Chapter 8: A Big Shopping Trip at the Furniture Store

According to Lin Xian’s plan, the most fundamental issue to achieve true long-term survival on the train was energy.

His ability solved a large part of this problem. The only drawback was that it consumed his stamina and required concentration, making it difficult for him to multitask on other complex things.

Next, for survival, were defense and food.

However, Lin Xian also knew that these things couldn’t be achieved overnight. Just the current carriage 1 and its external armor had taken him several months of effort. To realize everything immediately was pure fantasy.

Moreover, he was alone. Chen Sixuan could provide almost no help in this regard.

“I still need to find a few teammates when I get the chance. First, I need a turbine team to help me with the maintenance of the entire train’s mechanical condition and to drive. I also need someone who knows how to do some planting…”

“Like a botanist, a hydroponics expert, or something. To be able to eat some fresh vegetables and fruits, and provide water and oxygen purification along the way.”

“Oh, and speaking of eating, I also need a cook…”

“A doctor is also essential, in case of any major or minor illnesses…”

“It can’t all be professionals, I also need good fighters, preferably ability users.”

“Hmm, and a sentinel group…”

The more Lin Xian thought, the more outrageous it became. He quickly took a breath and focused on driving the train.

“Aosi Furniture Store…”

Seeing a huge building in the distance, Lin Xian’s expression sharpened. “This place usually sells all kinds of furniture. It’s sparsely populated, so there probably aren’t many supplies, but I can get some things to keep warm, like bedding.”

Lin Xian wasn’t thinking about romantic matters. Since Apocalypse Day, the affected areas around the world had been cooling down on a large scale. It was clearly August in Jiang City, but the daytime temperature was only twelve or thirteen degrees, and at night it dropped to just a few degrees.

And this temperature was still dropping every day.

He estimated that the Dark Tide caused by the Star Abyss, which blotted out the sun, had a huge impact on the climate and might bring about a cold, icy period. At such a time, preparing cold-weather items in advance was definitely a prescient move.

Screech~

Lin Xian stopped the train on the open-air tracks. The railway was surrounded by a high wire fence, with city avenues on both sides.

There were many abandoned vehicles on the road. Because this area was sparsely populated, there were not even many zombies, making it seem a bit quiet.

Because the terrain was flat, neither in a tunnel nor on an overpass, it was convenient for him to bring things onto the train. Plus, with the wire fence nearby, Lin Xian felt relatively safe stopping here.

“Professor Chen, wait for me on the train. I’m going inside to take a look.”

Lin Xian slung his backpack on, took his short knife, and said to Chen Sixuan, “Also, don’t open the door for anyone but me.”

“I know.”

Chen Sixuan looked a little nervous. “If there are a lot of things, would it be better if I go with you?”

“Not for now.”

Lin Xian said, “This place looks like it’s already been looted once. There might not be anything useful. I’ll go scout first. If there is, you can come down and help move things.”

He said as he tossed Chen Sixuan a walkie-talkie. “Let’s use this to stay in touch. The phone signal might not work.”

“Okay,” Chen Sixuan replied, holding the walkie-talkie.

Lin Xian opened the cabin door, jumped down from the train, scouted the area, then climbed over the wire fence into the green belt on the side, and crossed the road.

In front of the furniture store was a large parking lot, now a mess, with a few obviously broken-down cars parked sparsely.

Devouring cars was an excellent option for his ability. Cars were everywhere in the apocalypse. The problem was that it took too long. He estimated that after his [Mechanical Devour] skill leveled up, it should be able to increase the devouring efficiency.

So, to be on the safe side, he could only bring some devourable machinery onto the train and operate in a safe environment for now.

In front of the main entrance of the furniture store, the ground was covered in dark red bloodstains. Many seemingly brand-new product fragments were scattered on the ground. When the cold wind blew, it was incredibly desolate.

Lin Xian cautiously walked in. The space suddenly opened up. He had been here before. Each store was decorated very luxuriously, the aisles were wide and quiet, and there weren’t many people. After the apocalypse, it was even more empty.

He didn’t even see many corpses.

Lin Xian walked along, looking at the brand stores that used to sell furniture. Except for the lights being off, most of them were still clean and tidy, with various sofas and mattresses on display. The second floor had some bathroom fixtures. Because the entire building was so empty, walking alone inside was somewhat creepy.

“This Simmons mattress is not bad, just the right firmness…”

“Latex mattress, big cotton quilts…”

These types of supplies didn’t seem to be valued in the apocalypse, so most of the stores here hadn’t been looted.

It made sense. When faced with life and death, everyone’s first thought would definitely be supermarkets and convenience stores. Who would run to a furniture store to grab a pillow?

Lin Xian chose for a while, then suddenly thought of a headache. These things were not small, and it wouldn’t be easy to take them away.

He wandered around and went from the fourth exit to the loading and unloading area. At this moment, Lin Xian suddenly found a few forklifts and a flatbed truck. His eyes lit up. Who knew that as soon as he walked over, a rotting zombie suddenly rushed out from the freight elevator shaft and pounced on him!

Ugh!!!

A thick, foul stench rushed towards him. Lin Xian instinctively took a sharp step back. After getting a clear look, he immediately raised his hand and pointed!

Puff!

An Air Cannon shot out, immediately blasting a hole in the middle of the zombie’s head.

Thud. The zombie missed its pounce and fell straight to the ground. It twitched a couple of times and then stopped moving.

Seeing that the zombie was still wearing a set of orange-yellow loading dock worker’s uniform, he guessed it was a worker who had been hiding in this building for refuge.

[Air Cannon LV.1 4/100]

Every time he used this move, the proficiency would increase by one point. However, Lin Xian found that this move consumed a considerable amount of his energy, so he had to use it cautiously.

Thinking of this, he drew his short knife from his back. Against ordinary zombies, as an ability user, he didn’t feel much pressure. As long as he didn’t attract a zombie tide or some other monster, it wasn’t a big problem.

The door of the flatbed truck was open, and the fuel cap was also open. It was clear that someone had already been here first. He climbed into the driver’s seat, gripped the steering wheel with both hands, and activated his Mechanical Heart. He soon found that the reserve battery was depleted, so the engine couldn’t be started.

No wonder others didn’t even try to salvage it and just siphoned the gas and left.

This kind of ordinary small truck was simply configured, with low horsepower. Few survivors would choose this type of small-displacement vehicle.

But for Lin Xian, it was a treasure delivered to his door.

So he got out of the truck, found a forklift, activated his ability to start it directly, and then swaggered into the furniture store from the back door, driving the forklift.

He planned to make his living quarters in carriage 1 more comfortable first. In the apocalypse, having a comfortable living environment would undoubtedly put one in a better mood. Since he had such an ability, Lin Xian didn’t want to live like a sewer rat in a dark and dirty shelter all day.