Chapter 57: Energy Storage Core

[Storage Core] = Level 3 [Aetheric Conversion] + Level 3 [High-Energy Compression] + Level 1 [Energy Shaping]

Previously, Su Huan had pushed [Aetheric Conversion] to the brink of evolution by devouring a vast amount of Tier 1 aetheric crystals.

And devouring the bloodhound's heart had provided an immense surge of active aether.

Yet, he was still far from truly evolving into a Tier 1 professional.

His current skill was merely Level 1 [Energy Compression].

To evolve into [High-Energy Compression], one normally had to steadily raise energy compression to Level 3, and then, under the right conditions, ingest the corresponding genetic potion to stimulate the evolution into a higher-tier ability.

However, right now, he had neither the time to cultivate the ability nor the potion to stimulate his genes.

The conventional path of evolution was undoubtedly blocked.

Yet the deity governing evolution was not a petty train conductor; a sliver of survival was left for beings who dared to pursue evolution.

That was to compress the most violent energy, using the most primitive method to force the body's instincts to evolve!

"Boom, boom, boom..."

Continuous explosions flushed everyone's faces red, their diverse pupils reflecting a diminutive figure swallowed by swelling flames.

Heaven and earth fell into absolute silence; the surging waves in the river and the speeding train both froze simultaneously.

A faint sound echoed in everyone's ears.

It rang from the very epicenter of the explosion.

Like the knell of doomsday, yet also like the uproarious laughter of a new world.

The frenzied laughter carried a hysterical madness, drowning out all wind and waves, crushing all emotions, leaving behind only the purest, most blazing desire for evolution.

Gales, heatwaves, flames... all energy began to converge in a single instant.

River waves lashed against the bridge piers, mutant beasts battered their heads bloody, and the train let out a piercing whistle—only that ball of fire seemed to reverse through time.

Being crazily compressed!

"He's alive!"

Yu Yue was the first to cry out in shock.

For some reason, when that figure—simultaneously feared and revered by her—reappeared at the front of the train, her heart was filled with a sense of overflowing joy.

This emotion arrived so swiftly that she didn't even have time to process it.

Su Huan felt that his condition was terrible; chaotic currents of aether raged throughout his body like an anthill flooded by a torrential river, with ants scurrying about in a panic.

In his hand, he was still compressing a ball of energy potent enough to completely obliterate him and the armored train. Under his compression, this energy not only failed to weaken, but instead multiplied exponentially, surging wildly.

Yet this sensation was also exquisitely wonderful, akin to standing barefoot on the highest mountain peak, feeling the coarse, cutting edge beneath one's feet and the roaring gale beside one's ears with every step!

The vast sky was no longer distant, but within arm's reach!

No one knew whether the next step would lead to a bottomless abyss or ascension into an immortal.

But that was the charm of evolution!

Mojiang, the white serpent, also sensed Su Huan's threat. Its deep blue vertical pupils stared fixedly at him, its slender, forked snake tongue darting in and out a dozen times in an instant.

Its serpentine body coiled and shifted, the scales grinding against the bridge pillars with a creaking noise.

Its neck pulled backward.

The next moment, it lunged abruptly toward Su Huan atop the train.

"Roar—"

The snake head, as large as a window, opened wide against the wind, as if attempting to swallow the entire locomotive.

Tasting the rust-like, fishy stench of the upper palate and watching the assaulting giant white serpent, Su Huan's expression twisted to the absolute limit from wild laughter.

Mere high-energy compression—it wasn't as if he hadn't done it in his past life!

The flames in his hand were forcefully compressed down to the size of his palm, but that was not the end of it.

Su Huan cupped the ball of fire in his hands in mid-air and pulled his hands apart.

The slender flame transformed into the shape of a javelin.

Level 1 [Energy Shaping], achieved!

The moment this flame javelin formed, all the chaotic energy within his body instantly turned orderly. Driven by a mysterious order, it converged into his heart, coating his ordinary flesh with an inexplicable radiance.

At this moment, Su Huan thoroughly advanced to a Tier 1 profession: [Storage Core].

"Mojiang!"

Amidst a roaring bellow, the flame javelin was thrust straight into the white serpent's maw.

"Boom—"

An explosion grander than the previous one erupted violently, accompanied by the white serpent's piercing screech.

When that silvery-white body plummeted from the high altitude, even the passengers who most wished for Su Huan's death could not help but let out wolf-like cheers from the roof of the train!

The oppressive atmosphere inside the sightseeing carriage was swept away. Boss and Second squeezed their fists tight, shouting with flushed faces and thick necks in excitement.

All the while, they frantically shook Third.

While repeating his catchphrase and cursing his two brothers, Third used every piece of foul language he knew to express the conductor's badass status in his heart, venting his suppressed emotions.

Yu Jing looked at the man amidst the flames, then glanced at the wrench in her hand, feeling that it had somehow lost its flavor. When she raised her head again, a fanaticism akin to her first time seeing a locomotive seemed to ignite in her eyes.

*This man's blood boils with a stillness more intoxicating than machinery.*

However...

Glancing at her mother nearby, who was crying and rejoicing like a little girl, a trace of helplessness flashed across Yu Jing's pretty phoenix eyes.

She felt that she and her mother would likely be pulled into a single blanket by him within a few days.

*Mother and daughter... that's a bit against the rules, but I hope he exercises some restraint.*

Lu Xiao, standing on the roof of the rear carriage, looked at the scene, which resembled an epic myth, with a complex expression. Only then did he understand why Su Huan had said, "A grand scene like this requires the conductor to handle it."

He truly couldn't handle it; he had no choice but to submit.

Ducking past a few passengers jumping up and down on the roof, he found a window, squeezed his way in, and tumbled over.

Inside the cab, Huang Hai was hugging Qi Xiaoba's wheelchair, weeping bitterly, while the latter wore a helpless expression.

Liang Kuan stared fiercely at the fallen white serpent, pulling the steam whistle.

He pushed down the control lever, boosting the speed to maximum.

And rammed straight into it with ruthless force.

Whether iron or flesh and blood, today only one could transform into a dragon!

Feeling the increasingly violent armored train beneath his feet, Su Huan did not hesitate to pour his energy into the engine.

Previously, it had still been somewhat strenuous for his energy to drive the massive train, but now, having formed the Storage Core within his body, his aetheric power had experienced a terrifying surge.

If he had to quantify it, Su Huan suspected that the individual data for his energy could reach Level 5, or even Level 6 and above.

Firmly cementing his footing among Tier 2 professionals.

This was the path Su Huan had chosen: force himself into a desperate corner; either evolve, or disperse like a firework.

Judging from now, the firework display had been a success.

However, the one that blew up wasn't him.

The explosion occurred inside the white serpent's mouth, practically tearing its jaws apart. Blood splattered into the river like rain, triggering a frenzy among the mutant beasts fighting for it.

The next moment, the half-falling white serpent was sent flying by the rampaging armored train.

Yet because the serpent's body was so long, while the front half flew out, the rear half remained hooked onto the front of the train.

The snake head landed on the railway ties, subjected to the frantic friction of the armored train.

Mojiang looked precisely like a white serpent lady being ravaged by a newly transformed true dragon.

Thinking of it that way was not incorrect either.

The victor deserved to enjoy everything belonging to the loser.

Soul, and even flesh!

Glancing at the massive white serpent body by his feet, Su Huan rubbed his chin and asked Third, who had run over.

"Fancy some snake sashimi?"