Armored train in the apocalypse

Chapter 288 Deserter
Tan Yunxi cried as he pulled open his collar, and when he saw the shawl-like hair around his shoulder, his tears fell even faster.

Yu Jing and Hu Shuo looked at each other in bewilderment.

"The 'Beast Transformation' skill is quite powerful. Combined with 'Combat Factors,' before Tier 1, very few people can defeat you."

"really?"

Tan Yunxi asked, her eyes brimming with tears.

"You can ask the meerkats."

Yu Jing thought of how her mother comforted her when she was little, and reached out to touch her head, but somehow ended up touching her ear instead.

Tan Yunxi cried even louder.

The other people in the lab also turned to look.

Yu Jing, Hu Shuo: "..."

He said, "I have something to do over there, I have to go."

After Hu Shuo left, Tan Yunxi gradually quieted down, but was still sobbing softly.

Yu Jing's eyes gradually sharpened. "I have a problem right now. If you can solve it, I guarantee you'll be promoted two levels."

Tan Yunxi looked up. "So, the Level 3 flight attendant who gets 50 points a month is eligible to exchange for survival information and evolution supplies?"

She had already figured out the train's points system.

The crew as a whole is inferior to the armed forces.

A first-class flight attendant's basic salary is only 20 points per month. Even with some allowances, bonuses, and other miscellaneous subsidies, they can barely earn 30 points a month.

The basic salary for a Level 2 flight attendant is 35 points.

On the armed forces side, even the most ordinary privates receive 60 points each month.

But the recent death rate of one in five silenced all the private voices.

Now everyone on the bus knows that it's money to buy their lives.

Compared to that, the flight attendant team is actually doing quite well.

As long as you work steadily until you reach level four, you can earn 70 basic points every month.

Easily support a family; if you're single, life is even more comfortable.

Tan Yunxi got into the car not only because her family was betting on her, but also because she wanted to try the mutated plant that could increase her vitality.

Only third-level crew members are eligible to purchase.

"You seem to know quite a lot about this."

Yu Jing was slightly surprised.

Tan Yunxi proudly puffed out his chest, even towering over Yu Jing.

"Anything related to weapon design, I can definitely solve!"

Yu Jing glanced subtly at the girl's bulging pride, then pursed her lips. "I'm currently designing the train's first individual exoskeleton, which requires a comprehensive design of the exoskeleton's weapon system."

Tan Yunxi quickly wiped away her tangled tears with the mane on her shoulder, then waved her small hand, her eyes gleaming.

"Let's go check out the current progress."

……

Black Kite Headquarters, Underground Laboratory.

As the mechanical sound rang out, Number 1, dressed in a white coat, stepped out of the door. Behind his glasses, his eyes reflected streams of data. As he removed his blood-stained medical gloves, he said, "The data fluctuated too much between several experiments; there must be other interfering factors..."

Before he could finish speaking, Number One's gaze fell on the shadowy corner of the wall.

A suit with its shoulders stretched extremely wide stood there.

Number 4 stepped forward, about to speak, when he saw Number 1 raise his palm and turn to look at the experimental assistant walking from the other side.

"It's almost time. Have the original gene for number 3 and the mutated plant that increases life force arrived yet?"

The lab assistant paused, a clear look of hesitation on his face.

"Still want test subjects? If you keep loitering in the lab, Black Kite will be emptied out."

A sharp sound came from Number 4's mouth.

Number 1 paused for two seconds, then reached out his hand.

Soon, the lab assistant placed a tablet in his hand, which recorded everything that had happened to Black Kite in great detail, and two-thirds of the text mentioned one name.

—Armed train.

Looking at the shocking battle report, Number 1's remaining brain capacity quickly became overloaded.

They fell into a state of stagnation.

“I proposed to revoke Number 3’s top authority. Although he didn’t take anything directly from the company, the other senior executives are trying every means to extract resources from the company. I just got back, and I can’t stop them!”

Number 4's sharp voice was filled with barely suppressed anger.

Where is Number 3 now?

Having freed most of his brain from experimental deduction, Number 1 finally became a little more human.

The voice remained calm, carrying a mechanical coldness.

Neither the defeat of the Black Kite nor the staggering war reparations made him frown.

"They're cutting down sand beasts in the west."

How many people are left in the company?

Number 4 frowned. "The company has already suffered heavy losses. Even if it didn't, we still can't do anything about the current armed trains. Even I have to admit that the other side is a major force that suppresses us in terms of high-end combat power."

