Armored train in the apocalypse

Chapter 300 The Horseman
Several women hurriedly went to carriage number 27 and skillfully exchanged their points for supplies, making the most of every single point.

Then he stuffed the large and small bags of food and weapons into his oversized clothes. Although he looked a bit bulky, he blended in with the drab scavengers. Under the indifferent gaze of the train sergeant, he passed the swaying "dried meat" in the quarantine area, ran around two corners, and only breathed a sigh of relief when he saw a group of men standing by the motorcycles talking and laughing in hushed tones.

A man with a chunk of flesh missing from his arm spat, "I thought you guys were all killed. You're only coming back so late. I was about to leave!"

The woman displayed her magnanimity, smiling obsequiously, "Third Brother, don't be angry. We've got them, haven't we? With these supplies, our camp can hold on."

Third Brother's eyes lit up immediately, and he swallowed hard.

Of course, he wasn't interested in the dangling hot water bottles, but the Hummingbird-9 compact submachine gun strapped to them was far too tempting.

With this treasure, zombies won't just rampage around!

The reason why the large convoy expanded so quickly was because it had guns, which allowed it to kill more zombies, obtain more supplies, and thus support more people.

With more people, expansion is faster.

Now that they have guns, what are the Xinma Gang anymore?
What is Wen Biao anyway?
"Quick, soldiers are coming!"

The woman kept looking around, and when she saw the patrol car pass by, she quickly whispered a reminder.

Third Brother's eyes darted around. "So you, old codger, really got the better deal?"

The woman said smugly, "That little girl is naive. If her husband hadn't been there, I could have gotten more. I've only gotten a small advantage, but they're used to being domineering on armed trains. If they realize what's going on, they'll have us arrest them and hang them."

The women divided the items among themselves, and the group hurriedly drove away on the motorcycle.

……

inside the car.

"Hmph, I'll never pity them again!"

The little box recovered quickly, wiped its tears on Lin Jin's shoulder, and then said angrily.

"Let's go find the train conductor."

Lin Jin took Xiao Hezi's hand and headed straight for the food cart.

The dining car was empty, and since the two weren't in a hurry, they didn't bother the control tower. They leisurely walked through the lush green farm carriages and headed towards the exchange carriage number 27 at the back.

With ample sunlight in the storm zone, these plants grew even more beautifully. With Huang Hai and Xiao Wang's meticulous care, carriages 7 and 8 were transformed into a green corridor, where various harmless plants competed for attention. And because there were few people, the young couple would come and stroll around whenever they had a chance.

Since the separation of train crews and corps, the doors between train carriages have no longer been closed, serving more of an emergency function. However, through repeated reforms, Hu Shuo and other managers have added many details to improve the train's rules.

For example, only third-level crew members, or officers of rank or above, are allowed to freely enter and exit the first twelve carriages of a train.

Regular crew members can only enter the cabin when required for their mission.

As for the first three carriages of the train, although there are no specific rules, a tacit rule has been formed that only the chief purser can freely enter and exit, while managers of various departments, namely the fifth-level purser, can only enter when the train conductor is holding a meeting.

So other lower-ranking members of the train who want to relax can only wait for the train to stop, or go to the cultivation chambers that are open at fixed times. There are fewer plant species there, but they are more spacious and more like a train park.

Carriage 27 was bustling with activity. Scavengers dressed in various colors and survivors from Xinma County prayed to exchange the treasures they had found in the ruins for more supplies. Meanwhile, the logistics crew members were grumbling and sorting through the collected items in the armed hall at the back of the carriage.

The redemption window was much quieter, with only the sound of flight attendants asking questions.

Before the two even got close, they saw a radio being thrown out of the window. Then, an old woman, wrapped in clothes from head to toe, rushed towards the radio, her face showing a hint of sorrow. Holding the radio up, she pleaded, "Young lady, could you please take a look at it for me?"

From inside came Su Leiya's furious, crisp curses, "If you waste my time with this junk again, I'll make this piece of trash pay for your death!"

The old lady's expression froze for a moment before she silently retreated.

Even with soldiers watching, similar incidents still happen frequently.

Most of them were elderly people, women and children. If any young or strong dared to act recklessly, the soldiers would sweep them away with a burst of bullets and drag them away on the spot.

In just two days, the train was washed more than a dozen times.

The two quickly found the busy ramblings.

"The train conductor is not on the train right now."

"Not here?"

"Secretary Shu gave instructions before he left that he should be back by tonight, and should be within the Xinma County area."

Hu Shuo gave an accurate answer.

