Armored train in the apocalypse

Chapter 225 Old Man Iron
Li Han opened his eyes in surprise and saw a tall figure standing in front of him.

The surging lightning scraped against the air, the distorted airflow flew upwards, making the black shirt rattle and crackle, and even the eyebrows were covered by lightning, standing upside down.

A bright flash of lightning illuminated Li Han's face, a scene that was nothing short of a miracle to him.

'Even if a god descended to earth, this wouldn't be any more impressive...'

"You should be glad I didn't skip work today."

Su Huan looked at the tall, second-tier zombie in front of him and couldn't help but twitch the corner of his mouth.

His old ailment flared up again, and the pain made him want to laugh.

The reason he was able to withstand a whip was not because he was much stronger than Liang Kuan; in terms of sheer physical strength, he was not as good as Liang Kuan.

It was only by utilizing the properties of electromagnetism that the two were attracted together and prevented from being blown away.

But the consequence was that he took all the damage from that attack.

His "Fighter" is currently only at Tier 1, far inferior to his main class's Tier 2 "Cyclic Vortex".

If he hadn't mastered the art of manipulating energy, he would have been drained to death here!
The difference between second-order and first-order is absolutely overwhelming.

Fortunately, it held up.

So it's going to die next!

Thunderstorm.

Su Huan's eyes suddenly brightened, and violent lightning poured into the tentacle monster without reservation.

It was like a flood that overwhelmed every part of his life.

Li Han, who was relatively close to the battlefield, even smelled the aroma of grilled squid.

"Boom..."

Liang Kuan rushed out from behind the broken wall.

With each step, the cement cracked and the ground shook violently.

The high-quality military green short-sleeved shirt was ripped apart by exaggerated muscles, blood gushing out like a roaring river, and veins bulging all over his body, making him look more like a monster than a monster.

The energy flow was several times stronger than before.

Su Huan's eyelids twitched. Although it was somewhat sudden, Liang Kuan's evolution was also reasonable.

The "Defender" evolves through battle.

He secretly controlled the current to contract into the second-tier zombie, but this level of current exceeded his control limit, and there was still a risk of accidental injury.

But Liang Kuan charged into the thunderstorm without hesitation, his large shield cleaving down like a giant axe.

"boom--"

A huge explosion was followed by shattered lightning that flew in all directions.

Li Han felt like he was going blind.

It took a moment for me to see the scene before me clearly.

The floor was smashed through, and the second-tier zombie fell into the water below. The train conductor and Liang Kuan stood beside the crater.

The sound of their breathing was like the roar of a giant beast, and wisps of white steam escaped from their bodies, mingling with the rising water vapor, making one's heart tremble.

Su Huan stared at the murky water and suddenly smiled, "That's interesting."

"Not dead yet?"

Liang Kuan asked in a muffled voice.

"Seriously injured, right?"

If the energy fluctuation of the second-tier zombie was 10 before, after being severely damaged by the two of them, the energy fluctuation became 0.2.
But it is rising at a slow pace.

Perhaps it will rise again in a few days or ten days.

He Jie, Yu Yue, and others also rushed over.

"Train conductor..."

Su Huan waved his hand, "First, retrieve that thing, then eliminate the remaining dangers in the factory."

"Yes."

He Jie breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that Su Huan was calm and composed.

Although he didn't think anything could happen to the train conductor, the lives of more than four thousand people on the train now rested on his shoulders.

He couldn't help but be nervous.

As for those little schemes he used to have, they've long since vanished. Without Su Huan, he's not confident he can keep the train going.

The sporadic gunfire resumed as soldiers began moving the crane.

Su Huan shifted his feet, his brow furrowing slightly.

The secretary, who had just arrived, hesitated for a moment before extending her hand, but someone else was faster than her.

Yu Yue went directly to Su Huan's side, grabbed one of his arms, and secretly used her strength to hold him back.

Su Huan then felt a little better.

His physical abilities, even after multiple evolutions and enhancements, are only slightly stronger than those of an average first-tier "fighter," far inferior to Liang Kuan's.

The latter could get up immediately after being slapped, while he felt like all his bones were cracked after being slapped.

Although the shield factor played a role, the difference was still evident.

