Chapter 225: Old Man Tie
Li Han abruptly opened his eyes in shock and saw a tall figure standing in front of him.
Surging lightning scraped against the air, twisted airflow flew upward, making the black shirt billow loudly, even his eyebrows attached with lightning, standing upright.
Bright lightning illuminated Li Han’s face; this scene was no less than a miracle to him.
‘Even if a deity descended to the world, it wouldn’t be more than this…’
“You should be fortunate I didn’t skip work today.”
Su Huan looked at the tall Tier 2 Zombie in front of him and couldn’t help but twitch the corner of his mouth.
Old ailment flared up, hurting so much he wanted to laugh.
The reason he withstood that whip wasn’t because he was much stronger than Liang Kuan; purely in terms of physique, he was not as good as Liang Kuan.
He merely used the properties of electromagnetism to adsorb the two together, so he wasn’t sent flying.
But the consequence was that he took all the damage of that strike head-on.
His “Fighter” was currently only Tier 1, far inferior to the main profession Tier 2 “Circulating Vortex”.
If he hadn’t mastered energy to perfection, he would have been whipped to death here!
The gap between Tier 2 and Tier 1 was utterly crushing.
Fortunately, he withstood it.
Next up, it was its turn to die!
“Thunderstorm.”
Su Huan’s eyes suddenly brightened, and violent lightning poured unreservedly into the tentacle monster’s body.
Like a flood submerging every bit of vitality on its body.
Li Han, who was relatively close to the battlefield, even smelled the aroma of grilled squid.
“Rumble…”
Liang Kuan rushed out from behind the shattered wall.
One foot stepped on the ground, cracking the cement, shaking the earth and mountains.
High-quality military green short sleeve was torn apart by exaggerated muscles, blood roared like a long river, his whole body with bulging veins, looking more like a monster than a monster.
His aura was several times stronger than before.
Su Huan’s eyelids twitched; although somewhat sudden, Liang Kuan’s evolution was within reason.
“Defender” evolved in battle.
He secretly controlled the current to contract into the Tier 2 Zombie’s body, but this level of current had exceeded his control limit, still posing a risk of accidental injury.
But Liang Kuan charged into the thunderstorm without hesitation, his great shield slashing down like a giant axe at the waist.
“Boom—”
The massive explosion sent shattered lightning scattering in all directions.
Li Han felt like he was going blind.
Only after a moment did he see the scene clearly.
The floor was directly smashed through, the Tier 2 Zombie fell into the water below, and the Train Conductor and Liang Kuan stood beside the large pit.
Their breathing sounds were like the rumbling of giant beasts, wisps of white vapor dissipating from their bodies, mixed with the rising water vapor from the water surface, making one’s mind tremble.
Su Huan stared at the murky water surface and suddenly smiled, “Interesting.”
“Still not dead?”
Liang Kuan asked in a muffled voice.
“Heavily injured, probably.”
If the Tier 2 Zombie’s General Energy Fluctuation was ten before, after being hit hard by the two of them, it became 0.2.
But it was rising at a slow speed.
Perhaps given a few days or ten days, it could recover.
He Jie, Yu Yue, and others also arrived.
“Train Conductor…”
Su Huan waved his hand, “First fish that thing out, then eliminate the remaining dangers inside the factory building.”
“Yes.”
Seeing Su Huan’s calm demeanor, He Jie finally breathed a sigh of relief.
Although he didn’t think anything would happen to the Train Conductor, now the lives of over four thousand people on the entire train depended on him alone.
He couldn’t help but be nervous.
As for those previous petty thoughts, they had long dissipated; without Su Huan, he had no confidence in leading the train forward.
Scattered gunshots rang out again, and soldiers began moving the crane.
Su Huan shifted his steps, frowning slightly.
The secretary who had just arrived hesitated, then reached out, but someone was faster than her.
Yu Yue came directly to Su Huan’s side, hugging one of his arms, actually secretly exerting force to support him.
Su Huan finally felt a bit better.
His physical fitness, with multiple evolutions stacked, was only slightly stronger than an average Tier 1 “Fighter”, far inferior to Liang Kuan.
The latter could crawl up immediately after being sent flying, but after one whip, he felt like his whole body had cracked bones.
