Chapter 265: Request
The old man’s hoarse voice was like a building collapsing, earth and stone crashing down, heavily smashing onto the ground.
Accompanied by rumbling echoes.
“Will Iron Mountain shed tears too?”
Su Huan’s voice carried simple confusion.
Qi Zhenbang, sensing something wrong, put down his work and walked over.
Goat and several officers also quietly gathered around.
Seeing Old Man Tie’s appearance, Qi Zhenbang’s complexion changed in shock, exclaiming, “Dad!”
In an instant, the string in Qi Zhenbang’s mind snapped, and he abruptly looked up at the Train Conductor standing opposite Old Man Tie.
But before he could speak, a large hand gripped his head.
With Qi Zhenbang’s strength, he could easily break free, but after sensing it was Old Man Tie’s hand, Qi Zhenbang hesitated, then was pressed down, bending his body, and in his dazed state, bent lower and lower.
Old Man Tie’s straight back also bent down.
Goat and the others approaching from behind were startled and instinctively avoided the bowing old man.
Su Huan’s eyes were like an ancient well under the night, the pitch-black water surface reflecting the old man’s graying crown.
The stubble like needles, each one standing erect, but white to near transparency.
“The organization is in trouble, but I’m old, useless, my grandson is no good, fortunately there are still a few sons.”
“I beg you to take him there, hand him over to the organization.”
“As long as you agree to this request, I’ll stay on the train and work for you until I die. When you no longer want this old bag of bones, just throw me off somewhere.”
Giraffe’s fists had clenched tightly at some point, his face taut, afraid some embarrassing thing would roll down. Unable to hold back, he turned his head away and saw White Deer’s eye sockets red, large teardrops silently rolling down.
On the other side, Goat’s palm subconsciously lifted several times, but he silently put it down each time.
Qu Hang squarely gave a military salute and turned to leave.
The fog in Su Huan’s eyes still hadn’t dissipated.
His brows furrowed, showing clear puzzlement.
Old Man Tie wasn’t a stubborn person, but he was a resolute one.
He didn’t understand why such a frail, aged body contained something so unyielding.
Like a steel bar, unbendable, unbreakable.
So when idle, he would come to bend it, test it.
To see if it was truly sturdy or just falsely tough.
He wasn’t incapable of snapping a steel bar.
Let alone one weathered by storms, its patterns long worn away by time, left only lingering on.
But this sturdy steel bar bent today before he even tried to bend it.
The sudden bending plunged him into confusion.
As if something heavier pressed on his spine, bending the old man’s waist.
Su Huan drew the note back from the old man’s hand, looked at the smeared tear stains on it, and tucked it into the logbook.
His tone calm to the point of carrying a hint of indifference.
“Who is Yang Cunyi?”
The old man slowly stood up, a trace of reminiscence on his face. “He should be a general now too. He knows I don’t understand high tech, but he writes to me every year. I won’t mistake his handwriting.”
“An active general, right?”
“Yes.”
Finding a specific person is good.
As for the father and son in front of him, they were somewhat tricky to handle.
Faced with thorny problems or ones he didn’t know how to handle, Su Huan would convert them into a mode familiar to him.
He raised one finger and said calmly, “First, you, your son, and your whole family were all saved by me. Working for me is what you owe.”
“Second, where the train goes and who it helps is a decision only the Train Conductor can make.”
“So your request is trying to trade my things with me. Transaction not established.”
“But your son can board. I’ll also go find Yang Cunyi. You provided key information, so five thousand points reward. When we surface, go claim it from Old Hu yourself.”
Su Huan’s words made Old Man Tie’s heart sink deeper and deeper, but hearing the last sentence lifted it sharply.
The tears in his eyes hadn’t fully faded before being filled with complexity.
He softly said thanks.
Beside him, Qi Zhenbang was completely baffled.
He didn’t even know what was happening before his old man pressed his head and sold him off. Before he could process this shattered information, he heard his old man say thanks!
His old man, tough as iron, actually said thanks!
He’d lived decades without hearing it.
