Train Survival: You're really trying to survive!

No one expected that there would be an unexpected surprise in the clothing store.

The stairs leading to the second floor of the clothing store were broken, and Su Li couldn't bear to leave the supplies inside, so she found a way to climb up.

Inside, they found something amazing—a black iron treasure chest!

Su Li quickly opened it.

[Obtained 5 iron nails, 5 leather, 5 ropes, and a simple backpack (10 slots) blueprint]

"Hahaha, this is great stuff!" Su Li excitedly threw a series of wild punches at the air, "Space backpack~ Wuhu~"

The most difficult thing for him during this period was transporting supplies.

Gathering supplies required traveling several kilometers, and since we couldn't carry them all at once, we had to make repeated trips. It was truly exhausting. This backpack, while not solving the problem entirely, has alleviated it, and it's worth it to avoid having to make one less trip.

Learn the backpack skill directly. Zuli began searching the second floor.

The second floor of the clothing store is a warehouse. It stores winter clothes, while the first floor stores summer clothes.

Zuli pulled Sophia and Ivan up, and the three of them picked out some clothes according to their own body types.

Especially Ivan, who is still growing, and we need to choose some clothes that he can wear when he grows up.

The three of them spent more than an hour just looking for clothes.

"There's still not enough space, otherwise I could have just taken the one that fit, instead of worrying about it so much."

Finally, Su Li found a handcart in the warehouse. The three of them put all the clothes in the handcart and transported them to the train.

After several trips, Su Li and his team finally had the energy to search the next house. Both houses were not only dilapidated, but also on fire. Both houses were residential and were completely blackened by the fire.

After entering, they searched the place and found only partially burned clothes and daily necessities. Su Li and the others didn't have the habit of using other people's belongings, so they didn't take anything.

Zurich also discovered that the cause of the fire was a gas cylinder explosion.

The good news is that I found some toothbrushes, the kind sold in family packs, where several are grouped together. They were in the bathroom and didn't burn, although the plastic ones were slightly deformed from the heat, but they still work.

I took the toothbrush and toothpaste with me. That was about it; there wasn't much else of value.

The group explored the other houses, and finally found some hotel pillows in one of the hotels. The pillows were a bit dirty but still usable. Other than that, they didn't find anything else.

After looting, Su Li and the others returned to the train.

Su Li and her siblings sat at the table. Su Li tapped the table and opened the monster encyclopedia. "This is a big problem. Based on my knowledge, I suspect that we are about to face this kind of monster."

Sophia and Ivan looked at the encyclopedia, which showed a strange monster.

The overall design is a winged, flying snake, except that the snake has a crystal helmet on its head.

"Storm Crystal Feather Serpent. A Black Iron-level monster," Su Li introduced the monster. "It comes riding the wind and pierces through travelers."

"This monster is at the Iron level. In terms of attack power alone, it is among the top ten in the Iron level."

"They feed on rocks and ores, and also eat meat. After consuming rocks and ores, they excrete refined ores and crystals to form their nests. Strictly speaking, these monsters are not normal creatures, but rather elemental creatures, the same kind as stone giants."

"After this monster eats the ore, a very sharp crystal will grow on its head. The crystal will continuously gather wind element."

"When the wind element accumulates to a certain level, the monsters in the lair will release this wind element. When the wind element gathers together, it will form a hurricane. At this time, the monsters will ride the wind, ravaging the land, mating, and then returning to their lair."

This behavior occurs once a year, with a major migration every 10 years or so. After mating, they do not return to their nests but instead seek out a new location to build new nests.

Once they begin to ride the wind, the special structure on their heads continuously gathers the gale force, intensifying the wind and transforming themselves into indestructible bullets.

"This disaster will not stop until the wind element contained in the crystals above their heads is completely exhausted."

After Su Li finished speaking, Sophia and Ivan's faces paled slightly. "That bluish-purple place we're going to is their nest?"

"Most likely. This town was probably just a shadow of the feathered serpent during the Great Migration, and the survivors all packed up their valuables and fled."

"How do we avoid it?" Sophia asked.

“Go underground,” Su Li said. “Have you noticed that in this map, wherever you are near a mountain, there will always be a route leading underground? That’s how the game tells us to pass the levels.”

Simply staying underground is risky, because the caves are interconnected, and winds can blow through, bringing with them the Storm Crystal Feather Serpents. We need to go deeper underground.”

Ivan continued, "So, are we still going to that bluish-purple place? It's very likely that's the lair of these monsters. Shouldn't we avoid it?"

"No, quite the opposite, we should be going there instead." Su Li smiled slightly. "The adult monsters have all gone out to mate and find new habitats, so what's left in the nests?"

"Cub?"

"Yes, only the cubs remain in the nest, along with some older ones that can't mate. The bestiary says that these monsters are underdeveloped when they are cubs and can't attack by riding the wind. They can only spit out some wind projectiles, which have very low attack power. These monsters have no intelligence, only animal instincts, so it's okay if you're careful."

"Besides, we don't necessarily have to confront those who stayed behind head-on. What do we need? Resources! Wouldn't it be better to collect their crystals? With the crystals, we can go back to the transit station and sell them for survival coins to buy things." Su Li finished speaking with some excitement.

“One more thing, at eight o’clock on our last day, we will be facing a wave of beasts.” Su Li looked at the two of them. “If I’m not mistaken, when that time comes, we will most likely encounter adult monsters outside, but here we will only have to face juvenile and old monsters.”

"This kind of monster relies heavily on the crystal on its head and the gale it summons. It's no exaggeration to say that even 20 cubs of the Storm Crystal Feather Serpent are not as difficult to defeat as one adult. Once the adult takes flight, its speed is incredible. It's like a supersonic projectile that can constantly change course and navigate automatically; it can even penetrate concrete, let alone our iron-clad wood train!"

"If it's not yet an adult, then it's just an ordinary, non-venomous snake!"

"So we need to change our route."

Zurich drew a new route on the map.

"Today is the fifth day. The wind outside is getting stronger and stronger, which is one of the signs that the breeding season for these monsters is coming. We'll take this route this morning. The train will enter the underground cave, and then we'll take this route from here."

"If nothing unexpected happens, we should reach the blue-purple area on the morning of the seventh day. That's what I suspect is the monster's lair."

"We'll see how things go when the time comes."

Sophia pondered for a moment, then asked in return, "What if you guessed wrong? What if it's not that kind of monster?"

"I'm 90% sure it's one of those monsters," Su Li said with a smile. "If not, we'll just stay inside the cave and keep watch. As long as we light all the torches and set up our defenses, we should be able to handle the beast tide!"

"Where can you find something for nothing with zero risk?"