Everyone's Train Survival Quest: Blessed by Fortune

"Come here, Little White."

At Zhao Kuo's command, a small white snake slithered over and coiled around his wrist, its head and tail meeting to form a white metallic bracelet.

After the pet collar tamed the white snake, it not only healed all of its injuries but also granted it the ability to change size, much to Zhao Kuo's delight.

Truly a rare and valuable item—worth every penny.

"I'm so jealous. Little White is stronger than Little Bunny and Little Croc combined," Tang Yingying said enviously as she cooked nearby.

Her envy stemmed from Little White's incredibly impressive stats.

[Mutated White Snake (Pet) (Tier 2)]

[Strength: 28/30]

[Constitution: 26/30]

[Speed: 26/30]

[Spirit: 20/30]

[Skills: Intimidating Gaze, Deadly Venom]

[Intimidating Gaze: Stuns creatures with a Spirit stat lower than 25 (Pet's Spirit: 20 + Owner's Spirit Bonus: 5) for 1 minute, preventing them from using skills.]

[Deadly Venom: The mutated white snake's fangs contain potent venom. Once infected, the victim loses 2-5% of their health per second for 10 seconds.]

Aside from its Spirit stat, all of Little White's attributes were close to the Tier 2 limit of 30, and even its Spirit stat wasn't low.

Zhao Kuo guessed that the snake had used its Intimidating Gaze skill on him earlier, but since his Spirit stat was 27, he hadn't been affected.

If it had been someone like Gu Shan, with a lower Spirit stat, their skills might have been locked.

However, after being tamed, the Intimidating Gaze skill had been enhanced, and as Zhao Kuo's Spirit stat continued to grow, this enhancement would only improve.

It was a decent crowd-control skill.

After all, a professional without their skills wasn't much stronger than an ordinary person. If the opponent didn't know about Little White's skill, a sudden activation could yield unexpected results.

The second skill, Deadly Venom, leaned more toward offense. In just 10 seconds, it could deal at least 20% of the target's health in damage.

Combined with Little White's formidable stats, Zhao Kuo was completely satisfied. He had gained another powerful ally. If he had had Little White during the Yole game, he wouldn't have needed to be so cautious.

The only catch was that Little White didn't eat ordinary flesh but instead consumed minerals. It needed at least 10 units of iron ore per day, and consuming higher-grade minerals could promote its evolution.

Conversely, if it didn't get enough to eat, its loyalty would slowly decrease.

Zhao Kuo couldn't see the loyalty stat, which meant he had to ensure Little White consumed at least 10 units of iron ore daily.

What a shame. If only they could mine the iron ore they had just passed.

Iron ore was generally expensive on the trading market, with 1 unit costing 0.3 subway coins. That meant feeding Little White would cost 3 subway coins per day.

This was definitely raising a money-devouring beast.

However, Zhao Kuo remained optimistic. With the ore detector, the chances of encountering iron ore or other metal deposits in the future wouldn't be low.

At worst, he'd just spend a bit more money—consider it like raising a child.

By now, Tang Yingying had finished preparing dinner. A fragrant plate of egg fried rice was placed on the table, made with a monster egg that temporarily increased Strength by 1 point but decreased it by 3 points half an hour later.

Despite the side effect, the taste and aroma were significantly better.

Zhao Kuo had always praised Tang Yingying's cooking skills. If it were up to him, he'd struggle to decide what to eat for lunch or dinner. Having Tang Yingying plan meals was a blessing.

As Zhao Kuo was enjoying the egg fried rice, he suddenly noticed a metal-clad box in a snowdrift by the roadside.

He quickly stopped the train and sent Little White out to retrieve the box.

Sure enough, it was an intermediate treasure chest.

Could it be that as the train advanced, the level of the chests also increased? No wonder the chest spawn rate had dropped significantly along the way.

At this moment, Tang Yingying looked at him with puppy-dog eyes and asked, "Um, can I open it this time? Ever since I've been with you, I haven't gotten to open any chests…"

"That phrasing is ambiguous. We're just traveling together, not 'together,'" Zhao Kuo corrected her seriously.

But she had a point. Ever since they had teamed up and supported each other, Zhao Kuo had been the one opening all the chests and using the slot machines. Tang Yingying hadn't had a chance.

Everyone had a bit of a gambler's mentality, especially in the dark environment of the subway world, where such urges were even stronger.

Fine. Since his Luck Points were low and would take another seven or eight hours to replenish, he'd let Tang Yingying open this chest.

With Zhao Kuo's approval, Tang Yingying let out an excited squeal and hugged the chest tightly.

"I have a feeling I'll get something good!" she said with a grin.

Zhao Kuo was momentarily stunned.

To be fair, Tang Yingying's luck had always been pretty good. Not only had she managed to get valuable items like the water condenser early on, but she had also consistently pulled out other high-quality loot.

Could it be that she also had a system?

As Zhao Kuo pondered this, Tang Yingying had already opened the intermediate chest.

"Wow!" she exclaimed in delight, and Zhao Kuo saw what the chest had yielded.

[Wood Planks x100]

[Iron Sheets x100]

[Components x100]

[Glass x100]

[Yeast x2]

[Sorghum Seeds x5]

[Subway Coins x10]

[Congratulations! You've obtained an ultra-rare item: Vehicle-Mounted Light Machine Gun Blueprint (One-Time Use) x1]

A vehicle-mounted light machine gun blueprint! Zhao Kuo's eyes lit up, and he quickly checked its stats.

[Vehicle-Mounted Light Machine Gun]

[Can only be mounted on the train. Uses light machine gun bullets. Fires 600 rounds per minute but enters an overheated state after 20 seconds of continuous firing. Cooldown time: 1 minute.]

600 rounds per minute meant 10 rounds per second!

Even against someone like Gu Shan at full power, 10 rounds of light machine gun fire would probably obliterate them instantly!

The only downside was that it could only be mounted on the train. But once installed, it would provide formidable firepower against certain monsters.

After all, as the saying goes, all fear stems from insufficient firepower.

Without hesitation, Zhao Kuo chose to craft it and mounted it on the front of the train. To use it, he'd have to climb onto the train, but its nearly 360-degree coverage would create a powerful suppression zone.

He wondered if Little White could withstand 20 seconds of such firepower.

Though he thought about it, Zhao Kuo had no intention of testing it on Little White. After all, Little White was now his precious darling!

The only problem was the ammunition. The light machine gun's bullet consumption was no small matter.

Moreover, his sniper rifle bullets were running low, with only one left. He'd need to buy more.

Sigh. Another expense. Managing a household was truly challenging.