Armored train in the apocalypse

Chapter 325 Power
The entire hall fell silent.

Su Huan's voice was calm, but the aura emanating from him was unsettling.

Even the most short-tempered evolved beings wouldn't dare to utter a single fart.

After a long silence, President Jin Feng slowly asked, "Is the train conductor going to recruit us?"

Some minor faction leaders looked up in surprise.

Why did they stick together?
Isn't it all just about surviving better?

Armed trains are known for their generous benefits, and the Battle of Zhijin proved their strength. Not to mention ordinary scavengers, even their leaders are happy to join.

"I guess so. Stations are the outer perimeter of the train, providing it with production materials. Currently, there are stations in acid rain areas and flood areas."

Su Huan thought for a moment and then said.

President Jin Feng's eyes flickered slightly, "Acid rain zone?"

As a local power, the Jin Feng Chamber of Commerce can only access the flood zone and the spore zone at most, but both are "natural disaster zones." With their limited strength, they cannot go deep into these areas, so they are naturally unaware of the changes in the outside world.

"Normally, this information would cost money, but consider this a perk for you."

Su Huan chuckled.

Then Hushuo gave everyone a briefing on the changes in the post-apocalyptic world, mainly focusing on general information such as District 12, major powers, the general energy system, and the military.

Although they were all very simple things, they still left everyone present stunned.

"No wonder my nephew in the army hasn't come back; I thought he'd been abandoned outside..."

"I thought the south side was flooded."

"And those bastards, Black Kite and his gang, they clearly know everything, yet they're pretending to be stupid!"

But everyone's awe of the train deepened as a result.

In that case, being incorporated into the train isn't so bad; everyone understands the principle of finding shelter under a big tree.

The problem is that powerful organizations like the Jinfeng Chamber of Commerce are in a dilemma. They used to be local tyrants or big shots in their own little territory, but now that they're under someone else's control, even though they get good treatment, they can't have any autonomy.

The establishment of the base city will inevitably create a siphon effect. At its peak, the Jin Feng Chamber of Commerce could still support it, but given the current situation...

Even Lao Xie has lost his blind confidence.

Moreover, they had no choice. Strictly speaking, only half of the four peaks remained. As the largest force present, Su Huan could not let them leave.

Having figured all this out, President Jin Feng raised his hand, looked into Su Huan's eyes, and asked, "Where is the train located at the station?"

"The train is above the station. Zhijin No. 3 Station is an auxiliary force of the armed train, but it does not participate in specific management."

Hu Shuo, standing to the side, answered on Su Huan's behalf.

President Jin Feng stood up and said solemnly, "I agree to join the train leadership's armed station plan."

With Jin Feng taking the lead, there were no further questions.

Smaller factions flocked to their side.

Some individual scavengers are still hesitant, such as Luo Jingyi.

Those present, besides the faction leaders, were professional evolvers. To advance one level in half a year was nothing short of extraordinary, and they were all included in the site's plan.

Next, based on everyone's performance during the cleanup, appointments will be made according to the three bureaus and two courts that were just announced.

For example, the leader of Tiejian City became the deputy captain of the city guard, and the Jinfeng Chamber of Commerce took control of the Energy Administration Bureau and the Garrison Corps. Ordinary scavengers became the people filling the city. The leadership of the administrative agencies and the main violent departments was naturally handed over to Li Xinlong.

How can you manage such a large city without placing your cronies in key positions?
Su Huan didn't need to participate in the following meetings. He was just showing up today to keep these people in check and prevent them from doing something that would make the train conductor want to kill them.

After Su Huan left, a noisy discussion about the appointment immediately broke out in the hall.

The giraffe circled around and walked to Li Xinlong, who was still deep in thought at the end. It patted him on the shoulder and said with a smile, "Ah Long, the train conductor wants you to have dinner on the train tonight. Remember to invite your mom too."

……

As soon as Su Huan stepped out, he saw Shu Wei, dressed in a silver-gray suit, walking towards him with a decisive and efficient manner.

The clean clothes looked out of place in the corridor full of claw marks, gun holes, and dark bloodstains.

"Gunfire has contacted us."

Shu Wei's cool voice echoed softly in the corridor.

Su Huan was slightly taken aback. He had almost forgotten about the incident since he let the three gunmen go last time, but he didn't expect there to be progress today.

"what did you say?"

"They want to make a large-scale deal with us, exchanging evolution potions and weapons for high-level materials, in the gravity zone."

"Gravity zone?"

