Armored train in the apocalypse

Chapter 198 Pears
In this scene, no one in the crowd was more moved than Miao Qi.

I don't know when, but the three characters "surname Su" and the oldest group of passengers have completely disappeared from the train.

Most of this batch was recently acquired by the Steel Council headquarters and Shunan.

She was already the oldest passenger on the bus, one day older than Yu Yue and her daughter.

It only took about two months.

But it felt like two years had passed, and everything had changed dramatically. They crossed the Mojiang River, escaped the high-temperature zone, and arrived at the northernmost part of the acid rain zone.

Battle after battle, personnel changes after personnel changes, expansions and restructuring after restructuring...

Su Huan's fame and power have seeped into the depths of the armed train like flowing water, into every part, and into the heart of every person.

Even the most arrogant person harbors a deep fear of the word "train conductor".

Even the ambitious man beside her, who wanted to replace Su Huan, unknowingly became a fan of the train conductor.

Why did I want to kill him back then?
Was it her ex-husband or someone else who led her to her current predicament?
It's funny to say that.

She can't even remember what her ex-husband looks like.

Even Gao Zhe and his group became a symbol in her memory.

It exists, yet remains vague and unclear.

The only difference was that the man in front of her was no different from before, not in appearance, but in temperament.

Due to evolution, everyone is vastly different from their original selves, and their temperament has changed dramatically.

Only Su Huan.

His demeanor was surprisingly unchanged since the beginning of the apocalypse.

However, that feeling of being out of place in the world has diminished considerably.

More accurately, everyone on the train resembled him.

The wind and rain blew, and the raindrops splashing on the skin stung slightly, but the soldiers, trained by He Jie's grueling methods, paid no attention to this level of pain.

However, everyone was puzzled as to why the train conductor was not speaking.
Su Huan stared blankly at the soldiers in front of him.

There is a battle between heaven and man in my heart.

What would be the most appropriate first sentence to say in this situation?
Welcome to the reserve forces!

It's too ordinary. This is the first day that the armed corps was officially established. It's destined to be recorded in the train conductor's log.

How could you use such a mundane sentence?
Su Huan rubbed his fingertips together in a conflicted manner.

"Have you all worked hard?"

That's not appropriate either. It's only right that they work hard. If they don't work hard, then I'm the one who has to work hard.

Oh well, I wrote the log myself anyway, so I can just change one sentence tonight.

The past is lost, so whoever writes the future history gets to decide.

Say something sophisticated and give a little encouragement, and that will be enough.

So, on this gloomy and turbulent day, on a train speeding at 120 km/h.

Su Huan gave what he thought was his warmest smile and said, "The weather is nice today."

The wild, cold rain slapped haphazardly against her face. Yu Yue felt her lips twitch involuntarily. Her delicate eyebrows lowered, and she awkwardly relayed her words to everyone.

The team fell even more silent.

Only the howling wind and rain could be heard.

The soldiers were well-trained, which pleased Su Huan, who continued.

"There are two main things to discuss today. One has already been mentioned, and the rest concerns our next goals."

"In one hour, we will arrive at Wangjiang Peak in Guangren City. In the city, you will face more zombies and a small number of mutated beasts, mostly common ones like bloodhounds and clawed cats. But on the mountain, your main enemies will be mutated beasts and mutated plants."

"But similarly, the more enemies you have, the more merit you'll gain. The armed forces are still in their infancy, and many positions are vacant, reserved for you. Remember that guy who wanted to surpass He Jie..."

Su Huan's gaze swept across the crowd and landed on the meerkat's face.

The latter straightened his back, raised his head, and shouted, "Yes!"

"Your spirits are quite good, but—" Su Huan smiled, a hint of frost in his narrow eyes, as he swept his gaze across the crowd, "There will be many opportunities on the train. Don't keep an eye on your superiors, and don't have any ulterior motives during the battle."

"Shooting in the back, stealing credit, failing to provide adequate support, shifting blame eastward..."

Su Huan named more than a dozen kinds.

These were all methods he used in his previous life, but he didn't want them to happen in the newly formed armed corps.

"So let me remind you here that I never rely on evidence when making judgments."

A surge of omnipotent energy erupted from Su Huan's body, dominating the space on the deck without any transformation.

As the rain and wind slowed down, everyone looked horrified.

Besides using the Pan-Energy Crystal, Evolvers mainly rely on absorbing Pan-Energy from the air, so they can naturally sense the sudden surge in Pan-Energy concentration in the air.