Normally, the old man used commanding tones even when asking comrades for favors. The old man who’d never lowered his face his whole life actually said thanks.
In broad daylight, it was truly seeing ghosts.
“Go work.”
“Good!”
Old Man Tie agreed straightforwardly.
He wiped his face and dragged the question-mark-headed Qi Zhenbang off to work.
For him, working was far freer than begging.
Though he’d obtained key information, Su Huan was still a bit irritated.
There was something on Old Man Tie he couldn’t see through.
No, accurately, most people had things he couldn’t see through.
Like Xiao Ba taking in orphans, Yu Yue protecting Yu Jing, Wan Xing’s instinctive care for Xiao Ba, Mongoose demanding He Jie apologize, He Jie refusing Qu Hang and his daughter contact… These people felt to him like an invisible thread connecting them, but he had none.
So he always felt out of place.
He classified it as blood relation or affection-like things.
The army in trouble, what relation to Old Man Tie? Why hand his son to them?
Just because he served?
Su Huan coldly scanned the gathered officers around.
Hadn’t they served too? Why not like this?
No, they seemed to have it too.
Feeling the Train Conductor’s icy gaze, everyone scattered like birds and beasts. Even the somewhat dim White Deer pretended to get busy.
Even this group of blood-stained guys genuinely acknowledged Old Man Tie from the heart.
And from the moment of acknowledgment, Su Huan also found a thread between them and Old Man Tie.
Clearly no blood relations among this group, no benefit ties.
Why such deep affection?
Strange.
Su Huan interrupted Shu Wei who wanted to report, frowning as he asked her, “Shouldn’t affection between people be maintained by transactions?”
“……Uh, ah?”
The bizarre question left the always professional secretary dazed.
Looking at the Train Conductor before her, Shu Wei didn’t know what game he was playing this time and could only cautiously reply, “It depends on what level you’re asking this question from…”
“What maintains the physical relationship between you and me?”
“What is your relationship with your dad?”
“Why is your relationship with him bad? Because you’re useless?”
“Or because his transaction with your mom broke down, leading to you being unwelcome?”
Shu Wei: “…”
Fortunately, Yu Yue’s arrival ended Shu Wei’s torment.
If discussing problems with normal people has difficulty 1 and discomfort 0.
With someone whose brain has issues, difficulty 3, discomfort 3.
With someone whose brain has issues but super strong, difficulty 6, discomfort 6.
Discussing problems with the Train Conductor has difficulty 0, discomfort 20.
The Train Conductor won’t kill you over verbal sparring, but his weird speaking style and questions give a nauseating feeling like swallowing flies.
You never know from which angle he’ll disgust you.
Yu Yue looked at Shu Wei with affection; clearly she’d heard Su Huan’s words just now.
“The weapons are packed and ready. We can surface.”
On to business, Su Huan could only reluctantly purse his lips. This interesting topic would have to wait for another chance.
“Surface.”
……
By the time all the laboratory items were moved onto the train, three full days had passed.
These three days weren’t just transporting supplies; due to the target plan set earlier, all departments of the Armored Train were operating at full capacity.
First, an Electromagnetic Weapon Laboratory was established on the train.
No need to advance Li Xiuhua’s experiments to any degree; replicating seventy percent of existing results would suffice.
The laboratory was set up in deputy carriages 44, 45, and 46, right opposite Director Xu’s Laboratory.
The lead was a researcher named Ban Yunzhang selected from Director Xu’s Laboratory.
Though unremarkable-sounding, even assistants in Director Xu’s Laboratory were Doctors. Any formal researcher could easily get a senior title pre-apocalypse.
As for Yu Jing, a graduate student, her biggest overlap with the laboratory was the word “research.”
Even as an assistant, she’d be in the way.
If ranking the train’s laboratories by level, Yu Jing’s Mechanical Laboratory would be at the bottom.
Research ninety-nine percent ability, one percent research.
Then Professor Ma’s—not that Professor Ma was bad, mainly because he brought a bunch of students.
Factory Director and Deputy General Manager Deng had high expertise but were somewhat specialized due to integration.
