Armored train in the apocalypse

Chapter 101 Prelude
It wasn't until the off-road vehicle started to bounce that Zhang Min suddenly realized that she had actually left that nightmarish mud pit.

And she was wearing a set of clothes that fit her perfectly.

The bespectacled man, named Li Tao, claimed to be a negotiator from the Steel Council. He offered her a deal, and she exchanged information about the armed train for two conditions.

Become an evolved being and join the faction to which the other party belongs.

Li Tao agreed to everything, and then took her away from the quagmire of the Mojiang Mutual Aid Team. In the car, he explained to her some of the rules of the Steel Council, as well as... its formidable strength!

And the identity she would gain by joining the organization, and what she would be doing next.

All of this made Zhang Min feel like it was all unreal.

A ray of golden light pierced through the clouds outside the car window, hitting the SUV directly. Zhang Min strained her eyes, tears streaming down her face from the stinging sunlight, but she refused to look away even for a second.

No longer need to be caught between men's desires, panting for breath.

But I never expected that all of this was still because of that man.

A small survivor organization has attracted the attention of a powerful force like the Steel Conference.

What has he been doing lately?
'Train conductor, so should I hate you, or should I admire you?'

A morbid malice surfaced in her eyes, which were filled with tears and glistening with moisture.

……

The charismatic train conductor was unaware that a wicked woman had her eye on him.

He was diligently writing at his desk.

Although Yu Jing's plan was somewhat rushed, he really appreciated it.

The greatest threat in the apocalypse is not natural disasters, nor the ferocious evolved beasts and terrifying zombies, but rather our fellow human beings who can talk and laugh just like us.

Just like acid rain, it would take at least several years for it to erode the railroad tracks, giving them ample time to repair and escape.

But your enemy won't.

They will only appear when you are at your most vulnerable, and then use every means to take your life.

Although he spoke very casually to He Jie last time.

But that doesn't mean he doesn't value this matter.

Given the style of the Steel Conference, losing twenty men wouldn't make them back down. Even if they couldn't win, they would still come to negotiate, assess the strength of the armed train, and then decide whether to go to war or coexist peacefully.

No force would rashly launch a major plan when a tiger is lurking nearby.

So he now has to figure out how to face the Steel Council.

Suddenly, a golden light flashed outside the car window, passing through the metal blinds and landing on his notebook.

The various scoring rules are listed above.

Initially, Su Huan didn't intend to make things too complicated. He simply equated the Armed Train Points with hard currency. For example, one ordinary universal energy crystal was worth 1 point, and two 9mm pistol bullets were worth 1 point.

For a D-level mission, the train conductor generously granted a maximum of 10 points.

It's the upper limit, not the lower limit.

After all, some missions are simply not worth that many supplies.

In other words, Lu Xiao can earn ten ordinary universal energy crystals or twenty pistol bullets as a reward for leading his team to complete a D-level mission.

This is already a very generous price.

Ten universal energy crystals can give birth to at least 4 to 8 evolved beings.

If used properly, twenty pistol bullets can take down twenty newly evolved evolved humans or twenty ordinary zombies.

Don't take bullets lightly.

This is a brand new, unreloaded missile; in my previous life, it would probably have been worth even more.

The greater potential of cold weapons is in terms of promoting evolution itself.

But the vast majority of people don't have a post-production phase.

This is also the main reason why the "firepower master," an evolved profession that combines firearms, has become so popular.

With guns and bullets, they are the complete evolved beings.

Without bullets, they are nothing more than low-level evolved beings with slightly better basic abilities.

Using his assessment of the future situation, Su Huan listed all the supplies currently available on the train and then assigned them a point value that met his expectations.

Of course, this is the ratio of points to train tickets for exchanging supplies.

If it were the other way around, the price wouldn't be the same if you wanted to exchange resources for points.

"boom--"

Suddenly, a zombie in the distance fell headfirst from the building and crashed onto the awning below with a loud thud.

It seems Yu Yue is practicing her shooting again.

Lately, she's been practicing on the zombies around the train, partly to clear out trouble in advance, and partly to improve her marksmanship and train her in the relevant specialization.

Su Huan only knew the name of some skills, and he didn't know the specific method of potion synthesis.

If he hadn't been able to use the authority of a major in his previous life, he wouldn't have known so much about so many professions.

The only thing we can do is let them try training, or train one of their own pharmacists.

There is currently a significant shortage of collectors and manufacturers.

We need to speed things up.

Without the acid rain to block out the noise, the sound attracted the attention of some zombies, who howled and called to their companions, rushing towards the armed train.

The leader was a slender and tall first-tier zombie with two-meter-long legs and reverse-jointed knees. He crouched down and suddenly leaped seven or eight meters, reaching the train in two bounds.

The iron rain on the locomotive suddenly changed direction, swayed slightly, and tilted upwards at a 30-degree angle.

Jump! Fire!

In an instant, it was like a rain of iron striking the sky.

The newly arrived Tier 1 Zombie Jumper burst into a bloody firework in mid-air.