Su Huan tried to take a few steps forward. Pain surged from his bones like a tide, but it also relieved him. As long as the bones weren't broken, it was just a flesh wound.

After assessing the injuries, Su Huan turned his attention to Li Han.

At this moment, the other party was lying on the ground, with emerald green vines still wrapped around their wrists.

Li Han swallowed hard; the power of the armed train had been imprinted in his mind in every way during this time.

The brief battle had just occurred further elevated the train conductor's status in his heart.

Looking into those narrow eyes, he couldn't help but feel nervous.

The meerkat suddenly staggered to its feet, clutching its chest, and said, "Reporting, conductor, he is a plant 'manipulator,' capable of rapidly cultivating plants; he can grow a tea tree from a seed in just three days."

"Wow, what a talent! Why didn't you say so sooner?"

Su Huan feigned surprise.

The mongoose's eyes revealed an expression of "I knew it."

The train conductor had no idea of ​​Li Han's existence. If he had known, he would never have put such a key talent in danger.

If it weren't for my repeated care, Li Han would either have been shot dead by He Jie or fed to the mutated beasts underwater.

In fact, Su Huan knew more than just that.

He also knew that there were three plant-related evolvers on the train. The reason he didn't protect them immediately was that he wanted to see who would evolve faster under high-pressure and dangerous conditions.

Whether he was accidentally shot by He Jie or killed by a mutated beast, he didn't care.

He admired Gao Zhe so much, yet he still got rid of him.

The trains of today are not what they used to be, and ordinary general-purpose energy crystals are not valuable. In today's massacre, hundreds of crystals can be easily put into storage, and dozens of first-order crystals can be obtained.

If Li Han dies, there's still Wang Han and Zhang Han.

Even if they all die, you can find a few thousand ordinary people to spawn a batch, and eventually one or two of them will be related to plants.

But the Crown Pear Tree is not only a matter of his life, but the "floating giant tree" is also much larger than a train carriage. Its main person in charge is not in a high position for the time being, but in the future he will definitely be on par with the factory director, Professor Ma, Huang Hai and others.

This is equivalent to directly adding a high-level executive, which represents a massive investment of resources.

The train doesn't have a lot of advanced evolutionary resources, so this person has to be carefully selected.

Based on current performance, Li Han is the best performer.

He's capable, evolves quickly, and is a good person.

It can be absorbed now.

"It seems that something unfair has happened. It's the train conductor's dereliction of duty that there are bad people on the train."

Su Huan sighed, squatted down, patted Li Han on the shoulder, and said gently, "But you must trust the organization, trust the train, and trust the train conductor. I have seen your performance. Even when you are in danger, you do not forget to protect your teammates. This is exactly the spirit that the Armed Train needs. Now I formally invite you to join the Armed Train!"

Upon hearing Su Huan's words, the meerkat instinctively looked at He Jie.

His beastly eyes narrowed slightly, and even his eyelashes exuded indifference.

He Jie was so angry he could barely stand it, but he couldn't retaliate. He turned around and kicked the licking rabbit away.

"Why are you standing here watching the show instead of cleaning up the battlefield?!"

Licking Rabbit painfully got up, "I meant to say the equipment has been moved in."

"Then why aren't you salvaging it? What are you wasting your time here for?!"

The goat hiding behind the pillar turned around thankfully; no wonder his ability had warned him of the danger ahead.

Lying on the ground, Li Han was unaware of the intricacies of the situation. He only saw the train conductor calmly reassuring him. Although the scene seemed somewhat eerie, he was still deeply moved.

Su Huan had left a very deep impression on the survivors on the deck.

I never expected him to be like this.

So they misunderstood the train conductor...

So he firmly declared, "I'm willing to join the armed train!"

Several core members looked at the scene before them with complicated expressions; sometimes, distance really does make the heart grow fonder.

However, given how much Su Huan values ​​the Crown Pear Tree, Li Han will eventually become the chief purser, and then he will be able to discover for himself what kind of train conductor he truly is.

The train conductor deserves immense credit for the train's stability.

The train conductor deserves immense credit for making the train so chaotic.

……

The second-tier zombie was quickly pulled out of the water by a crane.

His entire body had been severed at the waist by Liang Kuan, making him appear as if he were dead beyond any doubt. However, his body still retained some vitality.

