Steamed fish head with chopped chili peppers is fine, it's a gold entry for every level.

Liu Min: "…………"

She took a deep breath and tried to make her expression look normal.

"Handsome," her voice softened, "it's so cold outside, is it warm in your car?"

"It's alright," Shen Wen replied truthfully.

"Then...why don't you want to warm up in my car?" Liu Min blinked. "I'm going to turn on the heater anyway, and it'll save energy for two people. Besides, it's a gas car, so it heats up quickly and is much warmer than your electric car."

Shen Wen looked at her calmly.

"Why don't you just stay in your car and keep warm instead of wasting your time like this?"

Liu Min's expression froze.

"You..." Her face flushed red, "I kindly invited you, what kind of attitude is this?"

"Kindness?" Shen Wen raised an eyebrow. "Are you sure you're being kind, or just trying to freeload off my self-heating hot pot?"

Liu Min's secret was exposed, and her face flushed red and then turned pale.

But she really did crave it!

The hot pot smelled amazing; you could smell it even through the car window.

She was eating compressed biscuits in the car until they were completely tasteless, when she suddenly smelled this spicy and fragrant aroma. Who could resist that?

And this straight guy was actually eating hot pot alone in his car!

Eating alone!

Heaven can't tolerate it!

"I..." Liu Min opened her mouth, wanting to explain, but found that she really didn't have any legitimate reason.

She stamped her foot, turned around, and walked back.

After taking two steps, he turned back and glared fiercely at Shen Wen.

"A man who doesn't understand romance deserves to be single forever!"

Shen Wen rolled up the car window expressionlessly and continued eating his hotpot.

With the car window rolled up halfway, Liu Min's gaze inadvertently swept over the front of the car.

Then her movements froze.

Car logo.

The logo on that Wuling Hongguang MINI was neither the red nor the silver Wuling logo, but a logo she had never seen before.

A golden roc spread its wings, every feather clearly visible, its eyes bright and piercing, gleaming with a faint golden light in the darkness.

Liu Min's eyes widened instantly.

She recalled the white phantom she had seen on the highway that afternoon, the chopped chili fish head that was traveling at least 200 km/h.

There's also that post that was questioned by countless people after the person made a real-name report in the channel.

[Liu Min: I, Liu Min, am filing a formal complaint! Someone is cheating! Really!!! I saw it clearly! It was pink and white! And had gold stickers! It was definitely going at 200 km/h!]

Gold stickers...

Liu Min's gaze fell once again on the golden roc.

"It's you!"

She gasped in surprise.

But the car window was already completely rolled up, and Shen Wen couldn't hear what she was saying at all.

Standing in the cold wind, Liu Min looked at the pink and white steamed fish head with chopped peppers and felt utterly miserable.

So this is the same car!

It turns out that the 200 km/h chopped chili fish head and the transforming behemoth are the same vehicle!

She remembered that she had been showing off her BMW X5 in front of this man that afternoon, trying to seduce him into joining her group, and even telling him he "deserved to be single forever"...

Liu Min's face was burning hot, whether from embarrassment or from the cold, it was hard to tell.

She quickly returned to her BMW X5, closed the door, and huddled in the driver's seat.

After a long while, she murmured to herself:

"Who on earth is this person...?"

Shen Wen was unaware that Liu Min had already recognized him, and even if she did, he wouldn't care.

He was enjoying the most pleasant moment he had experienced since his transmigration.

A self-heating hot pot, a bottle of mineral water, plus the gradually decreasing temperature outside the window and the increasingly warm atmosphere inside the car.

"This is life."

Shen Wen leaned back in his chair, patted his slightly protruding belly, and let out a satisfied sigh.

After finishing the hotpot, Shen Wen leaned back in his chair, satisfied, and let out a burp.

The spicy and savory flavor still lingered in my mouth, and I felt warm all over, a stark contrast to the gradually decreasing temperature outside the window.

"Ah, that feels so good!"

