After confirming the meeting place for tomorrow, Lu Shen stopped talking and prepared to rest early.
He added some firewood to the fireplace, leaned against the earthen wall deep inside the shelter, and drifted off to sleep, his mind wandering...
The thick, soft straw bedding greatly improved his comfort and made the shelter feel more like home.
Outside, blizzards howled, radiation permeated the air, and the atmosphere of post-apocalyptic decay was suffocating; inside, the fireplace burned peacefully...
However, around midnight...
"Sizzle~ Sizzle~"
"Sizzle~ Sizzle~"
A slightly piercing sound mingled with the howling wind.
Lu Shen, still asleep, frowned slightly, not paying much attention, dismissing it as some insignificant noise.
But the next moment, he suddenly woke up!
He suddenly remembered that he had built an ice brick fortress to block the wind and snow outside, so... where was the sound coming from?
Lu Shen snapped back to reality, quickly scrambling out of bed, his gaze fixed on the outside of the shelter with suspicion.
A sharp,
hissing sound, like claws scraping against glass, rang in his ears again, confirming it wasn't a hallucination!
"Something got in?"
Lu Shen frowned, his eyes wary. He grabbed the axe beside him and cautiously approached the shelter's entrance.
Using the dim light of the [Survival Radio], he carefully observed the outside.
But after checking, Lu Shen couldn't help but feel puzzled. There was nothing unusual inside the ice brick fortress!
The ice bricks remained airtight, the crops were untouched, and the stored wood and sheet metal were all there… everything seemed normal.
Moreover, after his inspection, even the hissing sound had disappeared.
Lu Shen frowned in thought. He was certain he hadn't misheard; something was definitely amiss, but he hadn't yet discovered it.
When his gaze fell upon the outside of the ice brick fortress, his eyes suddenly narrowed!
Since there were no problems inside the shelter, it was highly likely that something unusual was happening outside!
And the sound just now was very similar to the sound of claws scraping against ice bricks!
Lu Shen immediately became alert, gripping his axe tightly: "Could it be a rotting corpse?!"
Not daring to be careless, he cautiously walked outside, slowly pushing open the ice brick door, his iron axe ready to strike at any moment.
He was prepared to chop it down first, no matter what. He
just happened to need to hunt rotting corpses to complete his mission, so it was a welcome relief, a way to earn some survival points—a good thing, really.
However, upon opening the door, there were no rotting corpses as expected. A howling wind outside, carrying a pungent smell of radiation, hit him in the face, causing Lu Shen to frown and take a step back.
"Where are the rotting corpses...?!" He remained vigilant, looking around for any suspicious traces.
But after searching the entire area, he couldn't find a single rotting corpse.
Lu Shen didn't give up. Holding the "Independent Shelter Core," he stepped out of the shelter, braving the extremely strong winds. He braced himself against the ice wall to avoid being blown away, and surveyed his surroundings.
This was a perilous apocalypse; any carelessness or negligence could cost him his life, so he had to find out the situation!
Even though it was difficult to move in the snowstorm, he didn't abandon his plan!
After walking a dozen steps, reaching the area behind the ice wall, he suddenly kicked something soft.
"What the hell?!"
He looked down sharply and saw a thick-furred, rather clumsy-looking creature standing before him.
Lu Shen took a step back in fright, but upon closer inspection, he discovered that a trap was clamped between the creature's hind legs!
Sharp iron teeth were deeply embedded in the leg muscles, likely breaking the bones, and blood soaked the fur, making it a gruesome sight.
Lu Shen's eyes lit up, and he couldn't help but exclaim, "Huh? Isn't this my bear trap?"
The design of this bear trap was exactly the same as the ones he had set.
Clearly, the creature in front of him had likely stepped into the trap while passing through the withered forest, resulting in serious injuries.
It then dragged its wounds to the vicinity of the shelter, seemingly trying to dig through the ice wall.
Looking at the ice wall beneath the creature's feet, a large opening had already been dug. The "hissing" sound he had heard earlier was probably from it digging through the ice wall.
However, it seemed that due to its severe injuries, it had already fainted before it could completely dig through the ice wall.
Soon, a look of surprise appeared on Lu Shen's face; he hadn't expected to encounter such a good thing.