The soldiers dragged Wanxing onto the vehicle to dissect her.

With the big one gone, the rest were easy to deal with. In half a day, the soldiers eliminated all the remaining dangers in the factory and retrieved all the bodies.

With so many evolutionary materials, we certainly can't waste them.

However, the biggest gain was Liang Kuan's breakthrough, becoming a first-tier "soldier".

This is an advanced direction that Su Huan had been working on with DeepBlue Data for a long time.

The biggest difference between it and "Fighter" is that it has an additional specialization in melee weapons, and it does not require such high flexibility and reaction speed. The main bonuses are in the areas of strength, defense, and endurance.

Pure melee fighters have an absolute advantage in encounters in the wilderness and complex terrain.

An essential member of the wilderness team in my past life.

It can greatly increase the team's margin for error. Unlike Su Huan's extreme stat allocation, "Soldier" has a more balanced output and defense.

Apart from slightly weaker special skills, there are no obvious shortcomings.

At noon, the factory manager had already led the soldiers to salvage the valuable equipment, build a frame on the roof, and begin the foundation construction of the "floating giant log".

The three thousand survivors were transformed into three thousand workers on the spot and began to assist in the construction.

Factory roof.

Seeing that all the plans were proceeding in an orderly manner, Su Huan nodded in satisfaction.

"What other challenges are there?" Su Huan asked.

The secretary beside him replied.

"The factory manager and his team are currently building the basic structure and buoyancy system. The materials are ready, but we don't have enough for the microgrid and intelligent control system."

Didn't you get enough in Shun'an last time?

"There are backups, but only enough for train replacements. Chips and large systems cannot be manufactured with the current industrial capacity of the trains; they can only be obtained from the city ruins."

"Just tell me where I can get it."

"The six people who occupied the Nanshan Highlands in Guanchong City Information Industry Park came from the industry park."

Su Huan narrowed his eyes. "How long will it take to move on to the next stage?"

"We need these electronic devices in six days. Should we call someone over to get some information?"

Shu Wei asked.

"There's not that much time. Let's get to know each other slowly on the way."

Su Huan turned around, walked to the edge of the factory, looked at the location of the train carriage, and jumped down.

……

Ten minutes later, He Jie received a message to lead three hundred soldiers to garrison the area.

He frowned and looked at his secretary, who had her hair tied in a high ponytail, "Are you going by train too?"

Shu Wei nodded, her ponytail swaying, and calmly said, "I will only leave you with a few high-ranking officers, as well as the factory director, Vice President Deng, and other researchers who will guide the 'Drifting Park' project."

"Which officers are there?"

"Xiao Ba, Licking Rabbit, Fat Rabbit, Lu Xiao and Jiang Rong, as well as the entire manufacturing and research teams."

He Jie nodded thoughtfully.

No wonder they kept him around; half the train had gotten off, and it was clear that no one else could keep things under control.

But he always felt that something was wrong.

Suddenly, a thought struck me, and I remembered someone.

Where is Qu Hang?

Then Shu Wei's eyes flickered slightly, a hint of something strange in them. "We need a sniper in the car, so we left him here. Good luck with your mission."

The train whistle sounded, and it started moving. Accompanied by the vibrations of the factory buildings, the train slowly headed north.

Before Shu Wei left in the last few quarters, she took two running steps and jumped directly onto the deck.

He bowed slightly to He Jie, who was hurling insults.

Anyway, she accomplished her mission of delivering the message.

Other things are not her responsibility.

……

After the change in the weather, people's lifestyles also changed.

For example, the word "preventing rain" is the same as before the change in weather, but its meaning is now very different.

The strong wind blowing across the water made the aluminum cans strung on the wire by the window rattle loudly.

The old man, who was sleeping on a makeshift bunk bed, was awakened.

"call……"

Old Man Tie let out a heavy breath, looked up at the window, and saw the sky turning dark and oppressive, with waves surging as they tried to reach the dark clouds, getting closer and closer with each surge.

I closed the window, took down the calendar from the tin wall, crossed out the number 9 with a pen, sat on the bed in a daze for a while, and then came to my senses.

I hung the calendar back on the wall properly; it's one of the few old things I still have.

