22: Chapter 22 A Steaming Hot Dinner

"Train Master... please don't drive us away." Xiao Ya's voice trembled, her forehead pressed tightly against the cold metal floor.

"We have a way to get food... It's not tasty, but it can fill our stomachs." Lu Lu also kowtowed, her voice choked with sobs.

Lin Feng stopped walking, looking down at the two shivering girls from his imposing height.

"Get food?" A sharp glint flashed in Lin Feng's eyes. "With your E-rank talents?"

"Y-yes."

Xiao Ya raised her head, took a deep breath, and extended her trembling hands.

She closed her eyes, mobilizing the pitifully small amount of magical power within her body.

[E-rank Talent: Starch Coagulation, activated.]

A faint layer of gray light materialized in her palms.

Then, something astonishing happened.

The organic dust particles floating in the air, invisible to the naked eye, the remnants of plant fibers in the cracks of the seats in the corner, even the cotton lint that had fallen from the tattered school uniform—all were drawn by some strange force, converging towards Xiao Ya's palms.

The gray light flickered.

Those chaotic, minuscule substances, forcibly restructured by the magical power, underwent changes in their physical and chemical properties.

Three minutes later.

Xiao Ya opened her eyes, her face deathly pale. Her magical power depleted, she went limp and almost collapsed.

But in her palm, there was now a fist-sized, dull gray, paste-like substance emitting a smell reminiscent of moldy potatoes.

"Train Master, this... this is a starch coagulum." Xiao Ya weakly raised her hands. "It's edible. It provides carbohydrates. It's just... very unpalatable, like chewing mud."

Lin Feng's expression changed instantly.

He stared fixedly at that lump of gray paste.

This wasn't a combat skill. This was creation from nothing!

In the post-apocalyptic wasteland, carbohydrates were a lifeline. The ability to create starch out of thin air was nothing short of a miracle!

"Unpalatable?" Lin Feng looked at Lu Lu kneeling beside her. "What's your talent?"

Lu Lu swallowed hard and quickly extended her hands, pressing them against the starch coagulum.

[E-rank Talent: Flavor Stimulation, activated.]

Another faint flash of light.

The starch lump, which had been giving off a moldy smell, suddenly changed. A faint, sugarcane-like sweetness began to diffuse through the train car.

"I... I can alter the arrangement of taste molecules on the surface of a substance," Lu Lu explained nervously. "I made it sweet. Even though it's still essentially mud-like starch, it will taste sweet when eaten."

Silence.

A deathly silence fell over the entire train car.

Su Ya, Xia Wanqiu, Tong Tong, and the others stared wide-eyed at the gray paste emitting a sweet aroma.

That was food! Life-saving food!

Lin Feng said nothing.

He stepped forward, took the starch from Xiao Ya's hand, broke off a small piece, and put it in his mouth.

The texture was extremely coarse, like swallowing a mouthful of sand.

But immediately following that, an intense sweetness surged, madly stimulating his taste buds.

And after swallowing it, a sense of fullness immediately rose in his stomach—the real decomposition of carbohydrates.

It was edible.

It could sustain life.

Lin Feng's eyes snapped open, a fanatical light blazing in his dark pupils.

What E-rank trash talent?

This was simply priceless treasure!

A Xia Wanqiu who could create water, a Xiao Ya who could create carbohydrates, a Lu Lu who could flavor things, plus a Su Ya who could control the heat of fire.

Combat talents were for conquering the wasteland.

But life-oriented talents—those were the very foundation for building an invincible empire!

Lin Feng stood in the center of the train car.

He looked at this group of stunningly beautiful succubi struggling desperately over a mouthful of water and a lump of starch.

A crazy, grand plan took complete shape in his mind.

This armored train was no longer just an iron can for escape.

Here, using these life-oriented talents, he would build a self-sufficient, miniature ecosystem that would reign supreme over the wasteland!

"Start immediately. Gather all the organic matter you can find."

Lin Feng's order echoed within the armored train car.

The newly designated living and processing area was located at the tail end of the car.

Xiao Ya and Lu Lu didn't dare delay in the slightest. They immediately took a few low-ranking ordinary girls and began rummaging through the corner where Scrap Iron and miscellaneous items had been piled before.

Foam fibers from damaged seats, wood shavings from the bottom of discarded wooden crates, even a few handfuls of withered grass picked up at the Crimson Platform—all were piled together by them.

Xiao Ya knelt on the metal floor, pressing her hands against the pile of chaotic waste material.

She took a deep breath, closed her eyes, her emaciated body trembling slightly as gray magical light glowed in her palms.

In the apocalypse, the consumption of life-oriented abilities was similarly staggering. Sweat quickly soaked through her thin, tattered top. The fabric clung tightly to her spine, outlining the slender frame of the young girl.

Her face grew paler and paler. She gritted her teeth, enduring the strain.

As the magical power operated, the inedible withered grass and fibers began to disintegrate and reorganize, finally transforming into over a dozen fist-sized gray lumps.

"Lu Lu, hurry..." Xiao Ya weakly withdrew her hands, her body going limp as she slumped to the floor.

Lu Lu hurried forward, placing her hands over the starch lumps and activating Flavor Stimulation.

A faint fluorescent light flashed. A frost-like sheen, similar to powdered sugar, appeared on the surface of the rough lumps.

Ingredients, obtained.

"Su Ya, Wan Qiu, come start the fire." Lin Feng sat in the Train Master's exclusive leather chair, overseeing everything.

Xia Wanqiu obediently walked forward. Her animal hide wrappings were tight, but her fair, slender legs were still inevitably exposed to the air.

She drew more than half a pot of clear, pure water from the storage barrel and poured it into a scrubbed-clean, discarded iron bucket.

Then, she threw all the starch lumps Xiao Ya had made into it.

"Leave it to me." Su Ya walked to the iron bucket.

The once-proud Empress of Fire was now barely clothed. Her tattered white shirt struggled to conceal the snowy whiteness of her chest. As she bent her head, a deep cleavage was faintly visible.

She sat cross-legged, extending her slender fingers.

A cluster of orange-red flame danced at her fingertips, landing precisely at the bottom of the iron bucket.

Her control over the heat was exquisitely precise. Not a wisp of flame leaked out, enveloping the iron bucket completely.

The temperature inside the train car, along with the flickering firelight, became warm and pleasant.

Ten minutes later, the water in the iron bucket began to boil.

The bubbling, boiling water gradually dissolved the gray starch lumps.

Thirty minutes later.

A rich, caramel-sweet aroma exploded like a bomb within the enclosed armored train car!

*Gulp...*

The sound of swallowing saliva rose in unison.

That smell couldn't be considered a delicacy. In peaceful times, people might even disdain it.

But in the apocalyptic tunnel filled with zombies, blood, and the cold wasteland, this aroma of steaming hot sweet porridge was simply an inconceivable miracle.

Xia Wanqiu watched the thick, churning paste in the iron bucket with eager eyes. Her pink, peach-blossom eyes were full of longing. Unconsciously, she licked her dry, cracked red lips.

Su Ya withdrew the flames, wiping the hot sweat from her forehead. The high temperature had flushed her cheeks with an enticing blush. Her chest heaved violently, her eyes also locked firmly on the iron bucket.

Everyone's gaze finally converged on Lin Feng.

The food had been made. But who could eat, and how much—only this man had the final say.