The feeling was like falling into a deep pool; all the psychic energy drawn from the body was just a handful of clear water in that pool.

The train conductor before them was like a cascading waterfall, his abundant energy flooding everyone like a pool of water.

Lin Jin slightly opened his eyes. Under this concentration of universal energy, he felt that he could extend the time he could manipulate the flames by 30%.

As for ordinary soldiers, they have completely lost the desire to make comparisons.

When you have a tank of water, people might compare them, but yours is just a pool of water, so what's the point of comparing them?

This was the first time the soldiers had a direct experience of the train conductor's power.

"Clap!"

Su Huan clapped his hands. "That's all for today. You can go and prepare now."

As if waking from a dream, the group entered the train.

He Jie gave Qu Hang and the others a look, signaling them to go down, leaving only him and Su Huan upstairs.

Su Huan looked at the towering mountains in the distance. The mountains, which had been rather plain before the apocalypse, had become lush and green because the mutated plants looked a whole size larger.

"Later, bring Professor Ma's improved communication equipment and then go up the mountain to find a crown pear tree."

"Pear tree?" He Jie was taken aback.

He had only just learned about the specific tasks.

Why go through all this trouble to find a pear tree?
“It’s a crown pear tree,” Su Huan corrected earnestly.

He Jie scratched his head. "This mountain is so big, which one exactly is it?"

"I don't know, but it should be the biggest one, probably over twenty meters tall now..."

Su Huan himself was also somewhat uncertain.

In his previous life, he only glanced at it from afar. The giant tree, hundreds of meters tall, was very eye-catching, but that was four years after the apocalypse. Now it's March after the apocalypse, and he has no idea what that crown pear tree looks like.

He Jie clicked his tongue. "What if we can't find it?"

Su Huan raised an eyebrow, a faint bloodshot appearing in one of his dark eyes, and said in a gentle tone, "We will definitely find it."

He Jie could tell that Su Huan's attitude towards this matter was even more serious than when facing the great battle with the Steel Council.

My heart skipped a beat, but I didn't ask why they were looking for that pear tree.

He simply lit a cigarette, shielding himself from the wind and rain, and only after finishing it did he say, "You're the train conductor, you're in charge!"

……

Half an hour later, the train abandoned the tracks and switched to running on a crawler.

After all, Wangjiang Peak is a scenic area, and there is no direct railway line. Half an hour later, the armed train finally arrived at the foot of the mountain. The original traces of human activity were completely buried under layers of scarlet vines, and the scenic facilities built around Wangjiang Peak were eroded much more severely than the buildings in the city.

Most of them collapsed and buried, like mounds of human civilization.

The boundary stone at the entrance of the scenic area, which bears the three large characters "Wangjiang Peak," is submerged by a type of blue-purple wildflower; this is the deepest point the armed train can travel.

Further in, although there are still remnants of cement road, it has a slope that the train cannot climb.

Even if you climb in, it's no use. Wangjiang Peak is steep, with only man-made stone steps. Even if the train enters the scenic area, it can only stop at the foot of the mountain.

The armed corps, led by He Jie, has already set off up the mountain.

Xiao Ba stayed behind, while Lin Jin followed him up the mountain.

After all, there was no room for Xiao Ba to perform on the mountain.

As soon as he landed, He Jie unleashed his highly aggressive fighting style, shooting out more than a dozen flames and clearing a path up the mountain amidst the twisting and howling of vines.

Watching the corps members disappear into the mountains, Su Huan turned around and returned to the car.

He could hardly contain his speed of advancement.

Because of the "circulating vortex," the omnipotent energy flows within the body, not only growing stronger but also slowly attracting surrounding energy.

It is constantly replenishing the "energy storage core" in his body, expanding its reserves.

His previous test train quickly depleted its energy, and today's release of omnipotent energy to intimidate soldiers both aimed to curb energy growth.

Currently, with its evolution speed suppressed, it is at the peak of the first tier and can still live for about a year.

He had a premonition that if he allowed himself to advance to the second tier, the even stronger power would devour his life force even faster.

They might not be able to survive for three months.

The armed train stopped, but that doesn't mean the people on board can stop.

While the armed forces were fighting on the mountain, the crews below were also working overtime.

While Su Huan was handling train affairs in the carriage, he heard gunshots and animal roars from the mountain.

The noise continued until nightfall.

He Jie and the others did not return.

Fat Rabbit carried back a box of pears, which fell to the ground, and the acid rain soaked the carpet in carriage number 1.

Where is He Jie?

