Armored train in the apocalypse

Chapter 188 Second-Order Giant Bear
What's the point of having Wan Hao as the station manager then?

Although Shun'an Station was nominally under the direct control of the armed train, Su Huan did not intend to worry too much about its subsequent construction.

What Shunan Station will look like is up to Wan Hao and the people of Shunan.

People can't see into each other's hearts, let alone armed trains that may be hundreds or thousands of kilometers away from the platform in the future.

It's ridiculous to rely on loyalty and friendship to maintain a relationship.

Moreover, this is 2035, and people nowadays don't even have the concept of loyalty.

However, as long as the armed trains bring benefits to Shunan Station, Shunan Station will continue to provide convenience for the armed trains.

For example, Wan Hao previously promised things like skilled workers and custom-made parts.

This is the reasonable way to maintain it.

This is also something Su Huan recently learned from the reform.

However, this method cannot be a matter of power against power; it must be applied to specific individuals.

With this person, the connection point will not be broken.

Hu Shuo nodded. "Understood. This news will be spread tonight. By the way, conductor, the Ironwood Postman recently wanted to have in-depth cooperation with us."

"The Ironwood Postman?"

A flash of electricity appeared at Su Huan's fingertip, and the movie in front of him paused.

"This is news that Lieutenant Lu Xiao just brought back. It's about the young man who used to trade with us. He led a group of people who have mastered the method of manipulating the Iron-Eating Tree. They are accumulating resources through bartering and have now formed a new force known as the Iron-Eating Tree Postmen."

Su Huan chuckled, not expecting that his arrival would accelerate the formation of the Shun'an black market.

"Could we lend them a hand? Has anything interesting happened in Shun'an recently?"

"Because we cleared out a lot of zombies, the atmosphere in Shun'an has become much more relaxed, and there are more survivors active, with some small factions and gathering places emerging."

"That's fine, ignore it. If they have what we need, we can just trade normally."

Su Huan said calmly.

Hu Shuo frowned. "But there is one force that is very rampant. It is that group of outsiders. They have now gathered more than a thousand people, with two hundred core members. They are ruthless. Those smaller forces were created to counter them."

fierce?

Those forces that rely on ruthlessness to maintain their position are no longer of interest to the train conductor.

"Never mind that. By the way, how long have Tong Zizhan and the other two been gone?"

"It's been three days already, I guess we've reached the provincial capital."

He replied nonsensically.

Su Huan licked his teeth; this task was assigned to the two of them.

Guangren City is located north of Hongyi City.

What's going on with two top-tier spies, dignified first-tier evolved beings, just holed up in the base every day?

Su Huan was not worried about them escaping.

He knew the rules of Deep Blue's data collectors better than Tong Zizhan. If there was no valuable information, the two of them would have to go undercover, and they didn't know what dangers they would face.

The armed trains now only operate in acid rain zones, which is quite peaceful for them.

Compared to the scorching heat zone, the acid rain zone is practically perfect for survivors.

If Su Huan hadn't known that the acid rain zone was right next to the flood zone, he would have doubted whether this was how natural disasters were going to happen.

"What has Xiao Ba changed recently?"

Hu Shuo quickly flipped through the folder in his hand, glanced at the list, and then handed it to Su Huan.

"Most of them are snacks, toys, and children's products."

Su Huan looked at the list and sighed inwardly.

Despite his own influence, Hachi still ended up as an orphanage director.

As for whether war orphans would pose a threat to him.

The train conductor didn't consider it at all.

“He has no experience, so you and Wanxing can help him out as needed.”

"Okay, I'll keep an eye on it."

Hu Shuo showed a relaxed smile.

Su Huan downed his coffee in one gulp. "Professor Ma's communication device should be ready today, right?"

"To be precise, we already had results the day before yesterday. To be on the safe side, we are verifying them these past two days. If there are no problems, we can try to produce a batch and have Colonel He take it out for actual combat testing."

"Let's talk as we walk." Su Huan stood up and walked out of the office. "After all this time, the communication device is finally finished."

Hu Shuo lagged behind by half a step and laughed, "After using paper and pen for a month, I've almost forgotten what it feels like to use a mobile phone."

The two went down to the second floor.

Professor Ma's laboratory is located here; the entire second floor of the building is his.

The space is more than a hundred times larger than that on a train.

Upon entering, the previously cluttered equipment suddenly became neat and orderly, and even the hard drive cabinets that looked like a jungle became simple and aesthetically pleasing.