If there aren't two familiar objects in the room, Old Man Tie simply can't fall asleep.

This made the old man cherish even more the things that hadn't been washed away.

My grandson used to say that his calendar was useless, an old relic outdated by the times.

But now, everyone in the community relies on these old relics to keep track of time.

The old man hugged the [Riot Suppressor-T5] shotgun beside the bed and stood up.

His broad frame made his white vest bulge, and if it weren't for his gray beard, he wouldn't look like a man in his seventies.

Old Man Tie pushed open the door, feeling the howling wind rushing towards him, and then locked the door behind him.

The sentry on duty at the settlement saw the old man, and a moment later, a strong middle-aged man jumped down from the shelf with a gun in his arms.

"Dad, why aren't you asleep?"

Old Man Tie looked at his youngest son, who was almost forty, and shook his head. "Zhenbang, it's going to rain. You all need to be careful not to let those things climb up. Where's Jianguo?"

Qi Zhenbang pointed to the shantytown behind him, "We took in quite a few more people the day before yesterday. My brother is looking for places to build houses for them."

Old Man Tie asked again, "Have Chen Lei's group returned?"

"This world... has been shattered, and it will never come back in this lifetime."

Qi Zhenbang looked down at the vast expanse of water below and sighed.

Old Man Tie snorted coldly, "Anyway, those kids aren't good people either. It's good that they can't come back. The settlement will be more peaceful. Alright, you go on duty. I'll go remind everyone."

Then, as he walked, he knocked on the tin shack next to him and shouted in a low, hoarse voice.

"There's a storm coming tonight, so make sure your doors and windows are closed!"

"Check your house carefully, lest a monster crawl inside."

"Don't sleep too soundly tonight."

The sound was carried by the wind from the rooftop and drifted above the clouds.

From above, the entire settlement is clearly built on four adjacent 20-story office buildings, connected by steel-framed walkways, with even simple corrugated iron houses built on top.

(Illustrative image; the actual buildings will be denser.)
The parts above the water were all inhabited, including the rooftops, where layers of corrugated iron shacks had been erected.

The old man climbed the steel-framed stairs to the second floor and ventured deep into the settlement.

When people heard the old man's voice, they all crawled out of the tin shack and rushed to greet him.

"Thank you for your hard work, Grandpa Iron!"

Good evening, Master Tie.

"Uncle Tie, I caught a fish today, and I just made braised fish. Would you like to try some?"

Old Man Tie would greet children kindly and offer a few words of advice to young people, but he would frown when he heard "Grandpa Tie".

He looked at the middle-aged man in his forties in front of him and said coldly, "What kind of inappropriate address is this? My name is Qi Tieshan. At your age, you can call me Uncle Tie, Master Tie, or Old Man Tie, whatever you like. The country is still around, so don't give me that weird address. Also, those fish have eaten corpses. Cut them open and take a good look, lest you get sick from eating them!"

The middle-aged man's face twitched, and he apologized repeatedly.

Old Man Tie didn't care. He walked towards the back with his gun, deliberately venturing into the nooks and crannies of the shantytown, occasionally talking to the people living on either side.

"Xiao Xu, don't put your shoe rack outside, or it'll all get soaked in the sea breeze."

"Old Wang's wife, couldn't you have walked a few more steps? You've spilled dirty water at the doorway. What are the people downstairs going to do? This tin-roofed house isn't very waterproof..."

"Whose child is this? Take him home right away!"

"Aren't you afraid of being carried away and eaten by the living dead?!"

"..."

Wherever the old man went, chaos ensued, but he also brought vitality to the lifeless settlement.

He worked until his vest was soaked with sweat, then walked through most of the settlement and arrived at the last building.

Compared to the area before, there are far fewer tin-roofed houses here, only two stories high.

A group of young men stood on a grid-shaped metal frame, sparks flying from their welding torches.

Once the frame is welded, sheet metal is pasted onto the grid, and a standard settlement house is built, looking like stacked shipping containers.

However, there are some narrow passageways and ventilation holes in the middle.

There is no other water, electricity, or lighting.

In the apocalypse, having a place to shelter survivors is already a blessing; nobody cares about such things.

For ordinary people, just surviving is already an immense struggle.

(End of this chapter)