2: The school beauty is throwing herself at me? Don't get me wrong, I'm just thirsty.

The air in the carriage seemed to have frozen.

Every step Lin Mengyao took felt as if she were stepping on fine shards of glass.

Those long legs of hers, usually held high and clad in designer stockings, were actually trembling slightly now.

Her toes kicked against the metal floor, making a soft clicking sound.

Su Chen leaned back against his seat.

He watched as this campus belle—who had once spoken as the freshman representative at the school assembly and hadn't even deigned to look at him—shuffled toward him bit by bit.

She reached out, handing over that half-bottle of mineral water.

"You saved me."

Lin Mengyao's voice was a bit dry.

"The water... you drink it."

Su Chen looked down at the bottle.

He found it somewhat amusing; hadn't these women just been mocking him for being a useless extra?

What, they realized his importance now?

He didn't take it; he didn't even raise his hand.

"If I drink this water, will your 'Committee' have to hold another meeting to study how many 'Life Grams' of public property I've consumed?"

Su Chen's voice wasn't loud, yet it made the girls peeking from the front of the carriage stiffen.

Lin Mengyao's fingertips trembled, the half-bottle of water swaying in the air.

"I don't want water."

Su Chen sat up straight.

His gaze swept past Lin Mengyao and stared straight at the Class Monitor, Zhao Wanting, who was standing in the middle with a grim expression.

Compared to water, what he wanted more was power.

"I want a say!"

"From now on, I must have the final veto power over any resource allocation or route decisions on this vehicle."

"You're crazy!"

Zhao Wanting slammed her hand onto the armrest; the aluminum alloy let out a vibrating ring.

"Su Chen, a single outburst only proves you were lucky, or that the talent you awakened happens to counter that kind of monster."

"That doesn't mean you can place yourself above the collective! In this society, decisions require logic and multi-dimensional evaluation, not fists!"

A sneer curled the corner of Su Chen's mouth.

Amusing. If not fists, then what? A silver tongue?

"Oh? Then what should we rely on?"

"The workbooks in your hands? Or your mouths?"

Li Sisi, the Study Representative, was scribbling rapidly on a scratchpad.

The gaze behind her lenses was chillingly calm.

"Class Monitor Zhao, calm down first."

Li Sisi didn't even look up; her pen rustled across the paper.

"Based on my observations just now, the moment Su Chen made contact with Lin Mengyao, both their vital signs showed synchronized peaks."

"Lin Mengyao's dehydration symptoms were relieved by 3.2 percentage points, while Su Chen's explosive power increased by at least fivefold! This is preliminarily determined to be some kind of 'Symbiotic Effect,' and he is the core node."

Su Chen's heart skipped a beat.

This woman was so rational she was like a monster.

As expected of the Study Representative known for her logic.

He stood up, pretending to tidy the "Berlin Wall" made of piled-up backpacks.

But his hand inadvertently brushed against the arm of the Class Teacher, Qin Ya, who was standing awkwardly by the aisle.

Qin Ya wasn't old, only twenty-two.

She wore a classic teacher's uniform—a white shirt paired with a black pencil skirt and black stockings, looking very sexy.

Warm, slightly damp.

In that instant, Su Chen felt the warm current within him, which the system called the "Extreme Yang Sacred Body," ripple slightly.

But after waiting for three seconds, the expected materialization of resources didn't happen.

No water, no bread, and not even a significant increase in his internal strength.

Su Chen lowered his eyelids, concealing his contemplation.

"It seems the rules for getting stronger through 'physical contact' are stricter than I thought."

"Simple physical contact is just 'connecting the power.' To generate 'electricity,' a deeper emotional resonance is needed, or... more intense 'interaction.'"

If that's the case, I shouldn't alert them.

Once these smart women realize he has to rely on them to level up, he'll turn from a 'savior' into a captive 'power bank.'

At the front of the vehicle, Zhao Wanting lowered her voice, huddling with a few core members.

Su Chen closed his eyes, slowing his breathing.

Although the "Ground Listening" technique his grandfather taught him couldn't be used here, he could still perceive sound through the micro-vibrations of the metal armrests in this enclosed carriage.

"...We must suppress his influence."

It was Zhao Wanting's voice, cold as ice.

"Men only turn into beasts when cornered. When my dad abandoned my mom and me to grab a lifeboat back then, his eyes looked exactly like his just now."

"Tomorrow morning, we'll vote to make him stay in the trailer behind us. Unless we encounter monsters, he's not allowed in the main carriage."

Su Chen couldn't help but sneer inwardly.

De-masculinization management?