Shu Wei nodded. "Yes, they can't carry a large amount of supplies through the spore zone, so they plan to trade after we pass through it."

Su Huan seemed to be deep in thought; it seemed that the spore zone was much more dangerous than he had imagined.

That's normal. The storm zone is a safe zone, while the spore zone is a turbulent "disaster zone" that is not easy to pass through. However, the spore zone is very narrow, much smaller than any other large zone. On the map, it looks like a line with a width of only about 100 kilometers.

It's still a long way from leaving the storm zone; we'll deal with the rest later.

“Are the statistical results out yet?”

"That's pretty fast," Su Huan said in surprise.

"It will take at least another half a month to tally the spoils. The train casualties are in: 94 armed corps dead, 12 seriously wounded, and over 100 lightly wounded, including three first-rank soldiers. Seven crew members were killed..."

Su Huan frowned. It was normal for the corps to suffer casualties, but how did the crew die?

Seeing the train conductor frown, Shu Wei immediately explained, "Four of them are combat teams, and two are manufacturing teams. They were ambushed by zombies while collecting materials these past few days."

Su Huan had a bad feeling. "What about the last one?"

"It was Old Liu. He was dismantling an abandoned vehicle when he was ambushed by a Night Demon and died on the spot, leaving behind two apprentices, one of whom was pregnant."

Su Huan remained silent for a long time, then said, "You're not lucky enough to have it. Burn it."

"I'm almost three months pregnant, what should I do?"

"Work? Am I supposed to support them?"

"It's very hard being pregnant."

Who isn't working hard?

Shu Wei stopped arguing and simply followed Su Huan unconsciously.

Suddenly, she noticed that the other person had stopped and she almost bumped into them, but she regained her balance by swaying slightly.

Su Huan muttered to himself, "Isn't there a gynecologist? Let him practice. He's there if the baby is still alive, and he's gone if the baby isn't."

"By the way, are you still short of doctors for the ward?"

Shu Wei shook her head. "The wards are already full of wounded soldiers. No matter how many doctors we have, it won't be enough. Hu Shuo and I plan to recruit more people in the next round of recruitment."

"The losses of supplies this time are more severe than in the last war, especially in firearms and ammunition. More than two million rounds of various types of bullets have been consumed, reaching two-fifths of the total. Among them, 12.7mm ammunition is already in short supply, and two-thirds of the artillery shell stockpile has been depleted. Firearms, barrels, grenades, tactical equipment... all have suffered losses, but the memory can be replenished."

The two walked straight toward the train. Although the road from the hotel to the train had been cleared and covered with a thick layer of new soil and an iron plate, the strong smell of blood still lingered.

Both sides were busy with manufacturing teams cutting and sorting corpses.

The train still lay across the square, and the platform became a temporary factory. As the "main battlefield," the train suffered the greatest loss of resources; three carriages were reduced to scrap metal, and seven carriages were severely damaged.

Fortunately, each carriage had partitions, and the entire crew of the armed train were evolved beings, so the damage wasn't too great; it only required repairs. With Xiao Ba around, even if it were reduced to a pile of mud, there was still a chance to salvage it.

……

In the evening, we had a big pot of spicy mushroom and chicken rice at the dining car to celebrate the end of the extermination work.

Su Huan didn't hide anything from Li Xinlong and explained the main goals for the next two things: train upgrades and station construction.

This is the biggest upgrade the train has ever undergone. The collection and synthesis of materials cannot be accomplished by just one or two thousand people. It requires the strength of 100,000 people from Zhijin. Even so, it will still take at least three months.

During these three months of train renovation, construction will also take place at the Zhijin station, with the two plans being implemented simultaneously.

The sheer volume of reconstruction work is overwhelming, but the internal administrative structure of Zhijin is even more troublesome.

Directly controlling a complex force is much more difficult than building one from scratch.

It was like teaching a newborn and a group of criminals. Li Xinlong lost his appetite after hearing it all. Fortunately, there was a train to keep things going in the early stages, but he also needed to grow up quickly during this period.

Su Huan made it clear to him that the train would not stay in Zhijin indefinitely.

The moment you're all ready, that's when you set off.

That will be the real test.

After dinner, everyone went up to the deck, where Director Xu and his team had already prepared the testing equipment.

Su Huan looked at the makeshift tin shed on the deck and asked doubtfully, "Do we really have to come up here?"

Director Xu shook his head, "Physical application requires space, while energy application is too powerful; it's too dangerous to keep it in a car."

