Armored train in the apocalypse

Chapter 155 Laboratory

The Steel Council headquarters, northwest corner, experimental tower.

The hexagonal walls on the tower's surface gleam with a pearly luster in the night, as if covered with a special film, shimmering with different colors depending on the viewing angle.

The tower stands out like a crane among chickens among the surrounding buildings eroded by acid rain.

This is the most valuable building in the Steel Council, accounting for 60 percent of the pre-apocalyptic liquidity.

Its core is the all-encompassing monitoring device at the top of the tower, while the base of the tower is the Steel Council's Evolutionary Research Laboratory.

A heated argument is taking place in the top-floor conference room.

"You have no right to terminate my experiment. Bring Li Wangchuan here. He personally gave me that guarantee!"

The head of the laboratory, an elderly man with gray hair but meticulous attention to detail, stood in the room and angrily pointed at the board members behind several bodyguards.

The bodyguards completely ignored the person in charge, quickly counting and loading the polymorphic crystals, their movements tinged with anxiety.

The director who was being scolded stared intently out the window, chain-smoking.

Hearing the person in charge's words, he immediately roared like an enraged hound, "Don't mention that idiot Li Wangchuan to me! If it weren't for him, things wouldn't have come to this! He's nowhere to be found now, it's all over, the entire Steel Council is finished! If I hadn't run fast, I would have been devoured by the zombie horde by now!"

The person in charge was stunned for a moment, "What do you mean by 'finished'? A zombie horde?"

He was just informed by his subordinates while conducting an experiment that a director had abused his authority to enter and loot a large amount of supplies, and even planned to take away the researchers. He thought it was another internal power struggle, which is why he angrily came up to stop him.

But this situation doesn't seem right.

After venting his anger and calming down, the director recounted the events in general terms with a somber expression.

The dramatic turn of events left the person in charge speechless.

The seemingly smooth-running New City plan was suddenly disrupted by a super-inducing agent that wiped out tens of thousands of people. Of the dozen or so board members, only two or three remained. Now, the other party is leading a million-strong zombie horde toward the Steel Council.

Even though he had experienced many ups and downs, he was still somewhat at a loss in the face of this situation.

Halfway through the research, the promising situation... and it's all over?
Suddenly, a piercing alarm sounded inside the tower. The director immediately panicked and rushed out. "Director Xu, I know you have an armed force protecting the laboratory, but don't think you can hold the headquarters with just that few people. A million zombies is not something that the current number of humans can handle."

"I'll be leaving in three minutes. If you don't want to go, don't stop me. Nobody will survive!"

Several bodyguards carried the safe away, leaving Director Xu standing alone in the room, the warning red light casting an unpredictable shadow on his face.

A subordinate rushed in, his face filled with panic. "Director, we just detected a high-intensity pan-energy reaction within a 10-kilometer radius. The number of reaction sources exceeds 100,000, and the strongest reaction source has reached the second stage!"

Director Xu took a deep breath. "First, load all the important data and equipment onto the truck, and then take all the important experimental subjects, including gene reagents, universal energy crystals, and gene prototypes, with us."

The subordinate's eyes flickered, but without asking any further questions, he immediately went to handle the situation.

……

The news of the evacuation was initially only circulating among the board members and those in charge, but when the senior researchers hurriedly evacuated with their families, it alerted others.

News of the approaching zombie horde spread through the ranks.

Lights suddenly came on in the Steel Council's residential area late at night.

A series of footsteps woke Han Qin, who had been sleeping very poorly for the past two days. She quietly opened her eyes, first carefully glanced into the bedroom, and after confirming that everyone was asleep, she walked barefoot to the balcony.

Walk around the easel on the balcony and look downstairs.

A group of armed men rushed in. Han Qin looked at each person with anticipation in her eyes, but she did not see the person she was looking forward to.

A sudden emptiness filled my heart.

Her husband left around that time and never came back; the company said he was temporarily missing.

She tried many connections but couldn't find out anything. A few days later, several security guards appeared at the entrance.

They began restricting her movement.

"Mother."

A childish voice called out from behind, bright and clear, extremely loud in the quiet room.

Han Qin was startled and turned around to see a small figure standing behind her—her eight-year-old son.

She quickly went over and asked gently, "Why is Hao Hao up?"

"Is Daddy back?"

The woman felt a pang of sadness and gently comforted her son as she hugged him.

After a while, Han Qin suddenly realized something was wrong. Why were the footsteps outside the window becoming more and more frequent?

When she took her child to the balcony, she immediately realized something was wrong.

In the past, even if a meeting was held late at night, it was usually for armed personnel or important scientific researchers. Who would summon women and children late at night?

Han Qin opened the door and glanced around cautiously. Not seeing the usual inspectors, a resolute glint flashed in her eyes.

"Xiaoxiao, wake your sister up and make her get dressed quickly."

"Mom, what are we going to do?"

"Go find Daddy!"

……

The bottom floor of the experimental tower.