"No, withdraw your forces and avoid conflict with them for the time being."

Behind the lens, the data stream flowing through No. 1's eye was even more terrifying.

"Dual-career individuals—this is truly a brand new direction that inspires a great deal of exploration."

"However, I need more information."

"What information?"

"I need to know everything about the armed train and its conductor."

Number 4 sighed, "If I had known it would be like this, don't worry, I've already arranged for spies. If necessary, I will guide them."

……

Compared to the unpredictable floods in the flood zone, the sandstorms in the storm zone are equally severe.

However, they are worlds apart in terms of power.

Faced with that immense power of heaven and earth, even the fully prepared armed train almost capsized. If it weren't for the giant whale's unnecessary intervention that helped the train sink quickly, even the train conductor would have been trapped on the island as a sacrifice.

That was a true natural disaster, a catastrophe that claimed lives.

Whether human, evolved beast, or anything else, whether they submit or resist, they will all be equally baptized by natural disasters.

The storm zone, this "safe zone," is like a giant jungle.

It follows the simple rule of the jungle: the strong prey on the weak.

Every life form uses its own way to avoid natural disasters and seek evolution.

The arrival of the armed train, this unexpected guest, had long attracted the attention of the indigenous people.

After all, the storm zone is too big.

Even a powerful force like Black Kite only has a population of 100,000, which is just a drop in the ocean when scattered across this vast area.

The remaining area is naturally filled with various survivor gathering places, camps, shelters, city ruins, zombie hordes, and mutated plant forbidden zones... Various life forms fight and entangle with each other on this land, savage yet full of vitality.

The gravel on the ground vibrated slightly, and a scorpion the size of a washbasin on the asphalt road turned around in confusion, searching for the source of the vibration.

There was no sandstorm today, right?
"Buzz-"

The low rumble of the engine grew ever closer.

The mutated scorpion raised its tail, intimidating the unknown enemy.

"boom!"

A crisp gunshot rang out, and the scorpion's black exoskeleton shattered instantly, juices gushing out. Before it could react, three more bursts of fire severed its only weapon.

Two wheels ran over its back and stopped five or six meters away. Then came a quick jog. The mutated scorpion, on the verge of death, felt its body being pierced and lifted up, and only then did it see the creature that had killed it.

It has no hard shell, nor sharp claws or teeth, only a dark, ferocious face.

"Hey, Rong, look what I got—a Sun Scorpion!"

Before the man could even raise his spoils to show them, he was kicked by a large foot and stumbled.

The sun scorpion in his hand fell to the ground, spraying a ghastly green venom in all directions as if it had gone mad. The asphalt and sand it touched made a sizzling sound and emitted white smoke.

The dark-faced man was stunned.

Before he could react, a man in a leather coat kicked him hard in the head.

"You idiot! I told you not to take things without permission! You just never learn!"

People around stopped their cars, looking coldly at the black-faced man who had been beaten. Some even laughed and shouted, "Brother Wei, why don't you just kill him? His brain has already been poisoned, he's just a mouth all he's alive, what good is he except for making shit?"

This immediately caused a burst of laughter.

Yuan Wei's expression shifted between anger and uncertainty as he looked at his neighbor, who was groaning on the ground with his head in his hands. His fingers gradually moved to the handle of his gun.

"okay!"

Li Xinlong, who was sitting in an off-road vehicle, shouted a warning.

Yuan Wei breathed a sigh of relief and turned to the young man in the passenger seat of the SUV, smiling apologetically, "Brother Rong, you're kind-hearted, otherwise I would have beaten this idiot to death today."

Li Xinlong wanted to say something, but there were too many people around him, so he waved his hand impatiently.

Yuan Wei quickly dragged the foolish neighbor away.

Everyone else in the convoy looked at the two of them with the utmost disdain, but Yuan Wei pretended not to see them.

Someone got out of the car, picked up the dead sun scorpion, and carried it to the side of the SUV, saying obsequiously, "Master Rong, look."

Li Xinlong glanced up and saw a pair of long, white legs reflected in the rearview mirror.

Subconsciously, I thought of the amazing elasticity of those long legs wrapped around my waist last night, and I couldn't help but turn to the side.

A sweet, soft female voice came from the back seat of the SUV, "It has never evolved, so it can only extract the most ordinary crystals. Shall I make it for you now?"

