Chapter 190: Red Yu Jing
But it was still better than being forced into a desperate situation by a Tier 2 White Snake.
Su Huan also gained a direct understanding of He Jie’s training ability.
Two hundred unranked evolvers holding firearms, equipped with light firepower, and cooperating with a few Tier 1 evolvers, gained the ability to fight a Tier 2.
Although there was the factor of Lin Jin bursting out, it was already very good.
This Tier 2 Giant Bear was equivalent to an all-terrain tank that could run and jump, with fur that could withstand bullets and single-soldier rocket launchers, exceptional perception, and a cunning personality like a human.
If placed in a pre-apocalypse urban area, even a medium-sized composite infantry company couldn’t take it down.
It might even lead to the whole company being wiped out.
To deal with it, one had to find a way to trap it, then use anti-aircraft machine guns like Iron Rain 14.5 for suppression, and bombard it with anti-tank missiles and vehicle-mounted grenade launchers regardless of cost.
But ordinary people’s reaction speed definitely couldn’t keep up with it; one moment of carelessness and it would tear through the defense line.
The sky had completely darkened, and a dozen high-power searchlights illuminated the entire battlefield in fine detail.
Like after an earthquake, the area outside the base was a mess, with even the one-meter-thick barrier covered in large cracks; not a single off-road vehicle was usable and all needed to be towed back for major repairs. The soldiers did not relax their vigilance, forming small teams in groups of three or two to take turns bandaging wounds and resting.
Some were also sent to more distant areas for alert duty.
Although they couldn’t match the strict discipline and long training of pre-apocalypse armies.
But He Jie had indeed trained a usable armed force.
Su Huan was very satisfied with the assessment results and said loudly, “Tonight, all recruits are promoted to reserves. Those with outstanding performance will receive extra points.”
The soldiers cleaning the battlefield heard they had been officially transferred and were all stunned in unison.
They subconsciously thought of the 60 points automatically issued each month upon becoming reserves.
The armored train’s points had strong purchasing power: 2 points could exchange for a pack of cigarettes, a 340g box of luncheon meat canned food, a pack of five instant noodles, a set of new clothes, or a large pack of over a thousand sheets of toilet paper.
In other words, if spent frugally, just 60 points could cover an adult’s food, clothing, housing, and daily needs.
But as soldiers of the armed corps, their food, clothing, housing, and daily needs were basically covered by the train.
The 60 points were extra welfare.
If tightened a bit, it could even support a family!
This was the reason they endured He Jie’s daily torment and desperately wanted to stay.
One person enlists, the whole family eats their fill!
The next moment, cheers like a tsunami erupted in front of the base.
Meanwhile, the train conductor’s figure had long disappeared from the wall.
Looking at the cheering soldiers, He Jie couldn’t help but grin; the soldiers he trained being recognized by the higher-ups made him proud too.
Several soldiers ran toward him panting.
He Jie immediately scowled and roared, “What are you doing?!”
The soldiers thought of He Jie’s ferocious combat power and stood awkwardly in place. “Happy, wanted to share with Brother Jie.”
“Yeah, yeah…”
More and more soldiers gathered around.
Seeing their mischievous looks, He Jie pulled an electric baton from his waist and pointed at everyone’s noses with a ferocious grin. “Promoted and now your wings are stiff, huh? Think I don’t know what you want to do? If you have the guts, come at me all together!”
Seeing his sullen face and his readiness to strike hard at whoever came forward, the soldiers hesitated.
Nine baton strikes per second was no joke.
Seeing their hesitation, He Jie felt a bit smug; his authority was still deeply ingrained.
‘Think you can rebel against me?’
At that moment, an irresistible force suddenly hit his butt, kicking him straight into the air.
Mid-air, He Jie glared wide-eyed and couldn’t help roaring, “Old Liang, you bastard tricked me.”
Liang Kuan waved smilingly at the surrounding soldiers. “The rest is up to you.”
The soldiers shouted “Brother Kuan is awesome!” and swarmed forward.
Tactical boots rained down fierce kicks on He Jie.
Liang Kuan didn’t stay to watch the fun; he dragged the battered Giant Bear corpse back into the base.
Soon, the chaotic battlefield calmed down, with soldiers wailing on the ground. He Jie stood tall holding his electric baton, though the shoe prints on his face ruined his majestic image.