This was practically a treasure delivered to his door!
The creature in front of him appeared to be quite large, weighing approximately 30-40 pounds, with a sturdy body beneath its thick fur, indicating a considerable amount of meat.
Even after skinning and bone-shaving, there's still plenty of meat left!
And that's meat!
In the post-apocalyptic world, meat is extremely valuable, not only providing essential nutrients but also being traded for valuable resources.
Its fur can be made into hats or gloves, effectively protecting against the cold—another invaluable resource!
Lu Shen trembled slightly with excitement, picked up the creature, and carried it back to the shelter, even filling in the burrow it had dug with snow.
Back in the shelter, he carefully examined the creature by the fireplace.
It was probably a feline, with extremely thick fur covered in gray and white stripes, short, sturdy limbs, a憨态可掬 (endearing) face, round eyes, a chubby mouth, and slightly puffy cheeks.
If one had to describe its appearance,
it resembled a silver shaded cat, but much larger and slightly more ferocious, with sharper, longer claws.
Or, more precisely, it resembled another dangerous creature—a Pallas's cat.
Judging solely from its weight, it weighed at least 20 pounds, perhaps even close to 30 pounds—a truly fat cat.
Lu Shen picked it up and examined it, not immediately killing it; after all, this thing was quite a rare sight.
Moreover, it was the only creature he had seen since arriving in this post-apocalyptic world, aside from insects!
He placed it in front of the [Survival Radio] and used the shop's detection function; information quickly appeared:
[Name: Thick-fuzzy Snow Cat]
[Description: A creature mutated due to radiation exposure, capable of surviving in extreme cold and blizzards. It has extremely thick fur for excellent insulation, strong hunting abilities, is adept at digging burrows, and is relatively intelligent. Can be exchanged for 120 Survival Coins.]
"Holy crap, I've struck gold!"
Upon seeing the words "120 Survival Coins," Lu Shen's eyes lit up instantly, quite incredulous.
This thing in front of him is actually worth 120 Survival Coins?
This makes sense, though. The shop's exchange rate for Survival Coins is based on the item's value in the post-apocalyptic environment.
This snow cat, if disassembled, is worth a considerable amount of Survival Coins.
For example, its fur, specifically mentioned in the description, is extremely thick and provides excellent warmth, indicating its high quality.
[At this point, I hope readers remember our domain name, Taiwan Novel Network, for those looking for something to read: 𝑡𝑤𝑘𝑎𝑛.𝑐𝑜𝑚 (super useful)]
Adding its flesh and blood, it weighs at least 20 pounds. At an average of 5 Survival Coins per pound, that's 100 Survival Coins.
Moreover, this one is alive, making it easily worth 120 Survival Coins.
However, after a moment's thought, Lu Shen didn't kill it directly, nor did he exchange it for Survival Coins!
Because a few words in the description caught his attention—"relatively human-like."
These five simple words, seemingly unremarkable, imbued this creature with a new quality: the potential to be tamed!
He decided to give it a try; if he could successfully tame it, it would be a good thing in the post-apocalyptic environment.
Whether it was assisting in hunting, providing daily companionship, or even warming its feet in winter, it would be quite useful.
If it couldn't be tamed, he could always kill it for meat later.
After considering this, Lu Shen used sheet metal to make two small handcuffs, which he directly handcuffed to the snow cat's limbs, ensuring that it couldn't move freely even if it woke up.
Then, he opened the trap on its hind leg.
It was clear that the muscles in its hind thigh were severely torn, and the immense force of the trap had deeply pierced into the bone, deforming the entire structure.
Lu Shen even doubted whether the little guy could survive the night, and even if it did, there was a high probability that it would be crippled.
He didn't intend to keep a freeloader in the shelter; if it was crippled, its final fate would inevitably be to become food.
Lu Shen ignored it and went back to bed to sleep.
When he woke up in the morning, he vaguely heard a "whimpering" sound coming from the snow cat's throat.
The snow cat was awake, but its eyes were dull, its expression tired, and it lay listlessly in the corner, watching Lu Shen's direction warily.
The unfamiliar environment and unfamiliar scent instilled a deep-seated fear in this creature that had survived in the wild for many years.