A dozen students and the experts introduced during this period stood in the hall, surrounding a spherical device that had been mostly disassembled.

It was the all-encompassing energy monitoring device that they had casually brought back from the Steel Council.

Professor Ma's research failed again recently, so he applied to dismantle the all-encompassing energy monitoring instrument.

Director Xu was not entirely convinced, but Su Huan eventually agreed.

Professor Ma did not disappoint him and actually produced results for him.

Hearing footsteps, everyone turned around and greeted Su Huan.

Su Huan nodded in response to a few familiar faces.

For example, a small box.

"Lin Jin hasn't come to see you these past few days?"

Little Box pouted, a hint of resentment in his voice, "He went to keep Colonel He company."

Su Huan laughed and said, "I'll have He Jie's wife call him home tonight."

Seeing that Su Huan was in a good mood, everyone chuckled and cheered him on.

Professor Ma and Xiao Zhao also pushed out his newly developed communication device.

Looking at the two small carts, each about the size of a food truck, Su Huan couldn't help but scratch his head, suppressing his urge to complain.

You should know that the train conductor's mouth never discriminates between young and old.

The nickname Lin Xi gave him, "Mischievous Ghost," became widely known at the base.

It is evident that his political activities during this period have significantly diminished the resentment he carried from his previous life of struggle for survival.

Professor Ma naturally noticed the doubt on Su Huan's face and explained, "This is just an enlarged experimental version. All the components have been enlarged, mainly for easier adjustment. If it were put into production, it would be much smaller than this. After a few iterations, it could be restored to the size of a normal communication device."

"I see."

Su Huan breathed a sigh of relief.

But he accepted it even if he was a bit bigger.

After working so hard for so long, he finally has a technology that is ahead of his former employer from his previous life.

The Steel Council never invested any technology points in communications in its previous life.

He suspected it was related to Director Xu. This guy was completely devoted to evolutionary research and wouldn't let anyone dismantle the universal energy detector. It would be a miracle if the communication device could even be developed.

Su Huan looked at the device that Professor Ma had pushed out.

The outer frame appears to be made of titanium alloy, and inside the spherical frame are embedded pieces of black... gemstones? Obsidian?
Perhaps to better showcase the internal structure, the other half is cut open.

In the center is a rhomboid polyhedron made of soft glass, inlaid with various sizes of polycrystalline materials, which slowly rotates in an anti-gravity field.

"I discovered a certain resonance on the universal energy detector, and then I changed my approach and used the universal energy resonance to make modifications. For example, the three thin metal rings around the rhombus you see are new materials extracted by the manufacturing team from ironwood. After being combined with a large amount of rare metals and zombie materials, these resonance rings were formed. According to my estimate, one resonance ring can achieve communication within a range of one kilometer."

Professor Ma's voice remained polite and articulate, but the faint excitement in his eyes was hard to conceal.

"So, these three rings can achieve communication within a three-kilometer range?"

Su Huan covered the device with interest using his "Universal Energy Perception." However, he only sensed the fluctuations of the universal energy crystal itself and asked in confusion, "Is it not activated?"

"Xiao Zhao, take the other one outside," Professor Ma said.

Xiao Zhao pushed the part in her hand and walked outside.

Professor Ma estimated that the time was about right and activated the device in his hand.

"what?"

Su Huan finally sensed something was different.

The energy spreads outwards from the equipment in layers, like a pebble thrown into water, causing ripples on the surface.

Professor Ma, holding one of the extensions from the device, called out, "Xiao Zhao, can you hear me?"

Everyone looked on with anticipation.

The rhombus inside the sphere undulated slightly.

Xiao Zhao's clear voice came from inside.

"Received, teacher. I'm downstairs. You should be able to see me from upstairs. I'm planning to go a little further."

The sound was clear and stable, without the loss of sound quality from electronic devices; it was as if he himself was standing next to Professor Ma.

Su Huan changed his angle, but the sound did not diminish at all.

This device is like a replica of Xiao Zhao's voice, playing it outwards from the sphere like an all-around loudspeaker.

The effect is similar to Yu Yue's "shared sound field".

"good."

Su Huan affirmed Professor Ma's research.

A cheer erupted in the room. Although Professor Ma wouldn't lose his composure because of a word of affirmation, he was genuinely relieved.

Suddenly, a rumbling sound came from inside the sphere, and the sounds in the room came to an abrupt halt.

Everyone looked at each other.

"I think I heard two vibrations at the same time!"

After finishing speaking, Little Box walked to the window.

