Chapter 178: Point System
“January 14th, light rain”
“Transaction is just endless plunder.”
……
“January 16th, heavy rain”
“The armored train point system will officially open today.”
Su Huan put down the pen and stared at the brand-new Tier 2 General Energy Crystal on the desk, lost in thought.
According to the post-battle report summary, this Tier 2 Butcher was at least five kilometers away from the mission objective, but He Jie ended up driving the armored personnel carrier to chase a group of Blood Hounds and circled around only to get wiped out.
Why did this guy turn every mission he was assigned into a cleanup mission no matter what?
Back when he crashed into him, if he had held back a few more grenades, he wouldn’t have been beaten so badly.
He really only remembers the food he ate and not the beatings.
From now on, just send him on cleanup missions.
Su Huan tsked lightly and closed the notebook.
That night, the Iron-eating Tree riot didn’t cause any losses to the outpost station, and the youth even brought him four hundred pieces of Ironwood, each twenty centimeters long and ten centimeters wide, all of equal weight.
Then he exchanged them here for four cases of water, basic information on Evolvers, a few Tier 1 General Energy Crystals, and some firearms and ammunition.
Su Huan also used a Life Potion to exchange for a large bundle of branches from the Iron-eating Tree under him.
Although this stuff was everywhere in Shun’an, the Train Conductor always felt that the one under him had more potential.
The transaction ended with the Iron-eating Tree carrying the happily departing youth after some tumbling and bashing.
Suddenly, the call icon on the desktop monitor flashed. When he clicked it open, he saw Yu Jing tying her hair into ponytails, her slender, tight, and upright body, with a disposable toothbrush in her mouth, mumbling, “The test results for the Ironwood are out. It’s very suitable as the main material for the next renovation. You can come take a look. Also, today I want to continue researching my Engineer-I model. It might use some materials, so I’m telling you in advance. Report complete.”
After speaking, she decisively hung up the communication.
Su Huan listened silently to the end, then sneered coldly and mentally tallied another point against her.
Even Professor Ma and Director Xu reported their daily research directions and progress to him in person.
Even if they couldn’t come in person, during online communication, he was the one hanging up on others.
Only Yu Jing dared to hang up on him first.
Once he finished the things at hand, he’d find a time to slowly settle the score.
Right now, the slightly farther goal was the Crown Pear Plan, the nearer one was the Train Phase III Renovation and Upgrade Project, and the immediate one was the construction plan for the Shun’an Station settlement.
Generally, only those precarious ones in the wasteland were called settlements. Branches of major forces were more appropriately called fortresses, bases, towns, or cities.
From the names, one could tell these towns had more complete facilities, intact security forces, and resource acquisition capabilities.
The High-Speed Rail Manufacturing Base had railway tracks extending in all directions, and Su Huan naturally didn’t want to waste such an advantage. He planned to establish outpost stations in different directions around the base as peripheral security, just like the outpost station under their feet.
Connect the middle with trains; for short distances, even without a Metal Manipulator, they could be maintained.
A “knock knock” sounded at the door.
Yu Yue’s soft voice drifted in, “Are you eating outside
Powerful General Energy Perception outlined the graceful and curvaceous figure behind the door in vivid detail, including its undulating curves.
But Su Huan suspected that this was because he knew the other party too well.
“Bring it in.”
Before long, Yu Yue came in carrying a bowl of meatball noodle soup.
She busied herself tidying up the things on the desk by herself, her fair and delicate little face showing no dissatisfaction, but she just wouldn’t talk to Su Huan.
Today’s little chef is wearing a fitted pair of black trousers, with a white shirt inside that just covers her thighs, and a black vest outside. She looks exquisite and capable.
There was no deliberate avoidance in his movements, but there was also none of the previous intimacy.
Su Huan licked the corner of his mouth and looked toward his breakfast.
The simple meatball noodle soup was made very exquisitely, making his mouth water.
The vegetable leaves are delicate and crisp, made from Ironwood pumpkin leaves.
This thing is very time-consuming to make. It needs to be steamed in a pressure cooker for a long time, then the meridians inside are picked clean with a needle and tweezers, and the remaining leaves have a texture similar to spinach.
Parting the green leaves, one could see two tender pink shrimp balls underneath.
A gentle poke and it slides to the bottom of the bowl.
Not long after, it floated up again.
“Go close the door.”
“No, I don’t.”
“Eat together.”
“……”
“Do you dare to try running out?”
Watching Yu Yue walk back with an expressionless face, she reluctantly served him his breakfast.
