Chapter 137: Stop Them?
“People will spontaneously form new groups in stable environments, which is very normal.”
“Aren’t you going to care about it either?”
“No time, suppress it first, we’ll talk after solving the current matters.”
“By the way, why are we looking for trouble with the Steel Council?”
Su Huan placed both hands on her shoulders, feigning surprise, “Clearly, they are the ones looking for trouble with us.”
Even though Su Huan’s hand had already slipped under her collar, Yu Jing’s face remained indifferent, and Su Huan found it boring, “It’s just that certain goals happened to collide.”
Yu Jing had more of a young girl’s elasticity and vitality, unlike her mother, who carried the softness of a mature woman, soft everywhere.
But no matter how many times she was pressed down, she would stubbornly lift her head.
But Su Huan just liked going against him.
Fighting with people, tireless in enjoyment.
Seeing his trend becoming more intense, Yu Jing pointed at the screen and said, “If you don’t go over soon, they will come find you.”
Su Huan glanced over, it was the cockpit.
Liang Kuan, He Jie, and the just-captured Goat were all there.
He rubbed the softness at his fingertips, and Su Huan directly withdrew his hand and left.
Yu Jing lowered her head to look at her flushed body, calmly straightening her clothes.
Her mother had already fed him fully long ago.
He did it on purpose.
She knew.
……
Front of the Train, Goat sullenly scanned the group of strange people.
Especially that driver wrapped in bandages, with a burly figure impossible to ignore, like a dull heavy mountain pressing on people’s hearts.
“Don’t look, you can’t beat this one either.”
He Jie behind him said coldly, the cigarette in his mouth filling the entire cockpit with smoke.
His corner was so blurred that even the person was almost indistinct.
Goat had already activated his ability, and upon hearing this, he didn’t refute, because He Jie was right.
If he provoked that big guy, his death time would be around three seconds, second only to the one-second of that youth in the wheelchair.
“What force is this?”
Goat’s eyes returned to normal, and he asked in a low voice.
“What force…” He Jie took a deep drag of his cigarette, muttering the sentence under his breath.
“Just a small makeshift team.”
A lazy voice came from behind.
Everyone in the carriage perked up, even He Jie subconsciously straightened his posture.
Su Huan arrived just in time, walked to Goat’s side, sized him up, and said with a smile, “Your chance to shine has come.”
Goat pursed his lips, his face tense, “What do you need me to do?”
Su Huan put his arm around his shoulders and brought him behind Liang Kuan, pointing at the forked railway tracks ahead, “Help me judge which track into Changli County is more dangerous.”
Goat looked at the tracks ahead, then at Su Huan, hesitating to activate his ability.
Su Huan frowned, “What’s wrong, has your skill failed?”
“He just collects relevant information through ‘Visual Analysis’, then uses another skill to judge that information and generate a probability. Now we’re dozens of kilometers from Changli County, he can’t even see it. What do you want him to judge with? He’s an evolver, not a fortune teller.”
He Jie said helplessly from behind.
Su Huan thoughtfully looked at He Jie, “You know the skills and professions of all your colleagues?”
He Jie decisively shook his head, “Everyone’s data is top secret. It’s just that after long battles, you can somewhat judge some things.”
Su Huan pulled over the cockpit screen and asked Goat, “What was the name of your skill again?”
“lv2 ‘Probability Judgment’, though the company is also recording this skill for the first time.”
Goat answered.
Su Huan had no impression of this skill, but after trading various messy skill info with Deep Blue Data, he hadn’t had time to look. He tried it out, entering the words in the crude search bar, and surprisingly, it came up.
“‘Probability Judgment’, quickly judge through subjective or non-subjective collected information, forming direct prompt feedback…”
Besides the description, it also listed in detail various body parameters of evolvers using the skill.
And various elaborate comparison tests.
Seeing this, Su Huan could only sigh, big companies are truly damnable.
Having time and resources for primitive accumulation is different.
But the bad news was, Deep Blue Data hadn’t researched profession pairings for this skill either.
It seemed Goat’s evolution path would be inevitably bumpy.
