Chapter 177: Exchange
A medium-sized drone equipped with night vision goggles trailed an optical fiber as it took off from the rear of the train, buzzing toward the direction of the vibration.
Clear and stable footage was transmitted to Carriage 12 and the 32-inch screen in the dining car. Su Huan looked at the clusters of iron-eating trees outside, his eyes revealing contemplation.
With Lin Jin, this Tier 1 [Flame Wielder], the iron-eating trees wouldn’t have any impact on the train’s outpost station.
But was all this happening too much of a coincidence?
The armored train had just arrived at the platform in the afternoon, and the iron-eating trees rioted at night.
It was hard for Su Huan not to suspect human factors were involved.
‘So who exactly is it…’
‘Train Manufacturing Base, survivors, or that person we met during the day?’
Su Huan contacted Xiao Zhao in the backend: “Give me footage of the crowd outside.”
Xiao Zhao: “Okay.”
Soon, in the bottom right corner of the existing footage, another overhead view of Mizhi Outpost appeared.
Because the outpost area had lighting, it was very clear even without night vision equipment.
The panicked ones were mainly the passengers who had gotten off the train; now they were scrambling back onto the train, while the workers in other areas only showed slight unease without any major reaction.
Su Huan lifted his eyelids slightly and looked at Wan Hao, who had been waiting for some time, “Do iron-eating tree riots happen frequently?”
A flash of surprise passed through Wan Hao’s eyes; he hadn’t expected Su Huan to figure it out so quickly.
As expected of the train conductor who controlled so many powerhouses.
And this term [iron-eating tree] was indeed very fitting.
He nodded and went along with it, “About every five days or so, the iron-eating trees leave their original positions to search for new metal. Because it’s a collective movement, it looks quite spectacular, but it stops soon; the vibration usually lasts between half an hour and an hour.”
Su Huan swiped the screen, clearly seeing four iron-eating trees branching out from the grove and advancing toward the platform.
“Will they actively attack people?”
Wan Hao shook his head, “They’re only interested in metal. We encountered them once while hunting zombies outside, and we avoided them by hiding in a building with more than one meter of cement.”
“But if you crash into the grove, it’s hard to say…”
This matched the information in Su Huan’s memory quite well.
Although iron-eating trees would eat people too, they wouldn’t actively hunt humans.
Pinching the screen with two fingers to zoom in, Su Huan saw a blurry human figure on the crowns of the four approaching iron-eating trees.
He tugged at his shirt cuff, revealing an interested smile.
Through the train broadcast, he shouted directly outside, “Lin Jin, due south direction, prepare to welcome guests.”
The train conductor’s voice immediately echoed in Mizhi Outpost. Lin Jin, who had just returned to the watchtower interior, stood up, scanned the area with his gaze, and gave a thumbs-up gesture to the small drone hovering in mid-air.
Acknowledging receipt.
Then he walked along the steel frame toward the watchtower due north.
After doing all that, Su Huan turned back to Wan Hao in front of him and handed over the booklet in his hand.
“This is what the train can exchange. You don’t have points now, but you can exchange with other things, like the building materials you mentioned before. If there are things we need, we’ll calculate them as points for you.”
Looking at Su Huan, whose smile had become much friendlier, Wan Hao curiously flipped through the booklet in his hand.
Basic supplies were still normal, but toward the back, waves surged in his heart—whether weaponry and equipment or those industrial tools, they were all at the limit ordinary people could touch.
Just like how he had over two thousand subordinates but only a handful of guns.
It wasn’t that they didn’t want guns.
But there was only one small police station around the automobile manufacturing plant.
The other police stations had all been divided up by locals.
Everyone knew guns were good in the apocalypse, but if you could think of it, others could too.
There’s a police station downstairs from my building, I couldn’t find any, so how could an outsider like you, unfamiliar with the place, just find them directly?
That would be pure nonsense.
One police station covered thousands of people at least.
There would always be smart people.
If the train hadn’t fought the Steel Council, the later passengers wouldn’t have touched a single gun.
In this country with strict gun control, getting guns was too hard, but the booklet Su Huan gave not only had standard police firearms but even large quantities of munitions!
Was this an armory?
