Chapter 172: Ironwood
Didn’t you beat me into this state?
Now I have to be mocked as a pig head in front of a beauty.
Thinking of this, a nameless fire in his heart burned brighter and brighter.
Why not go all out and just kill him directly?
This way, not only could he avenge himself, but the cold beauty beside him would be his!
Wang Fei’s mocking eyes opposite were full of killing intent.
A dead pockmarked guy still thinking of sharing a woman with him.
What a bold imagination!
Not only Zhang Min was his, but the entire scrap iron city was his too!
The flames of hatred instantly engulfed the reason of both men.
Their subordinates were even worse, staring at the opposite side with hatred in their eyes one by one, their palms already on the trigger.
Even the most timid ones were looking at Zhang Min while gripping the steel bar in their hands tightly.
The halted war erupted without warning.
The two groups of people fought together like excited fighting cocks.
Without any intention of dodging.
Face-to-face fighting, gun against gun firing fiercely, perfectly embodying the iron-blooded tough guys from the movies.
In the storm of gunfire, the woman showed no panic on her face, smiling like a coquettish blooming mandala.
The gray-blue gunpowder smoke was like a thin gauze draped over her body, the ballistic tracer grazing her porcelain-white neck, like the fireworks and flowing fire released during a queen’s coronation.
Her tongue tip leisurely licked away the blood droplet splashed onto the tiger’s mouth, then spat it out with a hint of disgust and contempt.
Zhang Min watched this fight started because of
Thirty seconds later, when the final gunshot ceased.
Only a scant three or five people remained standing in place in the field.
Ma Baozi was shot full of holes in the face.
Wang Fei was also not faring well, his body covered in gunshot wounds. If not for the Defender’s tough physique supporting him, he would have already kicked the bucket by now.
Even if his brain was extremely muddled, he still sensed that something was wrong.
When did I become so impulsive?
When he saw the last few people in the field being effortlessly taken out one by one with shots from Zhang Min, he immediately understood in his heart that she was the one behind it.
Tactical Boots crushed the fine gravel on the ground, trampling the sticky flesh and blood, step by step approaching right in front.
Zhang Min looked down at the man at her feet, who was like mud.
Even in such dire straits, the other party’s eyes still revealed a trace of condescending disdain, as if she were still that woman who could only grovel beneath him and beg for survival.
One glance reveals shallow thoughts.
As long as I have had you, your image will forever be frozen on that bed from then on.
Only the Train Conductor is different.
Regardless of whether she was bare or fully dressed, he only cared about her own value.
The purest joy and sorrow.
She felt like she somewhat understood Su Huan, even if it was only the most superficial bit.
Thinking of this, Zhang Min instantly lost interest in observing Wang Fei, aiming the muzzle at the other’s head.
“Boring.”
Annoyance, hatred, resentment… all kinds of negative emotions instantly filled Wang Fei’s chest cavity.
Blood frothed from his mouth. He opened his mouth but could only barely spit out two words.
“Bitch.”
Accompanied by a gunshot, a large amount of negative emotions fed back into the Hate Seed.
He put the handgun back into the holster on his thigh. The silver motorcycle let out a low roar, charging along the railway track toward the end, leaving behind a ground of blood and the corpses drained of desire.
……
The train crawled slowly along the railway track at a speed of 3~5km/h.
Interestingly, a huge Iron-eating Tree over eight meters tall next to it was walking alongside the Armored Train at the same speed.
Two people, one standing on the second level of the train and the other standing on the treetop, were chatting happily.
“Is this tree one you’ve been supporting since it was small?”
Su Huan placed his palm on the car window, released a faint electric current, and quietly repelled the branches of the Iron-eating Tree that were attached to the train.
The Iron-eating Tree held up its charred branch tips for the youth to see, looking aggrieved like a child.
The youth standing on the Iron-eating Tree lightly smiled as he took the branches, rubbed off the black ash on the surface, shook his head, and said, “This tree is over fifty years old. It’s just growing at my doorstep. From childhood to now, I’ve always hung my clothes on it. When I got beaten as a kid, I hid on it.”
“Later, I went out to find food, but ended up being chased by a zombie. In a panic, I climbed onto it in three steps. I didn’t expect it to actually move, and it even helped me kill the zombie. After spending some time together, I discovered it likes to eat metal, so I started taking it everywhere to find metal to eat. I gave it the name ‘Xiang Liu’…”
The youth was very talkative, possibly because he rarely encountered another man like him who could similarly “master” the apocalypse, one with an armored train, the other with mutated plants.
Su Huan asked suspiciously, “Xiang Liu shouldn’t be a tree, right?”
“Who cares, as long as it sounds good. By the way, where are you all from?”
The youth asked casually.
“Has Wen’an heard of it?”
“Uh…”
“Mo Jiang.”
“I know this one. There’s Mo Jiang City with the cross-river bridge, right?”
“Yes, we came over that bridge.”