But its severe injuries left it unable to resist; its strength had been completely exhausted the night before, and it could only lick the wound on its hind leg from time to time, its muscles trembling slightly from the pain.
"It's good that it's alive," Lu Shen said casually, then got up to wash and eat.
He knew that these wild animals were extremely wary, and showing too much concern or trying to please them could easily backfire.
He had to relax himself first so that the snow cat would lower its guard and adapt to the environment in the shelter.
On the fireplace, he toasted a cornbread, brewed a bowl of hot tea, and took out about 50g of canned beef and a few pieces of pickled radish for his breakfast.
This breakfast was something many survivors could only dream of!
With staple foods, vegetables, meat, and supplements like salt and vitamins, the comprehensive nutritional intake ensured his health.
The only downside was the corn tortilla; it was so unpalatable that he nearly choked, his eyes rolling back in his head.
He tossed the last half-eaten piece to the snow cat, finding it too difficult to swallow.
This creature, able to survive in such harsh conditions, was likely an omnivore besides its strong hunting abilities.
The snow cat sniffed warily, but instinctively picked up the corn tortilla and licked it several times.
The corn tortilla was hard; it had to tilt its head to bite it, chewing it for a long time without showing any signs of pickiness.
But after only a few bites, it rolled its eyes and made gagging motions, clearly choking.
Lu Shen sympathized; he wasn't the only one who disliked the corn tortilla—it truly was awful! Lu Shen
handed the snow cat a bowl of hot water, which it licked without hesitation. After a few minutes, it continued eating its cornbread.
At this moment, although the creature remained wary, huddled in a corner, hesitant to come out, it was no longer as resistant to Lu Shen's offer of food.
"Not bad, no aggressive behavior, and its temperament is quite docile," Lu Shen nodded in satisfaction. In
the post-apocalyptic environment, besides facing the crisis of survival, loneliness is a challenge every survivor must confront.
Darkness, cold, hunger, fear… all place immense psychological pressure on the cat, and if this pressure cannot be effectively alleviated, it will eventually break down.
After feeding the snow cat, Lu Shen tried to approach it, attempting to pet it, but unsurprisingly, he failed.
The snow cat hid in the corner, hissing incessantly, clearly extremely resistant to outsiders.
Lu Shen didn't mind; taming takes time and cannot be accomplished overnight.
However, since he planned to keep this creature, he needed to make some other preparations.
Most importantly, he needed to store all the food in the shelter to ensure the creature wouldn't steal it.
Lu Shen had actually planned for this for some time.
The shelter was too small; after cramming in a large amount of supplies, there was barely room to move. It was necessary to reorganize and move some resources outside.
Without hesitation, Lu Shen collected some snow from outside and used hot water and low temperatures to freeze it into ice blocks, then built a rectangular freezer.
The freezer didn't take up much space, only 0.5 square meters, but it was deep enough to store a considerable amount of supplies.
Lu Shen put ground cornmeal, salt, honey, canned beef, pickled vegetables, and pickled radishes inside, then covered it with ice blocks.
He also watered the corn seeds. This small plot of land showed no signs of life, but it held his hopes.
Theoretically, the shelter area was radiation-free, and the soil, apart from being hard and cold, was perfectly suitable for growing crops.
If seedlings could be successfully cultivated, it meant that agriculture could develop, eventually providing a stable food supply, which was crucial for survival in the apocalypse.
...
He worked until the afternoon.
Shi Lei's communication arrived.
"Brother Shen, it's time to go."
Lu Shen checked the time; it was about 2:25 PM. The weather had improved, and the radiation had dropped to its lowest level.
"Okay, meet me at the river."
Lu Shen put on his gear, fully armed, and stepped into the snowstorm, heading north towards the shelter.
This time, the destination was northeast of Shi Lei's shelter, across the river where I was collecting the velvet grass, and another kilometer north.
The distance wasn't far for either Lu Shen or Shi Lei, at most 2 kilometers.
With the compass to guide them, Lu Shen moved more easily, taking the shortest route and reaching the river where he had collected the velvet grass the day before in just 15 minutes.
Shi Lei had arrived early, but his face was pale and he seemed listless.
