17: Chapter 17 Su Chen's Death Warning

Immediately after, over a dozen burly men with fierce-looking faces and ragged tank tops swaggered out from a side path.

They formed a semi-circle, arrogantly blocking the path of Su Chen and his group.

The man in the lead was nearly 1.9 meters tall, his muscles bulging like granite, covered in scars of various sizes.

He sported a shiny shaved head and a thick gold chain around his neck, leering at Chu Qingxue and Lin Momo with a gaze that seemed to want to strip them bare.

Su Chen narrowed his eyes slightly, watching the burly bald man coldly.

Although he hadn't met this person before, the aura of volatility and arrogance, combined with the pressure from an A-rank [Omni-Modification] talent, allowed him to instantly guess the other party's identity.

The second-ranked Train Master of train no. 0112—Wang Meng.

"Tsk tsk tsk, look at that face, that waist, and those breasts..."

Wang Meng swallowed hard, his gaze glued to the proud curves of Chu Qingxue, outlined by her tight tactical vest.

Having endured seven days in the apocalypse, the women on his train had long been tormented beyond recognition by his brothers; he had never seen such top-tier beauties.

"Boss, the quality of these chicks is top-notch! Compared to them, the ones on our train are practically sows!"

A lackey behind Wang Meng leaned forward, rubbing his hands with gleaming eyes.

"That's right, Boss! If we could get them onto our train, it would be worth it for the brothers for the rest of our lives!"

Another lackey chimed in, his gaze toward the four women filled with undisguised greed and lewdness.

Hearing these filthy words, Lin Momo's face turned pale with fear; she instinctively grabbed the corner of Su Chen's clothes and hid behind him.

As for Chu Qingxue, Zhang Man, and Su Xiaoxiao, their expressions instantly turned icy cold.

They were core members of train no. 0099, women to whom Su Chen had personally granted "noble" privileges!

In front of this man, they could be as docile as sheep and lay aside all their reserve.

But outside, they were untouchable flowers on a high peak!

"Who do you think you are? Good dogs don't block the road, get lost!"

Zhang Man, having the fieriest temper, stepped forward, shielding the group like a lioness protecting her cubs.

She didn't hesitate to draw the razor-sharp military dagger from her waist, gripping it in a reverse hold while staring fiercely at Wang Meng.

If the bald man dared to take one more step closer, she would not hesitate to pierce his throat!

"Oh ho! This little wild cat has quite a temper!"

Wang Meng wasn't angered by Zhang Man's shout; instead, he became even more excited.

His lecherous eyes swept over Zhang Man's firm, long legs as he licked his thick lips.

"I like wild horses like you; riding them is exciting!"

Wang Meng laughed out loud, then turned his gaze to Su Chen, who had remained silent the whole time.

In fact, he had recognized Su Chen long ago—the man who had told him to "get lost" in a private message and blocked him immediately after.

Now, seeing that Su Chen had four such top-tier beauties by his side, the fire of jealousy in Wang Meng's heart burned even brighter, as if gasoline had been poured on it.

Why?!

Why had he struggled with his life to climb to second place, while this lucky pretty boy not only ranked above him but also got to enjoy such a harem?

"You must be Su Chen, right?"

Wang Meng looked at Su Chen provocatively, a malicious sneer curling the corners of his mouth.

"No wonder you're so arrogant about being in first place; it turns out you've got a train full of top-tier chicks. I bet you don't hold back in bed at night, eh?"

"Hahaha!"

The group of sports school students behind Wang Meng burst into unbridled laughter.

"Su Chen, we're all reasonable people, so I won't beat around the bush with you."

Wang Meng stepped forward, arms crossed, striking a pose he thought was imposing.

"Let's discuss something."

He extended a thick finger, pointing brazenly at Chu Qingxue.

"Trade this ice beauty next to you for ten boxes of military canned food. How about it?"

"In a world where even tree bark is being eaten, ten boxes of canned food is enough for you to find ten more women. You're not just breaking even; you're making a huge profit!"

As soon as Wang Meng finished speaking.

The crowd that had been watching the spectacle instantly went silent.

Everyone gasped.

Ten boxes of military canned food! That was definitely a huge sum!

But to trade such a stunning, peerless beauty... it seemed a bit cheap.

However, before anyone could react.

An aura of extreme cold suddenly erupted from Chu Qingxue, sweeping outwards like a storm!

"You... are... courting death!"

