Armored train in the apocalypse

Chapter 233 I Want Your Protection
A 20-meter-long trawler sailed on the water, and amidst the sound of rain, a large number of blue crabs crashed onto the deck.

"Bang bang bang!"

The man fired several shots, flashes of light appearing briefly in the rain before quickly fading away.

Rainwater slid down the raincoat and into the gun barrel, the man pulling the slide with a click.

However, the stuck cartridge case just wouldn't pop out.

"Damn it! My head can't take it anymore!"

The blue crab adjusted its position, facing him sideways. It touched the deck with its claws, and its basin-sized body flew towards his face with an eerie lightness.

"boom!"

The man flung his pistol, smashing it against the crab's shell, shattering it into a pile of parts.

Through mutation, these crabs have developed much harder shells, each one as hard as a steel plate. Even 9mm bullets slip off them, and throwing a pistol at them only buys them a little time.

"waste."

Just as they were about to be submerged by the blue crabs, Zhang Min walked out of the cabin.

The blue crabs immediately lost their desire to attack and retreated sideways to the sides, as if welcoming their queen.

The man quickly stepped back, shook off the rain, and was about to speak when he felt the fishing boat beneath his feet suddenly shudder and almost capsize.

A huge black shadow flashed past the fishing boat and plunged into the water, creating terrifying waves.

"Boom!"

The surging waves crashed onto the deck and poured into the cabin.

The man steadied himself, his mind replaying the fleeting glimpse of the scaled armor he had just seen, his face turning deathly pale.

"It's a dragon! We can't escape!"

"It's just an evolved beast, you idiot!"

Zhang Min bit her nails and said irritably.

Walking at night, you're bound to encounter some random predators. These blue crabs are easy to deal with; her first-tier ability is almost overwhelming for these crabs that haven't reached the next tier.

It's not a big problem to shelter a small fishing boat.

However, this first-tier evolved beast is troublesome. Her ability can affect those of the same tier, but it is limited to arousing a certain existing emotion, unlike when facing lower-tier beasts, where she can forcibly strip away a certain negative emotion.

The underwater evolved beasts were enormous, and each time they swam, they created huge waves that crashed against the fishing boat with a thunderous roar.

'What would the train conductor do if he were here?'

'Throw your teammates down to feed the fish?'

'But that thing obviously can't be fed by just two people. I should have taken on more subordinates...'

Zhang Min's gaze unconsciously drifted to the porthole. The solitary Tieshan Refuge stood on the water like an isolated island.

The next instant, the lightning waterfall cascaded down from the top floor, spreading all the way to the water's surface, with arcs of eerie blue electricity dancing on the crests of the waves.

As if the heavens and earth were upside down, the dark water surface became dark clouds, while the clouds in the sky were deathly silent, with occasional rumbling sounds coming from within, but no lightning.

The jewel-like red eyes reflected this wondrous sight of heaven and earth.

Her red lips parted slightly, conveying a sense of inexplicable shock.

"Has the train conductor become this powerful...?"

"It makes you want to kneel down at his feet!"

"Oh!"

Another muffled thud came from beneath the fishing boat, and the cabin shook.

The helmsman said anxiously, "Boss, with this thing entangled with us, we'll sink before we reach the next settlement!"

Another man pressed hard against the cabin door, shouting, "Make up your mind quickly!"

"go back!"

Zhang Min said decisively.

Rather than die an unknown death at sea, she would rather go back and see Su Huan's indifferent and aloof face.

……

Tieshan Refuge.

Qi Zhendong kicked the blue crab, which staggered back several steps to regain its balance, but landed on the electric current by the window. It was instantly roasted to a crisp and its blue shell turned crimson at an alarming speed.

Its eight legs, along with its two pairs of large claws, flailing wildly, soon fell silent.

Unable to hold onto the ground any longer, it fell.

The sound of the shells hitting each other when they fell was like the crackling of a chef's spatula.

More crabs outside were cooked by the electric current, and they fell off layer by layer with a clattering sound.

Upon witnessing this scene, the Qi family members were so shocked that they were speechless.

"Is this... divine punishment?"

"It should be the ability of an evolved being."

"That's what the old man said."

Qi Zhendong asked instinctively, "Who's so strong?"

No one answered him; the Iron Mountain Refuge didn't have that capability, so the result was obvious.

"It must be Brother Su!" Xiao Dong said confidently.

Qi Zhendong looked at Qi Jianguo with a puzzled expression, "Brother, just how far has he evolved?"

The latter frowned. "I don't know. Zhenbang let them in. When I saw them, they seemed like ordinary people, even less capable than his elite soldiers."