Only a scant few remained standing before him.
Among them was the woman codenamed Mongoose, her round pupils contracting into ellipses, gradually narrowing, fingers rhythmically twitching behind her back.
Watching He Jie stride toward her, electric baton raised high.
She suddenly bowed deeply. “Thank you, Instructor, for your guidance these days. But when my military rank surpasses yours, I’ll still make you apologize.”
“Hm?”
Hearing He Jie’s puzzled voice, Mongoose’s face showed a sly glint as she prepared to sneak attack.
The next instant, intense pain hit her back, along with He Jie’s angry cursing.
“Idiot, combat uses intelligence, not petty tricks. Exposing your vital spots, you expect me to hold back?!”
“A reserve and you’re already this smug?”
“There’s at least eleven ranks between you and me!”
“What do you plan to rely on to surpass that?”
“Showing off your stupidity?”
“By climbing into the train conductor’s bed?!”
He Jie struck extra hard this time.
The thumping hits were incessant.
The battlefield soon filled with the woman’s broken pained moans.
While He Jie was hitting vigorously, a dissatisfied light hum suddenly came to his ear, sobering his mind.
He lightly slapped his own mouth with some regret.
He had lost his head.
Luckily Yu Yue wasn’t the type to hold grudges; if it were someone who liked whispering in pillow talk, wouldn’t the petty train conductor make his life difficult?
Just as he calmed his mind, Goat and Lin Jin came over carrying a person, having finished cleaning the battlefield with the soldiers.
“This is the one who led the Giant Bear to the base. Take him to see the train conductor together.”
A fierce light flashed in He Jie’s eyes. “Why take him there?”
Lin Jin was stunned. “He might know something…”
He Jie interrupted with a ferocious laugh. “Today, I’ll give you another interrogation lesson!”
……
An hour later, as Su Huan was checking the bullet workshop progress, He Jie walked in reeking of blood, with pale-faced Lin Jin following behind.
Su Huan raised an eyebrow. “Today we almost let someone steal our home. How do you feel, Captain He?”
He Jie gritted his teeth, face ashen. “Found out. It was those outsiders from Shun’an, called Apocalypse Convoy. They wanted to hunt a wave of mutated beasts for food, but provoked this Tier 2 Giant Bear. Their Old Da was stomped to death on the spot, then they led it here.”
Su Huan wasn’t surprised; when he saw that person, he had roughly pieced together the story in his mind.
“Wipe them out tomorrow.” Su Huan said flatly. “Remember to bring the newly selected recruits along. Make it grand, spread Shun’an Station’s name, and warn those demons and gods.”
“Yes!”
He Jie responded.
Watching him storm off, Su Huan’s heart remained calm.
In his previous life in the Steel Council, he most often carried out such tasks of clearing small forces.
The acid rain area’s survival environment was good, with many survivors, and newborn forces without eyes would occasionally encroach on the Steel Council’s interests. For such forces, the Steel Council wouldn’t even give a greeting.
Directly listing them on the tactical squad’s task list.
Dealing with equal or larger forces was much more complex; generally no big fights, but grudges would lead to a spar when meeting in the wasteland.
Win or lose, own it.
“Train Conductor?”
Old Da called softly beside him.
Su Huan came back to his senses. “Continue.”
Old Da pointed to the boxed and sealed bullets before them. “We can produce five thousand bullets daily; normally keep four thousand, only one thousand for combat use, to avoid storing large numbers of duds.”
“Are raw materials still sufficient?”
“A few days ago Captain He brought back a large batch of gunpowder, enough for at least two million bullets.”
The two chatted while inspecting the bullet workshop.
The semi-automatic production line clacked away, brass being gradually pressed into bullet casings, then crew members from the manufacturing group transferring them to the next process.
For safety, all crew members in the bullet workshop were family of the combat group.
These were all their own people deeply tied to the armored train.
Two soldiers carried in a large box of damaged firearms and placed it on the inner workbench.
Su Huan glanced and saw they were firearms damaged during the Giant Bear fight that night: some missing parts, some gun bodies crushed.
The manufacturing group now also handled firearm repairs.
“Can you make guns now?”
Su Huan asked.
Old Da scratched his head awkwardly. “Just repairs, at most modifications. No ability to make guns from scratch; many things not researched yet.”
“Fine, research slowly. Being able to fix these guns reduces a lot of losses.”