Lu Shen frowned and asked, "You're not going to die on the way, are you?"
"Brother, don't curse me... cough cough cough!" Shi Lei spread his hands helplessly and coughed a few times.
Lu Shen's lips twitched: "Your wound hasn't healed yet, and you've caught a cold again?"
"I didn't want to either! You don't know how unlucky I am. Last night, another zombie approached and almost crawled into the shelter! Luckily, I fought back and finally dealt with it, but the container was torn open, and now it's leaking air badly." Shi Lei said with a mournful face.
Lu Shen shook his head helplessly. This kid was indeed unlucky, encountering danger one after another. It was lucky that he was still alive.
"Don't say anything more, let's get going. You'll be fine after this."
The two stopped talking and began to head north, crossing the frozen river. Ahead lay a vast white snowfield.
"Shi Lei, what kind of place do you think is so suitable for building a shelter?"
Lu Shen asked curiously during their journey.
Shi Lei smiled but didn't answer directly. Instead, he asked, "Brother, what conditions do you think the environment for building a shelter needs to meet?"
Lu Shen thought for a moment and said, "Many factors need to be considered. First, resources. There must be collectable resources nearby, including wood, food, and other supplies."
Shi Lei nodded and said, "Indeed, I've considered that too. It shouldn't be a big problem." "
Hmm, secondly, the geographical location. The distance from the town ruins needs to be just right—not too close, not too far, and the number of survivors around shouldn't be too dense."
After hearing the second condition, Shi Lei asked with some doubt, "Why is that? Is it to collect supplies from the town ruins?"
Lu Shen shook his head and said, "The most important value of the town ruins isn't the resources inside, but their status as landmarks. They're likely to become trading locations in the future, attracting many survivors or factions." "
Not being too far away ensures we can access the town ruins and easily contact other survivors. Not being too close avoids unnecessary conflicts."
"I see." Shi Lei nodded in agreement, saying, "I didn't notice that."
Shi Lei lowered his head in thought, quickly understanding the reason. Although it was a post-apocalyptic environment, no matter how harsh the conditions, transactions between people would not stop.
Lu Shen continued, "Finally, there's the actual location of the shelter. It should be sheltered by mountains for better concealment. Upwind and with good water quality, preferably with a forest..."
"Brother, stop... we don't have those conditions."
"Uh, that's true."
The two walked for about 30 minutes, crossing several hills, and arrived at a relatively secluded valley, finally reaching their destination.
"Brother Shen, it's here! Take a look!"
From a distance, Lu Shen's attention was drawn, and he squinted at it.
"This is... hiss!"
Shi Lei grinned, "Hehe, Brother Shen, let's take a closer look. This thing is relatively intact."
Lu Shen remained silent, a look of shock appearing in his eyes, until he got closer and confirmed that he wasn't mistaken.
This was actually... an abandoned train? Stretching nearly a hundred
meters, the train was shrouded in thick snow, its bluish-green rust faintly visible. Most of it was buried in the snow, blending seamlessly into its surroundings.
The sturdy iron carriages, over 3 meters high, were still incredibly awe-inspiring even when buried in the snow.
Only at this moment could one truly appreciate the greatness of civilization. In a post-apocalyptic environment, how many resources, materials, and manpower would it have taken to build such a train?
Lu Shen approached to examine it closely. Although severely corroded by time and radiation, the iron sheets remained remarkably sturdy, indicating high quality.
Some carriages, destroyed during the disaster, were twisted and lay scattered across the snow, completely covered.
But others stood motionless on the tracks, their massive size and weight giving them a remarkably safe appearance.
Shi Lei chuckled, "Brother Shen, how's this place? I've already checked it. Several carriages are perfectly intact, with extremely thick sheet metal—perfect for use as a shelter!"
"Shi Lei, you're amazing! You even found something this good?!"
Lu Shen, also a little overwhelmed with excitement, slapped Shi Lei hard on the shoulder, making him wince in pain.
Compared to his own dilapidated shelter, this high-speed train carriage was practically a top-tier shelter!
Both its warmth and safety were far superior to his initial shelter!
Lu Shen tried to suppress his excitement and began to survey his surroundings, becoming increasingly satisfied with what he saw.
