Chapter 31

Lin Xian looked at the eloquent young girl before him with great interest and said with a faint smile, "Listening to you say that, it seems you have a better plan?"

"Of course," Kiki said, her face brimming with confidence. "Now that we're all in the same boat, even if I don't consider you a bad guy, I have to think about my own safety. Given the current situation, how are we going to get to Jincheng?"

"Let's hear it."

Kiki looked at him. "Your ability is to manipulate machinery, right?"

Lin Xian nodded. "That's right."

"Perfect." Kiki snapped her fingers and said confidently, "I know of a military outpost nearby, right near Beiwan City. We should be able to find plenty of military supplies there. If we're lucky, you might be able to get your hands on a radar system or a sentry system. At the very least, we could get some weapons. That's better than you beating up bugs with a knife last night, right?"

Hearing this, Chen Sixuan, who was standing to the side, looked completely incredulous and said, "A military outpost? How could you possibly know about something like that?"

"I know a lot more than that." Kiki looked smug. She turned her eyes to Lin Xian. "So, shall we cooperate?"

Lin Xian looked at her and smiled faintly, his eyes cold.

"I refuse."

"Huh?!" Kiki's expression suddenly froze. Lin Xian had clearly been full of interest just a moment ago; why had his face suddenly turned cold?

"What... what do you mean?"

Lin Xian's cold gaze fell upon her, and he said slowly,

"I don't like being manipulated by others. If you think that just because you've awakened an ability you can stand against me, we might as well decide who lives and who dies right now, so we don't have to be suspicious of each other along the way."

Kiki felt a bit guilty upon hearing this and said, "Who... who wants to stand against you?"

Lin Xian smiled faintly and said, "I can take you to Jincheng; it's just a city along the way in the orbital ring anyway. But I don't want to make any deals with you, or do anything special for your sake. We're living one day at a time now. If I take you on the road, it's because I can trust you and you bring value to this team. So, no one here is going to wait on you. Food is limited, and everyone needs to divide the work and cooperate. As for whether you bringing me any benefits once you reach Jincheng, I don't care at all. Do you understand?"

Perhaps others would think Lin Xian's thinking was very short-sighted, but in the apocalypse, the immediate situation is always more important than future prospects. He had to consider daily survival and had to find a way to escape the polar night. As for those future benefits and promises, he wouldn't give them a second thought.

Thinking too much would only be a burden. Kiki wanted to use this kind of concept to negotiate with him to gain a special status on the train and boss him around—she had completely miscalculated.

For other survivors, giving such expectations might make them work like crazy, but Lin Xian was simply not that kind of person.

A person who is not sincere, no matter how capable she is, has no value to him.

Most importantly, he had to make Kiki feel a sense of crisis; otherwise, if he compromised with her, she would think Lin Xian was wary of her ability.

Since that was the case, it was better to simply make it clear whether they were enemies or friends.

Kiki watched Lin Xian looking at her with a smile. For some reason, that smile didn't feel warm at all. On the contrary, it seemed that as soon as she turned her back, that smile would turn into a terrifying demon, baring its fangs to swallow her whole.

Faced with Lin Xian's aggressive statement, Kiki's eyes began to flicker. Their gazes met, and after a moment of silence, Kiki looked away. She hugged her legs on the sofa and rested her chin on her knees. Gone was her smugness; she looked at him with her big eyes like a little cat and let out an "Oh."

"Oh what?" Lin Xian's gaze was burning.

"Fine, I'll listen to you then." Kiki poked her two index fingers together. Although she was a bit unconvinced, her tone became less sharp. "Just don't let me go hungry..."

Lin Xian stood up, took a can of fruit and a bag of snacks from the storage shelf, and threw them to her. He said in a cold voice, "I don't care what your status was before, but once you're on this train, you'd better not have any other ideas. Everyone only has one life. If you can't make me feel at ease, no matter how useful you are, I will throw you off."

Hearing this, Kiki rolled her eyes and secretly watched him, wondering what he was thinking. She opened the can, took a bite, and was quiet for a while before breaking the silence.

"My name is Wen Qi."

"Is that name fake too?"

Kiki blushed. "Not at all. I've always been called Kiki; Wen Qi is my real name."

Lin Xian nodded. He could hear the gesture of goodwill in her words, and his tone softened slightly as he said,

"I can take this as a way for you to show your sincerity." "Then can I have a request?" Kiki said.

"Speak."

"Let me live in Carriage No. 2."

Kiki didn't want to sleep in the same carriage as Lin Xian and Chen Sixuan all day. Although she was carefree by nature, she was a 16-year-old girl after all, and she was somewhat sensitive to matters between men and women.

"No problem." Lin Xian nodded. "However, Carriage No. 2 is quite empty. If you want to live there, you'll need to do some preparation."

"I'll figure that out myself."

"Hmm?!" Lin Xian's gaze narrowed slightly, his tone unfriendly.

Kiki quickly changed her tune and said meekly, "I mean, I'll get your approval, and of course, I'll need your help~"

"That's more like it." Lin Xian was much more satisfied with Kiki's current attitude.

After a 'friendly' negotiation, Lin Xian temporarily accepted this girl with a complicated background. Moreover, after the battle last night, he also recognized Kiki's value.

"Hey~"

Seeing Lin Xian about to leave, Kiki pouted and called him back. "Bad guy, do you still want to go to that military outpost?"

!

Lin Xian frowned. "There are no traps, right?"

Kiki rolled her eyes at him, her tone surprisingly soft. "If you don't believe me, I can go with you."

Lin Xian's expression darkened slightly. He could tell that Kiki's words were quite sincere this time. At the same time, he re-evaluated his "Infinite Train" plan and felt that there were still many shortcomings.

With his ability, he could only say that there was no pressure regarding energy for the time being, but since setting off, the troubles he had encountered were all more fatal than the energy problem.

So when Kiki told him there was a military outpost in Beiwan City, Lin Xian became interested from the bottom of his heart.

He now urgently needed to upgrade the armor and replenish weapons for the "Infinite," and such a large mobile fortress also needed a more sensitive reconnaissance system. Including himself, he also urgently needed to quickly upgrade the level of his Mechanical Heart or obtain more useful skills.

Lin Xian had once imagined that a regular hair dryer could allow him to obtain a powerful "Wind Cannon" skill. If it were military weapons, there might be more surprises after devouring them!

So, no matter how he considered it, he decided he could no longer recklessly rush into the dark night; he must have sufficient means of self-protection.

Thinking of this, Lin Xian nodded. "I do want to make some upgrades to the train's armor and weapons. We can go check out that military outpost you mentioned, and we can also replenish some supplies in Beiwan Town along the way."

"Great, great, great!" Kiki's eyes lit up, and she pointed in the direction of Carriage No. 3. "Then shall we ride that there?"

Lin Xian frowned and looked at her. "Can you ride it?"

"Pfft, who are you looking down on?" Kiki turned to the side, revealing a small tattoo on the side of her slender waist. It was a black cat head wearing sunglasses. Combined with her long, smooth legs under her ultra-short shorts, she inexplicably had the vibe of a punk girl.

"Do you know my big name from before?"

"A spirited little sister?"

"Pfft! It's the Shining Moon Black Rider!"

"A black motorcycle?"

"I pfft! You bumpkin!"

New reader seeking follow-up, recommendations!

(End of chapter)