85: Chapter 85 Struck by Lightning?

Su Chen was standing in front of the floor-to-ceiling window, holding a coffee cup. The moment he heard the alarm and felt the violent thunder-attribute fluctuations overhead—powerful enough to destroy heaven and earth—his deep eyes suddenly constricted to their limit.

"Bang!"

The priceless, exquisite bone china coffee cup slipped from Su Chen's hand, smashing heavily onto the Persian carpet as scalding coffee splashed everywhere.

Su Chen's originally relaxed and cold face was instantly covered with a layer of extreme rage and chilling killing intent that seemed capable of freezing one's soul.

"Thunderclap Step, push to the limit for me!"

Without any hesitation or pause, the massive mental power within Su Chen—as high as a hundred points—erupted like a volcano, all of it pouring into his legs.

"Boom!"

A deafening sonic boom exploded within the master bedroom. The solid wood flooring beneath Su Chen's feet was instantly pulverized by the terrifying explosive force.

Wrapped in the power of lightning, his tall and upright figure transformed into a solid dark-gold afterimage that was impossible for the naked eye to track.

Inside this massive train, he was like a prehistoric beast completely out of control. He ignored all hallway obstacles and, in an utterly unreasonable and violent manner, smashed through one alloy door after another that blocked his view, racing madly toward the roof!

Meanwhile, at the collection port on the roof, Su Xiaoxiao's large eyes stared fixedly at the massive purple lightning bolt descending like a Grim Reaper's scythe.

Time seemed to stretch infinitely at this moment; she could even clearly see the ripples of air distorted by high temperatures around the lightning.

Before this level of celestial power, the seemingly heavy insulated protective suit was like a laughable piece of window paper, offering no defense whatsoever.

"Train Master... I'm sorry, Xiaoxiao won't be able to manage the accounts for you anymore..."

In these final half-seconds of her life, Su Xiaoxiao did not scream or cry. She simply closed her eyes in despair, a single scalding tear mixed with endless longing sliding from the corner of her eye.

"BOOM——!!!"

The purple radiation lightning, as thick as a water bucket and carrying terrifying world-destroying power, slammed hard onto the open hatch.

A blinding flash of electricity exploded on the roof like a purple sun, instantly swallowing Su Xiaoxiao's petite and fragile body into an absolute sea of lightning that was impossible to look at directly.

"Boom——!!"

The deafening roar of thunder exploded madly in his ears.

Su Chen's eyes instantly turned blood-red.

"Su Xiaoxiao!"

He let out a roar like an enraged beast.

The mental power in his body poured into his legs like a bursting flood.

He pushed [Thunderclap Step] to an unprecedented state of overload.

His entire being turned into a violent dark-gold afterimage, smashing directly through the special alloy door leading to the roof.

The wild wind, mixed with a strong smell of ozone that could paralyze the body, instantly rushed into Su Chen's nose.

But he didn't care about any of that.

There was only one thought in his mind.

He absolutely could not let anything happen to that little money-grubber who always followed behind him, meticulously managing the entire train's supplies!

Even if it was a heavenly punishment or a lightning tribulation sent by the Heavens, don't even think about snatching someone from Su Chen's hands!

"Get the hell away!"

Braving the purple electric snakes dancing wildly in the sky, Su Chen charged out of the maintenance passage hatch.

His hands were already filled with violent lightning power, prepared to forcibly tear apart that cluster of radiation thunderclouds that had yet to dissipate.

However.

When he saw the scene at the roof's collection port clearly, he was stunned.

The expected scene of her being charred by lightning, a tragic sight, did not appear.

The incredibly heavy old-era insulated protective suit Su Xiaoxiao had been wearing had indeed turned into a pile of ashes under the terrifying heat.

But Su Xiaoxiao herself was floating in mid-air, completely unharmed!

How was this possible?

Su Chen's eyes widened in disbelief.

Su Xiaoxiao's petite and fragile body was currently being tightly wrapped in a layer of strange and incredibly soft golden light.

This golden light was like an absolutely invincible barrier, blocking all the violent residual radiation lightning outside.

What Su Chen found even more inconceivable was the change in the surrounding environment.

The [High-Energy Thunderbird] carcass that Su Xiaoxiao had been clutching tightly, along with several other thunderbirds scattered near the hatch.

Under the illumination of that strange golden light, they were undergoing some kind of material reorganization that defied physical common sense!

The feathers and flesh of those originally bloody bird corpses melted away like ice and snow in an instant.

In their place, piles of bright yellow pure gold bars, shimmering with an alluring luster, fell onto the armored roof with a "clink, clink"!

"What on earth is going on?"

Su Chen stared blankly at the gold bars on the ground. Even with his vast experience, his brain had momentarily short-circuited.

Just then, a crisp and pleasant Heavenly Dao System notification sounded unexpectedly deep in his mind.

[Ding!]