Su Huan leaned against the sofa backrest, a hint of teasing in his narrow eyes.
Who says a forced melon isn’t sweet?
The Train Conductor somehow felt that the melon forcibly picked would have more and sweeter juice.
Yu Yue accidentally got scalded by the bowl and chopsticks, letting out a low moan from the corner of her mouth.
……
Outside the station, two elite soldiers wearing exoskeletons inside and tactical vests outside were huddled in a stationery store to avoid the rain.
Gao Yuan looked at the continuous rain curtain outside, His face showed pain.
He wrote quickly on the paper and soon handed it to Tong Zizhan beside him.
Tong Zizhan glanced at that line of text, couldn’t help sucking his teeth, and wrote a sentence on the paper.
“Why are there still so many points left?”
Gao Yuan shrugged and continued writing.
“We got too much last time. Even if we exchange for a full set of equipment, we still have the most points on the entire train.”
Tong Zizhan’s facial muscles twitched, and he quickly wrote.
“I heard that today they’re going to publicly announce the point system to everyone, and also make a points leaderboard. At that time, having our big name hung at the top of the list wouldn’t be appropriate!”
Whose undercover agent made it to the top of the list?!
Isn’t this fucking asking for death?
The two of them were just like primary school students, quickly exchanging messages on paper with a pen.
Gao Yuan: “Then what do we do? How about we run?”
Tong Zizhan: “Are you confused? The points you’re earning now belong to the armored train. Li Tao is dead, so for the company, we have zero merit now, at most some hard labor credit. Do you think you can run back and retire stably?”
Gao Yuan: “So what do you say we should do? We can’t possibly spend all these points. The supplies we can consume each day are limited.”
Tong Zizhan: “I’ve long thought of a solution—recruit team members.”
Gao Yuan: “Will that increase the risk of exposure?”
Tong Zizhan: “A group of ordinary passengers who just evolved—what can they discover? Moreover, with them around, we look more loyal, don’t we?”
Gao Yuan: “That makes sense. Do you have someone in mind?”
Tong Zizhan looked pleased. “I picked a few who looked reliable and capable at first glance, then added one or two cannon fodders. Some will work diligently, others will slack off and cut corners. This way, we can consume points while ensuring our team doesn’t stand out too much.”
Gao Yuan gave a thumbs up and softly praised, “Zhan Ge, you’re so thorough!”
……
Inside the station, Zhang Qiang poured a bucket of mixed cement into the metal frame and then wiped his face.
Because he accepted a secret mission, his status within the Same Boat Society rose rapidly.
After several gatherings, he became a core member in one leap.
Not only did he have extra food and water every day, but even his work was done for him by other Same Boat Society members.
But what puzzled him was that Captain Tong from Carriage 19 recruited him, hoping he would join his squad, and even offered him treatment he wouldn’t have dared to imagine.
He racked his brains but couldn’t figure it out: why would the other party take a fancy to an utterly ordinary person like himself?
After hesitating for a bit, Zhang Qiang looked at Old Ma beside him and said in a low voice, “I’m going to the toilet.”
The latter understood tacitly, “Come back early.”
Zhang Qiang raised his head and looked around for a moment as if stretching.
During this period, the armored train changed the system of indiscriminately driving all passengers down to search for supplies. Train tickets changed from supplies to work; as long as they completed the corresponding tasks each day under the leadership of the crew members in the crew, they could obtain meals.
It’s usually meat congee or meat noodles, paired with a large cup of water, about four hundred milliliters, close to a bottle of mineral water.
Two meals every day.
The treatment was already quite good, with many passengers becoming so comfortable that they didn’t want to leave, and even some Same Boat Society members were wavering.
However, the time is still short, and everyone is watching and waiting.
But there was one good thing: when working, no one surveilled them. Even if they slacked off, the soldiers patrolling on the steel frame turned a blind eye to them.
They only handle dangers that arise suddenly.
Like the Tier 1 Jumper who suddenly jumped onto the roof last night.
The crossfire composed of over a dozen assault rifles, plus four light and heavy machine guns, instantly tore the jumper’s fragile body into fragments, giving the workers and passengers a tremendous shock.
Dodging the workers setting up the steel frame, Zhang Qiang arrived at West District 7.
Because the station outpost is laid out in a rice character pattern, for convenience of reference, it is divided into four major districts: southeast, south, west, and north, then named District 8 in a clockwise manner.
Simply using numbers can also distinguish the districts, but everyone is accustomed to adding a direction.