Goat glanced at the detailed skill description on the panel, instantly forgetting Su Huan’s earlier “makeshift team” comment.
“Although I can’t judge it, there’s no difference which railway line we take. I suggest stopping now. The company must have made preparations by now. The train might just—boom!—get bombed into scrap metal.”
Goat made an explosion gesture, saying sincerely.
Su Huan’s eyes showed no fluctuation, calmly asking, “Liang Kuan, how many kilometers to the goal?”
“32 kilometers.”
“Speed up.”
“Got it.”
“Notify all combat personnel to gather in the driver’s cabin, bring some food, no seafood, a few bags of duck would be good.”
Goat nearby looked puzzled, suddenly remembering the other side had a sound manipulator.
That settled it.
Soon, Old San brought his brothers over, scanned around, didn’t head to the spacious front of the train, but squeezed into He Jie’s narrow space.
The sound of the lighter rang out, the corner completely filled with smoke.
A cigarette before the big battle was their way to relax. Su Huan didn’t like it, but wouldn’t deny them this courtesy.
Soon, Professor Ma and Xiao Zhao arrived.
Yu Yue also brought duck.
All core members of the armored train, except Huang Hai, Wan Xing, and Yu Jing, gathered in the front of the train.
Perhaps sensing the impending battle, the atmosphere was oppressive.
Su Huan tore open the plastic packaging of several ducks, waved his hand, and several men came up to tear the ducks apart messily, silently stuffing pieces into their mouths. Even He Jie and Liang Kuan didn’t spit out bones, the crunching sounds continuous.
Su Huan was picky, but in his previous life he had mixed with this group of soldiers. He ate in the brief rest gaps while working, so his speed was even faster than He Jie’s.
A group of men eating was already ferocious, and with time tight, they sped up even more.
The scene was like tigers and wolves devouring.
Front to back, just over thirty seconds.
The six ducks on the table were left with only a few large bone frames.
Yu Yue looked at the duck leg in her hand, barely bitten, and asked, “Should I get some more?”
Su Huan slowly wiped his mouth, expanding General Energy Perception to the limit, constantly monitoring the surroundings of the train.
“No need. How many trained soldiers does the Steel Council have exactly?”
The first half answered Yu Yue, the second half asked He Jie and Goat.
He Jie pondered and said, “Anyway, we started with three thousand landing on the island, eventually down to three hundred. At that time, equipment was only enough to arm us, I don’t know if the later eliminated ones were kept.”
“No.” Goat beside him swallowed duck meat and added, “After Captain He and your group died, the company picked twenty more from them to fill the numbers. That’s when we knew those over two thousand were also kept, just trained differently. They focused on company security and talent reserves. They are the main force for the New City Plan, we only did assault.”
Su Huan showed sudden realization. No wonder in his previous life the Steel Council fought for so many years without losing soldiers. They had prepared from the start.
If before the apocalypse, hearing a company arming thousands of veterans for security, he’d think the company was crazy.
But in the apocalypse, he even thought three thousand armed forces was a bit few.
“Equipment?”
Su Huan continued asking.
He Jie didn’t answer. He hadn’t even seen the armory before Su Huan took him down. He didn’t know what happened after at the company.
Goat thought and answered, “I don’t know comprehensively, but we looted two small military bases with some standard equipment. Also heard they opened two armories, but don’t know how many exactly. The company always kept it hidden, didn’t tell us much besides tasks.”
Su Huan nodded.
This was indeed the company’s way. These soldiers only gained more say and info in the Steel Council after personal strength surged post-apocalypse.
But this was enough.
What he faced next was 260 elite evolver soldiers, over two thousand elite soldiers, and a bunch of rabble survivors.
A bit intense, but not quite enough.
“Xiao Zhao, deploy the mine-sweeping drones.”
“Liang Kuan, turn the horn up loud, tell them the train conductor is coming to visit family!”
……
Steel Council Headquarters building.
Thirteenth floor executive director office.
“That’s how it is. The blown railway track was repaired by the opponent’s metal manipulator, no effective blockage. Moreover, the opponent has extremely strong small-scale combat strength and knows our Steel Council tactical setup very well. Our B-level team couldn’t hold out long against him.”
