Chapter 282: Train Phase Three Upgrade Plan
“May 12th, gale winds.”
“There are three ways to get rich: plunder, plunder, and still plunder!”
The supplies provided by Black Kite were scattered, but wave after wave, winning in their endlessness.
Su Huan was also very trustworthy, releasing one or two people with each batch of supplies, until finally, only that black-skirted girl whose face he had pinched was left, Tan Yunxi.
“Train Conductor…”
Tan Yunxi looked at Su Huan pitifully.
Su Huan sat on the train carriage, wearing sunglasses, legs crossed, ripping open a bag of potato chips with a tear, crunching as he chewed, and said, “Affection is affection, business is business. You think calling out a couple times wipes out such a huge batch of supplies? What are you thinking?”
“But my uncle said he doesn’t want me anymore.”
Tan Yunxi was so aggrieved she was about to shed little pearls of tears.
Su Huan abruptly sat up, sunglasses slipping to the bridge of his nose, astonished, “What do you mean, they tore up the ticket?”
White Deer, whose face hadn’t fully swollen down, limped forward a step, saying lowly, “Train Conductor, we’re the ones who kidnapped her.”
Tan Yunxi hurriedly said, “Train Conductor, how about I join the armored train?”
Su Huan lay back in the chair, sighing faintly, “Along the way, I’ve done so many jobs, this is the first time the goods stuck in my hands. Where do you want the train conductor to put his face…”
The little girl was grinding her silver teeth to pieces, but thinking of the family instructions, she still smiled beautifully.
Taking advantage of the time when the armored train’s influence hadn’t spread yet, hurry and hug a thigh—it was much brighter than using Black Kite’s family connections for a minor position.
“Train Conductor, I’m very useful. I studied weapon systems and engineering, cannon system design, and guided weapons—all three majors at once. That [EM-4 Armor-Piercing Spear] you captured, Train Conductor, was a general energy weapon developed by my uncle.”
Hearing this, the gaze behind the sunglasses immediately grew solemn.
“How old are you?”
Tan Yunxi raised her fair and tender chin, “Sixteen.”
Su Huan’s eyelid twitched slightly—about the same as Lin Xi—his tone unkind, “Have you gone to university?”
Tan Yunxi immediately reacted, hurriedly explaining, “I haven’t gone to university yet, but I really studied these courses. I was already exposed to them when I was in junior high…”
Doubt flashed in Su Huan’s eyes. He beckoned with his hand, and White Deer leaned over his head. “Train Conductor, I’ve heard of this—it’s called a genius!”
“Genius my ass. Have you gone to university?”
White Deer immediately got anxious, mumbling, “Train Conductor, how can you look down on people? I’m a proper prestigious university graduate student, bachelor’s and master’s continuous!”
Su Huan looked at White Deer’s bruised and swollen pig head, greatly surprised, “You’re also bachelor’s and master’s continuous? Normal graduation?”
White Deer scratched his head, slightly embarrassed, “My advisor said I wasn’t suited for this path. In a fit of anger, I enlisted, but I’m not joking—like my advisor’s kid, just in fifth grade of primary school, already hanging out with us doing experiments every day. Though ours was a bit watered down, that kid really knows a lot. Early education resources are just different…”
Su Huan ignored him, turned his head, grabbed Tan Yunxi’s fair little hand and squeezed it hard.
“Welcome to join the armored train!”
The latter’s pretty face blushed slightly, responding in a mosquito-like voice.
……
“May 14th, gale winds.”
“Thick fog rises everywhere. The first person to fall will grow new eyes on their body. The train passes through buildings without doors and windows. Little people shuttle through the city responsible for building and farming, giants responsible for guarding, driving away ill-intentioned outsiders…”
A train fully loaded with supplies departed from Yan Bei Pass, continuing north under everyone’s watchful eyes, the body crushing the ground with creaking sounds, heading toward even more northern Zhijin City.
As a great country spanning north-south, Dong Huang’s territory was extremely vast.
Zhijin City was just right in the center.
The division of the apocalypse’s twelve districts was not equal. According to the data provided by Donghuang Heavy Industry, there were nine major districts domestically: high temperature, acid rain, flood, storm, spores, gravity imbalance, plant frenzy, extreme cold, eternal night.
The military didn’t provide all heavenly calamity types, and extreme cold was already humanity’s forbidden zone.
