Armored train in the apocalypse

Chapter 187 Prices, Cigarettes, and Soldiers
Since there are plenty of workers and materials in the manufacturing base, we can build it to the scale of a top-tier shelter.

Hybrid energy networks, plant farms, underground reservoirs...

Even the simplest walls have been replaced with two-meter-thick concrete, and there are various anti-climbing designs.

Taking advantage of the respite brought by the armed train, the workers and experts went all out, using every skill they could, and the base changed almost every day.

If it weren't for the acid rain causing such delays, the construction progress could have been even faster.

The third phase of the armed train's renovation is one-third complete.

The base produced seventy new carriages, making a total of one hundred. The train was also divided into two lines, with the old locomotives being replaced by two [Xuanjia] multi-energy locomotives.

The front of the vehicle is currently being modified.

However, the carriage frame has been initially adjusted. The factory director and Deputy General Manager Deng summarized the previous combat experience of the armed train and carried out structural reinforcement on the carriage, especially its anti-collision capability is extremely outstanding.

The integrated design of the carriages solved a major concern for train conductors, including the sealing issue.

Not to mention acid rain seeping in, even if you throw it into water tens of meters deep, not a single drop will leak in.

To prove the base's manufacturing capabilities, Vice President Deng took a blanket and stayed overnight in the experimental vehicle, which was then submerged in a larger acid rain pit and covered with soil.

The next day, the carriage was dug out intact.

……

Outside the vehicle body manufacturing center, at the edge of the materials area.

During a break, three elderly passengers in dark blue work uniforms walked over, leaned against an abandoned vehicle, and looked around to make sure no one was paying attention.

He pulled a cigarette from his pocket and skillfully put it in his mouth.

This casual gesture instantly made both of them stare wide-eyed.

"Oh my, my dear brother, where did you get this wonderful stuff?"

Old Ma glanced at the two of them and said disdainfully, "Of course it was replaced by the logistics team. Look at you two, one for each of you, here you go."

Then he tossed two cigarettes into his pocket.

The other two took them and happily started smoking.

While smoking, he complained, "The cigarettes from the logistics team are too expensive. A pack costs two points, but do you know how much they buy them from?"

Old Ma's eyes flickered; he knew these regular passengers had something going on. "How much?"

"That's also two points."

"What nonsense are you spouting? Buying with two points and selling with two points? Are you treating the train like a charity?"

Another person cursed.

"Look how impatient you are! You haven't finished yet. It's a one-line purchase for two points!"

"Holy crap, that's a tenfold price difference!"

Old Ma feigned surprise and said, "The points system was only recently launched, how do you know the acquisition price?"

The man said smugly, "I don't know, but I have a good brother, Xiao Ma knows him. He's Brother Xiao's right-hand man, and he told me that himself!"

Old Ma was overjoyed. He hadn't expected to actually catch a fish. Although it wasn't big, it was enough for him to eat.

Liu Ming led the Tongzhou Society to climb up to Tong Zizhan, just in time for the reform of the armed train.

But not everyone can endure the training of that stun gun bastard in the armed forces.

Some lucky ones with special skills will be transferred to the flight attendant team, while the rest will be eliminated, their fate unknown.

The armed train has recently undergone a series of major changes, with all sorts of rumors and gossip circulating everywhere.

It is full of opportunities, but it also makes people uneasy.

Old Ma was one of those older passengers who couldn't endure the basic training of the armed forces and wasn't capable of joining the crew. There were many such older passengers on the same boat.

Liu Ming reassured them that he would secretly gather information for the association and that he would never abandon any of the brothers who joined.

Although no one really believed it, they could only grasp at this last straw.

Old Ma reluctantly pulled out a pack of cigarettes from his pocket, which contained about ten cigarettes. He took out two and stuffed the rest into the man's hand.

His old face creased with wrinkles, and he said with a hint of flattery, "I was blind to your greatness before. Now that you have connections, please share any news with us, my fellow sufferers. We were on the same train almost at the same time back then."

The man took the cigarette, straightening his back a bit more. "I do have some news. Do you know the Guo family who gave Brother Xiao canned cherries back then? They had a wife and kids, and now they've all transferred to the flight crew through Brother Xiao's connections, all thanks to a can of cherries!"

The man extended a finger, exhaled a smoke ring, and his eyes turned slightly red.

"Holy crap, we've hit the jackpot!"

The other person's eyes widened, filled with envy.