Su Huan comforted casually.
Firearms weren’t done once obtained; essentially mechanical tools, they always malfunctioned.
Now with more combatants, firearms had daily wear.
Without Old Da holding it together, the armed corps’ over two hundred people would have no guns to use.
Now with few people, equipment could rely on battlefield captures; later when the team expands, firearms and ammunition must be solved properly, not just scraping by like now.
But this issue wasn’t urgent; could be addressed after passing the flood zone.
The most urgent now was still upgrading and modifying the train body.
……
Around twelve o’clock, Su Huan took Hu Shuo to inspect all supply warehouses, checked against the recent points exchange list, and finally finished all daily administrative work.
The points exchange list had to be checked daily; details revealed the base’s recent movements.
For example, food exchanges had been unusually high these days.
But these days they ate from the big pot.
Where did the extra food go?
Walking ahead, Su Huan suddenly asked, “Any anomalies in the base lately?”
Hu Shuo paused, pondering the train conductor’s meaning, and probed, “Should we dig them out?”
“No, those few moles alone couldn’t use this much supplies, and they don’t have enough points to exchange for such large quantities.”
‘Large quantities of supplies?’
Hu Shuo glanced at the folder in his hand uncertainly. “Maybe because New Year is recent, everyone exchanged more supplies.”
“New Year?” Su Huan stopped, looking surprised.
Hu Shuo relaxed seeing this—not a mistake. “Yeah, New Year is early this year, January 22nd. But with the current situation, no one made a fuss; just exchanged some food, a couple new outfits, and celebrated quietly…”
The two had reached the seventh floor of the staircase building; the open space was decorated like a living room, with Su Huan’s orange cat blanket and sofa moved here.
Plus Yu Yue’s kitchen, it became the core members’ public rest space.
At the moment, Liang Kuan was sipping at the bar counter.
He was used to staying up late driving, drinking until dawn before sleeping.
He Jie had gone home to accompany his wife, so with him were Old San and Qu Hang.
Don’t let Qu Hang’s quiet appearance fool you; he was a thorough drunkard.
In his previous life, unless on mission, Su Huan never saw him sober.
Not sure if it was the alcohol or his longing for He Jie’s wife.
Xiao Ba and Lin Xi murmured something nearby; Wan Xing sat quietly aside, folding a colorful paper.
Yu Yue bustled behind the cabinet; Yu Jing helped at her side.
Su Huan suddenly noticed everyone’s clothes were much brighter.
He sat on the high stool by the cabinet and said after thinking, “Issue points to everyone in the base, not too much—just red envelope money from the train conductor.”
Everyone turned their gazes upon hearing this.
Yu Yue, cooking, smiled with crinkled eyes.
“You’re not that old yet for red envelopes; more like welfare.”
Su Huan was slightly stunned. “Don’t they always give red envelopes for New Year?”
“Yeah, back at the institute, the dean gave red envelopes to everyone every New Year.”
Xiao Ba agreed.
Old San raised his glass laughing. “Call it what you want, as long as there’s money. Long live the convoy leader!”
Liang Kuan and the others raised their glasses in agreement.
Everyone smiled and continued their tasks.
Only Yu Jing’s gaze toward Su Huan was a bit gentler than before.
Perhaps to add festivity, she had changed from her usual white sleeveless shirt to a bright red halter midi dress; her black hair lit coffee-colored by warm lights, exquisite earrings gleaming.
(Yu Jing, cartoon version in red)
(Yu Jing, textured version in red)
Su Huan looked down at his all-black shirt and grumbled, “So I’m the only one without new clothes?”
Yu Yue brought a plate of roasted potatoes, chuckling lightly. “Prepared yours long ago; who knew you wouldn’t even return to your room these days.”
Su Huan picked up chopsticks, poked the crispy fragrant potatoes, tore off a piece, dipped it in the nearby roasted beef sauce, and popped it in his mouth; the fluffy potato melted softly.
For the sweet potatoes’ sake, the train conductor decided not to be mad at her.
Plenty of time later to deal with her.
Though the current state was nice, without the train’s clanging underfoot, his heart lacked some stability.
These two days of all-night work were partly due to this.
After eating, casual chit-chat, advising on everyone’s evolution paths, Su Huan went downstairs again to the train body manufacturing center.
Only seeing the train with his own eyes made his heart settle.
