Chapter 123: On The Train Affairs
He instructed everyone to take their things and said goodbye to Jiang Rong and Old Liu, leading the group through the carriage toward the front.
The passengers’ eyes lit up instantly when they saw them.
Especially those who prided themselves on having some fighting ability, they immediately smiled and crowded forward.
“Brother Xiao is back.”
“Brother Xiao, I also want to go on missions with you.”
“Brother Xiao, I heard your wife is willing to eat cherries. I got two cans of imported canned cherries today. Please take them.”
Lu Xiao stopped upon hearing this, took the canned cherries and glanced at them, then looked up at the man, who was around forty years old with a weary look, followed by his wife and teenage son.
A humble expectation appeared in the man’s eyes.
Because people from the front of the train never went to the back, the highest level ordinary passengers could contact was the crew and the two combat teams of Lu Xiao and Jiang Rong.
The two combat teams had high casualties at the beginning, some members quit, and some old passengers secretly felt fortunate in their hearts.
But now even the most ordinary members of the combat teams had become evolvers.
They themselves still had to go down to collect train tickets. These old passengers felt extremely sour in their hearts, thinking that the train conductor would issue tasks, then fight for a captain position, recruit a group of subordinates, and live luxuriously.
In the end, after waiting half a month, the train conductor hadn’t issued a single task, while those two teams had gone out several times.
Some couldn’t wait and went to inquire, hearing that points had appeared in the front carriage, but only team captains were qualified to earn points to exchange for items.
They belatedly realized they had missed another opportunity and could only turn to beg Lu Xiao.
But Lu Xiao wasn’t a fool; how could he want these old slickers who had been repeatedly screened out.
Even if short on people, he generally selected from newcomers.
New passengers on the train, as long as they had some ability, were recorded by the translator Hu Shuo in his notebook. Useful ones were directly picked for the crew. Those left were either redundant talents or too cautious, hiding their abilities.
But a man like this one with a family obviously wasn’t in his consideration.
Although stability was important, the team currently didn’t have enough surplus resources to support two idlers.
“Newcomer, right?”
The man nodded hurriedly. “Got on the train the day before yesterday.”
Lu Xiao pondered and said, “The cans are good, and the dates are fresh. Tell me what you want, and I’ll exchange with you.”
A trace of eagerness appeared on the man’s face. “No exchange, no exchange. If Brother Xiao likes them, just take them to eat. What exchange? It’s an honor to be looked upon by Brother Xiao.”
Lu Xiao glanced at his wife and child behind him and sighed. “My combat team is full, but tomorrow you can follow us. I can’t guarantee what you’ll gain.”
The man was overjoyed upon hearing this. “Thank you, Brother Xiao! Thank you, Brother Xiao!”
“Two cans and Brother Xiao takes you along. What dogshit luck!”
“I’m so envious my eyeballs are turning red.”
“Brother Xiao, what else does your wife like to eat? I’ll go find it tomorrow too!”
“Brother Xiao…”
The people around started flattering noisily, and some held things wanting to come forward.
But Lu Xiao had no intention of staying longer, waved his hand, and under the vigilant gazes of Xiao Ma and others behind, the surrounding passengers could only retreat, none daring to pester.
They were just ordinary passengers on the train, while Lu Xiao was from a combat team.
Even if beaten to death on the spot, the train wouldn’t care.
However, Lu Xiao and Jiang Rong were both smart people, always maintaining a proper balance without doing anything to put the train conductor in a difficult position.
This was the advantage of smart people; many rules didn’t need to be stated explicitly.
They would cautiously grasp this balance.
Just like how Su Huan had never told them rules like “no fighting on the train,” “combat teams must not slaughter passengers on a large scale,” “crew must not sell supplies to the rear carriages”…
If truly listing rules, they couldn’t be fully enumerated, and Su Huan didn’t want to spend effort on that.
But that didn’t mean there were no rules on the train.
Like the auto mechanic Old Liu exchanging some food with female passengers in the rear carriage for services, or the cook secretly selling some semi-public information to the rear carriage.
The matter of points exchange spread through his channels.
These were all recorded in Hu Shuo’s notebook.
Su Huan saw them but said nothing.
Compared to the “two deep blue data collectors who sneaked onto the train” and “the unstable factor named Li Hong in Professor Ma’s team,” these were trivial matters.
Even these two were somewhat insignificant compared to what the train conductor was thinking about.
……
Because they had obtained quite a bit of furniture, the restaurant layout had changed a lot. Entering from carriage 3, the cabinet on the right was changed to black walnut, with a small wine cabinet of the same material hanging beside it, looking more like a small bar counter than a kitchen.
