Chapter 80: Elite
“Why is this rain so murky?”
Liang Kuan frowned and turned on the wiper.
Large swaths of murky rainwater were pushed to the side and blown away by the wind.
“This is acid rain. Take some time to check the driver’s cabin and see if there’s any leaking. Patch it up temporarily for now, and do a full overhaul in a couple of days.”
Su Huan instructed.
“Got it. These past couple of days, I’ve been hearing some odd noises from the wheel. Either something’s caught on it, or it’s damaged.” Liang Kuan said.
After all, they had trudged through the zombie tide, and the train was heavy, putting a lot of pressure on components like the hub and rim. But right now, every minute counted, so it was impossible to stop and repair the train.
They could only wait for a gap after getting this batch of equipment from the armory to do a full overhaul and modification of the entire train.
“Leave it for now. If you feel it’s serious, tell me then.” Su Huan patted his broad shoulder. “By the way, what do you want for breakfast? I’ll have Xiao Ba bring it over.”
“Anything, as long as it fills me up.”
Su Huan walked out of the cockpit and came to the dining car.
From far away, he saw Old San standing there with an unlit cigarette in his mouth, gazing at the acid rain outside the window with a gloomy complexion. When he saw Su Huan coming, he quickly shouldered his rifle and stood at attention.
“Convoy Leader!”
Su Huan felt in his pocket and tossed him the cigarettes the auto mechanic had given him yesterday. “If you want to smoke, go to the rear carriage, but acid rain is toxic, so I don’t recommend opening the window.”
He had no habit of smoking. One reason was that it was too expensive—a pack of intact cigarettes in the wasteland cost the same as a 9mm universal bullet.
Even in a company like the Steel Conference, cigarettes were luxury goods.
The other reason was that cigarettes had too strong a smell, and Su Huan didn’t want any strong odors on him.
That would increase the risk of death.
Old San immediately took the cigarette from his mouth and stuffed them all into his pocket.
He sat down next to Su Huan, and Yu Yue brought over two large plates of roasted wolf meat. The solid wolf meat overflowed the edges of the plates, with one piece weighing nearly two kilograms.
Su Huan looked up at Yu Yue and said, “In the future, no need to wait for me to eat. Whoever gets here first eats, and then goes off to do their own work.”
Yu Yue softly acknowledged, her face showing no unusual expression.
Su Huan cut a large piece of wolf meat and stuffed it into his mouth, chewing vigorously while asking, “How much ammunition is left on the train?”
“Six magazines left for the Iron Curtain Assault Rifle, seven for the Hummingbird Submachine Gun, and 330 rounds of universal 9mm handgun bullets remaining, all standard bullets.” Old San answered.
Su Huan silently calculated in his mind. “One base of 7.62 left, right?”
Old San nodded in some surprise. “Yes, 240 rounds left—a base of ammunition for standard combat.”
It wasn’t strange for him to be surprised; Su Huan’s knowledge was too fragmented.
His cognition of weapons came from between the apocalypse and four years into the apocalypse.
What circulated in the wasteland were all sorts of modified guns, as well as military equipment pried from various armories and military districts. The enforcement bureau’s firearms were few in number and outdated models, so naturally, no major force would use them to arm subordinates.
So he had never even seen these standard enforcer weapons.
After all, not everyone paid attention to what guns enforcers used, what models, or what caliber ammunition.
He had only learned fragmented content about post-apocalypse modifications later on.
But he still understood “a base of ammunition,” a term derived from military jargon.
Originally, depending on different ammunition weights and combat needs, the concept of “a base” wasn’t a fixed value. But these complexities couldn’t be passed down in the wasteland, so 240 became the fixed quantity for “a base of ammunition.”
“What about the sniper rifle’s armor-piercing rounds? How many left?”
Su Huan asked.
Old San looked up at Yu Yue behind the cabinet.
Yu Yue replied, “Forty rounds left.”
Still with that meek and compliant appearance, but now with an added layer of distance.
This was a form of self-protection formed from being bullied too harshly.
Su Huan pinched his fingers and glanced at her with interest.
Just like seeing the little bun he had personally peeled growing a new layer of skin.
What use was that?
It would probably just let him experience the fun of peeling again.
Halfway through eating, the water purifier in Carriage 3 started rumbling.
The sound of water flow echoed in the pipes, injecting into the water tank in sequence by carriage number.
“Old San, how’s the evolution going?”
“Eh, I tried it last night when I got back. Used half a General Energy Crystal, no reaction.”
Su Huan shook his head. “Once you start absorbing a General Energy Crystal, try to use it all, because you’ve already disrupted its structure, and the General Energy inside will rapidly dissipate in a short time.”
Old San slapped his thigh in surprise. “That’s the reason? I was wondering why it felt a bit smaller. I’ll let it absorb it now.”
Su Huan felt a bit helpless inside.
But in the early stages, there were many such minor details; some he couldn’t think of all at once and could only tell them gradually.
It would be fine once he cultivated them.
After eating, Su Huan checked the various work carriages again. To avoid Yu Jing running to his room late at night, he had given Carriage 10 to her as a workshop.
For mechanical maintenance and modification work.
Of course, this arrangement wasn’t without selfish motives.
The noise from her tools starting up was too loud.
The crane forklift had long been thrown to the rear carriage. Now the entire Sightseeing Carriage 3 was occupied by the water purifier and Wan Xing.
……
When the acid rain started falling, He Jie put on his raincoat.
Although with his Level 3 basic defense and constitution, he didn’t need to fear these corrosive liquids at all, the equipment worth 200,000 on him couldn’t take it.
And now in the apocalypse, forget 200,000—even two million couldn’t get a set like this.
Sometimes he felt this world was pretty fantastical.
He had originally left the military to apply for a security job, but the company gave him a large sum of money plus resettlement fees to attend military training.
To let his family live a bit better, he inexplicably returned to his old profession.
With his solid military qualities, he lasted to the end out of over three thousand people, becoming one of three hundred.
And then damn apocalypse hit.
Thinking of this made him angry.
He’d finally gotten out of that godforsaken place, hadn’t even enjoyed two days of peaceful life, and then damn world end!
“Pah, damn acid rain!”
He Jie spat out a raindrop that had splashed into his mouth, raised his left hand, and looked at the tactical watch on the inside of his wrist.
This was a small personal habit of his.
Just as he lowered his hand, a five-man squad had already returned from ahead.
Every soldier in the squad wore a full single-soldier protection system, including bulletproof vest, tactical helmet, panoramic night vision goggles. They held the latest Gray Wolf-5 modular assault rifle, with the gun body topped by a holographic scope, and it could mount a micro grenade launcher.
Whether their walking gait or details like shoulder patches, it was clear they were an elite unit.
An elite unit with complete logistics and rigorous training.
