Chapter 55: What is the purpose of this journey? To contend for the dragon!

As the others left, Su Huan turned his gaze to Yu Yue.

He saw the tips of her ears twitch slightly as she looked up and said, "Someone in the back is looking for you."

"Huh?"

Su Huan paused for a moment before realizing she was referring to the rear carriages.

*That doorbell is quite far away...*

He stepped backward and, at the junction between the tenth carriage and its vestibule bridge, spotted a lean, upright man. The man was of a similar height to him, just over one-eighty centimeters. Through the glass, Su Huan felt as though he were looking into a mirror.

Both men had sharp, well-defined facial features, though the other man possessed a fiercer, more hardened aura, while Su Huan appeared colder.

Moreover, the other man looked younger.

"You have the time of three sentences," Su Huan said calmly through the closed door.

"I am a retired navy serviceman, a strength-type Awakened, and I am familiar with the terrain around the Mojiang River."

The man wasted no words, concisely stating his value.

As he spoke, he placed his hand on the door handle and twisted it hard, bending the metal handle completely out of shape.

It was proof that his words were not empty boasts.

*Click—*

Su Huan pulled the door open, glanced at the deformed handle and the man's tightly clenched posture, and his expression relaxed slightly.

He had value, and for now, he seemed to possess a quick mind. Su Huan was willing to spend a little time on someone like this.

"State your business. My time is tight."

"We are about to cross the Mojiang River Bridge, aren't we?"

"Correct."

The man shared his deductions regarding what was coming up in the carriages ahead.

Su Huan nodded approvingly, already plotting in his mind how to best deploy such a talent.

Yet he revealed very little emotion on his face. "And?"

The man hesitated for a brief moment, then weighed his words. "I am not trying to seize control of your train. It's just that the journey ahead is far too perilous, and I wish to help you formulate tactical decisions. Rest assured, I have undergone rigorous professional training in this field. I am entirely reliable."

Su Huan wore a peculiar expression. The last person tried to seize control by force, and this one was playing psychological maneuvering with him?

You've undergone rigorous professional training? I went through four years of brutal elimination.

"Are you by any chance named Zhe?"

The man blinked, stunned. "My name is Lu Xiao. Lu as in the mainland, Xiao as in a valiant cavalryman."

Su Huan nodded. "I'll remember you. But now is not your moment to shine."

Lu Xiao frowned. He could not understand why Su Huan remained so stubborn even after he had expressed such sincere intentions.

Could the petty authority of a mere train conductor really matter more than life itself?

Su Huan recognized his unwillingness to submit and offered a similarly sincere explanation. "A spectacle of this magnitude requires the conductor to handle it. It's beyond your ability to resolve."

Lu Xiao took a deep breath, suppressing the restlessness in his heart. "I hope the conductor will reconsider my proposal. I will remain right here in the tenth carriage."

Su Huan waved a hand dismissively. "Suit yourself. Just remember to fix that door handle for me."

He turned and walked away.

...

If one were to view the rivers of the world as dragon veins, these cross-river bridges resembled shackles clamped across the surface of the water.

Accompanied by a rhythmic clatter, a mechanical dragon of steel drove onto the elevated bridge.

The hot wind stirred up by its passage blew away the cotton-like fog clinging to the water's surface. Bathed in the crisp moonlight, the terrifying expanse of the massive river revealed itself to everyone inside the train.

The turbid waters of the Mojiang River churned with tens of thousands of floating corpses, bobbing up and down with the current. Pairs of crimson eyes stared fixedly at the train moving along the elevated bridge.

Inside the observation carriage, Yu Yue nervously squeezed her fingertips. "Something is coming..."

"Yes, I see it."

Su Huan's eyes were fixed on the murky water. Some thirty or forty meters away, a massive, turbid wave surged upward, crashing against the Mojiang River Bridge with such force that even the armored train trembled.

As the wave broke, hundreds of zombies were slammed back down into the depths.