As for the various levels of general energy crystals and awakening ability gene potions later on, they proved the other party’s cognition and exploration of the apocalypse far exceeded ordinary people.
‘I need to seriously consider my own conditions…’
Wan Hao pondered for a moment before cautiously asking, “Train conductor, do you plan to take all these people away?”
“Take them away?” Su Huan glanced at the dense crowd of over three thousand people. Even clearing out the front carriages wouldn’t fit them, let alone squeezing out one or two more carriages for his own use.
But he keenly noticed the hidden meaning in Wan Hao’s words.
“Of course not. Do you want this group of people?”
Wan Hao flipped through the booklet in his hand and stopped on the last page.
This page represented other exchanges, with no specific item information, just a few terms.
“Task Commission,” “Large Transaction,” “Strategic Cooperation”…
Wan Hao’s finger, under Su Huan’s scrutinizing gaze, landed on “Task Commission.”
He said sincerely, “I have an idea. If the train conductor doesn’t plan to take everyone away, could you support us in establishing a temporary settlement at this station?”
Yu Yue was still preparing dinner for the others, but neither the working range hood nor the clinking bowl and chopsticks made any sound.
The entire carriage was unusually quiet.
Su Huan leaned back on the sofa, intently sizing up the middle-aged man in front of him.
Although dressed in an ordinary worker’s uniform, his demeanor was still there, sitting steadily with a focused and sincere expression.
This kind of person was very capable; at forty or fifty years old, his experience and insight were at their peak, especially in ocean shipping, where his vision and methods were far superior to ordinary merchants.
But what he needed more were various mid-to-high-level elites, not a leader to guide the train’s direction in his place.
So he didn’t accept the offer right away.
He was also considering how to handle the excess survivors.
Burning bridges after crossing was absolutely not viable, because he was running a force, not a lone wolf.
Now the other party seemed to provide a good solution.
“Helping you build a settlement—what do I get out of it?”
Wan Hao’s heart truly clenched in suspense, and he relaxed only after hearing Su Huan’s response.
He said seriously, “Train conductor, you need workers, presumably to modify the train or certain things. Coercion can work, but the effect won’t be good. If you keep exchanging with resources, the loss will be too much—after all, even the most basic supplies add up to a terrifying number.”
Su Huan lightly tapped the desk, interrupting Wan Hao, “Just saving some supplies isn’t enough. To build a complete settlement, I not only have to give you enough self-defense strength but also find sustainable water sources, food, and even more basic construction for you.”
“Why should I spend such huge costs to build a settlement for you?”
Wan Hao nodded lightly in acknowledgment, subtly glanced at the Phase Three Plan on the desk, then said, “I have a few ideas. Train conductor, listen and see if you can give me this opportunity.”
“Since you’ve brought back over two thousand workers, the workload is definitely not small, and the goal is certainly not this small platform. To show sincerity, I’ll provide some intelligence on the High-Speed Rail Manufacturing Base one kilometer away. Besides that, I have a friend there serving as deputy general manager of technology, who might be able to offer you some help.”
“That’s valuable indeed. Is this part of the transaction?”
“This is just a bit of sincerity for taking up your conversation time.”
Su Huan smiled, having already made up his mind.
“Good, continue.”
“First, premised on your goal of modifying the train, this requires a large number of skilled workers and material supplies. If a settlement is established, it can provide stable customized services to the train long-term, such as components processing, weapon maintenance, etc., avoiding rebuilding basic industry every time there’s a need.
“Moreover, the settlement will periodically send trained workers to work on the train, solving the manpower shortage issue.”
“Second, Shun’an’s geographical position is key and can serve as a fixed resupply point for the train en route.”
“The settlement can stockpile supplies and evolution materials the train needs and other scarce resources, to be delivered when the train returns. At the same time, the settlement will become the train’s intelligence network. If you don’t plan to stay long-term, the station settlement will be like a nail, penetrating locally to gather intelligence for you.”
“Third, with limited space on the train, the settlement can share the personnel burden and conduct some long-term experiments.”
“Fourth, the settlement can become an affiliate of the armored train, providing auxiliary roles in battles when needed. Perhaps the train conductor looks down on our strength, but even cannon fodder has a tiny bit of value, right?”