At this time, the Same Boat Society leader Liu Ming was here setting up a bunk bed.
“It seems the armored train is going to use this station as a long-term outpost station.”
Zhang Qiang thought to himself inwardly and quietly walked toward Liu Ming’s direction.
Liu Ming saw him and was somewhat surprised, but didn’t say anything. He gave a look to several Same Boat Society brothers around them, and they immediately gathered over, surrounding the corner where he was working together, blocking the line of sight of others.
Zhang Qiang entered the middle of the circle and handed over the note, “Do we still have to keep waiting? Someone has already come looking for me…”
Liu Ming was startled. After reading the note, his gaze flickered as he said darkly, “Recently, a captain from the front carriage also approached me, hoping I would join their team.”
Zhang Qiang was stunned, “It can’t be also…”
Liu Ming nodded.
“Will they——”
Liu Ming patted his shoulder and said firmly, “This is the opportunity the train has given us. No matter what, you just need to always firmly believe in the train.”
Zhang Qiang felt as if he had taken on an incomparably sacred mission.
The hot blood that had stuck to the pan from all those years of salted fish life began to boil.
He nodded heavily, “I will definitely pass the test!”
Liu Ming chuckled lightly, “Good brother! See you at the combat team!”
Just as the two were boiling with enthusiasm, a steady broadcasting voice suddenly came from the broadcast horn, enunciating clearly and telling everyone to pause work first and rest for a while.
Everyone was baffled and gathered to sit in the very middle.
Before long, they saw Logistics Group Purser Hu Shuo stand in the very middle of District 8, holding a horn in his hand and beginning to explain something called the Point System.
The originally somewhat dazed everyone had their eyes light up with brilliance at once.
The train ticket system, which had been rumored to be canceled, still exists.
It just turned into points redemption.
Moreover, the train provided many ways to earn points, such as work, exploration, search, tasks, battle…
Everyone can earn points according to their own ability and expertise, no longer required to hand over a certain amount of supplies regardless of gender, age, or status.
Although some people still had no skills and were scratching their heads and ears, forced by the few points from the train ticket.
But more people saw the hope of surviving.
After all, not everyone is good at searching for supplies in high-risk environments.
Every time we get off the train, it’s a gamble with our lives.
For the train, most can survive, but for individual passengers searching for supplies, there is a high probability they cannot return alive.
Now with the point system, many people with some skills, even if they are mediocre, have a chance.
At the end, Hu Shuo picked a few key projects and talked about them.
“Points can not only be exchanged for supplies, but also become an evolver. If you have enough points, you can even exchange for the Train Conductor to personally instruct you in promotion to a profession!”
“Including captain qualification, crew member qualification can all be exchanged with points. Even if you have enough points, you can even exchange for station master qualification, which is funded by the train to build a base platform for you, and you become the leader among them!”
All the survivors boiled over with excitement, clothes and hats flying into the sky.
There were also fools who threw the wrench in their hands up there too.
Fortunately, Xiao Ba, who was hiding in the corner, sensed something was off and sifted out those heavy guys.
“Train!”
“Long live the Point System!”
“Ahhhhh——”
Although they could never save up enough points in their lifetime to exchange for station master qualifications, it didn’t affect their excited howling like ghosts and wolves.
Some people didn’t even know why they were cheering; it was purely because they had been suppressed for too long and were taking the opportunity to release their emotions.
Hu Shuo shook the Points Redemption Manual in his hand, looking at the clothes floating up in front of him, suddenly feeling as if he was floating in mid-air.
“The taste of establishing order seems even more wonderful than simple authority.”
He felt as if he had discovered some tremendous secret. Thoughts raced through his mind nonstop, and he had an urgent desire to go back and record it down.
Su Huan observed this scene through several drones hovering in mid-air.
Although Hu Shuo was not entirely accurate in some places.
But it has to be said, he is very good at stirring up emotions.
He also asked if he should personally announce this news, but unfortunately the Train Conductor had no interest in such matters.
Compared to this kind of boring joy, he preferred to see the most essential changes in a person’s emotions brought about by repeated torment.
“Judging by the time, that bastard He Jie should be coming back soon…”
Su Huan adjusted the screen and looked toward the farthest drone.
Professor Ma and Xiao Zhao and the others conducted a new design on the drone’s optical fiber, not only allowing it to fly farther, reaching an astonishing three kilometers, but also adding current output on this basis.
As long as the optical fiber is not disconnected, the drone can hover in mid-air for a long time.