“With our current forces, it’s hard to conduct two-line operations. If blocking fails again or we lose too many troops, the New City Plan will completely fail.”
Li Tao tried to keep his voice steady, but the bloodshot eyes showed his fatigue.
Listening to his report, the man in the chair showed no change on his angular face, just stood up and beckoned him.
Li Tao puzzled, lowered his head and stepped forward a few paces.
A pair of hands landed on his shoulders, flipping out the crumpled collar and straightening it. The steady, powerful voice was as always, “I’ve told you before, the collar is a man’s vigor and spirit. The more down times, the more you must mind your image.”
Looking at Li Wangchuan whose brows carried inherent authority, the anxiety and fear in Li Tao’s heart were smoothed by this powerful aura.
“Uncle…”
The man patted his nephew’s shoulder, sighing, “My first ups and downs, I was as panicked as you, felt the sky fell. Second time, felt powerless, had done my best. Third time, only unwillingness left. I felt I could do better, so I reached this position.”
“Not to mention, it’s not time to close the coffin yet.”
Li Wangchuan shifted tone, revealing the majestic aura honed in the mall for years.
“Bang bang!”
Urgent knocking came from outside the door, interrupting their talk.
Li Tao’s face changed.
Clearly, news of his troop losses had reached the company.
But losing twenty main ‘soldiers’ from the main battlefield couldn’t be hidden, let alone an armored train charging over aggressively.
“Should we stall them first?”
Li Wangchuan’s face turned stern, “What must come can’t be dodged. Open the door.”
As the door opened, over a dozen directors filed in led by Director Zhang. Many glared at Li Tao, but none lashed out at him, instead looking toward Li Wangchuan in the room.
“Li Wangchuan, we all said to delay the New City Plan, you insisted on pushing it fast. Now disrupted by outsiders, what do you have to say?!”
Director Zhang slammed the table in fury.
The directors’ faces were all grim, even those leaning toward the Li Family showed anxiety.
New City Plan failing was a loss for everyone present!
Li Wangchuan coldly looked at everyone, countering, “So the New City Plan has failed?”
Director Zhang outwardly trembled with rage, but inwardly couldn’t hide excitement.
If New City Plan succeeded, Li Wangchuan’s prestige and strength would rise further, fully controlling Steel Council, leaving him no chance to turn things around.
Now he could cling on with his old foundation, but if Li Wangchuan rose, he’d be the first to die!
“You think we’re all fools?! Just this morning, your nephew pulled a B-level team from the main battlefield, at least thirteen died on the spot, only three back now. And the armored train heads to New City, arriving in an hour. Our army will soon be attacked from both sides. You still say no failure? Waiting for the casualty list on your desk to admit it?!”
The people behind didn’t speak, but their cold eyes showed the same doubt.
“Since that train is coming, we’ll just stop it.”
Li Wangchuan said calmly.
“Stop it? Easier said than done!”
Director Zhang wanted to question, but saw Li Wangchuan ignore him and head straight out.
Furious, he stepped across to block Li Wangchuan, neither yielding. But meeting Li Wangchuan’s calm eyes, he suddenly felt his hair stand on end, like facing the most terrifying carnivorous beast, about to be pounced on and devoured.
This feeling he’d only sensed from elite evolver soldiers.
Director Zhang and the nearest directors showed shock, “You’ve already chosen to evolve now?”
Most directors now were ordinary people, not that Steel Council couldn’t get General Energy Crystals.
That stuff was rare pre-apocalypse, now everywhere.
But Steel Council’s formulas were imperfect.
The top evolution path only reached Tier 3. These directors with vast resources and rights naturally unwilling to jump in early, waiting for higher-level profession abilities, safer potions.
Li Wangchuan glanced at him, not answering.
He shook his sleeve, damp vapor dispersing, suit becoming crisper, his whole figure seeming taller.
“Now I’m going to the New City front line. You can follow, but time is tight, don’t block the way!”
His voice decisive and firm, the superior’s aura fully displayed.
[Already over six thousand, still hope to reach ten thousand today]