[Detected that train no. 0099 crew member Su Xiaoxiao, under the life-and-death stimulation of 100,000-volt extreme lightning-attribute radiation energy, has erupted with an intense 'obsession with trade' and 'desire for self-proof' from the depths of her heart!]

[Congratulations to Su Xiaoxiao for breaking the life-leap barrier and successfully awakening the S-rank rare Rule-type talent — Equivalent Exchange!]

Hearing the continuous Heavenly Dao notifications in his mind, Su Chen's heart, which had been hanging in his throat, finally dropped back into his stomach.

Not only did she not die, but she also gained a blessing from the disaster and awakened an S-rank talent?

And it was even the most mysterious and unpredictable Rule-type talent!

This little girl's luck was simply tougher than those 'Children of Destiny' who used cheats!

At this time, the layer of strange golden light wrapping Su Xiaoxiao finally exhausted its energy, dissipating into dots of starlight in the wild wind.

With her eyes tightly closed, Su Xiaoxiao fell limply from the air like a weightless leaf.

Su Chen was quick. He took a violent step forward and steadily caught the unconscious little money-grubber in his wide, warm embrace.

"What a worrisome, silly girl."

Looking at Su Xiaoxiao's pale yet peaceful sleeping face, Su Chen shook his head helplessly.

He wrapped his arm around her slender waist, used his tactical trench coat to shield her from the wind on the roof, turned, and strode back down through the maintenance passage.

"Train Master!"

"What happened to Xiaoxiao?!"

As soon as he returned to the safety of the train car, the girls who had heard the news immediately gathered around like stars surrounding the moon.

Liu Ruyan's face, which usually exuded mature charm, was now filled with anxiety and worry.

Chu Qingxue, Zhang Man, Lin Momo, Ye Qingyu, and the others also had red eyes.

After all, Su Xiaoxiao usually managed everyone's logistics and supplies, meticulously looking after everyone's daily lives like an old housekeeper. Everyone had long since regarded her as an indispensable younger sister.

"Ruyan, give her a full-body checkup immediately."

Su Chen carried Su Xiaoxiao directly to the Silver-grade biochemical operating table in the medical car.

Liu Ruyan did not dare to be negligent. She immediately extended her jade-like hands, which emitted a soft green light, and slowly injected the investigative energy of S-rank [Life Recovery] into Su Xiaoxiao's body.

The atmosphere in the car was tense to the freezing point.

Even the usually carefree Lin Momo tightly covered her mouth, afraid of making a sound that would disturb Liu Ruyan's diagnosis.

A minute later.

Liu Ruyan's furrowed brows finally relaxed, and a look of unbelievable shock flashed through her enchanting peach-blossom eyes.

"Heavens, how is this possible?"

Liu Ruyan withdrew her hands and couldn't help but let out a cry of amazement.

"Sister Ruyan, is Xiaoxiao okay or not? You're worrying me to death!"

Zhang Man stomped her feet in anxiety, her fists encased in exoskeleton armor cracking as she clenched them.

Liu Ruyan turned to look at Su Chen and the others, her voice filled with incredible excitement.

"Train Master, not only is Xiaoxiao completely unharmed, but not even a single strand of hair has been singed!"

"What's even more exaggerated is that I feel the mental power threshold in her mind has undergone a qualitative leap across dimensions in an instant!"

"If her mental power was just a small stream before, then now, it is simply a bottomless ocean!"

Hearing Liu Ruyan's diagnostic report, all the girls present gasped.

How could an ordinary person's mental power suddenly skyrocket?

Unless... she had awakened some high-level talent!

While everyone was looking at each other, Su Xiaoxiao, lying on the operating table, finally let out a soft, sweet moan.

Her long eyelashes fluttered slightly, and she slowly opened her large, watery eyes.

What she saw were familiar faces and the tall, upright Train Master Su Chen, who was like a god who had given her a second life.

"Am I... am I dead?"

Su Xiaoxiao stared blankly at the shadowless lamp on the ceiling, her mind still stuck in the desperate moment of being struck by that 100,000-volt lightning bolt.

"Is this heaven? But why is the Train Master even in heaven?"

Hearing the girl's dazed and silly words, Su Chen found it somewhat amusing. He reached out and lightly flicked her forehead.

"Ouch, that hurts!"

Su Xiaoxiao clutched her smooth forehead and cried out in pain.

"Knowing pain means you're not dead yet, you little brat, and you're doing just fine."

Su Chen's magnetic voice, tinged with a hint of overbearing doting, sounded in her ear.

Confirming that she was truly still alive, Su Xiaoxiao could no longer control her emotions.

She suddenly sat up from the operating table, threw herself into Su Chen's arms, hugged his neck tightly, and burst into loud wailing.

"Waaaah... Train Master, I thought I'd never see you again!"

"Xiaoxiao was so scared, Xiaoxiao was really afraid of dying!"

Feeling the violent trembling of the thin, delicate body in his arms, Su Chen's cold heart couldn't help but soften a bit.

He extended his broad palm and gently patted Su Xiaoxiao's back, not speaking to interrupt her venting.