Armored train in the apocalypse

Chapter 38 Purgatory on Earth
Su Huan turned to Qi Xiaoba and handed him the steel plate, saying, "Try to see if you can manipulate this metal."

Xiao Ba stared intently at the palm-sized steel plate. After a long while, the steel plate slowly flew up and, as if being kneaded by a pair of large hands, turned into a spherical shape.

"boom"

The steel ball fell onto the table, and Qi Xiaoba shook his head. "This kind of metal is already very difficult to control. It consumes four to five times my energy compared to ordinary metals. It's like it's mixed with a lot of impurities."

Su Huan seemed to be deep in thought, and Qi Xiaoba's words confirmed his suspicions.

In his previous life, Eighth Master saw no difference between manipulating Tier 1 light armor and ordinary metal, at least that's how he perceived it.

But by then, Master Ba was already a second-tier professional.

They are quite well-known among those who roam the acid rain zone.

Perhaps one of the conditions for "Metal Affinity" to advance to its superior ability "Metal Control" is to devour these new materials.

In that case...

If the train armor is made of new materials, wild metal manipulators will not be able to move the train in a short period of time.

However, he wasn't sure if those large companies had operators with the same high-level skills as Xiao Ba.

This was something that had always puzzled him.

It's only been four years since the apocalypse began, so why do these forces already have fifth-tier evolved beings?

Furthermore, they have developed many complementary career systems.

Even if they have a lot of manpower and resources, the overall environment has changed. Can they really accomplish so much in four years...?

Evolution is crazy, but is scientific research also crazy?

While Su Huan was talking, Yu Yue served her daughter a bowl of wontons.

Looking at her mother's flushed cheeks, Yu Jing asked with a slight puzzlement, "Mom, what's wrong?"

Yu Yue glanced furtively at Su Huan, then awkwardly stuck out her rosy tongue, "I tried the spicy stuff, and my tongue still hurts."

Yu Jing said helplessly, "If you can't eat spicy food, then don't try it. You sit and eat, I'll go get some water."

Seeing her daughter get up and head towards the kitchen, the woman's face instantly showed a look of horror.

She quickly stopped him, saying, "No need, no need, I can take it myself."

Although my daughter is intelligent and has strong practical skills, I don't know why she has an explosive talent for cooking. Even when she makes cold dishes, you can hear the pots and pans making a festive noise like during the New Year.

Yu Jing hesitated for a moment, but still sat down in the same spot.

After a while, Liang Kuan also returned.

Su Huan then explained the next steps of the plan.

I. Completion of the first phase of the armed train project

Second, collect as many electronic products as possible to lay the foundation for subsequent full-vehicle monitoring and upgrades.

"Now you need to prepare for the real apocalypse."

"The end of the world? Isn't this what it is now?" Yu Jing asked, puzzled.

Su Huan's lips curled up. "This?"

"It's only just begun."

……

08: 20.

The armed train left the water plant's perimeter and quietly headed towards Mojiang City, a city with a population of 700 million.

Because of the large amount of steel plates and water purifiers, the train's initial speed was very slow.

After an unknown amount of time, a heavy panting sound came from the railway tracks outside the water plant. A mutated pig, three meters long, strode out from the bushes, its robust and fat body resembling a small mountain.

Its dark red mane stood on end like steel needles, its fangs turned outward to form bone blades, and its hooves were transformed into a metallic texture. With each step it took, the sleepers and gravel under its feet creaked and groaned.

If Su Huan were here, he would recognize it as a first-tier evolved beast, the Gluttonous Pig.

They are much stronger than bloodhounds, but not as ferocious.

They spend most of their time each day searching for food.

The gluttonous pig's snout twitched, its tusks pried open the instant noodle box to lick the crumbs, and it made a satisfied snorting sound.

The fragrant oil and fishy smell lowered its alertness, and it failed to notice the unusual noise coming from the joint of the railway tracks behind it.

Several pale, bone-like spikes pierced the air.

“Crack!”

The gluttonous pig reacted extremely quickly, pushing off the ground with its hind hooves and leaping up with agility, its massive, fat body clashing against the bone spurs with a dull thud.

However, one bone spur slipped through and pierced about ten centimeters into the buttocks.

Before the gluttonous pig could even scream in pain, a bone whip pierced the air and wrapped around its body.

With a strong tug, the mane broke, large cracks appeared on the skin, and blood flowed out.