Chu Qingxue's cold, beautiful face was now covered in a terrifying frost.

Her originally clear eyes were now glowing with a faint icy blue light.

"Crack, crack, crack—"

Accompanied by a teeth-grinding sound of freezing.

Tiny, crystalline frost began to form rapidly on Chu Qingxue's fair, slender fingertips, spreading outwards.

The surrounding temperature plummeted by over a dozen degrees in just a few seconds; tiny ice crystals even began to float in the air!

The ice-cold campus beauty was truly enraged!

As the owner of the S-rank [Extreme Cold Frost] talent, Chu Qingxue possessed not only high management talent but also terrifying combat power.

In this world, no one except Su Chen had the right to treat her like a commodity to be traded!

Especially not this disgusting piece of trash!

Feeling this sudden, terrifying chill, the smile on Wang Meng's face instantly froze.

The lackeys behind him shivered from the cold and involuntarily took two steps back.

"S-rank... elemental talent?"

Wang Meng's pupils constricted violently, his heart churning with shock.

He never expected that this seemingly delicate, top-tier beauty was actually a terrifying existence with an S-rank combat talent!

Just as Chu Qingxue was preparing to unleash "Icebound Thousand Miles" at any cost to freeze this trash into ice sculptures.

A strong, powerful hand suddenly pressed onto her shoulder.

"Qingxue, step back."

Su Chen's low, calm voice sounded in Qingxue's ear.

This voice seemed to have some kind of magical power, instantly soothing the rage in Qingxue's heart.

The frost on her fingertips quickly receded. She looked back at Su Chen with a touch of grievance, then obediently retracted her aura and retreated behind him.

Zhang Man also glared fiercely at Wang Meng, put away her military dagger, and stepped back.

Su Chen walked slowly to stand in front of Wang Meng.

The distance between the two was less than a meter.

Su Chen's lanky height of over 1.85 meters did not fall behind the massive Wang Meng in the slightest.

What was even more terrifying was the aura emanating from Su Chen.

If Wang Meng was a wild boar that only knew how to bluff, then Su Chen was a cold-blooded venomous dragon that had crawled out of a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood!

A cruel, playful smile curled at the corners of Su Chen's mouth.

He stared directly into Wang Meng's eyes, which were slightly evasive due to shock.

His voice was not loud, but it carried a bone-chilling murderous intent that made one feel as if they had fallen into an ice cellar.

"Wang Meng, right?"

Su Chen gently spat out these four words.

"In the safe zone, because of the Heavenly Dao's rules, I indeed cannot shoot and blow your dog head off."

Su Chen leaned forward slightly, speaking word by word in a voice only the two of them could hear.

"But... you had better pray to God before you go to sleep every night."

"Pray that once you leave this platform."

"That scrap heap of a garbage train you've cobbled together..."

"Can run faster than my bullets."

At this moment, Su Chen's gaze became extremely cold, devoid of any human emotion, filled only with a pure desire for destruction.

"Boom!"

Wang Meng felt as if a thunderclap had exploded in his mind!

Under the lock of Su Chen's terrifying murderous intent.

He, a captain of the sports school's Sanda team in reality and a burly man who had awakened an A-rank talent, actually felt a trembling and fear originating from the depths of his soul!

He seemed to see a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood, and the miserable scene of himself being blown into shreds of meat by a violent thunder-fire shotgun shell!

"Step! Step!"

Wang Meng couldn't control his own body; he was shocked by this murderous aura and forced to take two big steps back!

Because he retreated too hastily, he even stepped on a lackey's foot and nearly fell over.

"Boss!"

The lackeys quickly steadied Wang Meng, looking on in shock as their usually arrogant and domineering boss was actually scared back by a single sentence from the other party.

Wang Meng's face instantly flushed to the color of a pig's liver, then turned deathly pale.

With so many people watching, and in front of the man he wanted to conquer the most.

He had actually chickened out!

This immense sense of humiliation made Wang Meng lose his sanity instantly.

"Fine! Su Chen! You've got guts!"

Wang Meng forced himself not to let his legs go weak, pointing at Su Chen with a fierce but cowardly demeanor, spouting threats.

"Don't think you're invincible just because you have some stinking money and a good talent!"

"Let me tell you, once we're out of this safe zone, I'll strip you of everything, people and train included!"

"I will play your women to death one by one right in front of you!"

"Let's go!"

