20: Apply force

The soft sound of biscuit crumbs falling into the trash can was like a slap in the air, its echo lingering.

The night, like thick ink, slowly filled the entire carriage.

Aside from the occasional snoring and the hiss of wind-blown sand hitting the glass outside the window, only a dead silence remained.

Su Chen leaned back in the driver's seat, his breathing long and even.

His family's Internal Breathing Technique allowed him to maintain alertness toward his surroundings even in light sleep.

In the middle of the night, a rustling sound reached Su Chen's ears.

It sounded like some rodent rummaging through trash, accompanied by the sound of extremely suppressed swallowing.

Su Chen didn't open his eyes; he simply counted the frequency of the sound in his mind.

Just then, a flashlight beam abruptly pierced the darkness, followed by a scream filled with terror and disbelief.

"Class Monitor... are you eating trash?!"

Zhou Xiaomeng's voice exploded in the narrow space, carrying the tremor of someone not yet fully awake.

Su Chen then opened his eyes at the "appropriate time," lazily tilting his head.

Under the pale beam of the flashlight, Zhao Wanting was like a cockroach caught in a spotlight, her whole body frozen as she knelt by the trash can.

She was clutching the biscuit wrapper Su Chen had discarded during the day, her tongue still out, attempting to lick the tiny bit of residue and crumbs left on it.

The light hit her face, revealing tear stains and dust smeared around the corners of her mouth.

The once-proud young lady who commanded with such poise—as elegant as a swan—was now nothing more than a shell hollowed out by hunger.

The girls in the carriage woke up one after another, over a dozen pairs of eyes staring at the scene with complex emotions.

There was contempt, there was pity, and even more so, there was a sense of shared dread for their common fate.

The next morning, the rising sun looked like a layer of dismal gold foil pasted onto the windshield.

The atmosphere of the morning meeting was so stifling it was suffocating.

Zhao Wanting huddled in a corner, her face as pale as paper and her lips cracked and peeling; she looked as if she had aged ten years overnight.

It was a withered state that came after one's dignity had been completely crushed.

Su Chen sat on the engine hood, playing with the last compressed biscuit on the vehicle—the "bait" he had intentionally left behind.

*Snap.*

He slowly broke off a small piece and put it in his mouth.

The crisp sound of chewing was infinitely amplified in the quiet carriage.

Zhao Wanting's throat bobbed uncontrollably, and a wildfire called "survival" instantly ignited in her dull eyes as she stared fixedly at the remaining half of the biscuit in Su Chen's fingertips.

"Want to eat?"

Su Chen stopped his movements, a half-smile playing on his lips.

Zhao Wanting didn't speak; she just leaned her body forward like a stray dog waiting for a handout.

"Sure."

Su Chen casually patted his stiff neck and shoulders, his tone as nonchalant as if he were discussing the weather.

"I spent half the day driving yesterday and had to pit my wits against those people from Class Two. My shoulders are quite sore. Give me a ten-minute massage to relieve the fatigue—a fair trade."

The crowd broke into an uproar.

Qin Ya's brow furrowed slightly, but just as she was about to speak, she was stopped by a look from Su Chen.

This wasn't harassment; this was an Obedience Test.

In this post-apocalyptic world where order had collapsed, you were either valuable or a corpse; there was no third path.

Zhao Wanting trembled all over.

To serve this boy, whom she had once regarded as invisible, in front of all her classmates—this humiliation was more painful than death.

But the burning, twisting pain in her stomach constantly reminded her of the wretchedness of licking trash wrappers the night before.

Dignity? Could that stuff fill a stomach?

Three seconds later, she gritted her teeth, crawled forward a few steps on her knees, and sat on the engine hood behind Su Chen.

When her cold, trembling fingertips touched Su Chen's hot skin, he clearly felt her flinch.

"Use more force. Haven't you eaten?"

Su Chen snorted coldly.

"Oh, that's right, you actually haven't eaten."