"If you have urgent matters to report, you can ask Professor Ma to activate the communication enhancement device and contact Secretary Shu directly."

"We're not in a hurry, we'll talk about it tonight."

Lin Jin waved his hand.

Just as the group was talking, heavy, rapid footsteps came from the roof of the car. Then, someone jumped down and crawled in through the front door. The white scale armor bodysuit emitted a colorful halo in the sunlight, and the tall exoskeleton made her bend slightly before crawling into the car.

With her phoenix eyes scanning the crowd, her cold voice reached the ears of the others before anyone else could hear her.

"There's a problem with the parts we collected."

Without wasting words, Yu Jing manipulated the robotic arm to extend forward, displaying a precision mechanical part.

Hu Shuo's expression turned serious. "Is it just this one, or are most of them problematic?"

Yu Jing calmly said, "We have found a few so far, but large-scale verification is very troublesome. We need to use our abilities to test them one by one. These are parts that have been modified by ability users. The purpose is to pass them off as inferior ones, and their actual strength does not meet the standards."

Hu Shuo gestured for the clerk to close the window, which then became a closed office cubicle.

Lin Jin sensed something was wrong and listened quietly from the side with the small box in his hand.

The usually mild-mannered Hu Shuo unbuttoned the top button of his collar and exhaled.

"We've been scammed."

Yu Jingfeng narrowed her eyes slightly, "What do you mean?"

“I’ve received feedback from various departments these past two days that there are problems with the items exchanged in Xinma County,” Hu said, picking up a bone from the exchange clerk’s hand and handing it to Yu Jing.

Feeling the energy fluctuations emanating from above, Yu Jing frowned.

"The bones of a first-tier evolved beast?"

Hu Shuo shook his head, took the bone, turned it over, and found a hole that had been carved out on it.

"Actually, it was made by combining a bone that had not yet reached the first rank with a first-rank bone. Wan Xing tried to extract the material many times but failed. Only after careful examination did she discover that the bone had been tampered with."

"Who?"

Yu Jing's voice was cold.

“Besides the Singapore-Malaysia group, everyone in the Singapore-Malaysia district who has done business with us has cheated us to some extent. Some of them weren’t cheated, they just didn’t succeed.”

Little Box said nervously, "I just received a lot of bags of clothes... This is such a big deal, let's tell the train conductor right away!"

Hearing what the little box said, he ignored the nonsense.

Lin Jin squeezed his girlfriend's fingers, signaling her to stop talking.

As the head of the logistics team, Hu said he had plenty of ways to contact the train conductor, but since he didn't mention it, there must be another solution.

Yu Jing pondered for a moment, then looked Hu Shuo in the eye and asked, "What do you want to do?"

"Solve it like a train conductor."

Hu Shuo pushed up his glasses and turned to look at Lin Jin, "I might have to trouble you."

Lin Jin instantly understood the "train conductor's method," and a cold glint flashed in his eyes. "I'll kill someone, and you'll write the application."

Yu Jing said calmly, "According to the new regulations, if the train conductor is not present, it requires the agreement of at least three department heads and the highest-ranking officer in the corps before a deployment. I suppose you don't have time to do that, so I'll coordinate it."

Hu said with a gentle smile, "Try to be as quick as possible. I need to summarize and report the situation before the train conductor returns."

……

Little Box was dragged away by Lin Jin in a daze. Although she had watched the whole thing, she still didn't understand what kind of riddles they were talking about.

"What was the train conductor's method?"

The little box suddenly asked.

Lin Jin pinched her nose. "If all goes well, I'll come back for dinner tonight. If it's too late, don't wait for me. I'm in a hurry now. I'll tell you tomorrow."

Pushing the small box back upstairs, Lin Jin took off his casual trench coat and hung it aside.

After putting on all kinds of protective gear, and finally putting on an oversized combat windbreaker, I picked up the backpack by the wall and headed to the garage.

As soon as I entered, I saw Lu Xiao sitting in an armed off-road vehicle, playing with two silver Ming Lions.

"Linzi is here?"

Lin Jin nodded to the group, then glanced around before spotting his silent superior in the corner.

"Lin Jin, Captain of the Armed Corps, reporting for duty."

Yu Yue had already sensed his gaze. She raised her head, her lowered eyes carrying an inexplicable sharpness.

"The target photos have been sent to you. The objective of this operation is to mitigate the train damage. A total of four teams will be deployed: Tong Zizhan, Lu Xiao, Qu Hang, and Yu Yue. I am the commander-in-chief. Each team will lead two non-commissioned officer teams. They will operate separately and send out signal flares every twenty minutes to coordinate their actions. Return to the train before 7:00!"