“That’s great. Back when I graduated, I wanted to go traveling. The train would pass right over the bridge, so I could see if the scenery was as spectacular as they said online. But in the blink of an eye, seven or eight years have passed…”
Su Huan recalled the turbulent Mo Jiang that night, sighed, and said, “It was indeed spectacular, with many cute little animals too. By the way, what are you planning to do?”
‘Cute little animal?’
A trace of doubt appeared in the youth’s eyes. Before he could think, he patted the empty water tank behind him and said.
“It’s too dangerous outside now. Many people are hiding at home and don’t dare to come out. I shuttle through the city delivering things to those lacking supplies, then earn some rewards.”
Su Huan nodded thoughtfully, “Delivery to the door?”
“Don’t talk about going through the door; with the height of the Silver Motorcycle, going through the car window works too. By the way, do you need anything on the train? I can exchange some for you.”
The youth’s expression was vivid, easily winning others’ trust.
Su Huan rested his arms on the car window and pondered, “Consumption on the train is indeed quite high, but you can’t fill the gap for ordinary supplies either. That said, do you have anything you need?”
“Water, right now the entire Shun’an is most in need of clean purified water, and no one knows where that acid rain came from, which polluted the city’s water sources, leading to water shortages everywhere.” The youth had a bitter expression on his face.
“I can fill your entire water tank with purified water, all standard drinking water from before the apocalypse, but I only need some scarce, in-demand things.”
Su Huan narrowed his eyes, revealing a sincere smile.
The youth looked troubled. “The most in-demand supplies right now are survival supplies, but if you don’t lack those… what exactly do you want?”
“Medicine?”
“Tobacco and alcohol?”
“Still firearms?”
Seeing that Su Huan’s expression showed no fluctuation whatsoever, the youth hesitated for a moment before adding the last item.
Su Huan raised an eyebrow, “Can you get firearms?”
“The quantity isn’t much, but if you have a large amount of purified water, I can exchange it.”
“Hmm, but I don’t need firearms either.” Su Huan didn’t let him guess wildly anymore, took out a General Energy Crystal, “Have you seen this thing?”
The youth showed a look of realization, “You’re talking about General Energy Crystals. This thing can turn people into Evolvers, so it’s indeed quite in demand.”
He was not surprised that the other party knew this. Shun’an had a considerable population, and it was normal for someone to unexpectedly awaken as a Collector and be able to extract General Energy Crystals.
“I want not only General Energy Crystals, but also various Materials collected from Zombies and Mutated Beasts, including this Iron-eating Tree under your feet, and the payment will be Purified Water, Medicine, Food, tobacco and alcohol, Luxury Goods, various living Supplies, but I’m not currently selling Firearms, only standard 5.56mm and 7.62mm Standard Rounds.”
Through collecting train tickets, the train has already stored a large amount of ordinary supplies, so much that there’s no place to put them all.
Things like whole cigarettes, high-end red wine, and betel nut were all stored by the ton as ordinary supplies in the Train Conductor’s place.
Although this thing is also hard currency, it is far less important than evolutionary supplies.
Using such a large space to support Captain He, Old San, and a few other smokers is too wasteful.
Perhaps sensing the depraved gaze of Su Huan, the Iron-eating Tree under the youth’s feet waved its branches menacingly, trying to intimidate the Train Conductor.
And the youth’s gaze toward Su Huan also showed some changes.
These aren’t refugees at all; they’re clearly mobile war tycoons!
In the other’s eyes, my small stature was probably just a small shrimp.
After hesitating for a moment, the youth flipped out a palm-sized metal ingot from the tree canopy, “See if this thing works?”
Su Huan took the metal ingot with keen interest; the familiar general energy fluctuation emanated from it.
From the Fluctuation level, the thing has already reached Tier 1 level.
Because Mutated Plants are not as regular as Zombies and Mutated Beasts, people have not summarized a clear way to distinguish the levels of Mutated Plants. Only Evolvers can judge through their own strange abilities.
For example, this Iron-eating Tree under the youth’s feet had reached Tier 1 standard.
“This isn’t regular metal, is it?”
Su Huan carefully observed the metal in his hand. It was very light, with wood grain, and up close, he could even smell a faint grassy fragrance.
His fingers exerted force, and the metal ingot in his hand was unexpectedly pinched with several fingerprints, as if it were cork.
Its hardness is actually close to Qing Steel!
Accompanied by the withdrawal of force, the fingerprints above began to slowly rebound.
Obvious surprise showed in Su Huan’s eyes.
And what appeared in the youth’s eyes was horror.
He had tested this metal ingot before; it was about the same as normal metal, yet this long-haired young man was deforming it as easily as if he were pinching clay.
What terrifying fingertip strength is this?!
The most powerful evolver he had ever seen was not as fierce as Su Huan.
“This is what Xiangliu excreted after eating metal. I don’t know what it is, but I’ve been saving them up. There are over thirty pieces in total, and I carry them all with me.”
The youth explained.
“How much of this Material do you have? I want it all!”
Su Huan said decisively.