Qi Zhendong looked back suspiciously, only to see a faint blue light, but he couldn't find its source.

A hint of suspicion appeared in his eyes, "Could it be one of his subordinates or something..."

Qi Jianguo immediately thought of the burly man who completely overwhelmed him in strength.

This was the first time he had seen such a ferocious figure since the apocalypse.

His pride and joy were like a child's compared to the other's strength. Judging from the other's expression, he didn't even use his full strength, yet he was already thrown around in a daze. If it weren't for the need to capture him alive, he suspected that Liang Kuan could have killed him in a single exchange.

"That's also possible; the other side has many experts."

Qi Jianguo looked at the lightning, a deep sense of dread flashing in his eyes.

Qi Zhendong moved closer to his father and asked in a low voice, "Dad, how can you be sure they'll make a move?"

The old man opened the shotgun, ejected the spent cartridge, and said silently, "I'm not sure. The only thing I'm sure of from beginning to end is that I can't convince him."

"Then he..."

"Because Brother Su is a good person!"

Xiao Dong said firmly, his eyes reflecting a blue arc of light, his whole body trembling with excitement.

Qi Jianguo touched the cracked scales on his body and fell silent.

The next instant, an arc of light seemed to have lost its way and struck Qi Jianguo directly, instantly paralyzing his entire body.

"What's going on with this lightning? Does it not distinguish between friend and foe?!"

On the rooftop, the third brother was clutching his clothes, wincing in pain.

"Commander, I was wrong. I shouldn't have killed people indiscriminately. Please give me a chance to make amends..."

Su Huan waved his hand with a dark expression.

With a loud slap, the third brother jumped three meters high.

"Shut up, stay away from me, I'm starting to lose control."

The third brother scrambled and stumbled for more than ten meters, then shouted to Su Huan, who was standing on the edge of the rooftop, from a distance, "Was that the same thing?"

Su Huan gazed at the rolling thunder pool and said calmly, "Except for that one."

"Thunder Pool" is an ability he developed based on "Static Swamp," which changes the output mode of the static swamp plane and allows lightning to spread from itself as the center.

Create two lightning zones above your head and below your feet, and the lightning at both ends will attract each other and collide, resulting in a multiplied effect.

Even if it doesn't collide, it will still attack targets within the area during the flow of current.

Not to mention, this kind of torrential rain and flood is practically his home turf.

Su Huan sat down on a steel beam that extended beyond the building, overlooking the blue crab tide.

He hardly needed to worry about the blue crabs that emerged from the water; the moisture on their bodies naturally attracted electric currents. He only needed to maintain the current intensity and control it so that it didn't strike anyone.

The former is easy.

The "circulating vortex" turns his body into a small self-circulating generator, constantly absorbing the energy floating in the surrounding air.

The rate of consumption barely exceeds the rate of replenishment.

With the enormous energy stored in his heart, he has no fear of depletion.

Therefore, controlling these energies has become a troublesome matter.

His evolution speed has been too fast recently. His main profession's "Pan-Energy Conversion" has reached level 7, and the energy in his body has long exceeded the limit he could control in his previous life.

It's like a power plant. If it operates at 1% efficiency every day, it's naturally easy and pleasant. But if it suddenly goes up to 100% efficiency, the workers are not used to it at all, which leads to chaos and confusion.

That's his current situation.

If we visualize his various data, the area of ​​precise control is already highlighted in red.

However, with his full force, the crab tide was forcefully contained below the tenth floor.

Lin Jin wasn't idle either. Although he couldn't cover such a large area like Su Huan, he could still take care of the building under his feet.

So the people upstairs witnessed a spectacular sight of heavenly fire.

A bolt of lightning struck the highest-climbing crab, instantly amplified by the water flow, and a cold blue arc of electricity was simultaneously revealed in the crevices of the crab mountain clinging to the outside of the building.

Then a fire dragon crashed down from above.

With a deafening roar, Crab Mountain collapsed and fell into the water.

The two worked together in perfect harmony, with almost no gaps between them. All the onlookers could do was watch as lightning flashed and fire burst forth.

Like thunder and fire erupting simultaneously.

The people in the shelter watched in terror as the thunder and fireworks so close at hand.

The soldiers got used to it and relaxed briefly while holding their guns.

Yu Yue quickly emerged from the stairwell, and Lin Jin and the others who were standing guard greeted her.

"Sister Yue"

Major Yu

"Ah."

Yu Yue responded and ran towards Su Huan.