Although the train was enormous, stretching for hundreds of meters like a giant dragon, it was actually quite difficult to spot under normal circumstances.
The surrounding area consisted of rolling hills, and this railway track was nestled in a valley, concealed by mountains; without specifically getting close, it was difficult to discover its location.
Even from the mountaintop, the thick snow made it difficult to spot the train carriages below.
More importantly, the mountainsides were dotted with scattered trees, providing a considerable amount of collectable resources.
From any angle, this was an ideal location for building a shelter.
At that moment, Lu Shen understood that he hadn't made a mistake in befriending Shi Lei!
The value brought by this train alone more than compensated for all his previous efforts, far exceeding them—it was incomparable.
"Brother Shen, let's go inside and check. The snow is so thick it's blocking the doors. I couldn't open it last time, so I don't know the situation inside," Shi Lei said with some concern.
No matter how good the outside conditions were, if the inside wasn't habitable, it would significantly diminish the value of this shelter.
Lu Shen nodded, found a relatively intact carriage, and tried to open the door.
The door was almost completely buried, requiring them to dig away the surrounding snow, which took considerable effort.
The interior doors were jammed shut due to years of freezing, making them difficult to open by hand. No wonder Shi Lei, despite his strength, couldn't get in.
Lu Shen inspected the train and discovered that the doors were slightly different from those on Earth, using a push-pull mechanism. Although extremely thick, the principle was simple.
He used his talent to attach himself to the tiny internal parts and, with minimal force, forcibly released the latches.
"Boom... Bang!"
The doors opened easily without even being damaged.
It was only because of years of disrepair that the doors were rusted in many places, making them quite loud and difficult to pull.
But compared to the value of the entire train, these defects were negligible!
After seeing the interior, Lu Shen couldn't help but hold his breath, unable to recover for a long time.
The modern train carriage instantly came into view, evoking memories of a civilized era.
Neatly arranged sofas and seats, embroidered with modern patterns, a smooth floor, and polished glass… all things absent in this post-apocalyptic world.
Looking around, the carriage was quite large, about 10 meters long, slightly smaller than a train carriage on Earth, but taller and more spacious.
More unusual was the glass, similar to that of high-speed trains—extremely thick and impossible to open, completely embedded in the interior.
The floor was rather messy, with many items scattered around, including several frozen corpses.
These were likely the original passengers; when the apocalypse struck, the train was also affected and faced crisis. Some passengers were unable to escape and perished here.
However, Lu Shen also noticed that some carriage windows were shattered, indicating that some people had indeed escaped.
But the past is unknown, and at least in the carriages now, there are no living people, only an aura of decay and decay.
There's also something noteworthy:
this train is quite different from trains on Earth.
Besides the size of the space, each carriage is completely isolated, about 10 meters long, existing entirely independently, like a room.
"Brother Shen, what do you think of this place? Is it suitable for building a shelter?" Shi Lei casually found a seat and sat down, looking around with considerable comfort.
"Perfect!"
Lu Shen's mind raced. The location, surrounding resources, and concealment were all top-notch.
Plus, this train itself was worth tens of thousands, even hundreds of thousands of survival coins.
The shelters that other survivors painstakingly built over years probably couldn't compare to this "crystallization of human wisdom"!
You didn't even need to occupy the entire train; just any carriage could serve as a high-quality shelter.
"Hehe, when I first came here, I was so busy cutting down trees on the hillside that I didn't even notice this place. If I hadn't accidentally rolled down the hillside, I would never have discovered this huge treasure!" Shi Lei recounted his experience with considerable pride.
Lu Shen couldn't help but raise an eyebrow. This kid's experiences were certainly rich, but... he was indeed lucky to be alive.
"Brother Shen, when do you think we should move the shelter here? Should we rethink the plan? Or... take another look around the area for any town ruins?" Shi Lei's smile faded, and he asked seriously.
Lu Shen pondered for a moment, then shook his head and said, "No need. A shelter of this quality doesn't need to consider other factors. As long as conditions allow, we can move here tonight!"
"Uh... then let's go back and pack up, and move here directly?"
"No need." Lu Shen chuckled, "Going back and forth would be too much of a waste of time. Let's stay here today to explore, collect the resources in the train, and then stay here tonight. We can go back tomorrow."