"Yes!"

The crowd readily accepted the order.

The car door opened, and four SUVs roared to the ground.

Eight civilian SUVs, which the roadside logistics team had just finished testing, followed closely behind.

……

Within the district of Singapore and Malaysia.

Due to the long-term activities of the three convoys and two gathering places, the core area has been cleared of zombies.

The small county town is home to more than 8,000 people, a small number of whom are original residents, but most of them are people who fled from Zhijin City. Due to the recent "base city plan", the number of people has doubled, and at its peak, it has surged to about 20,000.

Dense populations bring abundant resources.

As long as people are alive, they have a need for exchange.

Food, clean drinking water, weapons and ammunition... even a pack of tissues, a clean pair of underwear, or someone else's wife all have their trading value.

But the most sought-after supplies right now undoubtedly come from the mysterious armed train.

Compared to the large-scale trading of Black Kite, the train not only offers a wider variety of goods but also does not restrict individual trading, bringing new vitality to the impoverished small markets of Xinma County.

Moreover, Neutral Town is a place for large-scale transactions between powerful groups. Ordinary scavengers face a near-death experience just to get there, so most of them will not leave their familiar places until they can no longer endure it.

A closed commercial street has been developed around the cluster of Chinese medicine hospitals in Singapore and Malaysia.

Instead of shops with their doors wide open, the streets were lined with specially converted ground-floor shops, one of which had a window used for business. Outside the window were crisscrossing iron bars, and inside it was pitch black.

There's nothing there outside if you don't care about appearances.

Some places are quite particular and have an iron fence around the outside. If guests find it dangerous, they can choose to run away or close the iron gate here to take temporary shelter.

This little fence has other uses besides saving you from fire and water.

In just a short while, Su Huan had already witnessed two blatant acts of extortion, both by out-of-town scavengers who had just arrived in Xinma County.

He couldn't be bothered to pay attention.

The law of the jungle will be the dominant theme for the next four years and beyond.

However, after wandering around the streets for a while, no one bothered him.

This credit doesn't go to the two fully armed soldiers behind him, nor to the icy Secretary Shu.

What truly intimidated this group of desperate scavengers was Wen Biao, who was bowing and scraping before them.

Although Wen Biao tried his best to suppress the fawning smile on his face, he still couldn't help but bow when facing Su Huan.

"This TCM hospital is the largest camp in Xinma County. They have more than 3,000 people, and relying on their doctors and equipment, they fight each other without fear of death. The leader is called Dai Xing, also known as Dai Biaozi. He and I are known as the Xinma Double Biao."

Wenbiao said with a hint of smugness.

"doctor?"

Su Huan looked at the six-story building in front of him. Some of the red characters on it had fallen off, leaving only the words "Horse Doctor Hospital".

The words "Inpatient Department" are embedded in the building below.

From this angle, you can also see at least three buildings inside the hospital, indicating that the hospital is quite large.

The secretary beside him knew what the train conductor was thinking without saying a word and marked the location on the tablet.

"There's another big fried skewer up ahead..."

Su Huan's gaze was quickly drawn to the aroma of cooking oil wafting from the street.

"If I may remind you, you should also look for the Singapore-Malaysia Automotive Engineering Vocational School."

Shu Wei said coldly.

Wen Biao immediately added, "The horse farm is the second gathering place in Xinma County. It's not far from the horse doctor's clinic, just across this street. It used to be a direct route, but those students blocked it off, so we have to go around it."

Su Huan walked to the stall, and the group of people who had been staring at him and whispering immediately stood up warily, their eyes darting around him.

He had seen this group of people a long time ago.

Not only can you see clearly, but you can also hear clearly.

Besides those in the public eye, the TCM hospital was packed with people coming to see him, including those in the streets and alleys.

estimate……

There must be six or seven hundred people.

The thought of these people staring intently at him filled Su Huan with many wicked thoughts.

Wen Biao's gloomy eyes swept over the group, revealing a fierce glint in them. "If you have nothing better to do, go stand on the street. Instead of getting in my way, hang on the back of my car and drag me to my death!"

"Why are all these names so corny? Couldn't you come up with something more imposing?"

As Su Huan walked forward, he asked curiously.

"But others have to accept it too. If you give them fancy names, no one will understand them. When those young bastards called themselves Ma Gong, nobody paid any attention to them. They just called them Ma Gong. Once they got used to it, they couldn't change it."

Wen Biao turned his head, his tone lowered, and explained with a smile.

(End of this chapter)