Along the left aisle forward, there was an added set of small sofas in a circular arc surrounding a table in the middle.
The table and sofas were all fixed to the carriage floor, so even with violent shaking, they wouldn’t shift and block the aisle.
The long table pieced together further ahead was also replaced with a solid wood long table, but that red-and-white checkered tablecloth was still laid on it, including the somewhat shy porcelain vase with small grass that was highlighted by the huge table top.
Two rows of ten comfortable seats, overall slightly to the right, on the same side as the kitchen.
Wide aisles were left on both sides, enough for Xiao Ba’s wheelchair to pass.
The steel plate blinds also had some decorations; the original dark green curtains were changed to bright colors. Even with the blinds down, it didn’t look like a prison.
The train conductor’s exclusive orange cat sofa at the end also had several companions, forming a square-shaped sofa group that could easily seat five or six people.
However, only Su Huan’s had a large blanket laid on it; the others just had light-colored knitted cushions.
At this time, the train conductor was sitting on the sofa with eyes downcast in deep thought.
Professor Ma and Yu Jing were talking softly nearby.
Opposite was He Jie teaching Xiao Ba the details and principles of field fortifications.
Old San and Huang Hai were having pre-meal drinks at the bar counter.
Until Liang Kuan and Wan Xing walked in, Yu Yue brought the meals to the dining table and called out “Time to eat,” Su Huan seemed to wake up and looked toward He Jie opposite.
“Finished lecturing?”
He Jie let out a long breath. “All finished, at least everything I know has been covered.”
Su Huan turned his gaze to Xiao Ba. “Then did you gain any ability?”
Everyone was stunned upon hearing this and turned their gazes to Xiao Ba.
The youth hesitated and shook his head. “No change.”
Su Huan crossed his index fingers under his nose, brows tightly furrowed.
He had waited here for so many days; besides making the Steel Council sink deeper, he was waiting for Xiao Ba to advance to Tier 1 “Metal Construction.”
“Metal Construction” = lv3 “Metal Control” + lv2 “Metal Purification” + lv1 “Fortification Specialization”
Like most skills of manufacturers, this “Fortification Specialization” was a damned knowledge-based skill.
Not something that could be solved with gene potion.
Without knowledge in this area, it simply wouldn’t awaken.
But “Fortification Specialization” was okay, not too complex; a few days of cramming would do.
These days he had urged He Jie to teach daily, and Xiao Ba had trained normally too. Why hadn’t it awakened?
Now Xiao Ba’s first two abilities had reached the level; as long as the last skill awakened, it would meet the minimum standard for Tier 1 profession advancement.
But it was stuck here.
He Jie scratched his head hard twice and asked in an incredulous tone, “I just realized—you want him to awaken the skill ‘Fortification Specialization’? But have you considered, I haven’t awakened this skill myself. How do you think I can teach it clearly to him?”
Su Huan raised his eyelids slightly. ‘Could the problem really be with him?’
But that wasn’t right either. Whether a person could awaken a knowledge-based skill depended partly on the teacher, but more on oneself.
A great teacher didn’t guarantee great students.
A poor teacher didn’t guarantee poor students.
Knowledge wasn’t transmitted through bloodline.
Rather, genes considered the host’s environment, skills, reserves, potential, stimulation… and many other factors to awaken.
It was normal that He Jie hadn’t awakened “Fortification Specialization.” Why would someone charging with an anti-aircraft machine gun need fortifications?
But Xiao Ba clearly needed it a lot. He had awakened it in his previous life too. Where had it gone wrong…
“This shouldn’t be…”
Su Huan was puzzled and even suspected if he had remembered the skill combination wrong.
Professor Ma had observed these days that Su Huan had He Jie lecture Xiao Ba for a purpose, but hadn’t expected it related to evolutionary abilities. He couldn’t help asking, “What’s the relationship between knowledge and skills?”
Su Huan thought about it; the other was a professional, maybe he could offer useful advice.
After thinking, he explained, “Some skills can be obtained through gene potion and training, like ‘Sniper Specialization.’ You can awaken it by diligently training to improve accuracy, or like Yu Yue, get an injection and awaken directly.”
“But skills like ‘Fortification Specialization’ can’t be solved with gene potion. The logic behind building fortifications is too complex; it can’t be handled by instinct. For example, if an armor-piercing round hits your teammate, instinct won’t make you create metal armor that perfectly defends against a 7.62 bullet.”