Her running posture was strange; she leaned forward, her arms barely swung, and with a light touch of her taut toes, she had already darted several meters ahead.

It was more like jumping than running.

"Just stand there, being too close to the front will distract me."

Su Huan said calmly.

Yu Yue's almond-shaped eyes widened slightly. She glanced at Shu Wei beside her, then took another step forward before stopping.

"Most of the artillery downstairs has already been loaded onto the train, except for one. The ammunition boxes haven't been moved yet, so I had the soldiers carry them upstairs. Currently, the tenth floor and below are all those crabs."

This was exactly what he expected. Even if Tieshan Refuge had acquired a few boats, the chaos of war at the time likely prevented them from transporting too much heavy military equipment.

It would be good enough if they could bring up some small artillery pieces.

Although it's not very useful, it's better than nothing.

Modern trains are severely lacking in this kind of heavy firepower.

Have you figured out how these crabs got out?

Looking down at the armed train surrounded by crabs, Su Huan asked with some doubt.

"According to the biological experts on the bus, these crabs probably have no natural predators in Jingchao Lake, and their large-scale reproduction has led to a population explosion. They then migrate to reduce the pressure on their population."

When can I get a refund?

"Hard to say……"

Su Huan frowned. "Am I supposed to sit here in the rain and roast crabs all night?"

Yu Yue bit her lower lip. "Originally, the crabs were just passing by the Tieshan Refuge, but too many corpses were thrown down from upstairs, and the smell of blood triggered a crab swarm. Now, crabs from within a ten-kilometer radius have gathered here."

Su Huan glanced at the third brother, who was hiding under the eaves talking to the soldiers.

The latter suddenly shrank his neck, looked around suspiciously, thought it was his imagination, touched his head, and continued to point at the lightning in the sky and brag to the unfamiliar soldiers around him.

"You were just lucky back then. If the train conductor had been promoted to the second rank, with your little tricks, a single lightning bolt would have wrecked you and the train!"

The soldiers in the combat team looked at the sky, nodded one by one with lingering fear, and dared not utter a sound.

They were terrified that a bolt of lightning might strike them.

Su Huan gritted his teeth and said after a long while, "Get Qi Tieshan and the others moving! Tell them that from today onwards, he, his son, his grandson, and even that brat Xiao Dong, all of them are going to work like hell!"

"I want to see just how solid Guan Chong's Iron Mountain really is!"

"Oh."

Yu Yue nodded briefly, then quickly changed it to "Yes".

Her eyebrows curved, and her almond-shaped eyes held a hint of a smile.

She naturally heard Su Huan gritting his teeth. In her opinion, Su Huan was just being childish. He clearly wanted to protect the Iron Mountain Refuge, but he still had to find an excuse.

Shu Wei couldn't hear many sounds and was puzzled that Yu Yue could find enjoyment in such a simple conversation.

Am I just too slow to notice?

Shu Wei silently reflected as she looked at Yu Yue's round and graceful figure.

However, she admired Yu Yue from the bottom of her heart; she could withstand Su Huan's bizarre behavior for so many days without changing her expression.

She's so engrossed in the sound of thunder that she can hardly move.

My legs felt numb and my whole body felt weak.

"Anything else?"

Yu Yue asked.

"Catch a few more crabs, I want to eat them for breakfast."

Su Huan's soft voice drifted from the rain.

"Ok."

Yu Yue happily agreed, turned to look at Shu Wei, and said softly, "Then I'll trouble you to look after him for me."

Shu Wei's lips twitched, but she still lowered her head and said, "It's my duty, you're too kind."

Watching the woman leave, Shu Wei carefully savored the conversation they had just had.

A bold idea popped into my head.

Yu Yue was jealous.

But she immediately extinguished it herself.

Based on what she had learned during this period, Yu Yue had also been abducted onto the train by the conductor using force.

How could anyone like someone who bullies them?
It's still the same one...

Shu Wei's gaze fell on Su Huan's back.

His long black hair was torn wildly by the wind and rain, and lightning poured down from his body, like Zeus sitting high on Mount Olympus overlooking his divine kingdom.

How could anyone like such a tyrant?

They must have submitted to his forcefulness, just like I have.

The arrival of Hu Shuo broke her reverie. The other person nodded at her and then called out in Su Huan's direction.

"Train conductor, a woman named Zhang Min downstairs wants to see you."

Upon hearing this, Shu Wei immediately thought of that pretentious young girl, and a faint sense of vigilance inexplicably rose in her heart.

"What is she going to do?"

Su Huan asked suspiciously.

"She wants your protection."

(End of this chapter)