He stretched and then his gaze fell on the mineral water bottle beside him.

The bottle is empty.

Shen Wen remained silent for two seconds.

Humans have three urgent needs.

Especially after eating a hot and spicy hot pot.

He looked out the window, then at the empty bottle in his hand.

"Let's make use of waste."

Shen Wen muttered to himself as he carefully addressed his physical needs.

The pale yellow liquid filled the mineral water bottle, still slightly warm.

He pushed open a crack in the car window, threw the bottle out as fast as he could, and then quickly closed the window.

"Perfect."

Shen Wen nodded in satisfaction, then leaned back in his chair and looked out the window.

Night was falling.

The gray highway glowed faintly in the darkness, like a long, winding serpent leading to the unknown.

On both sides of the road was endless nothingness, with occasional eerie streaks of light flashing by, disappearing in an instant.

He doesn't plan to sleep.

This is the first night on the road to survival; who knows what will happen?

If you fall asleep and wake up to find yourself surrounded by monsters or frozen solid, that would be hilarious.

Shen Wen opened the regional channel and began to observe from below.

[Regional Channel]

Damn! I almost froze to death!

"That's nothing. I just wanted to pee, and as soon as I took it out, I felt something was wrong and quickly pulled it back. If I had peed out, wouldn't I have been performing ice sculpture art right there?"

[Can anyone tell me how much fuel a gas car uses per hour with the heater on? I don't think my half-tank will last until dawn!]

[It depends on your car model. Mine is a 1.5L naturally aspirated engine, and it uses about 0.5 liters of fuel per hour at idle with the heater on. You should calculate the size of your own fuel tank.]

0.5 liters? So that's 5 liters for ten hours... Seems okay?

"Dude, you're calculating idle speed. The problem is, don't you need to drive tomorrow? The black fog is still chasing us! What will we do if we run out of gas tomorrow?"

[…Damn, I forgot about that.]

[Tram riders must be in an even worse situation, right? I heard that turning on the heater on an tram halves its range. It can only go a little over 100 kilometers to begin with, and if you run the heater all night, it'll be completely broken down tomorrow.]

[Waaaaah, stop talking! I've already wrapped myself in a blanket. The Yadea's batteries can't be used for the heater; they'll ruin it. I'm just toughing it out with sheer willpower.]

[Any ladies out there who need some warmth? My big truck is really warm, and I'm warm too~]

[Get lost! You've said the same line three times already. Have you no shame?]

Shen Wen looked at the wailing and complaints in the channel and a slight smile appeared on his lips.

He glanced at the temperature display on the dial.

Current temperature: -4℃

[Interior temperature: 18℃]

Heating energy consumption: 0.2%/hour

Shen Wen raised an eyebrow.

"This temperature... I even feel a little hot."

He was telling the truth.

The passive ability of the Golden Roc form is too overpowered; a 90% reduction in energy consumption means he uses virtually no electricity when he turns on the heater. While others are bundled up in blankets from the cold, he feels warm even in just a single layer of clothing.

"Human joys and sorrows are not shared; I only find their noise annoying."

Shen Wen continued to watch the channels while lurking.

Soon, he noticed some unusual information.

[Guys! I found something! I've leveled up to level 2!]

【Wow, so fast? How did you get promoted?】

Kill monsters to get experience cards, then collect enough upgrade materials.

This is a small truck. Upgrading it requires 200 catties of steel and 150 catties of rubber. I killed three zombies this afternoon and dismantled two abandoned vehicles, which is just enough.

[200 catties of steel? 150 catties of rubber? This is a motorcycle; the upgrade only requires 80 catties of steel and 50 catties of rubber. It seems different models require different materials!]

Of course! Upgrading large vehicles requires more materials, otherwise tanks would have been up and running long ago.

[That makes sense. My SUV requires 150 catties of steel and 100 catties of rubber, which seems reasonable. With a little effort, I should be able to upgrade to level 2 tomorrow.]