In a transparent room, Zhang Min, wearing a simple set of underwear, slowly woke up.

The warm-colored lights remained constantly on, and they didn't dim at all, whether the people were drinking water, sleeping, or using the toilet.

There were no personal belongings in the room, and two meals a day were delivered by designated personnel. However, thanks to her status as an insider, her meals included two extra pieces of greasy luncheon meat compared to others.

Besides that, the daily ability test is the part she looks forward to the most.

She was the 46th test subject in the 0135 evolution route experiment, and the only one to survive, having gone through all stages of ability awakening.

Finally, he successfully advanced to become a first-tier evolved being in the Manipulator Realm.

"Seed of Hatred" = lv3 "Negative Emotion Control" + lv2 "Emotional Perception" + lv1 "Seed of Hatred"

This was a completely new capability, so the researchers spent many days discussing it, from experimentation to naming.

Initially, they thought that to trigger this profession, the evolved individual had to experience extreme betrayal, abuse, or mental breakdown, but later they discovered that it seemed that all the evolved individual needed was enough hatred.

Just like that level 1 "Seed of Hatred," that's the core of the entire class.

An evolved being must plant a "seed of hatred" in their heart, and then absorb various negative emotions to nurture this seed, allowing it to take root and sprout.

Then the seeds of hatred will continuously feed back power to the user.

As the saying goes, the greater the hatred, the greater the power.

Zhang Min successfully activated this obscure ability by relying on her deep-seated hatred for the train conductor.

The researchers who were originally extremely indifferent to her have been avoiding her lately, afraid of doing something wrong and incurring her hatred.

In fact, their worries were somewhat unnecessary; Zhang Min's condition remained stable.

No matter what kind of experiment it was, even one that was harmful or humiliating, it couldn't cause her much emotional distress.

Because the train conductor had stirred up so much hatred, it was difficult for anyone else to even be considered in Zhang Min's mind.

In addition, this ability has a psychological suggestion effect, so even in her dreams, Zhang Min is looking forward to the day she will reunite with the train conductor.

She believed that by then she would have definitely reached the top of the Steel Council, and no matter how hard Su Huan tried, the train's carrying capacity was limited. He could only manage two thousand people at most. She did not believe that a force of more than 100,000 people could not crush a force of two or three thousand people.

How will we deal with the train conductor then?

Physical torture alone won't last long; we should add a little psychological torment, such as putting him in his happiest moments...

Having come up with a good idea, Zhang Min stretched out her fair left arm and then used her fingernail to slowly tear open a piece of skin, the bright red blood reflecting the woman's alluring smile.

This is her favorite time of day for daydreaming.

It even surpasses ability tests that allow you to observe your own progress.

She concealed the wound on her arm. Although there was no clock, Zhang Min's schedule was as precise as if she were on a stopwatch. However, ten minutes passed, and still no researchers observing her passed by.

Zhang Min frowned.

She remained seated, not moving. Three minutes later, hurried footsteps sounded outside the door. The male researcher who had led her in said, "Your experiment is over. You can come out now. Your task now is to follow me. Do whatever I tell you to do, understand?"

The man feigned calmness, trying to appear as if nothing had changed.

But Zhang Min could clearly sense his inner panic and fear.

Is he afraid of her?

There have been similar occurrences before, but the fluctuations haven't been this drastic.

With a hint of doubt, Zhang Min quietly followed her out.

The man didn't take her to any laboratory, but instead led her to a simple changing room. The two changed clothes in a minute and then headed towards the top of the tower.

Suddenly, I heard the sound of running and wheels rolling behind me.

Turning around, several researchers, protected by security personnel, were pushing a box with only a partially transparent window towards the elevator.

Each of these people was filled with fear.

The box, however, remained completely calm.

The man quickly led her up, and as the elevator ascended rapidly, she finally caught a glimpse of that long, mercury-like hair inside the box.

The moment the elevator doors opened, a cacophony of alarms and the sounds of people running and shouting filled Zhang Min's ears. Having been in a quiet environment for so long, Zhang Min felt as if she had been transported to another world.

Outside the door was a heavily armed truck, and security personnel wearing tactical vests and carrying guns were patrolling the area nervously.

Researchers packed various items into trucks.

A group of people escorted Director Xu, whose hair was gray, into the room. When he saw Zhang Min in her casual clothes, he frowned and turned to the man beside him, saying, "Why did you bring her up here?"

The man said in a low voice, "I thought she was a first-tier evolver, and one of Li Mi's own people, so she should be able to help."

Director Xu glanced at Zhang Min, and seeing that she seemed normal, asked, "Is everything packed?"

"Everything has been arranged."

"Get in the car."

The two hurriedly came out, but were stopped by security personnel as soon as they stepped outside.

The other party growled in a hoarse voice, "When you go out, don't make a sound, and don't use any lights! Under no circumstances, understand?!"

The man nodded repeatedly.

Zhang Min seemed to have noticed something and subconsciously looked out at the sky.