"Stay here?!" Shi Lei was taken aback, as if he remembered something, and asked, "Brother Shen, did you bring the core of the independent shelter?"
Lu Shen nodded slightly, patted Shi Lei's shoulder, and said, "You rest here. I'll go check the situation in the other carriages and collect as many useful resources and tools as possible."
With that, he walked directly out of the carriage.
Shi Lei didn't push himself and found a sofa chair to lie down and rest. His injuries were still very serious, and his body was very weak. Being able to accompany him out today and walk 2km to the train ruins was almost his limit.
Lu Shen went outside and conducted a more detailed observation of the entire train.
After counting, a total of 20 carriages were found. The six carriages closest to the front were completely destroyed, having derailed and now buried under snow, with only the general outline of ruins visible.
Near the rear, four carriages were also severely damaged, with almost completely shattered windows, bloodstains hidden in the frozen ice, and fragmented corpses.
Some of the bodies were already decomposing, looking gruesome and terrifying.
Therefore, only carriages 7 through 16 were truly usable.
However, this was the luckiest outcome; not only were 10 carriages preserved, but they were also near the middle section.
Generally, trains have dining cars, usually located near the middle of the train, around carriage 10, which store some food.
Of course, many fresh foods like boxed meals are no longer usable after many years. But they might also store instant noodles, biscuits, canned goods, and sausages.
With luck, they should be able to find quite a few.
Unfortunately, after searching every remaining carriage, Lu Shen couldn't find a dining car.
Clearly, this train didn't have a dedicated dining car, not even fast food or boxed meals, which was quite disappointing.
Lu Shen had hoped to find some cooking utensils and unused condiments in the dining car's kitchen, but that was now out of the question.
However, after this search, he roughly understood the situation of the different carriages.
The first eight carriages and the last eight were ordinary passenger carriages, with neatly arranged seats and many corpses.
The four carriages in the middle were the more luxurious ones, with interiors like meticulously furnished rooms, equipped with beds, sofas, televisions, desks, and other amenities—very spacious and comfortable.
Even the materials used in the carriages were more sturdy than the others; Lu Shen had to use several methods to open the door of the luxury carriage.
After only a few glances, Lu Shen decided to use the luxury carriages as a refuge, because of their excellent layout and facilities.
Even after such a long time, the bedding and blankets on the bed showed absolutely no signs of weathering or damage, except for a few specks of dust—it was simply unbelievable.
The sofa was equally soft and comfortable, and the other facilities were made of high-quality materials; they were ready to use immediately upon arrival.
The only consideration was the size of the luxury carriage, which was 10 meters long and approximately 3 meters wide, totaling nearly 30 square meters.
The "Independent Shelter Core," however, only covered an area of 10 square meters, significantly restricting daily movement.
But this problem could be solved sooner or later, because when upgrading the shelter, the system had already reminded them that there was a chance that items to expand the shelter's core would appear in the shop in the future. So these problems, although they couldn't be solved in the short term, wouldn't be problems in the future. ...