Some guessed there were other heavenly calamities after eternal night, but the location had been pushed to the Arctic no-man’s land—pushing further would loop back, unreasonable spatially.
So some guessed the remaining three heavenly calamities were zombies, mutated beasts, general energy.
But Su Huan knew general energy was the root cause of all these changes. Listing it with other heavenly calamities was odd—there must be a better explanation, they just hadn’t discovered it yet.
Though Black Kite’s game console was really nice—no internet needed to play.
While others were bitterly scrambling for survival resources, this group of filthy rich had already started pursuing spiritual enjoyment.
As he pondered, Shu Wei walked in holding a stack of documents.
Su Huan frowned, pretending to be deep in thought, raising his left hand to stop her from approaching.
Shu Wei stood in place quietly waiting.
“…That prophecy is really strange. Why would people float in the sky? And what’s with the thick fog?”
Perhaps feeling a bit contrived, Su Huan muttered to himself.
“Maybe the information isn’t sufficient. After handling these affairs, I think you’ll be much clearer-headed. At least you won’t accidentally project the game to the whole train. I’m worried your gaming skills will cause unnecessary concern among passengers.”
Shu Wei put down the documents in her hand, then helped Su Huan disconnect the whole-train projection function.
With Black Kite’s funding, the armored train’s rudimentary vehicle system fully caught up to pre-apocalypse levels. With a supercomputer still hanging in the rear cultivation pod, it was even superior in some ways.
Su Huan looked serious, “Setting aside my gaming aside, why didn’t you remind me?”
Shu Wei was calm as still water, “Sorry, Train Conductor. I just cut the projection earlier—microphone not closed yet.”
“Heh, tired.”
Closing the microphone, the train conductor’s hollow gaze looked at the ceiling, “As a force’s leader, isn’t it just planning the big direction? Eating and drinking every day is fine. Why does this train have so many trivial matters…”
Shu Wei was slightly stunned seeing Su Huan’s lethargic appearance, her sharp face softening a bit.
Su Huan felt a pair of hands stroke his brow, gently scraping along the lines around his eye sockets.
“That’s the story only in novels. However… as train conductor, you can have anyone tell you stories.”
“But stories belong only to the night.”
A soft yet distinctly edged voice suddenly came from the doorway, followed by a goose-yellow figure. Her hair strands cut off those drooping eyelids, fixed divine light falling on Shu Wei’s hand.
“Isn’t it?”
Shu Wei nodded slightly, naturally withdrawing her hand, and walked out.
Su Huan squinted, sizing up the two, feeling like today’s room had a bit of gunpowder smell.
Yu Yue placed the flower tea in her hand by Su Huan’s side, taking over Shu Wei’s just-now work, her brow being gently pressed again.
Compared to Shu Wei, Yu Yue’s hands were warmer, and her fingertips softer.
“Is hers this strength? Too light or too heavy? Should I go faster?”
The gentle voice asked a series of meticulous questions.
Su Huan thought for a bit, not knowing how to answer, simply shutting up.
Yu Yue was originally a bit annoyed, but seeing Su Huan obedient like a little rabbit in her arms, her heart softened.
Just as he was enjoying it, a heavy stomp came from the corridor, the whole carriage vibrating along, then a whooshing sound rose.
Before Yu Yue could withdraw her hand, a sharp figure had already landed at the doorway, standard turning motion, breath halting abruptly.
Yu Jing, wearing a brand-new exoskeleton, landed at the doorway, her phoenix eyes falling on Yu Yue’s hand.
The woman withdrew her hand like electrocuted.
Though she knew her daughter might already know, she didn’t want to know her daughter knew she knew her daughter knew.
Simply put, she wasn’t adapting to this identity shift—afraid of embarrassment.
“Uh, you two…”
Before Yu Jing finished speaking, Yu Yue hurriedly dropped a sentence and carried the plate out, her originally fine steps becoming resounding.
Su Huan sighed, “What business do you have?”
Yu Jing took out a stack of documents even thicker than Shu Wei’s, saying, “Can you urgently approve these first?”
Su Huan said with eyes closed, “Work requires order and procedure. You’re cutting in line now—if I do yours, what about the others? What will the others…”
Yu Jing thoughtfully looked at Su Huan’s pair of pretty eyebrows, took off the exoskeleton, and while the train conductor was blabbering on, pressed both hands on his brow.
The icy snake skin texture made Su Huan’s brow twitch, eyes opening a slit, seeing Yu Jing standing before him, massaging his brow.