Although there was the factor of the shield, the gap was evident.
Su Huan tried walking a few steps forward, pain surging from his bones like tides, but it also relieved him; as long as the bones weren’t broken, it was just flesh wounds.
After assessing the injury, Su Huan turned his gaze to Li Han.
At this moment, the other was lying on the ground, with emerald green vines still wrapped around his wrist.
Li Han’s throat moved; during this time, the power of the Armored Train had been deeply imprinted in his heart from all aspects.
The brief battle just now elevated the Train Conductor’s status in his heart infinitely.
Looking at those narrow eyes, he couldn’t stop feeling nervous.
The mongoose suddenly staggered to its feet, clutching its chest and said, “Report to the Train Conductor, he is a Plant Manipulator who can quickly cultivate plants, able to grow a tea tree from a seed in three days.”
“Yo, a talent, why didn’t you say so earlier.”
Su Huan pretended to be surprised.
A knowing look appeared in the mongoose’s eyes.
The Train Conductor didn’t know about Li Han’s existence at all; if he did, he absolutely wouldn’t put such a key talent in danger.
Without his multiple protections, Li Han would either have been shot by He Jie or fed to the mutated beasts underwater.
In fact, Su Huan not only knew.
He also knew there were three Evolvers related to plants on the train; he didn’t immediately protect them because he wanted to see more, to see who evolved faster under high-pressure danger.
Whether accidentally shot by He Jie or killed by mutated beasts, he didn’t care.
He admired Gao Zhe so much, yet still killed him.
The current train was vastly different; ordinary General Energy Crystals weren’t valuable, like today’s cleanup easily netting hundreds, even dozens of Tier 1 crystals.
If one Li Han died, there were Wang Han, Zhang Han.
Even if all died, produce a batch from thousands of ordinary people, a couple related to plants would emerge.
But the Crown Pear Tree not only concerned his life, its “Floating Giant Wood” size far exceeded one carriage; its main person in charge’s status was temporarily not high, but in the future would be equal to the Factory Director, Professor Ma, Huang Hai, and others.
Equivalent to directly adding a high-level position, representing massive resource investment.
The train’s advanced evolutionary supplies weren’t that abundant, so this person must be carefully selected.
From current performance, Li Han was the best.
Strong ability, fast evolution, and a good person.
Could be absorbed.
“Looks like some injustice happened; having bad people on the train is the Train Conductor’s dereliction.”
Su Huan sighed, squatted down, patted Li Han’s shoulder with a mild complexion, “But you must believe in the organization, believe in the train, believe in the Train Conductor. I’ve seen your performance; even in danger, you didn’t forget to protect your teammate. This is exactly the spirit the Armored Train needs. Now I formally invite you to join the Armored Train!”
Hearing Su Huan’s words, the mongoose instinctively looked toward He Jie.
Its beast pupils narrowed slightly, even its eyelashes conveying coldness.
He Jie’s nose was almost crooked with anger, but he couldn’t flare up, turning to kick the Licking Rabbit flying.
“Why aren’t you cleaning the battlefield? What are you watching here?!”
The Licking Rabbit painfully crawled up, “I wanted to say the equipment has been moved in.”
“Then why aren’t you fishing it out? Wasting time here?!”
The goat hiding behind the pillar fortunately turned away; no wonder his ability warned of danger earlier.
Li Han lying on the ground didn’t know the intricacies; he only saw the calm Train Conductor comforting him. Although the style felt somewhat eerie, he was greatly moved.
Previously on the deck, Su Huan’s impression on the survivors was too profound.
He didn’t expect him to be such a person.
So they had misunderstood the Train Conductor…
Thus, he firmly said, “I am willing to join the Armored Train!”
Several core members looked at the scene with complex expressions; sometimes distance really creates beauty.
However, based on Su Huan’s emphasis on the Crown Pear Tree, Li Han would eventually become a Purser, and then he could discover for himself what the Train Conductor was really like.
The train’s stability was largely due to the Train Conductor.
The train’s chaos was largely due to the Train Conductor.
……
The Tier 2 Zombie was quickly fished out of the water by the crane.