Old Ma sighed, "It's a pity I didn't have any canned goods on hand back then. It's too late to flatter him now; Brother Xiao is already a second lieutenant in the armed forces."

"Why don't you try your luck with Jiang Rong? That woman's man is probably dead. Maybe she'll see that you, Old Ma, are handsome and take you in... Hahaha!"

"Nonsense! Don't be fooled by how polite Sister Jiang is to everyone. She single-handedly guarded an entire carriage back then. Do you think she did it because she was kind-hearted?" Old Ma's expression changed, and he scolded in a low voice.

Jiang Rong is now a second lieutenant, the same rank as Lu Xiao.

If those lewd words reached her ears, it would be such a shame to shoot him dead.

"I'm not kidding, there should be another way. You guys know that skinny guy in carriage number 23? What was his name again? ... He's now part of the crew. I don't know how he got there, but my gut feeling is that there's some kind of connection behind him. You can give it a try."

The man who accepted the cigarette spoke in a pretentious tone.

Old Ma's eyes darted around. How could he not know this? It was he who took pity on Zhang Qiang and recommended him to the Tongzhou Association.

Unexpectedly, the latter became a core member of the association in just a few days, rising even faster than him, a veteran member.

Luck is a truly unreasonable thing.

After patiently chatting with the two for a while longer, Lao Ma gleaned a lot of information and hurriedly ran towards the dormitory.

Although the armed forces and the crew were separated in terms of organization, they were not under such strict military management and still lived together.

However, the crew and armed forces receive better treatment and more points.

He arrived just as Liu Ming was having dinner, so he didn't dare say anything, handed him a note, and left.

Liu Ming naturally wouldn't let the other person leave so easily, so he pulled them aside and chatted for a few minutes.

He then took out two packs of good cigarettes and a bag of chocolates from his drawer and stuffed them into Lao Ma's hand.

Watching the other person leave with light steps, he then looked at the note.

After memorizing all the information, I crumpled it into pieces with both hands and threw it into the trash can.

There was already a thin layer of paper scraps inside.

I lit a cigarette, but didn't smoke it. I just waited for it to burn out, then poured it into the trash can along with the cigarette liquid, soaking all the scraps of paper.

He has gone through countless hardships to get to this point, and he is about to finish his basic training. He absolutely cannot let this kind of thing ruin everything.

But he is even less likely to give up the Fellowship.

Those were his eyes and tentacles.

Without any support beneath his feet, it's useless no matter how high he climbs in the armed forces.

The train conductor and the instructors could lift him up with a single sentence, or knock him down with the same sentence.

Only by mastering one's own power can one find true security. "Thump thump—"

Two clean knocks came from outside the door.

"Liu Ming, the lieutenant wants us to assemble before 10 o'clock. We have a mission today."

Liu Ming quickly opened the door and said in a cheerful tone, "Okay, I'll definitely be on time."

After seeing the other person walk away, he closed the door and put on a new combat uniform.

Although they hadn't joined the armed forces yet, the train still provided them with equipment: a combat uniform, two sets of changeable civilian clothes, and even small items like underwear and socks—all sources of happiness in the apocalypse.

The combat uniform is a camouflage pattern with a sandy or gravel color, which looks grayish but is extremely sturdy.

Then comes a bulletproof vest, tactical vest, tactical knee pads, elbow pads, blast gloves, and a helmet.

No additional kits are available.

The train is equipped with night vision devices and even more advanced kits, but they are all used by the tactical crew.

However, everything else was provided, such as a water bottle, rations, and a personal first-aid kit.

Their primary weapon was a foreign assault rifle, which was centrally managed by the train's ammunition depot. They had only one basic load of rifle ammunition and half a basic load of pistol ammunition with them.

The quantity is strictly registered, and any lost items will be discarded.

During the initial selection process, He Jie instructed the internal affairs team to secretly exchange food with soldiers. Some people, hoping to get away with it, traded bullets for supplies.

Then they were eliminated.

They used the same method to fish several times, and in addition to exchanging fish, they even sent people to the dormitory to steal fish!
This taught the remaining soldiers a harsh lesson.

Wherever people are, bullets will follow.

Even during training sessions, they carried it on their backs.

Fortunately, they are all evolved beings, so one and a half bullets are not a big burden.

After being fully armed, I checked the time and it was already 9:50.