The Gluttonous Pig was utterly enraged. Its small eyes turned blood red as it glared at the attacker. It pushed off the ground with all four limbs, charging towards its prey like a runaway tank. "Boom!"

After the tremor.

A gigantic figure, three meters tall, stood before the Gluttonous Pig. It had no neck, its head was sunken into its chest cavity, and only a pair of dark red eyes gleamed eerily.

One hand held a bone whip wrapped around the boar's body, while the other hand was inserted into the boar's eye socket.

“Huh…”

The tall figure uttered a mumbled syllable, flipped over and straddled the boar's back, numerous bone spurs popping out from his knee joints, spinning and embedding themselves into the wild boar's belly like a meat grinder.

The gluttonous pig screamed in agony, its flesh and blood splattering everywhere, but it had no chance to struggle.

The tall figure lay sprawled amidst the spread flesh and blood, its shoulders slightly open, revealing a dark human head beneath.

It opened its sharp teeth and gnawed fiercely at the flesh.

An hour later, large swaths of flesh on the ground were evaporated by the high temperature into something resembling blood lipids, and their color gradually darkened.

Only then did the towering humanoid zombie raise its head atop the mountain of flesh.

His dark face was covered in crimson blood, but as he looked at the railway stretching into the distance, a glimmer of clarity seemed to return to his eyes.

"Huh... Train... Bad Seed!"

……

On the elevated railway tracks, the creaking and groaning sounds were incessant.

The twisted rails straightened under some inexplicable force.

The armed train moved slowly forward. Apart from Liang Kuan, who was driving, the others were standing on the second-floor sightseeing carriage, looking down at this once prosperous city.

Hundreds of cars were piled up on the street, some burned to the point of being just charred skeletons, some containing struggling zombies, and some containing survivors who hadn't had time to escape.

They were trapped in the middle of the car wreckage in despair.

On the right side of the railway tracks, a derailed train pierced through three office buildings in a twisted parabolic arc.

The front of the train plunged into the concrete load-bearing wall of the 27th floor of the Central Building. The sixteen carriages resembled the skeleton of a giant python cast in steel, and the shards of the glass curtain wall, peeling off like scales, refracted thousands of phosphorescent sparks in the midday sun.

The glass curtain walls of the skyscrapers on both sides were shaken to pieces, revealing dark holes.

With the help of the daylight, the white corpse cocoons inside could be clearly seen.

The faint outline of a twisted, curled-up human figure could be seen pulsating violently inside.

Countless ordinary zombies roamed among them, rushing towards the windows at the sound of the train. As the glass shattered, they splattered onto the ground like dumplings being dropped into a pot, creating a mountain of corpses.

The expressions on the faces of the passengers behind were complex and hard to describe.

Fear, shock, confusion...

There are so many different things.

Scarface stared in horror at the horrific scene before him. "What is this guy surnamed Su trying to do?"

"The city is full of zombies now, is this a food delivery?"

An old man sat down beside him, looking at the once-glorious city with a nostalgic expression on his face. "No, if he wanted to go north, this would be the fastest route."

"Mojiang Bridge?"

"Yes, to get onto the Mojiang Bridge, you have to go through Mojiang City."

The old man looked solemn.

"How many people are there in Mojiang City... several million, I guess. Even if only 70% turn into zombies, that's still several million. Has the guy surnamed Su gone mad?!"

"If he's going to die, he shouldn't take us with him!"

Scarface cursed wildly, large beads of sweat pouring down his face.

Suddenly, he saw the pale-faced woman next to him, grabbed her, wiped the sweat from his face onto her chest, then shoved her away, cursing, "You filthy bitch, you reek of sourness! You're so cheap!"

Even his underlings could see that he was all bark and no bite, using his angry outbursts to vent his inner fear.

The woman, though pushed down, didn't dare complain. Instead, she put on a fawning smile and leaned forward.

Her man is dead, Dog Brother and Tattooed Man are dead too. If it weren't for Scarface, she wouldn't even be able to scrape together the next train ticket.

The old man saw the woman being violated but not daring to utter a sound, and sighed silently in his heart.

Since Gao Zhe died, no one has been able to keep this scarred man in check.

Right now, it's just that time is short, my brain is still somewhat functional, and the other party can still maintain a facade of respect.

His time is running out.

In the apocalypse, no one will use precious food to support a useless old man. Only by controlling the train and utilizing a large amount of surplus resources can he survive.

Perhaps Mojiang City is his last chance.

(End of this chapter)