Its entire body was bisected at the waist by Liang Kuan, looking deader than dead.
But the body still retained activity.
Soldiers dragged it onto the train for Wan Xing to dissect.
Without this big one, the rest were easy to handle; after half a day, soldiers eliminated all remaining dangers in the factory building and fished out the corpses.
Large amounts of evolution materials naturally couldn’t be wasted.
But the biggest gain was Liang Kuan’s breakthrough to Tier 1 “Soldier”.
This was an advancement direction Su Huan had traded with Deep Blue Data long ago.
The biggest difference from “Fighter” was an additional cold weapon specialization, not requiring high flexibility and reaction speed, with main bonuses in strength, defense, stamina, etc.
Pure cold weapon warrior, holding absolute advantage in wasteland and complex terrain encounters.
Essential member of wasteland squads in his previous life.
Greatly increasing the team’s fault tolerance, unlike Su Huan’s extreme build; “Soldier” had balanced output and defense.
Except for slightly weaker special abilities, no obvious shortcomings.
At noon, the Factory Director had already led soldiers to salvage valuable equipment, building frameworks on the rooftop to start foundational work on the “Floating Giant Wood”.
Three thousand survivors on-site transformed into three thousand workers, assisting in the construction.
Factory building rooftop.
Seeing the various plans proceeding orderly, Su Huan nodded satisfied.
“What challenges are next?” Su Huan asked.
The secretary beside him answered.
“The Factory Director and they are now building the foundational structure and buoyancy system; materials are fully prepared, but the micro power grid and intelligent control system are insufficient.”
“Didn’t we get enough in Shun’an last time?”
“We have spares, but only enough for train replacement; chips and large systems cannot be manufactured with the train’s current industrial level, can only be obtained from city ruins.”
“Just say where we can get them.”
“Guan Chong City Information Industry Park; those six people occupying Nanshan Highlands came from the industrial park.”
Su Huan narrowed his eyes, “How long until the next phase?”
“Six days later, we’ll need this batch of electronic equipment. Should we call people over to understand the situation?”
Shu Wei asked.
“No time for that; we’ll learn on the road.”
Su Huan turned and walked to the edge of the factory building, glanced at the train carriages’ position, and leaped down.
……
Ten minutes later, He Jie received the order to lead three hundred soldiers to garrison.
He frowned at the secretary with high ponytail in front of him, “Is the train going too?”
Shu Wei nodded, her ponytail swaying, calmly said, “It will only leave you with several senior officers; besides, the Factory Director, Deputy General Manager Deng, and other research personnel guiding the ‘Drift Park’ plan.”
“Which officers?”
“Xiao Ba, Licking Rabbit, Pangtu, Lu Xiao, Jiang Rong, and the entire manufacturing group and research group.”
He Jie nodded thoughtfully.
No wonder they kept him; half the train’s people were going down, couldn’t suppress others here without him.
But he still felt something off.
Suddenly it hit him, thinking of one person.
“What about Qu Hang?”
Then Shu Wei’s gaze flickered, somewhat eerie, “The train needs a sniper, so he stays. Wish you success on your task.”
The whistle sounded, the train started; amid the factory building’s vibration, the train slowly headed north.
Shu Wei, with the last few carriages not yet departed, ran a couple steps and jumped directly onto the deck.
She slightly bowed to the cursing He Jie at the breach.
Anyway, her message delivery task was accomplished.
The rest wasn’t her responsibility.
……
After the heavenly change, people’s lifestyles also changed.
For example, rainproofing; though using the same word as before the heavenly change, the meaning was vastly different.
The gale from the water surface blew the iron wire-strung cans at the window side, making them clink and rattle.
It startled awake Old Man Tie sleeping on the simple bunk bed.
“Hoo…”
Old Man Tie let out a heavy breath, looked up outside the window, the sky was pitch black, water waves surging to reach the dark clouds above, each one closer than the last.
He closed the window, took down the calendar hanging on the tin wall, crossed out the 9 with a pen, sat on the bed in a daze for a while before coming to his senses.
He carefully hung the calendar back on the wall; it was one of the few old things left.
Without a couple of familiar objects in the room, Old Man Tie couldn’t sleep at all.