“Clap clap clap…”
Su Huan clapped his hands, his mouth curving up.
Although Wan Hao’s reasons were all based on a major premise—that the train would return to Shun’an or operate long-term in the acid rain area.
But that didn’t affect Su Huan’s appreciation of the man before him.
He had long considered cultivating wings or settlements.
Because major forces like Deep Blue Data or the Mechanical God Cult laid out across multiple areas.
This obviously had huge benefits.
But back then, he hadn’t even settled his own train’s main body, let alone the mood to invest large resources in a settlement.
So the settlement matter was indefinitely shelved.
Bringing it up now was still a bit early.
But opportunities often mattered more than preparation.
In the apocalypse, how many things were fully prepared?
“I can invest in building a settlement, but I’m investing in you, not the settlement. You get what I mean?”
Su Huan narrowed his eyes and said flatly.
Wan Hao was stunned for a moment, then said steadily, “Old Yuan is my brother; I can’t abandon him, but control of the settlement will definitely be in my hands.”
Su Huan nodded satisfiedly, “Fine, but this station is too small to build a settlement. I think that High-Speed Rail Manufacturing Base one kilometer away is pretty good. What do you think?”
Wan Hao laughed, “Train conductor, what grandeur!”
The two wanted to discuss more details when Lin Jin came in to report the situation.
The people on the iron-eating trees outside weren’t strangers but the youth who had chatted amiably with Su Huan in the afternoon, bringing a large amount of [ironwood] wanting to reach a deeper transaction with Su Huan.
“Let’s go take a look together?”
Su Huan stood up somewhat unexpectedly; Director Xu and others had already confirmed the value of [ironwood].
No matter how the train was modified, more of this material was always better.
He was just worrying where to get it, and they delivered themselves to the door.
Wan Hao also stood up promptly, “I’ll respectfully follow your lead.”
Su Huan casually grabbed the points redemption manual he had looked at and tossed it to the Demolition Man Giraffe standing guard outside the dining car door, “Go to Carriage 12, have Xiao Zhao print a few more official versions.”
The latter left immediately.
Assault Trooper White Deer followed behind Su Huan on alert.
Currently, the two had no main tasks and were temporarily serving as Su Huan’s bodyguards.
The group stepped onto the simple iron stairs beside the train and went up to the Mizhi-shaped metal high wall.
Although he had seen Xiao Ba build the entire station outpost with his own eyes, when stepping on it, Wan Hao still sighed inwardly.
Both were evolvers, but the gap was like heaven and earth!
When thinking of this, his mind naturally extended: how strong was the train conductor?
He looked up at the train conductor ahead—long hair, broad shoulders, exposed forearms muscular and powerful, similar to workers who awakened strength or speed abilities, but with a strong sense of danger mixed with that strange attraction.
It was…
Dangerous yet alluring.
If his own child weren’t grown up, Wan Hao might even suspect his sexual orientation.
“What do you think would be a suitable name for the settlement?”
Su Huan suddenly asked from ahead.
Wan Hao pondered, “Call it Shun’an Station—Armored Train Station 1: Shun’an Station.”
Su Huan saw Lin Jin approaching from ahead and curved his lips, “Fine.”
“Train conductor, the other side has a total of four people and four iron-eating trees. The leader has a police S1 tactical handgun.”
Lin Jin said solemnly.
“No issue.” Su Huan waved his hand, walked to the watchtower, naturally rested his hands on the edge, and smiled amiably, “I heard you brought quite a few good things.”
The youth’s tense face, upon seeing the many armed soldiers, eased, “There was a fight in the grove just now; I thought it was you all and came to help. Seeing you were fine, I thought since you haven’t gone far, we could do a few more trades. The water you gave me during the day sold for a good price.”
“A fight?”
Su Huan frowned; He Jie still hadn’t returned.
It better not be that fool.
“A small-scale fight, not far from you, but by the time I got there, it was gone. Probably some survivors who happened to run into the moving iron-eating tree group.”
Su Huan breathed a sigh of relief.
As long as it wasn’t his own people.
“What do you plan to exchange this time?”