Lu Shen selected carriage number 10, clearing out all the corpses, garbage, and dust, leaving only usable living facilities. He would use it as his lodging for the day. When Shi Lei arrived, he couldn't help but marvel at the "luxurious" environment inside. Having been used to the dusty, simple shelter, suddenly switching to a high-class carriage was quite an adjustment. Shi Lei rested in carriage number 10, while Lu Shen continued to leave, gathering supplies from other carriages. Besides the carriages themselves, which were the most precious thing on this train, there was another extremely valuable thing—resources! A train carrying hundreds of passengers would certainly be carrying a lot of luggage, including all sorts of supplies. Food, clothing, medicine, tools… none of these necessities would be missing. Compared to the town ruins, Lu Shen felt the train might contain more resources. After all, the town ruins had been looted extensively after the apocalypse, with most useful items taken by the initial survivors, leaving only a few low-value items. Moreover, the town ruins were essentially a small rural area; even without being looted by survivors, survival resources wouldn't be plentiful. But the train was different! This train was intact and hadn't been discovered by other survivors, so the supplies were likely still there, and the variety should be quite abundant. Lu Shen first searched the more intact carriages, a total of 10 carriages: four deluxe carriages and six ordinary carriages. In the four deluxe carriages, he only found six suitcases, and they were all relatively light, containing little. This puzzled him; didn't these wealthy people need to carry luggage?! When he opened the suitcases and saw what was inside, he almost vomited blood. Various cards, cash, ties, belts, sunglasses, strange cosmetics, sunscreen, even contraceptive T-shirts… there were quite a lot of items, but actually very few were useful. The few pieces of clothing he had were extremely thin spring/summer garments, and most were women's clothing, completely unusable. Lu Shen sighed helplessly, but didn't throw them away immediately. Instead, he simply categorized them and packed them back into his suitcase, placing them in carriage number 7. Carriage number 7 was a regular carriage, quite spacious, and Lu Shen planned to use it as a storage room for his unused suitcases and supplies. Continuing to check the other carriages, he found many suitcases in the regular carriages as well. This time, the haul was much better than before! He found a total of 52 suitcases in the six carriages, far fewer than expected, averaging only 8-9 suitcases per carriage, indicating that the train wasn't very crowded. All the suitcases were moved to carriage number nine, and all the supplies inside were retrieved, sorted, and categorized, with usable items identified. Seeing the carriage overflowing with resources, Lu Shen couldn't help but exclaim, "We've struck gold!" First and foremost, the largest quantity was clothing. Almost every suitcase contained a vast array of clothes of all kinds—men's, women's, and children's clothing—along with shoes, socks, underwear, and briefs. However, some of the clothes were of mediocre quality and severely weathered. And importantly, there weren't many winter clothes; only a dozen or so cotton-padded jackets and trousers were found, and even those were of average quality. In terms of quality alone, they weren't even as good as the "winter clothing" provided by the system. After sorting through all the clothes, the light spring and summer T-shirts and shirts filled 32 suitcases. Socks, underwear, briefs, and shoes filled three suitcases. The thick winter clothes were taken directly for use. The second category of items mainly consisted of various tools. The items included chargers, power banks, watches, cosmetics, cash, luxury goods, etc.—collectively called "useless things"—filled five suitcases and tossed into a corner. The third category was what Lu Shen cared about most, and was one of the most precious items among all the supplies—food! Many people carry food in their suitcases, and although the quantity wasn't large, it still amounted to a considerable amount after being collected. Snacks filled five large boxes; although they were expired, they were well-preserved at low temperatures and could barely be eaten in the harsh environment. However, these snacks weren't very filling, and although they tasted good, their cost-effectiveness was much lower than expected in the apocalyptic environment. Compared to snacks, Lu Shen hoped to find a bag of flour or a bag of rice, but unfortunately, no one would bring these things on the train. Luckily, while searching a certain carriage, Lu Shen found a small storage room, which likely contained emergency food stored on the train. The supplies —three boxes of unopened instant noodles, two boxes of canned beef, one box of canned fruit, one box of compressed biscuits, and five boxes of bottled water —were worth hundreds of times more than the five boxes of snacks; they were true hard currency in the apocalyptic environment! With careful rationing, they could at least ensure the two of them wouldn't starve for a month or two, and could even live comfortably. More importantly, he also found an emergency medical kit, also specially provided on the train, containing a large quantity of basic medicines and medical supplies. These included iodine, alcohol, bandages, hemostatic bandages, cooling patches, a thermometer, medical masks, an emergency flashlight, a first-aid blanket, antibiotics, anti-inflammatory drugs, cold medicine, and painkillers. In the apocalypse, these items could be life-saving. Not only could they be used for personal purposes, but they could also be traded with other survivors for many valuable items; their value was self-evident. He also found some medicine in the suitcase, but the quantity was relatively small, and the types were rather basic. Most of it consisted of vitamins, cold medicine powder, bandages, and cough syrup. Lu Shen didn't mind. He packed everything into his suitcase, from a professional first-aid kit to various scattered medications, categorizing them neatly for easy retrieval later. He filled about two suitcases, quite a lot. Finally, there were many miscellaneous items, the value of which Lu Shen wasn't sure about—such as dolls, umbrellas, headphones…—which he tossed into a corner, intending to exchange them for survival coins.