Wang Meng didn't even dare to look into Su Chen's eyes again. He waved his hand in a fit of rage and led the group of sports school students, who were equally terrified, to squeeze through the crowd and run away in disgrace.

Watching Wang Meng's retreating figure, the cruel smile on Su Chen's face grew wider.

"Train Master, should I take the combat team and slaughter them all once we're out of the safe zone?"

Zhang Man leaned forward, a fierce, eager light flashing in her eyes.

"No rush."

Su Chen withdrew his gaze and patted Zhang Man on the shoulder.

"They are just a bunch of clowns; they aren't worth us going out of our way to hunt down."

"However, if he really dares to come and seek his own death."

Su Chen turned his head to look at the four women beside him, his tone filled with absolute dominance.

"I will let him know what true cruelty is."

The disturbance ended in such a dramatic way.

The crowd's gaze toward Su Chen had shifted from initial awe to deep fear.

A single sentence had scared off the tough guy ranked second.

This man named Su Chen was definitely an out-and-out madman!

"Let's go."

Su Chen was not affected by this little episode.

He led the four women, under the awe-filled gazes of the crowd, as if they were gods, and headed straight for the core black market carriages in the deepest part of the trading hub.

The core black market of the Black Iron Trading Hub was much darker and more oppressive than the market outside.

There were no deafening shouts here; everyone wandered in front of the stalls like ghosts, only lowering their voices for brief exchanges when they saw items they liked.

Most of those who could enter here were Train Masters with some hard goods or high-level scavengers.

As soon as Su Chen and the four women stepped into the black market, he keenly sensed over a dozen greedy gazes hidden in the shadows.

However, with the deterrence from just having crushed Wang Meng's arrogance outside, and the four women all wearing high-level tactical gear, these gazes, while greedy, were mostly filled with deep apprehension, and no one dared to come up and provoke them easily.

"Train Master, look."

Su Xiaoxiao leaned close to Su Chen, lowered her voice, and like a thief, pulled a juicy, prickly mutated cucumber from her bosom.

This thing had just grown in the ecological carriage this morning. Because the yield was low, Su Xiaoxiao had secretly held back a few as social bargaining chips.

"I just used this thing to pry a piece of exclusive information from the mouth of a know-it-all who was about to starve to death."

Su Xiaoxiao pushed up her glasses, her round face full of pride, begging for praise.

"In a dead-end corner at the deepest part of this black market, there is a mysterious merchant with a very strange temper."

"I heard he holds a very rare high-level blueprint, something related to medical care."

"But that old guy doesn't do anything without seeing the benefit; he doesn't even look at ordinary food and water. He only wants cores or strange items that contain high-purity energy."

Hearing the words "blueprint related to medical care," Su Chen's eyes lit up instantly.

This was exactly what he needed!

He had a top-tier healer on his train, Liu Ruyan, who possessed the S-rank [Life Recovery] talent.

If he could get a medical research carriage and combine it with his [Omni-Modification] talent, he could definitely amplify Liu Ruyan's value tenfold or even a hundredfold!

In this crisis-ridden wasteland world, a powerful logistical medical support was more precious than ten top-tier bronze weapons!

"Lead the way."

Su Chen gave the order without hesitation, a look of determination flashing in his deep eyes.

Under Su Xiaoxiao's lead, the group passed through the intricate and complex abandoned carriages and arrived at a dead-end corner in the deepest part of the black market, where there was almost no light.

There was only a dilapidated wooden box here, and behind the box sat a person wrapped in a dirty black robe.

The person in the black robe buried their face deep in the shadow of the hood, making it impossible to see their face; only their slightly heavy breathing could be heard.

On the wooden box, an ancient piece of parchment emitting a faint silver light lay quietly.

Even with just a glance, Su Chen's SSS-rank talent [Omni-Modification] immediately sent a strong throb of excitement.

[Item: Medical Research Carriage Module Blueprint (Incomplete)]

[Grade: Mid-level Silver]

[Description: A blueprint recording some kind of ancient medical technology. Due to severe damage, ordinary people cannot learn to build it. But if it can be completed, it can create a miracle carriage with functions for limb regeneration and genetic enhancement!]

"Hiss—"

Seeing the system prompt, Su Chen couldn't help but gasp.

Limb regeneration! Genetic enhancement!

This was definitely a top-tier, strategic-level module!

Even if it was incomplete, in front of Su Chen's [Omni-Modification], it was not a problem at all!

He had to get this thing today!