan found it hard to watch any longer, lowering his head to pinch the bridge of his nose. With wits as dull as theirs, they were still dreaming of hijacking a train? They'd probably help Su Huan count the money after being sold out by him. And he had a feeling they were about to witness that exact scenario very soon.

Su Huan agreed readily, "Exactly! Take out the train conductor and seize the train. But now, the problem is we've seized the train without even needing to take out the train conductor. Doesn't that count as achieving our goal?"
As he spoke, he rested his hands on the shoulders of the two brothers, his tone dead serious, "Third Bro, think about it carefully. Suppose the train conductor were an outsider—if we took him out, wouldn't we still have to choose someone to be the train conductor? Now that we don't have to eliminate this train conductor, and your Fourth Brother here has become the train conductor, haven't we achieved the goal of our trip?"

Then, he cast his gaze toward the young man and Huang Hai standing nearby. "Am I making sense or not?"
"Makes sense, makes sense, makes complete sense!" Huang Hai fawned, nodding repeatedly while the glasses on his face bounced twice. Although the situation had shifted subtly, this handsome young man had clearly been the one calling the shots all along. Old Huang saw that very clearly.

The third brother's expression flickered between light and shadow. Making sense?
Making sense my foot! He recognized every single word Su Huan uttered, but none of them sounded right together!
What else could he do? Pick up his gun and fight him to the death?
Leaving aside the fact that he had already spilled all his little schemes to the guy, just looking at the miraculous trick where the man sat there without lifting a finger and forced them to drop their guns—what did he have to fight this guy with?

Unable to figure out what Su Huan was scheming, the third brother simply cut to the chase. "Our brains aren't as sharp as yours. What is it you actually want? Just spell it out."

Su Huan withdrew his smile and said earnestly, "Naturally, I want to invite you brothers to join forces—ah, no, come aboard!"
The three brothers exchanged glances, and the eldest and second brothers once again instinctively shifted the decision-making power back to the third brother.

"What status will we have once we're on this train?" the third brother asked, staring straight into Su Huan's eyes.
"I won't make grand promises, but once you're on this train, as long as you follow me and work hard, you won't go hungry, at the very least."

Su Huan didn't overcommit. He genuinely wanted to recruit these three brothers; although they were a bit foolish, their intentions were truly not malicious.
This time, instead of looking at Su Huan, the third brother observed the expressions of Liang Kuan, Qi Xiaoba, and the others. Seeing their faces calm and composed, he finally turned back to Su Huan, a trace of hesitation in his tone. "Does that mean I have to call you Boss from now on?"

Su Huan let out a dry laugh. "You can still call me Fourth Brother."
"How can a Third Brother call a Fourth Brother 'Brother'? Let's stick to 'Conductor'. I'll trust you one last time, but you cannot trick our brothers again," the third brother said meaningfully.

Su Huan said solemnly, "We are brothers!"

Suddenly, Yu Yue's expression shifted, and she blurted out, "A horde of corpses is coming!"

Everyone froze. Aside from Xiaoba and Liang Kuan, who immediately locked their eyes on Su Huan, the others looked somewhat bewildered.

At that moment, a flurry of hurried footsteps echoed from inside the carriage as Yu Jing rushed in. "The perimeter guards say a corpse horde is approaching!"

Su Huan swept a glance at the young man and Huang Hai, who hadn't even had the chance to ask further questions, and frowned. "What is the progress on the armored train today?"
"Two hydrogen-powered carriages have already been armored and welded with steel plates."
"What about the carriage sequencing and dispatch?"
Liang Kuan replied in a muffled voice, "The front has already been connected in order. There are still four hydrogen-powered carriages, two luggage carriages, and two carriages contaminated by zombies waiting to be linked."
"How long will it take to connect all of them?"
"Twenty minutes."
"What if we abandon the two old green-skin carriages?"
"Fifteen minutes."

Time was of the essence. Su Huan pondered for a brief moment and immediately issued his command, "Put the two green-skin carriages at the very end. If there's no time, abandon them directly. Give priority to connecting the luggage carriages and the hydrogen-powered carriages."
"Understood!"