The rain of bullets stopped in an instant, having barely used up any bullets.

The level of precision in this control was such that, apart from He Jie, only Xiao Ba was on the entire train.

But considering the reaction speed, it's more likely the latter.

Xiao Ba has been getting more and more familiar with that big machine in the past two days. However, this has also reminded Su Huan to prepare countermeasures in advance to prevent hostile metal manipulators or some strange operators from using the anti-aircraft machine gun to target him.

The rhythmic three-round bursts of the Iron Guard assault rifles could be heard outside the car window.

The third brother led his brothers down to clear out the approaching zombies.

And dragged the wrecked Tier 1 zombie back into the carriage.

This is the basic duty of the train crew: to guard the train and perform some train-related tasks.

Su Huan glanced at the time.

04:40 in the afternoon.

I stretched and stepped out of the carriage.

The young cook held a black sniper rifle while loading bullets into the magazine one by one. A row of 7.62 armor-piercing rounds were laid out on the table, and she loaded each one with utmost care, just like when she was cooking, meticulously performing each step.

Unlike Su Huan, who often leaves kitchen utensils scattered everywhere due to laziness.

Seeing that she was in good spirits, Su Huan did not disturb her and walked straight to carriage number 3.

Wan Xing then gave him five first-order universal energy crystals.

Including the previous ones, Su Huan now has one second-tier crystal and five first-tier crystals.

There was no other way; there were so many people on the train, and everyone needed to evolve. No matter how hard Wan Xing worked, the amount of energy crystals was just a drop in the ocean.

Su Huan raised an eyebrow. "Your speed seems to have increased a lot. Has your main ability evolved, or have you gained new skills?"

Wan Xing nodded. "Visual Analysis has been upgraded to Level 2, and a new Level 1 ability called Energy Solidification has been added."

Su Huan crouched down, bringing his line of sight to Wan Xing's.

"Regarding gatherers, I know of three systems: the first-tier profession 'Trace Expert,' which focuses on trace analysis and tracking, with a maximum tier of only two and relatively weak combat power; the second-tier profession 'Decomposer,' which enhances gathering and decomposition, with a maximum tier of three and some combat power; and the last one, as you know, the first-tier profession 'Apothecary,' which synthesizes gathered materials, with a maximum tier of two, offering greater versatility, and whose combat power depends on the potions they produce."

Which one do you want to choose?

A thoughtful look flashed in Wan Xing's eyes, then she asked in return, "Which one do you want me to choose?"

"pharmacist."

"Then let's go with the pharmacist."

Su Huan said seriously, "You only have this one chance to choose."

Wan Xing calmly shook her head. "The pharmacist is fine. I don't want to go out to fight. What do you need me to do?"

"Upgrade your visual analysis to level 3 as soon as possible, and I'll give you the subsequent skill combinations."

"it is good."

Heavy footsteps echoed in carriage number 4, and Yu Yue's gentle voice reached Su Huan's ears.

Looking up, I saw He Jie walking over with a somber expression. "I have a feeling the company is coming to find us."

Su Huan looked out the car window. The sun, which had just peeked out, was once again obscured by dark clouds. The gloomy sky was just like He Jie's ugly face, with a small black dot suspended beneath the clouds.

Su Huan's lips curled up slightly. "I didn't expect such high efficiency, but you're wrong about one thing."

He Jie asked in surprise, "What point?"

"It's your former employer who's causing us trouble."

He Jie's face darkened further. "I hope you'll take some tough measures, otherwise we'll all suffer if we're caught and taken back."

Su Huan chuckled, "It's just a confessional wall, nothing new."

"You know this as well?"

The so-called confessional wall is a sloping wall where prisoners are tied to and corroded by acid rain day and night.

In less than ten days, it will turn into a lump of rotten flesh.

These are some of the tricks the Steel Council uses to intimidate scavengers and defectors.

"Never mind, I'll excuse myself for a bit."

He Jie shook his head, turned around, and entered the carriage.

Su Huan did not stop him. The other party was more useful now that he was "dead" than alive. At least the Steel Council would not kill his wife and daughters because of his mission failure.

The roar grew louder as it approached, and the small black dot on the horizon transformed into a helicopter. Compared to the one on the bridge, the helicopter was clearly armed, with two massive triple-barreled Gatling guns and external rocket pods, showcasing its formidable strength.

The sound of Xiao Ba's electric wheelchair came from beside him, and Lao San also arrived with his men.

Yu Jing walked over and handed Su Huan his electromagnetic sniper rifle.

He opened the window, and the energy in his body began to flow into the gun. Su Huan closed one eye and saw a convoy speeding towards him through the scope.

The lead vehicle was an off-road vehicle, followed by an armored personnel carrier.

'Looks like my former employer has still made some gains.'

"Come on, let's say hello in a friendly way."

With a bright smile on his face, Su Huan decisively pulled the trigger.

　My old habit kicked in again; I checked the comments section and almost broke my resolve. I'll update more today to make up for it.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)