This made Old Man Tie cherish these things that hadn’t been washed away even more.
Before, his grandson always said this calendar of his was useless, an antique eliminated by the era.
But now, everyone in the entire settlement relied on these antiques to keep track of days.
Old Man Tie picked up the [Riot-T5] shotgun by the bed, held it in his arms, and stood up.
His burly frame stretched the white tank top taut; if not for the grizzled beard, he wouldn’t look like a seventy-something old man at all.
Old Man Tie pushed open the room door, felt the gale blowing in his face, and locked the room door behind him.
The sentry on duty at the settlement saw Old Man Tie; soon, a sturdy middle-aged man jumped down from the frame holding a gun.
“Dad, why aren’t you sleeping?”
Old Man Tie looked at his little son, already nearing forty, shook his head, “Zhenbang, it’s going to rain, you all stay alert, don’t let those things climb up, where’s Jianguo?”
Qi Zhenbang pointed to the shanty area behind, “We took in quite a few people the day before yesterday; my brother is finding places for them to build houses.”
Old Man Tie asked again, “Has Chen Lei’s group come back?”
“In this world… they got scattered, won’t come back in this lifetime.”
Qi Zhenbang looked at the vast waters downstairs and sighed.
Old Man Tie snorted coldly, “Anyway, those boys weren’t good anyway; good that they won’t come back, the settlement will be more peaceful. Alright, you keep watch; I’ll go remind everyone.”
Then, as he walked, he knocked on the nearby tin houses, shouting in a low, hoarse voice.
“Storm tonight, close your doors and windows tight!”
“Check your houses carefully, don’t let monsters sneak in.”
“Don’t sleep too soundly tonight.”
His voice was blown by the wind from the rooftop, scattering into the clouds.
From above, the entire settlement was clearly built on four adjacent twenty-story office buildings, connected between buildings by steel frame walkways, even with simple tin houses built on top.
(Schematic diagram; in reality, the buildings would be more densely packed)
The parts above the water surface were full of people living there, including the rooftops, which were stacked with layer upon layer of tin houses.
Old Man Tie climbed the steel frame stairs to the second level and entered deep into the settlement.
People heard Old Man Tie’s voice and came out from the tin houses, rushing to greet him.
“Grandpa Tie, hard work!”
“Master Tie, good evening.”
“Tie Ye, I caught a fish today, just made braised fish, want to try some?”
Old Man Tie would kindly greet any child he met and remind young men he encountered, but frowned when he heard ‘Tie Ye’.
He looked at the middle-aged man in his forties in front of him and said coldly, “What kind of sloppy title is that? My name is Qi Tieshan; at your age, you can call me Uncle Tie, Master Tie, or Old Man Tie. The country still exists, don’t give me that gangster nonsense, and those fish have eaten corpses; gut them and check carefully, don’t eat something bad!”
The middle-aged man’s face twitched, apologizing repeatedly.
Old Man Tie didn’t mind, held his gun and walked to the back, specifically going into the nooks and crannies of the shanty area, chatting with residents on both sides from time to time.
“Little Xu, don’t put your shoe rack outside; when the sea wind blows, it’ll all get soaked.”
“Old Wang’s daughter-in-law, can’t you walk a couple more steps? Dirty water splashed right at the doorway—what about downstairs? These tin houses aren’t very waterproof…”
“Whose child is this? Take them home quick!”
“Not afraid of being snatched and eaten by living dead!”
“…”
Wherever Old Man Tie went, it was a flurry of activity, but it also brought vitality to the deathly still settlement.
He kept busy until his tank top was soaked with sweat, Old Man Tie traversed most of the settlement and arrived at the upstairs of the last building.
Compared to the front, there were far fewer tin houses here, only stacked two layers.
A group of young men stood on the T-shaped metal frames, sparks flying from the welding guns in their hands.
Once the frame was welded, they pasted tin sheets on the lattice, and a standard settlement house was built, looking like stacked containers.
Only with some narrow passageways in between and ventilation holes.
No water and electricity or lighting whatsoever.
It was the apocalypse; having a settlement that could shelter survivors was already a blessing—no one would fuss over those things.
For ordinary people, just staying alive was already exhausting all their effort.