Li Xinlong turned around, looked at the woman's bright red lips, and said nonchalantly.

Which one?

The woman was stunned for a moment, then spat out a curse.

When Li Xinlong turned around, a glint of insightful wisdom flashed in his eyes.

Like an old jackal, figuring out where to steal chickens at night.

The driver asked, "Brother Rong, shall we go straight there, or..."

Li Xinlong turned around and looked at the city ruins under the sunlight. He said carefully, "Don't get so close. Bomb said that group of people have guns and cannons. It seems that the car got stuck there, so it stopped there."

"Row!"

The driver responded, and six or seven vehicles, along with a dozen or so motorcycles, headed deeper into the city.

To their surprise, the annoying zombies in the ruins had all disappeared today, and the buildings were eerily quiet.

The group cautiously circled around, following the cracked asphalt road until they arrived at a high-rise residential complex.

Only Huangpu remains of the original four characters "Huangpu International"; the word "International" has disappeared.

A huge billboard stood to one side, with a bright red background and auspicious words printed in white on it: "Only 6080 per square meter, plus a free parking space."

Behind it is a ring of completed houses, and two unfinished, abandoned buildings.

You could hear the clanging and banging sounds coming from inside even from a distance.

The driver carefully pulled the car over to the side of the road, hesitatingly asking, "Are these guys planning to build something here?"

"What building repair? They're repairing cars!"

Li Xinlong shouted, picked up the binoculars, and climbed onto the front of a truck next to him.

Seeing this, the others also found high points and climbed up with a clatter.

Li Xinlong was startled when he saw the huge train looming over the square, and raised his binoculars to look.

The vehicle body is seven or eight meters high, with a heavy, prismatic front and a wide ironwood deck.

And the railgun on the roof, which looked menacing, all shocked Li Xinlong's understanding.

Is this something that could be done under the current circumstances?

"My grass!"

"Damn it!"

"Holy crap, Boss Rong, that kid Bomb wasn't lying, there really was a train!"

"Open your eyes wide and look! Is this a train? This is probably a hidden military force from our Eastern Empire!"

"What a load of rubbish about military equipment. There are no soldiers around these days. I feel like it was just a bunch of people who came up with it at some military base."

"That's not what I meant."

"This idea is indeed a bit tricky..."

The woman, who was idly picking at her fingers inside the SUV, suddenly gave a cold laugh, her eyes darting around, seemingly lost in thought.

Li Xinlong, on the other hand, looked much more conflicted.

He had heard that a group of outsiders had appeared in the ruins of Xiaohe City, but they were quite formidable. Just by standing there, they deterred several convoys around Xiaohe. He was curious about just how formidable they were.

Anyway, we're going somewhere with a group of people, so maybe we can squeeze some money out of them.

He came with this idea in mind, but when he saw the armed train, he gave up.

We're not even in the same league.

Putting aside the train that inspired awe, the uniformed armed personnel alone made it difficult for him to have any ideas.

The number of people in one of their train carriages is more than the entire number of people in his convoy.

It would be good enough if they didn't eat it all in one bite.

Just as he was about to give up, his subordinate suddenly shouted, "Master Rong, two people have come out."

Li Xinlong picked up the binoculars and looked.

Sure enough, he saw two men in green military uniforms running towards the outside of the residential area with guns in their arms. It seemed to be their direction, which startled Li Xinlong.

"What do you mean? Have you discovered us?"

His subordinate asked with some surprise and uncertainty.

"No, this doesn't seem right. Tell the brothers to prepare for a retreat!"

Li Xinlong said cautiously.

The driver waved his hand behind him, and everyone scattered like birds and beasts, getting into the car and starting the engine.

But Li Xinlong didn't get into his SUV, and everyone waited anxiously.

Soon, two men wearing green trench coats and carrying assault rifles rushed out of the residential area. When they saw Li Xinlong and his men parked outside, they were startled and raised their guns like frightened birds.

The men in the convoy also instinctively raised their guns.

"do not move!"

"Don't move!"

"Who are you?!"

"Don't shoot!"

At Li Xinlong's command, the convoy members remained restrained, and the two groups stood stiffly in a standoff.

Seeing that the two soldiers looked very nervous and kept glancing at the residential area behind them out of the corner of their eyes, Li Xinlong had a flash of inspiration and shouted.

"Get in the car first, we'll talk about it after we leave!"

(End of this chapter)