Is this the so-called elite mindset?

Stupid! Ridiculous!

"But what if he really is the key?"

Class Teacher Qin Ya's voice carried a hint of reluctance and conflict.

"There are no 'what ifs.' Rules and order are the keys to survival."

Zhao Wanting's voice was resolute.

On the other side, Lin Mengyao sat back by the window.

She still hadn't quite come to her senses, mechanically rubbing the mineral water bottle over and over.

As her fingertips brushed the spot Su Chen might have touched, her heart inexplicably skipped a beat.

That sense of security, like being enveloped in a blazing fire when he held her, was frantically eating away at the "rationality" she had painstakingly cultivated for eighteen years.

Three in the morning.

A piercing alarm suddenly blared inside the vehicle.

Beep—! Beep—!

The sharp, high-frequency sound waves were as jarring as needles.

"What's happening?"

"Did a monster get in?"

Inside the carriage, screams immediately rose one after another.

Su Chen snapped his eyes open to see Zhao Wanting staring at a red light on the dashboard, her forehead covered in sweat.

"Left rear wheel! Pressure sensor alarm!"

Zhao Wanting's voice held a note of distorted panic.

"It must be the slime from that monster earlier; it's corroded the outer tire. The tire is leaking!"

In this wasteland, if the car couldn't move and remained stranded when dawn broke, it would be as good as digging their own graves.

"Zhou Xiaomeng, you go. Take the spare tire and change it outside."

Zhao Wanting looked at the Sports Representative.

Zhou Xiaomeng wore a tight white tank top and white shorts; her figure looked very powerful.

But she, who was usually brave and martial, saw the shadows flickering in the thick fog outside the window, and her face instantly turned pale.

The crowbar in her hand dropped straight to the floor.

"I won't... I'm not going... There's something outside... something is tapping on the glass..."

Su Chen watched this scene and scoffed inwardly.

These useless weaklings!

But on second thought, this was also an opportunity to increase his influence.

So he stood up and brushed the dust off his pants.

"I'll do it."

Everyone's eyes instantly converged on him.

"Terms."

Su Chen held up one finger.

"From now on, I'll sleep in that single seat behind the driver's seat—the spot with the best view and the most safety in the whole vehicle."

"I'll be in charge of the entire vehicle's security. My word is law!"

Zhao Wanting's chest heaved. She looked at the completely flat tire, then at the girls huddled in the corners, and squeezed two words through her teeth.

"Deal."

Su Chen pushed open the heavy emergency door.

The air outside felt spoiled; even a single breath made one's whole body feel uncomfortable.

He knelt on one knee, getting close to the tire and starting the work with crisp, efficient movements.

He didn't know when Lin Mengyao had followed him down.

She didn't speak, only silently handed over the heavy wrench whenever Su Chen needed it.

Their fingertips touched again on the cold metal wrench.

Su Chen felt a surge of heat in his spine, and an overwhelming warm current instantly exploded within him.

It was an energy several times stronger than before, like a flood dragon rampaging through his meridians.

An old injury on his left shoulder, left from training and usually aching on rainy days, actually let out a faint bone-cracking sound at this moment.

Immediately following that, the soreness he had harbored for years vanished without a trace!

Su Chen's heart shook violently.

But his face remained impassive. He didn't even look at Lin Mengyao, only quickened his movements.

Is this... the true power of the Sacred Body?

As expected of a Sacred Body.

With this constitution, on a bus surrounded by all the girls from his class, it was practically Su Chen's personal stage!

Lin Mengyao's breath hitched.

She could feel the burning heat coming from Su Chen's fingertips, searing all the way from the back of her hand into her heart.

She pulled her hand back as if struck by an electric shock and ran back to the carriage with her head down.

Qin Ya stood at the door, taking everything in.

She looked at Su Chen's somewhat aloof silhouette under the dark red sky, then at the tips of Lin Mengyao's flushed ears, her brow furrowing.

"The tire is changed."

Su Chen returned to the vehicle carrying the wrench and sat down on the high seat behind the driver's seat, closing his eyes to rest.

At dawn, a ray of morning light pierced through the mist.

Zhao Wanting took a deep breath and turned the car key with force.

Rumble— Rumble—

The engine made a series of noises, and the vehicle's body shook violently a few times.

However, before they could even drive out of the gas station's range, the roaring sound seemed to get caught on something and abruptly vanished!

Inside the carriage, there was an instant, deathly silence.

Zhao Wanting looked at the fluctuating numbers on the fuel gauge and spat out a sentence with a grim expression:

"It's broken. This isn't just a tire problem."