“Instinct won’t tell you that upward-angled armor better resists armor-piercing rounds.”
“Instinct can make you react quickly, but instinct can’t accurately judge things beyond cognition. These belong to the realm of knowledge.”
Su Huan summarized knowledge-based skills with his own understanding.
Some things aren’t that complex, but explaining them clearly to others takes a lot of words.
Fortunately, everyone present had good comprehension.
Professor Ma placed his hands on his legs, speaking slowly and logically. “I think I understand. Skill awakening is a summary of a person’s ability in a certain area, not just basic stats like nerve reflex or memory, but also including their cognition level in that field.”
Su Huan’s eyes suddenly brightened, corners of his mouth turning up.
Professionals handling professional matters.
And this was called being professional!
“Exactly.”
Seeing the confusion in everyone’s eyes lessen, Professor Ma continued.
“But some fields don’t lack cognition and understanding; rather, instinct has taken over those operations, like our breathing. How much oxygen to inhale, how much waste gas to exhale varies slightly by constitution, but no one pays attention because the body has taken over.”
“Many Defender skills are about the body, so they don’t need to know which actions strain muscles or which run faster, because the body has adjusted for them. That’s the instinct the train conductor mentioned.”
Yu Jing nearby suddenly chimed in, “Then reasoning in this direction, Xiao Ba’s skill is instinct + knowledge combination. Now that the knowledge is learned, the problem should be with instinct.”
“In other words, either not trained enough, or not stimulated enough.”
Except for Xiao Ba looking a bit embarrassed, everyone showed sudden realization.
He Jie muttered, “If I dig pits and build bunkers every day, could I train this skill too?”
“There’s a probability, but I suggest you don’t. Your awakened skills are messy enough; awakening more would make Tier 2 advancement difficult.” Su Huan promptly interrupted his bold idea.
He Jie sheepishly touched his head, but a glint of contemplation flashed in his eyes.
The Steel Council also had such theoretical results, but all researched from their own bodies.
Where did Su Huan learn this?
Guess blindly?
That was pure bullshit.
Even Professor Ma couldn’t think of something so obscure without guidance.
“Then if I cook every day, will I awaken a cooking skill?”
A soft voice came from behind.
Su Huan stood up and flicked her smooth forehead. “Don’t engrave every damn thing into your DNA; it’s not a trash bin.”
Professor Ma chuckled beside and explained, “Probably not. Genes actively select skills with evolutionary potential.”
“Alright, let’s eat first. After eating, I’ll talk about the next plan.”
The seafood feast on the long table shimmered with gorgeous colors under the lights.
In the center was a basin of shelled tail-on peony shrimp iced to semi-transparency, surrounded by thinly sliced shellfish, large chunks of salmon and tuna, restorative scallion-braised sea cucumber, the essential garlic oysters and stir-fried squid tentacles, and the seafood soup from dreams.
The table had meat, veggies, and soup.
In the apocalypse, this could be called a delicacy.
But after three meals a day for several days, everyone’s expressions upon seeing this feast were subtle.
Not eat and let them rot?
Impossible!
The train conductor would be the first to disagree!
Yu Yue wanted to get the spoon, but the train conductor took it first, then smilingly ladled a bowl of seafood soup for each person.
Anyway, all at the table were evolvers; even the oldest Professor Ma didn’t need to worry about gout.
But whose evolvers ate over ten pounds of fresh seafood a day without getting tired of it!
Evolvers had strong abilities but high consumption; a normal meal could be two or three times what ordinary people ate. Like He Jie and Liang Kuan, they could eat five or six times as much.
This also meant the torment of repetitive food on taste buds was doubled.
But this was soup personally ladled by the train conductor; drink it or not, it had to be drunk.
He Jie’s mind was full of the plan Su Huan was about to announce; he mechanically shoved slippery fresh shrimp into his mouth without tasting anything.
Thinking of his wife and daughter still in the Steel Council, a wave of anxiety rose in his heart.
Although he knew the company wouldn’t do anything to his wife and daughter short-term, without resolution, his heart always hung unsettled.
Su Huan had agreed here, but there was still no action.
Tomorrow’s plan… would it relate to the Steel Council?
Disrupt first or rescue his wife and daughter first?
The train and Steel Council had no irreconcilable conflicts besides that one mutual sabotage.
Various thoughts flooded in; He Jie’s heart grew increasingly uneasy.
Looking at the train conductor at the front who only picked cooked food, he couldn’t help asking.
“Tomorrow… what are we probably doing?”
