9: Chapter 9 The Prey Has Fallen into the Trap

Nightfall descended upon the wasteland without warning.

The temperature outside the carriage plummeted like it was falling off a cliff.

Inside the already freezing carriage, the temperature approached zero degrees. White frost began to condense on the metal walls.

In the darkness, the breath of the thirty girls turned into clouds of white mist.

After awakening the Succubus Bloodline, their constitutions had undergone a bizarre change.

Succubi were a species born from the abyss; they craved feverish energy and scalding body heat.

This ice-cellar-like environment was not just physiological torture for them, but a suppression of their very bloodline.

"So cold..."

"My feet are so frozen I can't feel them..."

The sound of chattering teeth filled the carriage. The girls instinctively huddled together, trying to warm each other with their weak body heat, but it was to no avail.

Su Ya curled up in the middle of the carriage. Most of the white shirt she wore had been burned away by her own flames earlier, leaving large patches of her snow-white skin exposed to the freezing air.

The cold air pierced her pores like steel needles, causing her whole body to shake uncontrollably.

She hugged her arms tightly, trying to shield the spring scenery that was about to burst from her chest.

But the cold made her brain sluggish, and the already parched mana within her body fell completely silent under the low temperature.

A sense of emptiness more terrifying than hunger began to gnaw at her sanity.

She needed heat.

She needed yang energy.

Su Ya's eyes, which were usually cool and aloof, involuntarily drifted toward Lin Feng, who was sitting in the Train Master's exclusive chair.

Lin Feng sat there like a constant-temperature furnace.

A-Rank Frost Control not only made him immune to the severe cold but even formed an imperceptible thermal barrier on his skin.

The masculine, yang aura radiating from him was like a fatal poison to this group of starving and freezing succubi in the sealed, frigid carriage.

Xia Wanqiu had already relied on the trace of bloodline connection left from the previous charging to silently huddle near Lin Feng's feet.

She didn't dare to be presumptuous, acting only like a cat seeking shelter as she pressed her hot cheek against Lin Feng's combat boots.

That demon tail slithered up Lin Feng's trouser leg and gently wrapped around his calf, greedily absorbing that faint but real warmth.

Lin Feng didn't kick her away. His gaze swept over the dozens of pairs of glowing green eyes in the darkness.

The pressure of survival had reached its limit; it was time to establish the final rules.

From a hidden compartment nearby, he took out the meager supplies he had found at the platform.

Three bottles of murky water and six pieces of hard black bread.

*Gulp...*

The sound of people swallowing saliva rose and fell in the quiet carriage.

Every girl's gaze instantly locked onto the food in Lin Feng's hands. Thirty people, three bottles of water, and six small pieces of bread—it wasn't even enough to fill the gaps between their teeth.

Lin Feng picked up a bottle of murky water, an imperceptible frost flickering at his fingertips.

The temperature dropped sharply, and the silt and impurities in the bottle instantly froze and sank to the bottom, leaving half a bottle of relatively clear water at the top.

"Those who went off the train today to search for supplies and carry scrap metal, come here," Lin Feng's voice rang out in the darkness, brook no opposition.

Su Ya was stunned for a moment, then forced her trembling legs to stand up.

Tong Tong and two other ordinary girls also supported each other as they walked forward. Xia Wanqiu obediently raised her head, looking up at Lin Feng.

Lin Feng poured the clear half-bottle of water into a tin mug and handed it to Su Ya. Then, he broke a piece of black bread in half.

"Eat."

Su Ya took the mug, her hands shaking so much she almost spilled the water.

She couldn't care less about her dignity as a top student; she tilted her head back and took a large gulp, finally moisturizing her cracked lips.

Then she wolfed down the half-piece of bread, which was as hard as a stone, chewing forcefully.

Tong Tong and the others were also given water and a small piece of bread.

Though it was pitifully little, at this temperature, the intake of even a small amount of carbohydrates was enough to reignite a spark of warmth in their bodies.

Lin Feng himself took a whole bottle of water and a piece of bread, eating slowly and methodically.

Just then, a commotion broke out in the corner.

"Lin Feng! What is the meaning of this?"

A shrill female voice broke the quiet of the chewing.

The speaker was Zhang Meng.

She was a famous rich second-generation at Jiangcheng University. Usually, relying on her family's wealth, she acted overbearingly at school, always surrounded by several followers.

She stepped out from the crowd.

Even while fleeing for her life, she still wore that expensive designer trench coat, though it was now covered in dust.

Zhang Meng strode up to Lin Feng, her eyes green with hunger as she stared fixedly at the last bit of bread in his hand.

"There are over thirty of us here starving and freezing, and you give the food to just those few? Do you have any humanity left!" Zhang Meng pointed at Su Ya and the others, questioning him loudly.

Lin Feng swallowed the bread in his mouth without even lifting his eyelids. "They did the work; this is their earned reward. Humanity? In the ruins, humanity can't be traded for a piece of moldy bread."

"Stop pretending to be some big shot here!" Zhang Meng sneered, her hands on her hips.

With her movement, the muscles on her arms suddenly bulged bizarrely, stretching the sleeves of her designer coat tight.

A sense of power far exceeding that of an ordinary person radiated from her.

"Don't think that just because you got lucky and killed two monsters, you can be the local tyrant here!" A flash of arrogance appeared in Zhang Meng's eyes. "This young lady awakened D-Rank Strength Enhancement! My strength is now greater than an ox's!"

To prove herself, she grabbed a steel armrest of a nearby seat and exerted sudden force.

*Creeeak—*

The steel bar, as thick as a pinky finger, was actually bent out of shape by her bare hands.

Seeing this, the female followers behind her immediately gained confidence and began to chime in.

"Exactly! Why should we listen to you!" "Zhang Meng is a Strength-type Esper now. You'd better hand over all the food so everyone can share it equally!" "You're just a lucky loser; do you really think you're something special?"

The conflict, catalyzed by hunger and cold, erupted completely.

The twenty-odd girls who hadn't received food didn't dare to step forward, but they looked at Zhang Meng with expectant eyes.

If Zhang Meng could seize the food, they might be able to get a share as well.

Su Ya stopped chewing. She knew people like Zhang Meng too well—arrogant, conceited, and brainless.

She glanced at Lin Feng, who sat on his chair as steady as Mount Tai, knowing that Zhang Meng was seeking her own death.

"You want to steal it?"

Lin Feng finally looked up, his gaze landing on Zhang Meng's face.

At that moment, Zhang Meng felt as if she were being stared at by a venomous snake hidden in the shadows.

But her craving for food and her blind confidence in her own strength overrode that trace of fear.

"It's not stealing; it's called redistribution!"

Zhang Meng shouted. Bolstered by her D-Rank Strength Enhancement, she reached out her muscle-bulged hand and lunged to grab the half-piece of black bread and the remaining bottle of water sitting next to Lin Feng.

Inside the Train Master's cabin, the temperature seemed to be several degrees lower than outside.

Xia Wanqiu was so scared she retracted her tail.

And Lin Feng remained seated in that exclusive leather chair, motionless.

He didn't summon frost, nor did he pick up the blood-stained steel pipe.

He just quietly watched the hand reaching for the food, a chilling, hair-raising smile flickering in his deep eyes.

The prey had fallen into the trap.