23: Chapter 23 Abandon Dignity, Learn to Obey!

Wen Yiran's private message lit up at the edge of his vision.

"Brother Lin, good news!"

"I spent three pieces of equipment plus 240 points of stardust and received two 'Wither' skill books!"

Lin Xiao's gaze lingered on the private message interface for a moment, then he stopped his slashing motion.

He pulled the double-edged axe from the neck of the last Glutton, bringing up a spurt of viscous black blood.

He swept a glance across the corridor of Carriage 6, which was littered with corpses.

The doors of the surviving rooms were tightly shut, not even leaving a crack for peeking.

"That's enough." He shook the filth off the axe blade. "Leave the remaining zombies for the people in Carriage 5 to clean up!"

Harvesting also requires moderation.

Taking everything without leaving a crumb is liable to incite public anger.

Only by leaving room for others can one prevent latecomers from turning hostile over conflicts of interest.

One of the lessons from the fall of countless factions is the failure to understand sustainable development.

Lin Xiao turned around and stepped on the sticky floor to return to Carriage 7.

In the corridor of Carriage 7, a dozen newly spawned zombies were wandering about.

Many wooden doors had been breached, and bright red blood was spreading along the cracks in the floor.

He gripped his double-edged axe tightly and hacked his way through.

Besides Level 2 Gluttons, there were also many passengers who had become mutants after being parasitized by spores.

When passing Room 06, two swaying figures were emerging from the damaged sliding door.

It was the middle-aged man's two sons.

Their bodies were swollen, and their expensive trendy hoodies had been stretched out of shape.

Their young faces were now covered in mycelium, and their skin had a grayish-white hue, as if they had been soaking in water for months.

Their father was nowhere to be seen; he had likely mutated in the previous round.

Hand raised, axe fell.

Two twisted heads rolled away, and the bodies were quickly swallowed by the floor.

Taking advantage of the interval while the light orbs and stardust flowed into his body, Lin Xiao looked into the room.

On one of the bunks lay a corpse that had long since gone cold.

In its left hand was a half-eaten mooncake, and the right hand tightly gripped a claw hammer.

Looking closely, the face was bruised and purple, and the mouth was full of blackened blood.

The middle-aged man named Lin Wei had refused to become a bloodthirsty monster and chose to end his own life.

Lin Xiao's face remained expressionless as his gaze swept calmly over the chaos before him.

The two young, strong men had become completely useless trash after losing their father's protection.

They didn't even have the courage to raise a weapon and fight back.

He couldn't be bothered to judge them further and turned back to the corridor.

In front of the door to Room 07, two Gluttons were blocking the way, violently and brutishly slamming against the already damaged sliding door.

He raised his double-edged axe, dispatched them casually, and cast his gaze into the room.

Three girls were curled up in the innermost corner, trembling all over.

The leader among them, Li Yue, had sent a private message seeking help not long ago.

She had even attached quite a few shocking, explicit videos.

To sum it up, she was an art student with a good figure.

At this moment, Li Yue was clutching a severely deformed iron kettle, its surface covered in black and red filth.

On the bunk opposite her lay the corpse of a Glutton with its head smashed to pieces.

It was impossible to tell where the mouthparts were and where the neck was.

And underneath the corpse, another girl was pinned.

Zou Yutong.

Her head was abnormally swollen, her skin stretched until it was transparent, revealing black veins that pulsed incessantly.

Even with her features distorted, one could vaguely tell she had been quite beautiful.

Gurgling, strange noises came from her throat, and her body was twitching constantly; she was clearly transforming into a mutant.

Just a few minutes ago, the moment the sliding door was completely breached, a hysterical Zou Yutong began to scream uncontrollably.

As a result, the zombies that broke in attacked her first.

Several mucus-covered tentacles shot out and burrowed into her mouth.

In the critical situation, Li Yue used the iron kettle she had opened from a supply pack to smash the back of the zombie's neck.

Only after its disgusting mouthparts were smashed into a bloody mess did she scream and snap out of it, shrinking to the side in terror.

Watching her former best friend's head continue to swell, Li Yue trembled uncontrollably, tears sliding silently down her cheeks.

"If you don't act now, she will complete her transformation, and when that happens, you'll be the ones who die!"

Lin Xiao stood at the doorway, his voice not loud.

He didn't enter, nor did he have any intention of helping, acting like an indifferent bystander stating the cruelest of facts.

These words constantly stimulated the three girls' nerves, which were on the verge of collapse.

Li Yue looked at Zou Yutong's increasingly inhuman face, her lips trembling, the kettle in her hand feeling as heavy as a thousand pounds.

The courage she had just mustered dissipated completely.

Just then, another short-haired girl beside her suddenly snatched the kettle and rushed forward with a roar.

Closing her eyes, she aimed at that swollen head and smashed it down fiercely!

Once, twice, three times...

Until the head burst on the spot, spraying mucus and unformed spore tissue all over the wall.

Only then did the short-haired girl collapse to the floor from exhaustion, the kettle clattering to the ground.

Amidst intense dry heaving, the mangled corpse was gradually swallowed by the train.

The bunk became clean in the blink of an eye, not even leaving a bloodstain behind.

As if that desperate scene had never happened.

"Well done."

Lin Xiao looked down at the girl on the floor, snorted coldly, and turned to leave.

"Wait... wait!"

Li Yue, who had snapped out of her grief, called out to him.

Her voice carried an extremely suppressed sob.

She struggled, crawling on her hands and knees to Lin Xiao, and looked up.

Her pretty face was now completely haggard, and her bloodshot eyes were filled with fear.

"Brother Lin... can you, please help us, lend us some materials..."

The two girls behind Li Yue also cast pleading gazes.

It must be said that the three of them had good foundations.

Even covered in filth, it was hard to hide their outstanding looks and figures.

Their figures were slender and well-proportioned, with curvaceous lines; they must have been art students who studied dance or modeling.

Seeing that Lin Xiao didn't answer immediately, but only swept his gaze over their bodies with a scrutinizing look.

Li Yue lowered her head, her gaze dull, her eyes empty.

At this moment, in the face of the desire to survive, dignity was worthless.

She straightened up, her trembling fingers reaching for the zipper of her fire-resistant suit.

Lin Xiao's eyes turned cold; he raised his hand to pinch Li Yue's chin, forcing her to look up.

A delicate and soft sensation came from his fingertips.

"There will be opportunities for you to show your worth later!"

His voice was flat, yet carried an unquestionable force.

As he spoke, a trading interface popped up before Li Yue's eyes, containing the basic materials sufficient to repair the territory's facilities.

Li Yue froze, then lowered her eyes, her voice hoarse: "Thank you, Brother Lin, I will pay it back..."

Lin Xiao said nothing more, released his grip, turned back to the corridor, and continued to clear out the zombies in the remaining rooms.

After the third round of calamity descended, four of the ten sleeper rooms in Carriage 7 had been completely destroyed, and over a dozen passengers had all turned into zombies.

The remaining survivors hurriedly took out all their belongings from their backpacks, begging for materials in a humble manner.

But to their pleas, Lin Xiao only threw over materials just enough to repair their facilities and left behind a cold warning:

"The third round hasn't ended yet; a few more zombies will spawn. If you don't want to sit and wait for death, go out and fight now!"

Charity only breeds dependent parasites.

Giving just enough hope to survive is the only way to make them learn to obey.