Su Huan frowned, and as he walked towards the window, he called out softly, "Yu Yue, what's happening outside?"

Yu Yue's gentle voice and the sound of frying in an iron wok appeared in his ears at the same time.

"Three kilometers away from the base, a mutated beast is chasing several humans toward the base. I'm sharing the situation with you."

Soon, the sound in my ears changed.

Su Huan heard heavy footsteps and the breathing of several men.

"Run! It's terrifying!"

"We shouldn't have provoked that bear in the first place!"

"Run towards the high-speed train depot ahead. There are many people there, and there's also a group of outsiders called the Armed Train."

"Can they hold them off...?"

"What the hell is this to me? I'm fucking dead!"

Su Huan remained calm. This was just another little trick of shifting blame; he had used it quite often when he was weak.

He continued listening, and a terrifying scream nearly shattered his eardrums.

Through the feedback from various sounds, a vivid scene immediately formed in Su Huan's mind.

A five-meter-tall giant bear ran wildly between skyscrapers, chasing three figures ahead. Wherever it passed, the ground cracked, buildings collapsed, and steel and concrete flew everywhere.

Second-tier mutated beast, giant bear.

Where is He Jie?

Su Huan asked.

"He led the team out this morning. Currently, only the combat team and my team are in the base, and Xiao Ba is also there."

"You lead the team and organize a combat group to intercept them."

"Ok."

Yu Yue answered directly.

Su Huan turned around, and everyone looked at him anxiously, not knowing what had happened.

His narrow eyes narrowed gently into lines, and the corners of his mouth turned up. "Someone has come to help us verify the equipment. Have Xiao Zhao put the other one at the vehicle manufacturing center. Hu Shuo, you stay here and direct the logistics team to enter combat readiness. The rest of you... well, just do what you're supposed to do."

Then he opened the window and jumped out.

By the time everyone realized what was happening, all they saw was an empty window.

Warm sunlight streamed in, and the white gauze curtains swayed in the breeze.

The little box's murmuring voice echoed in everyone's ears.

"The train conductor is so handsome..."

Professor Ma's eyelids twitched involuntarily when he heard the student's infatuated comment.

When this girl first arrived, she kept saying, "Senior Xiao Zhao is so handsome!"

The old man mistakenly thought the two young people were interested in each other and even tried to match them up for a while.

Later, it was discovered that the girl didn't have any romantic feelings at all; she was just a complete fangirl.

It's a waste of that old man's feelings.

"Don't just stand there, go check the surveillance footage and the drone." Professor Ma cleared his throat, then stepped aside and turned to Hu, saying, "The rest is up to Chief Flight Attendant Hu."

"You're joking. There's no trouble at all in the task assigned by the train conductor."

……

A sharp alarm sounded within the base, and trucks and cars carrying supplies rushed into the underground garage. Armored vehicles that had been slowly cruising around the yard lined up end to end, forming a second line of defense on the open ground.

Following the rehearsal, the workers quickly took cover in nearby defensive structures.

Su Huan's figure flickered like a ghost within the base, and in no time he had rushed up the eight-meter-high concrete wall.

Standing on the edge and looking into the distance, the giant bear, as big as a small mountain, had already entered within a kilometer of the base.

Of the three who were running ahead, only one remained, half of his body stained red with blood.

Su Huan sneered, "He has no strength but tries to shift the blame."

idiot.

He caught a whiff of relaxing sunshine nearby and said calmly, "Shoot him."

Yu Yue, who had just appeared, gave a soft "hmm," raised Su Huan's electromagnetic sniper rifle, and after 1.2 seconds of charging, the bullet was accelerated to Mach 5 by a superconducting trajectory and shot out of the muzzle.

The giant bear, chasing its prey, stood upright, its fur standing on end.

It roared deafeningly toward the base.

"Roar--"

Almost the instant the roar burst from its throat, a gap the size of a bowl appeared in its thick fur, and blood gushed out like a high-pressure fountain.

The intimidating howls turned into screams of agony.

"This skin is really thick..."

Su Huan's eyes showed admiration.

He saw it clearly: Yu Yue had originally aimed at the bear's head, but because she stood up, she hit its stomach instead.

A bullet capable of penetrating a 150mm homogeneous steel plate leaves only a scar the size of a bowl.

None of them penetrated.

Compared to the bear's mountain-like figure, the scar the size of a bowl looks like a hole poked in a person.

It hurts, but it's not fatal.

(End of this chapter)