The goat scratched at the punching target, asking curiously, "What are the testing standards? Everyone's evolutionary path is different, right? It's too unfair to compare target shooting or something like that."

He Jie sneered, "As long as there's no written test, I'm better than you no matter what."

The goat spat in annoyance.

Director Xu explained, "I won't explain the concept of basic attributes. I designed some tests based on these ten items, and finally obtained the data based on comprehensive calculations."

Li Xinlong, standing in the crowd, showed interest. "Can my people participate?"

Director Xu looked at Su Huan, who chuckled and said, "Anything is fine, but only those above level one are acceptable. Those below level one shouldn't waste their time."

"clear."

Seeing Li Xinlong go to find his subordinate, He Jie stepped forward and said, "Then I'll go first. What's the first item?"

"You are the defender, and the first thing is nature and power."

He Jie turned his head and looked at a silent, imposing figure in the crowd, his eyes flashing with fighting spirit. "Old Liang, want to give it a try?"

"it is good."

Without further ado, Liang Kuan stepped forward.

Director Xu stood in front of a special machine. The machine looked a bit like a bench press barbell, but it was more complex. The outer shell had rough weld seams, all made of advanced materials, specifically second-order tungsten steel.

"The first test might be a bit more complicated. We'll start by testing static strength, such as bench press, squat, and deadlift... Dynamic strength includes punching power, long jump, etc. You guys try it first."

He Jie took off his coat, revealing thick chest hair and a strong physique.

The goat chuckled and egged them on from behind, "Boss, don't embarrass yourself too much. If you get crushed by half, tsk tsk tsk..."

Fat Rabbit and the others joined in the laughter.

He Jie's face darkened. "If your stats aren't two-thirds as high as mine, you'll be washing my socks for a month!"

The goat immediately shut its mouth, but the crowd laughed even louder.

He Jie rubbed his hands together, gripped the pole, and signaled to Director Xu that he was ready.

The latter instructed, "This isn't a test of explosive power; exert force gradually."

"understand!"

As He Jie exerted his strength, a series of numbers appeared on the monitor, ending with "kg".

It started at 150kg, and then the numbers jumped up very quickly.

This was also the first time Su Huan had seen a test about basic attributes. He was very interested in using "Universal Energy Sensing" to observe He Jie's energy fluctuations.

Although He Jie is a "Defender", he still has psychic energy within him.

These supernatural powers strengthen his body and sustain him in battle.

With the fluctuation of the universal energy, the data on the panel quickly exceeded 500kg, which is the limit that most humans can reach.

Although He Jie is not a pure power evolver, this data is far from his limit.

He Jie roared, his veins bulging and his muscles swelling, breaking the 1000kg mark.

The data growth has slowed down here.

"Don't push yourself to the limit. Just give it your all, otherwise it will affect the accuracy of the data."

Director Xu said from the side.

He Jie exhaled, "How many?"

"One thousand four hundred."

Su Huan glanced at the panel, where the number was fixed at around 1380kg, far exceeding the limits of human strength before the apocalypse.

But without other data, he can't make a proper comparison.

He Jie got up and changed into Liang Kuan's clothes.

The latter started at 1200kg, and when it went all out, the data soared by thousands, eventually settling at around 5100kg.

When Liang Kuan exhaled, everyone felt a wave of heat wash over them.

"How many?"

"Bench press, five tons."

The goat next to him swallowed hard and said.

"Holy crap, five tons?!"

When Fatty Ke, Chen Shan, and the others who had just arrived heard this data, they couldn't help but swear.

"Quick, quick, Lao Liang, come down here, let me try!"

"I'll try too!"

After the initial shock, the group of men became completely enraged.

The original testing plan was interrupted, and a group of people tested it one by one, including Yu Yue and others.

However, this also quickly yielded some relatively "standard" static force data.

Taking "Defender" as an example, the strength of an unranked Defender is generally around 500kg, while a first-rank, non-strength-oriented class is generally around 1000kg. The data here fluctuates greatly, as skill level, quantity, and whether it is a strength-oriented passive skill all affect this parameter.

For example, Liang Kuan's strength attribute is seriously excessive. Although he is a first-level, his strength has reached the second-level standard. However, there is no specific comparison or reference, and Director Xu is not sure what level Liang Kuan's strength is among the second-level defenders.

"Then I'll be the reference."

Su Huan, who was standing aside watching the commotion, suddenly spoke up.

(End of this chapter)