It was pitch black, and I couldn't see anything.

But the moment they stepped outside, the violent flapping of wings in the sky and the faint, distant howls of corpses caused their expressions to change drastically.

The security personnel pushed their heads down and forced them to walk forward.

Zhang Min glanced around and saw a total of three heavy trucks, six or seven troop carriers, and two modified vehicles specifically used for clearing the way.

Just then, a strong gust of wind swept down from the sky.

Two security guards leaning against the car swung their short batons and slammed them down hard on the dark figure.

The sound of bones breaking and tendons snapping rang out.

Before the mutated bird could even let out a cry, it was brutally beaten to death by the two defenders with clubs. They then sprayed some deodorizing agent on the corpse and threw it into the grass nearby. Judging from their familiar actions, this was clearly not the first time they had done this.

The two boarded a troop carrier, surrounded by researchers.

Some people were clearly surprised to see Zhang Min.

However, no one spoke, and they waited silently in the carriage.

About five minutes later, the vehicle started, and Zhang Min felt that they all breathed a sigh of relief.

Less than a minute later, a loud bang was heard outside the car, the car overturned, and gunfire erupted outside.

"Open the car door quickly! A horde of zombies is coming!"

The man next to him shouted loudly.

'A zombie horde? Can those stupid things like zombies really threaten the Steel Council?'

Zhang Min deliberately ignored the command in the man's tone and climbed out of the car door with a puzzled look.

A violent shockwave swept in, and the sight in the distance made her pupils shrink sharply.

Beams of searchlight tore through the night, illuminating the surging, terrifying waves of corpses that piled up one on top of another, forcefully climbing the ten-meter-high city wall that the Steel Council had built using the building, pouring into the heavy industrial zone like dumplings being dropped into a pot.

Tracer rounds guided gunfire and artillery shells, weaving a tapestry of death across the night sky. The shockwaves from high-explosive shells hurled dozens of zombie bodies into the air, their crimson flesh charring into swirling black snow in the flames.

The crowd screamed and began to flee, and the searchlights went out one by one from south to north.

At this moment, the apocalypse descended indiscriminately upon everyone.

The sound of gunfire around Zhang Min brought her back to her senses. Several first-tier mutated birds and beasts, along with an overturned troop transport vehicle, were engaged in a fierce battle with the evolved soldiers.

But these soldiers are all ordinary evolved beings.

Only one captain was at the first rank, and outnumbered, he was torn in two.

Before dying, he detonated a grenade, injuring one of the first-tier mutated birds and beasts. Under concentrated fire, he barely managed to kill one.

However, this did not ease the situation. Just as Zhang Min was pondering the situation, a man's exasperated voice came from the carriage behind her, "What are you standing there for? Quickly pull me up!"

Zhang Min's eyes flickered. She stepped forward, pulled the man aside, and asked, "Where do we go next?"

The man paused for a moment, then hesitated before saying, "We've arranged a train at the north freight station, loaded with a large amount of supplies. You won't be able to get on without me."

Zhang Min gave a noncommittal reply.

The man peered around at the battlefield, then gritted his teeth and said, "These guys are no good. If you get me safely to the car, you'll definitely get a good reward."

Zhang Min, however, inexplicably thought of the silver-haired girl, "Shouldn't we take that girl with us?"

The man hesitated for a moment, then said, "She's in the overturned truck up ahead. Go and bring her over. We'll take the middle truck over there."

Zhang Min nimbly bypassed several small battlefields and arrived at the overturned truck at the very front.

Because the turn was too sharp, the truck's front end was twisted beyond recognition, and blood was still dripping from the cab.

However, the carriages maintained a good overall integrity.

Zhang Min frowned as she moved the deformed wrench. Luckily, she was now an evolved being, otherwise she wouldn't even be able to open the car door.

Looking into the dark carriage, Zhang Min couldn't understand why she had saved the girl.

'Fine, I'll just consider it an act of kindness from me today.'

A hint of annoyance flashed in Zhang Min's eyes as she searched inside.

They quickly found the large box containing the girl.

I don't know what material it's made of, but the box is completely unharmed after such a violent car accident; it was just crushed by heavy objects.

Zhang Min pulled open the box, and a girl in a white dress sat quietly inside, hugging her legs and wearing a black coat.

Her long silver hair cascaded over her shoulders, with a faint, cold light flowing through the strands, like an ice statue sculpted by moonlight, so serene and cold that it almost blended into the darkness.

Hearing the voice, the girl raised her light gray eyes and looked at her quietly.

Even as a woman myself, Zhang Min wanted to swear the moment she saw the girl; her beauty was simply off the charts!
This feeling cannot be brought about by mere appearance.

It's like an instinctive attraction, something even more powerful than temperament.

If she had been this attractive before, perhaps that bastard Su Huan wouldn't have kicked her off the bus.
(Lin Xi - Dress Version)

(Lin Xi - Casual Wear Version)
(End of this chapter)