Chapter 105: The Beginning Of The New City Plan
Two days later, northwest of Yijin City.
An Armored Train was parked ahead, its steel plates corroded and rust-stained, with bits of dark red dried meat on the explosion-proof net and the ridges of the body, the twin anti-aircraft machine gun on the roof rotating, like a horror train wandering in a supernatural story.
But when Lu Xiao saw this train, it was like returning home, and the heart he had been holding finally relaxed.
“You came back pretty fast today.”
A hearty voice came from ahead.
Lu Xiao looked up.
A man with a cigarette in his mouth stood beside the train, wearing a bulletproof vest, holding an assault rifle, his exposed forearms strong and muscular, with several faded ordinary zombies under his feet.
The other party had arrived at about the same time as him, but now he had already entered the front carriage.
And had quickly become an evolver.
This luck was unbeatable.
However, Lu Xiao was quite satisfied with his current state. Although the treatment wasn’t as good as that of Old San and his brothers, the freedom was much higher. He could form his own team under the shelter of the train, equivalent to a small force dependent on the Armored Train.
He was very satisfied with this.
Letting out a long breath, Lu Xiao pointed at the zombies under the other’s feet, “Aren’t you dragging these few zombies back to the carriage?”
Old San shook his head, “There are too many Tier 1 zombie corpses now, the front can’t even process them all, ordinary zombies are no longer wanted. How was your harvest today?”
Lu Xiao waved his hand, and six subordinates unloaded two corpses in black bags from the car and carried them onto the train.
In these two days, he had recruited a few more people, totaling eight including him and Miao Qi.
“Killed a dwarf and a blood hound, that thing even tried to snipe me, hey!”
A smirk appeared on Lu Xiao’s face as he pulled out a pack of cigarettes from his pocket and handed it over.
Old San also smiled, took it, then took out ten rounds of 7.62 standard ammunition with bullet links from his satchel and gave them to him. The two men leaned against the side, puffing away.
This kind of transaction was tacitly approved by Su Huan, and the ten bullets per week counted as his welfare.
There were also cigarettes on the train, but they weren’t essentials and wouldn’t be distributed for free.
To get them, one could only exchange; according to the new exchange standard set by the train conductor, one pack of cigarettes, regardless of price, was 2 points, equivalent to two ordinary general energy crystals, four 9mm handgun bullets, about three 5.56, two 7.62, and the brand was random.
His weekly salary could only buy five packs of cigarettes.
Moreover, because he was a train guard and couldn’t go out freely, he could only have Lu Xiao bring some flavors he liked.
Each time, the other party would bring him a pack, the same bullets, but twice the cigarettes.
For Lu Xiao, this was also a great channel, because a pack of cigarettes could only be recycled on the train for 2 points, but selling to Old San, he could make five times the profit directly.
Watching his subordinates park the new car in the garage behind the train, Lu Xiao stubbed out his cigarette and climbed aboard.
As soon as he got on, he saw Miao Qi walking over.
Since evolving, the woman’s dressing style had become increasingly bold; her previous knitwear was nowhere to be found, replaced by a black bra and a red leather jacket, exposing her tight abdominal lines at the waist.
She wore high-waisted jeans on the bottom, with a wide belt forming a striking contrast with her slender waist, fiery and sexy.
Miao Qi held a booklet in her hand, her tone filled with joy, “We got lucky this time. The acquisition price for the blood hound increased by one point, just enough to offset the parking fee for these two days, settle the previous medical fees, water fees, and other miscellaneous expenses, and still have enough to buy you some medicine.”
Lu Xiao reached out and pulled the woman’s waist, “My leg is almost healed. The remaining points can be used to exchange for a sniper rifle for you.”
Miao Qi continued, “I did some calculations today. Although the acquisition price for Tier 1 general energy crystals is only 10, even mutated beasts or Tier 1 zombies with their general energy fully absorbed can sell for 5-6 points, but a complete Tier 1 corpse is only 12-14 points, a difference of 1-4 points.”
“I’m thinking, if I don’t go out and just collect general energy crystals and materials in the carriage every day, I can earn at least 10 points a day, equivalent to one Tier 1 zombie.”