Liu Ming went out and walked towards the stepped building in the center of the residential area. Someone was already waiting there. After a while, all four people, including Liu Ming, arrived. After all, it was their first mission, and no one dared to scout the location.

Tong Zizhan and Gao Yuan came over, gave a few brief instructions, and then led everyone to a six-story building next door.

This slab building was used as an office by the logistics team because it was close to the stepped building and convenient for connecting with the train conductor.

The first floor also became a temporary trading area.

A total of five windows were opened, and staff were on duty for twelve hours a day.

The three windows are for daily transactions, where everyone in the armed train and the base can exchange daily necessities using points.

Even without supplies, barter can be used.

However, the price is expensive, and those who could exchange privately have already done so. The reason for coming here to exchange is that it is only available on the train.

The remaining window is an armory, which contains most of the weapons and ammunition for the armed train and is also a key target for the combat team to protect.

The last window is an internal window, and only crew members and armed personnel are qualified to use it.

The goods in question are also in high demand.

For example, some rare medicines, tactical equipment, universal energy crystals, evolution materials, etc.

Tong Zizhan stopped and turned to look at them. "Go to the armory to collect your equipment. Just mention my name. It's already been reported to the higher-ups."

The four responded with a loud "Yes!" which startled the workers exchanging daily necessities nearby.

After the four left, Gao Yuan twirled the ring on his hand and asked in confusion, "Why did you suddenly decide to go on a mission? Our points are already high enough..."

Tong Zizhan rolled his eyes at him. “If we’re not carrying out a mission, what excuse do we have to spend points? I’ll go get an exoskeleton, and you go get them some bullets. One base amount per person, don’t get the cheap ones, get the most expensive 7.62. The six of us will have 1440 points, plus 500 for the exoskeleton, and some pistol bullets and grenades, and we’ll have a little over two thousand points.”

"There's something!"

Gao Yuan gave a thumbs up and hurried off to prepare.

They consider the assignments as private work, and the damaged trains will not be compensated at all.

Soldiers had to find a way to pay for their own bullets.

ten minutes later.

Tong Zizhan got another exoskeleton, adding to the five sets he had previously received as rewards, so each of the six people got one.

No other squad on the entire armed train was as luxurious as this.

This mission is a reconnaissance mission, and the difficulty is average. Tong Zizhan is mainly interested in this mission for two reasons.

First, it runs far.

This mission will start from Shun'an, head northeast to scout the situation in Qingchuan Province's capital, and then head north all the way to Hongyi City to check the situation of zombies and mutated beasts along the way, as well as the survival status of survivors, whether the railway tracks are intact, and whether any special situations have occurred.

Putting aside everything else, the straight-line distance from Shun'an to Hongyi is already over a hundred kilometers.

Second, the execution cycle is long.

It will take a full ten days, but in case of unforeseen circumstances, it can be extended to about fourteen days at most.

That's two weeks, enough time for them to do a lot of things.

The most important thing is to stay away from that scoundrel He Jie.

He had never been subjected to such a brutal beating during the training of Deep Blue data.

So as soon as this task was posted, I took the initiative to go and claim it from Hu Shuo.

In the morning, under a rare sunny sky, two SUVs headed towards Hongyi City.

……

three days later.

A tiered office building.

The train conductor propped his legs up on the solemn desk, squinting as he watched a movie, a cup of sweetened coffee steaming beside him.

The flight attendant, dressed in a black executive jacket over a gray shirt, stood respectfully to the side, holding a folder and bowing slightly, reading aloud the recent progress of various tasks.

"Snapped!"

Su Huan snapped his fingers, and the nonsense immediately stopped.

"Train conductor, is there a problem?"

"How much food have we harvested recently?"

"50,000 tons of staple grains, 3,000 tons of cooking oil, 100 tons of various instant noodles, and about 100 tons of other miscellaneous and non-staple foods. Most of the grain in Shun'an is stored in the base."

Su Huan nodded in satisfaction. "Let He Jie continue to loot, and then spread the word to keep the base's population around 15,000."

Hu hesitated for a moment, "There won't be any problems when the train conductor is here, but if the train goes north, there will be two-thirds more outsiders at the base, wouldn't that..."

Su Huan glanced at him. "That's Wan Hao's business. What does it have to do with me?"

He built up such a huge fortune; if he couldn't control it, it's because he's incompetent!
What does this have to do with armed trains?
Does he intend to personally guide Wan Hao in establishing systems, dismantling factions, and building a base?

(End of this chapter)