Chapter 60: Intercepting The Plan
That means Su Huan still has 24 days of preparation time.
After that, they’ll run into the Steel Council.
Based on his understanding from his previous life, the Steel Council initially had three core convoys, each with around a hundred people, but this was nothing like the rabble in the Mojian Mutual Aid Convoy.
They were high-mobility armed forces composed of evolvers plus regular troops.
Even the most basic C-level tactical squad had clear and distinct role divisions, including scouts, medical, demolition, sniper, assault.
A single hundred-person convoy could easily sweep away rabble like the Mojian Mutual Aid Convoy.
By the time the “New City Plan” was halfway underway, the Steel Council had already absorbed hundreds of thousands of survivors, but the expansion of their armed forces was very restrained.
By the time he defected, they were still only around ten thousand strong.
So for the initial stage, he only needed to consider these three hundred people.
Thanks to good control before the apocalypse, aside from the military and law enforcement, civilians had no access to high-killpower equipment like firearms.
The Steel Council’s first batch of equipment came from an armory in Qingchuan Province.
Later, the armory was converted into a bullet production line, and Su Huan, as an energizer, had stood guard there for a while.
The armory would open around early January, which was about eight days from now.
But just from the helicopter flying overhead earlier, Su Huan suspected the armed council wasn’t that honest—they might have obtained a batch of munitions through other means before the apocalypse broke out.
Combining this information, the next plan became clear.
Su Huan needed to get that batch of munitions before the Steel Council and then thoroughly upgrade the armored train.
Along the way, save the desperate Lin Jin and pull him onto the train.
He was too good at repaying kindness with demands.
Then obtain apocalypse-related information from the Steel Council through some peaceful or violent means.
And then amiably extort some large equipment.
Like a bullet production line or the like.
For this exhilarating plan, Su Huan had stayed up for a full day and night, hadn’t eaten a bite, but was still full of energy even now.
After carefully going over the white paper once more, he folded it up and clipped it inside the logbook.
Su Huan stood up, stretched, and walked into the bathroom.
Facing the mirror, his palm glowed red, and he wiped it across his face.
The stubble that had just started growing was instantly scorched by the high temperature, filling the bathroom with the smell of burnt pig hair.
He turned on the faucet, and seeing the clear water flow pouring out, he knew Yu Jing hadn’t been slacking these past two days.
He rinsed the black marks off his face with clean water, and it became spotless.
For Su Huan, who had survived the apocalypse for four years, using his ability had become part of his instinct, as simple as swinging an arm.
Looking at the vigorous young man in the mirror, Su Huan nodded in satisfaction and walked out of the carriage.
Now the train had been reordered: right behind the front of the train was Su Huan’s Carriage 1, Carriage 2 the dining car, Carriage 3 the observation car, and Carriages 4 and 5 the hydrogen-powered trains housing the other team members.
The space was much roomier than the green-skinned carriage; without considering gender factors, one carriage could hold 16 people.
Carriage 6 for food reserves, and 7, 8, 9 he planned to use as farm carriages. Now that guy Huang Hai had given him a pleasant surprise, so the food cycle could also be put on the agenda.
Of course, in the apocalypse, they definitely couldn’t plant regular food—by the time the crops matured, people would have starved to death several times over.
By then, get some mutated plants from the apocalypse and have Huang Hai plant them.
If he screwed this up too, that damn dog could sleep on the roof from now on.
Huang Hai, who was busy in the dining car, suddenly shivered, unaware that the train conductor had already sworn in his heart to give him a good thrashing.
Su Huan turned and first entered the front of the train.
The roar carried a stuffy heat, making anyone who entered feel drowsy.
The youth in the wheelchair nodded quietly at him.
Then he stared straight at the railway ahead, a metallic glint flashing in his eyes, and the lever next to the driver’s seat was pushed.
“You know how to drive the train now?” Su Huan asked curiously.
Xiao Ba nodded. “I saw Uncle Kuan couldn’t hold out anymore, so I had him teach me some basics, then we could take turns resting.”
“Not bad.”
Liang Kuan was sitting in a chair with arms crossed, eyes closed resting, when he suddenly startled awake and opened his bloodshot eyes. “Xiao Ba, how long has it been?”
“You’ve worked hard. You can rest properly today.”
Hearing that unhurried voice, Liang Kuan reacted. “Train Conductor.”
Su Huan patted his shoulder. “Where are we now?”
“We just passed Fengshui City this morning; we’re about to enter Qingchuan Province territory.”
“Two days and nights of driving is enough. Park the train later, and you and Xiao Ba come to the dining car.”
“Understood.”
The train began gradually slowing down, and Su Huan first arrived in the dining car.
The woman in the floral apron was pouring milk into a porcelain cup; the metal long spoon clinked crisply against the pot wall, mingling with the toasty aroma of whole wheat bread from the oven, wafting through the air.
Next to her hand, a porcelain dish held a tower of sugar cubes; each time the train turned, the topmost cube would sway gently, casting a trembling diamond shadow on the edge of the celadon teacup.
Even while so busy, the woman could spare a hand to shell macadamia nuts, tossing one shelled nut into the bowl with a clink-clink-clank, like a cheerful little sparrow.
Seeing Su Huan suddenly appear, Yu Yue froze awkwardly, like a child caught sneaking food by an adult, clutching a macadamia nut, unsure whether to put it down or continue.
Because of the previous incident, she didn’t dare use her ability to cover Su Huan’s carriage, so his appearance was quite sudden to her too.
Looking at Su Huan’s calm face, she wasn’t as fearful as at the beginning.
But she was still a bit uneasy inside.
But thinking it over carefully, it didn’t seem like a big deal.
Normally she would take some food for non-staple dishes too; it was just that this time she hadn’t reported it to Su Huan.
“You’re out? Want something to eat? There’s grilled snake meat and freshly made bread.”
Yu Yue used conversation to mask her slight embarrassment.
But this subtle panic had long been caught by Su Huan, who naturally wouldn’t let her off. He walked forward, grabbed a shelled macadamia nut and tossed it into his mouth, teasing, “Looks like you’ve been doing pretty well these two days while I’ve been busy.”
“Crunch crunch~”
The salty-sweet fruit was crushed by his teeth.
The woman in front of him blushed from her ears to her neck, her shame visible to the naked eye.
“No, when I was checking today, I saw this pack of macadamia nuts was about to expire…”
Su Huan swallowed the food in his mouth, dropped a sugar cube into the coffee and stirred. “Oh, this cup of coffee is expired too, right?”
Yu Yue didn’t dare refute anymore and silently took the fragrant soft bread from the oven.
Having seen plenty of bastards who had long abandoned morals and shame, looking at Yu Yue who blushed at just a couple words, the mischief in his heart was really hard to suppress.
Su Huan reached out directly and grabbed it; the fluffy bread deformed under his fingers.
Yu Yue watched her carefully made bread being kneaded like that, a faint panicked sound squeezing through her teeth, but seeing Su Huan’s fake smile, she silently shut her mouth.