“Is hers this strength? Too light or too heavy? Should I go faster?”
Su Huan: “…”
He found himself not very good at handling this kind of thing.
“You’d better get to business.”
“Mainly application for materials and personnel. Starting a new round of exoskeleton research and development. Also telling you about the armored train phase three renovation plan.”
“Wait, phase three?”
Su Huan was somewhat surprised, “When did we already start the third phase?”
Yu Jing said calmly, “It was proposed by the factory director and Deputy General Manager Deng. Because we received too much cargo, the current armored train is severely overweight. The current tracks can only support travel on hardened road surfaces. Once entering the wasteland, it might get stuck due to weight, so we need to advance the phase three renovation of the armored train.”
Su Huan frowned, “Something this important, why didn’t anyone tell me?”
Yu Jing glanced at the other stack of documents left on the desk.
Flipping through it, she precisely found the document marked with the “Armored Train Phase III Renovation and Upgrade Project.”
Su Huan felt his head was a bit foggy today.
This kind of trivial matter should be a piece of cake with his brain.
“Are you tired?”
Yu Jing’s cool voice came from above his head.
“Your body temperature is around 42 degrees, in an excited state, but while talking to me, your pupils have dodged me three times, avoiding focus…”
Su Huan pinched Yu Jing’s waist, forehead against her icy chest, signaling her to be quiet.
He felt like he was holding a cold beauty snake.
Though talking, Yu Jing’s fingertips diligently pressed the eye sockets, after a moment, sliding to the temples, gently kneading.
Using internal vision, Su Huan observed his own body.
He quickly found the reason.
Though most wounds had been repaired during promotion, clashing with multiple tier 2 evolvers left many tiny wounds inside. These days, though he hadn’t slept, his body was self-repairing every moment.
Greatly consuming his energy and stamina.
Unknowingly, brain energy supply fell short.
With chaotic thoughts scattering, Su Huan inexplicably thought of this sentence.
‘The train conductor can have anyone weave stories for him.’
Yu Jing lowered her gaze blankly at the hand sliding down, calmly reminding, “This clothing is one-piece molded, hard to remove, and needs equipment.”
“Oh.”
Su Huan listlessly withdrew his hand.
Yu Jing tied up her hair, squatted down softly, “Rest a bit. There’s a personnel promotion meeting tonight.”
……
Carriage 5, activity car.
A red balloon was tied to the soft rope ladder on the wall, with a row of burst balloon remnants bound above it.
A red balloon also topped the slender-necked vase behind the room sofa.
Lin Jin sat on the sofa with eyes tightly closed, sweat from his forehead sliding along his hair tips. In the next instant, his whole body leaned forward to stand, turning right, slightly tilting his head. His eyes suddenly lit up, orange-red flames flashing and vanishing, the small paper strip in the balloon’s center instantly ignited by void flames.
“Pop—pop—pop!”
A few simple movements seemed to exhaust all his strength, hands on knees, bean-sized sweat beads shattering on the ground.
“How to split energy into so many parts at once, still precisely control without harming teammates, and face three tier 2 sieges simultaneously… How is it done?”
Lin Jin’s eyes were unfocused, muttering to himself.
In the time of speaking, “Explosive Flame” quietly rose to lv5. As for the earliest three main skills, “Flame Control,” “High-Temperature Barrier,” and “Kindling” had all reached tier 2 lv6. It just lacked a matching skill to promote to tier 2 “Flame Dominator.” Because it was a Steel Council name, it wasn’t that flashy.
Its ability characteristics were also very simple: tier 1 ignites flames, tier 2 dominates flames.
All his evolutions revolved around combustion, so in his previous life, he could spark that near-world-burning great fire.
But after seeing Su Huan’s battle, Lin Jin was also influenced.
Compared to total energy, losing badly was one thing, but even in fine control, he was far inferior.
With this level, forget protecting his sister—he couldn’t even catch up to the train conductor’s back.
Lin Jin’s heart surged with thick frustration.
Clang, the door was opened, Goat rushing in energetically.
“You’re self-training again. Don’t miss tonight’s event later.”
Lin Jin shook his head, energy consumption too severe, eyes feeling unfocused.
“Personnel promotion. You did well this time, should get promoted too…”
“Good, then are you not going?”
“Later. Recently combat group and corps personnel transfers—a head full of unfinished business.”
Grabbing some things, Goat hurriedly walked out.