Director Xu’s side was complete; as Steel Council personnel reserves, they couldn’t be specialized, so all types were represented, each able to stand alone.
Precisely because of this talent foundation, no matter what strange thing the train encountered, the experts could give roughly accurate answers.
If not for Su Huan’s outrageous methods wiping out the Steel Council’s lair in one go.
Letting these experts research a few days, the Armored Train would take a hard fall.
The deputy was one picked from under the Factory Director, one from the survivors.
Though not ideal, it was the best among dwarfs; usable was fine.
In a whirlwind, the train’s fifth laboratory was built.
Their first task was to install the two Electromagnetic Railguns [Thunder God-7] and [Thunder God-8] on the train.
For ordinary vehicles, railguns dozens of meters long would be tricky.
But for a 1,500-meter-long Armored Train, not even half a carriage—piece of cake.
The Crew and Armed Corps expansions were nearly complete.
Armed Corps total added two hundred soldiers, no officers.
Among them, Mongoose and two others promoted to Corporal.
He Jie rounded numbers; prior vacancies filled by officers, total seven hundred people.
Occupying one-third of the train’s total population.
Crew totaled 1,300 people.
Logistics Group increased least, total added eighty, reaching three hundred.
Main personnel from Huang Hai’s Carriage Farm expansion and Cultivation Pod expansion.
Logistics Group ostensibly had two tasks: supplies management, logistics support.
But in actual execution, it wasn’t so simple.
Like supplies management including fruits and vegetables production, Ammunition Depot management…
Logistics support including some production and maintenance tasks.
Water Purifiers need cleaning, right?
Vehicles break down and need repair, right?
After all, repairmen like Old Liu were under Logistics Group.
So in execution, departments still needed subdivision.
Currently main ones: Carriage Farm, Cultivation Pod, Dining Car Kitchen, supplies management, Front of the Train scheduling, daily maintenance, living allocation, Medical Carriage—eight key functions.
None could be merged or canceled.
Like the Command Platform at the Front of the Train; the entire carriage’s schedule and key matters scheduling all depended on this department.
Living allocation seemed idle, but more accurately called administrative management.
Any need for reporting or issues Crew couldn’t solve went to this department.
It was the department with widest contact with passengers on the train.
All tallied, the idlest turned out to be Medical Carriage, not even many full-time doctors.
Currently including Lin Xia, only three: one traditional Chinese medicine who couldn’t do surgery, one resident ob-gyn (not attending), one ancient-style Western doctor who could read films.
But even these three couldn’t be cut.
The train currently had no major battles; once high-intensity combat occurred, the medical team was the warriors’ last fallback.
One group, eight departments.
This was why Su Huan refused further grouping.
Divided this way, it never ended.
Now with four group Pursers in between, he had a pile of administrative work daily.
If dozens of departments reported to him directly, he’d do nothing else.
Approving documents daily would be enough.
Combat Group fifty people, clean and simple, no subordinate divisions.
Research Group 120 people, total five laboratories, no need to count.
Manufacturing Group, full 830 people, the Armored Train’s largest department.
Only Bullet Workshop relatively independent; rest scattered, somewhat like Research Group’s affiliate department.
Most work assisted Research Group in manufacturing.
Low tech content, many personnel, many survivor absorptions; this department most mixed bag.
Recovered Zhang Qiang joined this department.
New generation Same Boat Society developing vibrantly.
Like tailor shops, Old Liu car repairs—these functions too small, personnel too few, not independent departments, all classified under daily maintenance.
By rules, these subordinate department management posts should elevate to Level Five Crew like Glasses.
But ones like Li Han, on train mere days, no contributions, pushed up due to vacancy—gaining Level Five treatment for free easily bred discontent.
Though Train Conductor directly promoted Li Han, no one dared complain.
But most others discussed and promoted by Pursers like Hu Shuo, hard to convince crowds.
So these management posts temporary; once someone excelled, they’d replace the original manager.
Current managers kept original level treatment; to secure position, like others, step up by rules.