Su Huan sensed that things weren't that simple, so he stepped forward and opened the box.

One by one, bright yellow pears appeared before his eyes, radiating strong energy fluctuations.

but……

The effect was much weaker than he had imagined!
Fat Rabbit took a breath and said, "Colonel He is still on the mountain. He said he couldn't find the target and asked me to bring these back to see if it's true."

Su Huan picked up the pear, examined it for a moment, and then took a bite.

The sweet juice bursts in your mouth.

The pear tasted even sweeter than it did before the apocalypse. Most importantly, a faint energy rolled down my throat, flowed into my stomach, and gradually spread throughout my body, to the point that even my general energy perception couldn't detect it.

Su Huan's expression changed, and he picked up another pear and started eating it.

I ate a whole box of pears before I felt a slight boost in my vitality.

"any left?"

Su Huan's eyes gleamed with a sharp light.

Fat Rabbit subconsciously swallowed a mouthful of saliva. The pear looked too tempting, and the way the train conductor was wolfing it down made it clear that it was something good.

"Yes, there are many pear trees up there, but these things are difficult to pick. There are many mutated beasts and mutated plants around, and I was afraid of damaging the pear trees, so it took me a long time to get this box."

Su Huan calmed himself down, looked at the darkening sky outside, and said thoughtfully, "Make one more box and then bring it back. We'll continue tomorrow!"

"Yes!"

That evening, He Jie brought back two more boxes of pears to finish the trip.

Except for a small portion given to Director Xu and Wan Xing for experiments, the rest was swallowed by Su Huan.

The following morning, a misty rain fell, and thick fog enveloped the entire Wangjiang Peak.

Before the acid rain became too heavy, He Jie led the team up the mountain again.

Having learned from yesterday's experience, we brought down three boxes of pears at noon today, and even dug up two pear trees.

The pear tree is not very tall, only about six meters high, with a crown diameter of four meters, about the same size as the traditional Qiuzi pear.

Su Huan knew after one glance that it wasn't the crown pear tree he had been looking for.

It was handed directly to Huang Hai, who was overjoyed.

Actually, Su Huan wasn't sure if what he was looking for was the Crown Pear Tree. In his previous life, the plan was called the "Crown Pear Project," and it grew to be over a hundred meters tall. Even if it was a Crown Pear Tree, he wouldn't recognize it now.

In the afternoon, He Jie sent a message.

They searched the entire Wangjiang Peak area but couldn't find any unusually tall pear trees.

There weren't even any fruits that were particularly special.

The atmosphere inside the food truck suddenly became tense, and Yu Yue, who was busy cooking, quietly quieted down the sounds around her.

Standing behind Su Huan, Hu Shuo, holding the documents, fell silent, bowing slightly, his expression increasingly respectful.

Su Huan tapped the document in his hand lightly with his index finger. It contained data on the operation of the armed train during this period, which had been analyzed by the factory director and experts such as Deputy General Manager Deng before being handed over to him.

"Let's make improvements based on their predictions. As for... let He Jie and the others come back first."

"clear."

He replied respectfully, "Nonsense."

Soon, He Jie on the mountain received the train conductor's order to gather his men and begin heading down the mountain.

It's just like the old saying goes, the way down the mountain feels much harder than the way up.

A storm is brewing, and I always feel a heavy weight in my heart.

……

All the high-ranking officers gathered in the dining car; in addition to the armed corps, even the chief purser of the flight crew came over.

Su Huan openly and frankly told everyone about the existence of the Crown Pear, especially its ability to replenish life force, which he emphasized.

After two days of searching, everyone vaguely guessed Su Huan's purpose.

Upon hearing this information, Director Xu reacted the most, muttering, "Vitality..."

Professor Ma looked at Director Xu and asked, "What's wrong?"

Director Xu looked up, his expression one of sudden realization and excitement, "I finally understand where the difficulty of evolution lies!"

Upon hearing this, everyone looked at the meticulously dressed old man.

Director Xu sorted out his thoughts and said, "We tried to use a large amount of universal energy crystals to accumulate high-level evolved individuals, and at the same time, we also consumed a large amount of basic potions to enhance that person's basic attributes, but in the end, he still died. It wasn't a genetic collapse, but a death without any warning!"

Su Huan's eyes flickered.

He had considered this issue before. In the early stages, powerful forces had guns and cannons, so they could acquire a large amount of universal energy crystals and then use them to create a high-level evolved being.

In reality, even among major powers, the number of high-level evolved individuals is still very small.

(4k, kept my promise)

(End of this chapter)