Lu Xiao’s eyes showed surprise as he pecked the woman’s luscious lips and laughed, “Doesn’t that mean I can live off a soft woman just by relying on you?”
After saying that, he found the woman staring straight at him, her eyes sparkling.
“What, want to kick me out for a more capable man?”
“I want more!”
“Gah!”
Lu Xiao, a hot-blooded young man, couldn’t stand this and kissed her again.
Old San had just stubbed out his cigarette and come out, looked up to see this scene, cursed the dog couple angrily, then began patrolling around, occasionally bending down to check under the train for anything sneaking in.
……
Interestingly, although over a thousand people were crowded on one train, the atmosphere and morale had changed drastically in a short time.
People in the rear carriages became more outgoing and restless under the pressure of life and death.
The crew became more reserved, more compliant with order, even proactively maintaining order.
The front carriage… was strange. Under a very unserious train conductor, the atmosphere in the front carriage was surprisingly proper, basically in a pre-apocalypse state, with production, life, and even mental outlook in a very stable condition.
Translator Hu Shuo carefully observed everything and recorded it in his notebook. Though it wasn’t useful, it made him feel fulfilled.
“I want to exchange for an Iron Eagle-3 tactical handgun, two magazines totaling 22 9mm bullets, and 30 5.56 bullets. Then I want to recruit this person into my team, please register it.”
Hearing the inquiry, Hu Shuo looked up.
A middle-aged woman in neat casual clothes stood before him, her eyes carrying a calm strength.
It was Jiang Rong, captain of the second D-level squad of the Armored Train.
Behind her was a middle-aged man with graying temples, but his sturdy build suggested he did heavy labor regularly, very burly, with a hint of nervousness in his eyes.
“D-level combat team first-time handgun purchase has a discount: handgun only 10 points, comes with one magazine; bullets another 6 points. Submachine gun bullets have no discount, 0.75 points each, but your total comes to an even number, 20 points. Total payment 36 points.”
“Are you sure you want to exchange?”
Jiang Rong nodded, “Confirmed.”
“Alright, I’ll register it for you. Please wait, I’ll go get the items.”
Hu Shuo quickly recorded the exchange and the man’s name; this was his new job on the train.
Then he walked to the front carriage, greeted Zhang Kai, and returned to carriage 15.
He guarded the gate between the crew and the rear squads.
Passing through carriage 14, the cook was hacking at a large chunk of dog meat, juice splattering everywhere due to poor knife skills.
Hu Shuo’s eyelid twitched, “Cook it longer today; yesterday’s was too tough, couldn’t chew it.”
The cook flashed a bloody grin, “Got it,” and continued wrestling with the blood hound.
Hu Shuo continued forward, reported to Old Er of the three brothers, then entered the front 10 carriages. For miscellaneous items, it was carriage 8 with Old Huang; for food, carriage 6 with Yu Yue.
But all exchanges related to weapons and ammunition needed the train conductor’s approval.
Hu Shuo walked forward, greeting politely and subtly with a smile in every carriage passed, though these courtesies might not bring benefits.
But they would help him avoid unknown troubles.
When he reached the dining car, the train conductor was sitting on his exclusive sofa, listening to He Jie explain details of battlefield fortifications to Xiao Ba.
Hu Shuo didn’t interrupt, but stood silently to the side, listening to their conversation.
If the train conductor didn’t want him to hear, he would stop immediately to handle his report.
If he didn’t stop, it meant he could listen.
He had heard the train conductor explain evolver information several times during this period.
This counted as one of the crew’s invisible welfares.
When He Jie talked himself hoarse, Su Huan finally looked at the translator, “Someone else exchanging again?”
“Yes.” Hu Shuo handed over the form.
Su Huan glanced at it, slightly surprised. Jiang Rong was impressive; though her team was small and far less combat-effective than Lu Xiao’s, she had accumulated quite a few points, always harvesting something on outings.
Two days ago, she had been ambushed by the Steel Council, drawing a horde of zombies.
It took half a day of running for the zombie inducer to wear off, shaking off the ordinary zombies, but some Tier 1 zombies kept chasing.
Su Huan simply circled around and sniped the elite group, harvesting a hefty load of materials.
Then let the passengers off to get some air.