Zhao Wanting's eyes reddened, and she increased her strength while gritting her teeth.

Just as their skin met and a subtle sense of submission began to ferment in the air, the silent system interface in Su Chen's mind suddenly flickered.

[Deep physical contact with the opposite sex detected. Establishing bond... Target: Zhao Wanting (Extremely Weak/Submissive).]

[Yang Energy conversion... Critical hit triggered!]

Su Chen felt a surge of heat at the back of his neck, and a burst of dazzling golden light suddenly exploded in his vision.

*Thud!*

A heavy, vacuum-packed object appeared out of thin air and landed heavily on his crossed legs.

On the bright red packaging, the words "Spiced Beef Jerky" shone brilliantly in the morning light; one could even clearly see the well-textured meat inside.

The air instantly froze.

Su Chen himself was stunned for a moment, but he reacted quickly, raising an eyebrow in feigned surprise. "Eh? When I was searching for supplies yesterday, was there a stray pack caught in the folds of my clothes?"

This excuse was outrageously bad.

A half-pound pack of beef jerky caught in the folds of his clothes?

Who do you think you are, Doraemon?

But Lin Mengyao reacted extremely fast; she immediately widened her eyes, looking as if she had just realized something.

"I saw it! Just now when the Class Monitor's hand touched your neck, this thing slid out from behind your collar! It must have been hidden too deep yesterday!"

Li Sisi pushed up her glasses, her gaze scanning back and forth between Su Chen's neck and the pack of beef jerky as she began to talk nonsense with a straight face.

"Although it doesn't align with common physical laws, considering the Molotov effect from last night and the current light refraction... well, the possibility of supplies being retained due to Static Adsorption does theoretically exist."

What kind of god-tier Static Adsorption could hold onto half a pound of beef jerky!

But none of that mattered.

What mattered was that everyone saw the result.

Qin Ya took a deep breath and stepped forward, announcing in an unquestionable tone.

"It has been proven that as our sole combatant, Su Chen does indeed possess resource potential that we have yet to discover."

"From today onwards, all survival supplies will be coordinated and distributed by Su Chen. To obtain food, one must exchange it through physical labor or skill-based services. We will not support idlers; this is the new rule."

This firmly set the tone.

Labor for resources; Su Chen was the sole provider.

Zhao Wanting stared blankly at the pack of beef jerky, the intense aroma of meat wafting through the packaging and into her nostrils, leaving her mind a complete blank.

Su Chen picked up the pack of beef jerky and casually tossed it into Zhao Wanting's arms.

"A reward for you. Your technique is too poor; practice more for next time."

Zhao Wanting scrambled to catch the life-saving jerky, her knuckles turning white from the force of her grip.

She lowered her head, and tears finally couldn't be held back, splashing in large drops onto the packaging.

Su Chen leaned slightly toward her ear, his voice so low only the two of them could hear, carrying a trace of cold warning.

"Class Monitor Zhao, your father spared your life not so you could be a traitor and sell out your classmates."

"He wanted you to see clearly—in this cannibalistic wasteland, learning how to make yourself 'useful' will help you survive much longer than learning how to hold a grudge."

Zhao Wanting snapped her head up, looking at Su Chen with a face full of astonishment.

How did he know her father's parting words?

She opened her mouth, about to say something, but found that Su Chen's gaze was no longer on her. Instead, it was fixed past her shoulder, staring intently at the distant horizon.

Su Chen's previously playful eyes had now completely turned cold.

On the mountain ridge at the end of the road, clouds of dust were rising once again.

That nightmare-like Steel Monster had actually returned.

Only this time, the opponent was no longer empty-handed.

Su Chen's enhanced vision clearly captured a man with a fleshy, brutal face setting up a dark, tubular object on the roof platform welded with rebar.

The mottled rust on that barrel could not hide its hideous murderous intent.

It was a standard-issue Riot Shotgun.

The muzzle was pointed directly at the rear window of their bus, which had almost no defensive capabilities.

They actually fought their way back so quickly?