Although this thing is not as hard as Qing Steel and cannot be used for armor, its properties are completely different, so it should have other places where he can make use of it. Collecting it is definitely not wrong.
There’s one more thing: in his previous life, he had no idea at all that the Iron-eating Tree could produce this kind of Material.
Obviously, this is a major force monopolizing the transaction of supplies.
Definitely a good thing.
Finally, Su Huan used one water tank of purified water, plus twenty handgun bullets, to exchange for the metal ingot named “Ironwood” in the young man’s hand.
Before leaving, the youth gave him a reminder, “If you want to exchange for supplies, you can go contact the scattered households in the city. The people in front of you might not be too friendly.”
“Unfriendly?”
Su Huan hooked the corner of his mouth and waved his hand to bid farewell to the youth.
He wanted to keep heading north to trace the source of the apocalypse. Perhaps he could only see it once in this lifetime, so saying a proper goodbye would be quite meaningful.
The Train Conductor in a good mood turned his head, and two elite soldiers like bodyguards immediately stepped forward, awaiting orders.
“How far is it to the Train Manufacturing Base?”
“There’s about ten kilometers left to go. We’ll stop at the platform one kilometer outside the base, waiting for the rendezvous with Captain Yu’s team and Captain He’s team.”
The Demolition Man on the left said.
He got the code name Giraffe because of his long neck.
The other one is called White Deer, not the white of fair skin, but the white of idiot.
Su Huan neither confirmed nor denied it, pointed at the more than thirty pieces of Ironwood on the ground, “Take them.”
Then he walked towards the back along the second floor of the train, casually asking, “What do you think the next upgrade direction for the armored train should be?”
Hesitation appeared on the giraffe’s face.
He was a bit unaccustomed to the Train Conductor’s way of speaking.
The train’s upgrade direction—is this something a newly surrendered person like him should be considering?
“Speak your mind directly, or I’ll think you’re cursing me in your heart.”
Su Huan glanced at him and said with a fake smile.
The giraffe glanced at his teammates and saw White Deer looking at him with a face full of curiosity. He cursed inwardly, calling him an idiot, and said helplessly, “I think we should get off the railway track…”
Seeing that Su Huan didn’t interrupt him, the giraffe continued to state his reasons.
“Leaving aside the maintenance issues of the railway track, the train’s route is simply too fixed. Whether searching for supplies or engaging in combat… it’s easy to be targeted.”
The giraffe didn’t dare to say too much, simply sharing his own thoughts.
Su Huan nodded thoughtfully.
Next, every time he passed by a person, he would ask the same question.
Listen to their opinions.
Wan Xing: “It can fly.”
‘Remarkable woman.’
Su Huan didn’t dare ask anymore and walked toward Huang Hai’s farm carriage.
Huang Hai was feeding the Iron-eating Tree with a small piece of metal debris. After hearing this question and thinking seriously, he said, “Three-dimensional carriages, carriages even larger and more spacious than now.”
Su Huan looked up at the top of his head.
The second floor renovation of Carriage 7 has been completed, and unlike other carriages where the first and second floors are completely separated by flooring.
A large space was reserved in the middle of the Farm Carriage, just like the atrium in a shopping mall, vertically penetrating through it with excellent natural lighting.
The left and right sides were lush with greenery, sunlight streaming in from the upper and lower car windows, like a “Druid’s” “church” “cottage”.
Although oxen and horses are not comparable, these three words fit together very well here.
Carriage 7 is very similar to the church in terms of lighting, but the church isn’t this narrow, nor does it have so many plants.
“Do you mean to open up a third layer?”
Su Huan reached out and flicked the nearby [Fresh Grass], and the winding vine retreated as if shy.
Then, in the instant he withdrew his hand, it suddenly sprang out.
It even produced a small sonic boom.
For safety reasons, the mutated plants obtained from the Experimental High Tower were not all planted, but several dangerous mutated plants were added to the functional crops.
[Fresh Grass] is a vine that can purify air.
Calling it a vine is not entirely accurate; now many mutated plants can extend movable branches.
However, [Fresh Grass] will not actively attack people; its attack behavior is all instinctive counterattack, so just be careful not to step on it when passing by.
Moreover, Huang Hai trims it regularly, so the danger is not great.
“Two layers are already very high, almost at the national standard height limit. What I mean is to widen the vehicle body, but that might create some additional load-bearing issues, so we’d have to consult Professor Ma and the others.”
Huang Hai took a pair of scissors from the suit pocket and snipped off the long, pointed tip of the [Fresh Grass].
The latter immediately curled up and no longer spread into the passageway.
“Widen it, huh…”
Su Huan pinched his chin. “That’s also a way to expand space.”
“By the way, in a couple of days when the chicks grow up, we can kill the rooster and eat the meat.” Huang Hai pointed at the rooster leisurely strolling among the mutated plants on the second layer.
The rooster was fighting against the Wire Grass spreading everywhere.
Several hens followed behind him.
With one peck of the bright yellow pointed beak, the tough Wire Grass, like iron wire, was instantly severed and fell into the chicken’s mouth.