Yet what truly startled him was the white, colossal tail within the crest of that massive wave.

It was as thick as a water vat.

It was none other than the white serpent of the Mojiang River, the one they had briefly crossed paths with at the water treatment plant!

Witnessing this terrifying display of power, Su Huan fell silent for a moment.

That serpent had likely stepped into the Tier 3 threshold.

Right now, his pan-energy conversion was still at Level 2, having absorbed four Tier 1 pan-energy crystals, while his energy compression remained at Level 1, having only absorbed about five ordinary pan-energy crystals.

He was still a long way from the Tier 1 occupation, "Energy Storage Core."

"Conductor, the oil barrels have been brought up." The younger of the triplets carried a barrel upstairs with visible strain.

"Take it to the engine room," Su Huan instructed, gesturing beyond the observation carriage, before turning to Yu Yue. "Go down and fetch me the heart of that bloodhound."

Yu Yue nodded instinctively, took two steps forward, and then realized something was amiss.

The heart of a bloodhound.

Wasn't that the evolutionary path of the Blood Resonance?

Her thoughts flashed like lightning, instantly illuminating her chaotic mind. She whipped around fiercely. "You want to evolve?"

Su Huan raised an eyebrow, a teasing smirk playing on his lips. "Oh? Why has Auntie Yu suddenly grown so smart?"

"Didn't you say that method was extremely dangerous?"

"Evolution has always been a madman's game."

"Isn't there a safer—"

Su Huan impatiently waved a hand. "It's merely a fallback plan just in case. Go on, hurry."

Yu Yue's fingertips turned white as she clenched her fists. Looking at his impatient demeanor, a sudden, inexplicable sense of grievance welled up in her heart.

Yet her thoughts involuntarily extended outward, extrapolating scenarios.

What if the moment really came when he had no choice but to evolve?

If Su Huan were to change into...

No wait, she was just a passenger oppressed by him; why on earth was she worrying about him?

Yu Yue tapped herself lightly on the forehead.

Why was she acting like she had Stockholm syndrome?

Yet upon second thought, Su Huan could be a bit fierce and ruthless at times, but aside from that one incident, he hadn't done anything truly excessive to her or her daughter.

Other passengers might curse him as a cold-blooded, brutal bastard, but she, of all people, probably lacked the qualification to do so.

To a certain extent, she was practically an accomplice.

The young culinary maid bit her lower lip, her eyes filled with confusion. In a daze, she asked Wan Xing for the bloodhound's heart and climbed back to the second level.

The scene greeting her eyes made her heart skip a beat.

Beneath the biting moonlight, tens of thousands of silver scales surfaced, tearing into the zombies. The already murky river turned into swirling pools of dark filth.

When the thousands of floating corpses vanished into nothingness, led by a white serpent resembling a flood dragon, a multitude of aquatic beasts launched a charge against the cross-river bridge.

Just like the legendary serpents that cultivated successfully to cross the marshes, journeying east to enter the sea and transform into true dragons!

Monstrous waves churned the river surface, carrying severed limbs and broken bones as they battered the bridge piers.

*Boom—*

Terrified, Yu Yue squeezed her eyes shut. She felt the world spin wildly before she plunged into the water.

Yet after a long moment, she felt no sensation of suffocation. Opening her eyes, she was met with Su Huan's stern face.

"I thought you were scared to death."

Righting her posture, Su Huan took the heart from her hand and opened the door, walking toward the front of the train.

"You shouldn't come along. The wind and waves are fierce tonight; you'd easily get swept away."

Having finished moving the oil barrels, the triplets hurriedly retreated, sweating profusely and pale-faced.

Clearly, they too had witnessed the nightmarish spectacle beneath the bridge.

As he passed by, the third brother grabbed Su Huan's sleeve. "Fourth brother, where are you going?"

Su Huan tilted his head, watching the colossal white serpent winding its way up the bridge piers in the distance, the corners of his mouth curling upward to reveal a flash of gleaming white teeth.

"To contend for the dragon!"