Interestingly, these two days Su Huan stopped providing food to rear carriage passengers and reinstated the supplies-for-boarding system, but few left.
Old passengers only had a dozen or so leave daily, worlds apart from the previous hundreds fleeing together.
And they brought back quite a few survivors, all clamoring with supplies to board.
The rear twenty-seven carriages were crammed with two thousand people!
Only when Su Huan drove the train to a remote area did it ease, but scattered survivors still came daily.
“Approved for exchange, get it from the ammunition depot in carriage 4.” Su Huan returned the booklet and casually asked, “Evolved yet?”
Hearing this, Hu Shuo showed a subtle smile, “Thanks to the train conductor’s opportunity, I’ve become a manufacturer. Lately, besides handling point exchanges, I’ve been working mainly with Squad Leader Yu.”
Yu Yue didn’t manage people, so the crew’s “Squad Leader Yu” could only be Yu Jing.
She oversaw nearly all manufacturers in the carriages.
“Alright, go ahead.”
Su Huan held his tablet, opened an offline map. Without downloading specific city maps, he couldn’t zoom in, only see relative city positions.
Accurate only to county level.
It would have been best to download all maps offline at the apocalypse’s start, but things were too chaotic then, and he forgot.
Comparing the large map and the accurate Yijin map in hand, Su Huan roughly gauged his position relative to New City.
He had crossed about a hundred kilometers, nearly traversing all of Yijin City. Northward was Zhongyou City, and New City was in Changli County northwest of Zhongyou City.
With this damn map unsearchable, the train conductor relied on his excellent eyesight, “He Jie, take a look, how far are we from there?”
He Jie glanced at the destination, face twisting, “Do we have to play the shit-stirrer?”
“Tch, no nonsense.”
“About 120.”
“No mistake?”
“Impossible, unless the scale is wrong, and my eyes couldn’t be.”
“Oh.”
Su Huan acknowledged noncommittally, rubbing his chin to calculate time.
Today was December 29th; originally, New City Plan was January 10th. Now stimulated by him, it might change.
But from prior behavior, Armored Train and Steel Council had no fundamental conflict.
Delay was unlikely, so only one choice remained: advance the plan.
Moreover, their trade had an implication: friendly development, no interference.
So now he should act like he wouldn’t interfere with their plan, then when Steel Council fully committed to New City Plan, he turns the train around with its eight thousand tons of shit-stirring, slamming in crosswise.
For maximum effect.
By then, Steel Council would be saddled up, unable to retreat or advance, forced to fight head-on.
Making his moves much easier.
Imagining his old employer’s cannon-stuffed frustrated face, Su Huan’s eyes lit up.
Now, wait for the fish to bite, be patient.
Su Huan asked directly, “He Jie, do you know of any large logistics centers nearby?”
“Large logistics center?”
Seeing those bright eyes, He Jie felt this guy was up to no good.
“I do know a large logistics center, but not in Zhongyou City, it’s in Dongping City east of Zhongyou City.”
“Great, then we’ll go to Dongping City!”
Su Huan slapped the map on his palm, stood up, and headed to the driver’s cabin.
Leaving He Jie stunned there.
Weren’t we going to mess with New City?
Changed his mind?
No.
Extremely suspicious.
This guy understanding words would be a miracle; if no interest in New City, why ask distance?
……
The train slowly started, its overweight tonnage creaking the sleepers and steel rails.
Though acid rain-rinsed for three days, the rails were still sturdy overall, only some spots rusted, peeling under the wheels’ high-pressure vibration.
Ten kilometers away, an open space stirred, revealing a ground camouflage net.
A soldier with a high-magnification electro-optical observer whispered, “Target has moved, direction pending observation, notify follow-up to track.”
Another soldier nearby ran down quickly, drove off.
Steel Council Headquarters, fourteenth floor; Qinggang Industrial sign outside not yet removed.
Inside, a heavy long table; sixteen suited directors sat in their places.
Entering Li Tao immediately drew attention; he didn’t go to his father but whispered in his uncle’s ear.
The latter smiled, tapped the table hard, “One hour ago, the Armored Train left Yijin City for Dongping City.”
“I propose the New City Plan officially begins on January 10th!”
