Armored train in the apocalypse

Chapter 256 Everyone Has to Work

A row of people knelt on the muddy, damp ground, each with an armed soldier behind them.

There was no wailing or begging for mercy as I had imagined.

The vast majority of people were simply pulled over and knelt down on their own, trembling all over, unable to get up or even stand up.

They also lacked the strong belief to support them in standing tall before death.

He Jie patted his pocket, pulled out a shrunken cigarette case, and his gaze naturally fell on the third brother in front of him, who also took out a cigarette at the same time and already had one in his mouth.

Seeing this, the third brother paused for a moment, then smiled wryly and slapped most of his pack of cigarettes into He Jie's hand.

The latter lit it up beautifully and shouted, "Fire!"

A barrage of gunfire erupted simultaneously, and the kneeling man fell to the ground.

But there was one kneeling on the ground, completely unharmed.

He Jie looked over and met the calm, beastly eyes of the mongoose. He was so angry that he laughed, sucking the cigarette in his mouth until only the butt remained. He pulled out a stun gun from his waist and strode over. "Why didn't you shoot? You think you're special just because you've been promoted to private? Weren't you satisfied with killing more than forty people before? Now you're acting all coy?"

The meerkat replied neither humbly nor arrogantly, "That's different. You didn't announce their crimes; this is killing them without warning."

"Execute without warning?" He Jie seemed to have heard a joke, and after taking two steps forward, he delivered a flying kick.

"Boom..."

The meerkat crashed into a pile of logs, which rolled to the ground.

This made many soldiers' hearts skip a beat.

Landing wasn't a chance to catch your breath; it was the start of a new storm. He Jie's stun baton flashed, striking the mongooses with a crackling sound, accompanied by an angry roar: "Your mission is to obey orders! I tell you to fire, you fire! I tell you to charge, you charge! Even if I tell you to fill a trench, you fucking jump in instead of standing there asking me why!"

The dull thuds sounded like rain pattering on banana leaves, and the meerkats huddled together, enduring the beatings and scoldings.

Realizing that He Jie was truly angry, even the third brother, who had initially just wanted to watch the show, couldn't stand still any longer.

He immediately stepped forward and whispered, "None of these people committed minor offenses. The one you're ordering to execute conspired with several others to kill a woman and brought her daughter over just to get a bigger share of the supplies. Killing them all isn't excessive..."

The huddled meerkats raised their heads, blood gushing from their mouths and noses, their round, beastly eyes somewhat unfocused. "They certainly deserved to die."

He Jie was so angry that he unleashed another torrent of abuse.

Fortunately, no one took action this time.

The third brother, listening nearby, twitched at the corner of his mouth; he felt as if he were being insulted.

The dispute between the meerkat and the old man has come to a conclusion.

The train conductor didn't give any instructions, but that was enough to show his attitude.

No one brought up Old Wu's matter anymore.

The combat team was in high spirits, and they walked with their chests out whenever they saw the armed troops.

It's obvious to everyone that He Jie has been "taking care" of the meerkats. In a way, the meerkats are his apprentices. Now that they've lost so much face, He Jie has been wearing a tense expression for the past few days, like a live volcano about to erupt.

After all 500 soldiers had executed one person, the remaining 200-odd minor offenders were taken back by the combat team.

The body was buried on the spot.

A small number of soldiers had seen blood, and under their influence, the rest were gradually assimilated.

There were no signs of vomiting or weakness in the legs due to the tension after committing the murder.

He Jie pointed to a pile of logs behind him and said, "These will be your teammates for the next seven days. You have three minutes to change!"

Watching the soldiers scatter and the meerkats stagger away, He Jie sat on the log and sighed softly.

The goat approached with a hint of doubt and asked, "They are, after all, evolved beings. Is it appropriate to use the old training methods?"

He Jie glared at him and cursed, "Get the hell out of here! You've only been in the army for a few years, and you think you can teach me how to do things?!"

The goat spat and turned away.

He Jie smoked a cigarette and kept timed his cigarette, one cigarette per minute.

About two and a half minutes later, everyone, including the meerkats, stood neatly in front of He Jie.

Divide into groups of five and cut into cubes of different sizes.

Seeing He Jie's gloomy face, Fat Rabbit sensed something was wrong and quickly rushed to the side, picked up a log, and went back.

The other soldiers were stunned for a moment, but quickly reacted and rushed towards the pile of logs.

But time was running out, and only the fat rabbit managed to run back to its original spot within three minutes.

He Jie grinned, raised the timer, and said, "I said we'd assemble in three minutes, and you've all made a complete mess of things. You're treating my words like they're nothing, aren't you?"

"Everyone, two hundred push-ups!"

The soldier let out a silent groan, put down the log, turned around, and started doing push-ups.

He Jie pointed at the log and said again, "Once you get to the battlefield, are you planning to leave your comrades in a corner to die?!"

The soldiers had to carry unpolished logs in groups of five to do push-ups.

Fat Rabbit failed to remind his comrades to do an extra hundred.

Almost everyone except the "Defenders" was exhausted before they finished the push-ups.

The meerkat even fainted.

The rough logs rubbed everyone's backs raw, leaving them bloodied.

Given that they had just abandoned their comrades, the punishment was that they had to carry logs from the west side of the island all the way to the east side.

Upon hearing this order, even the officers standing to the side, including Qu Hang, changed their expressions.

These soldiers weren't just carrying a log; they were fully armed.

Before the end of the world, a soldier would carry around 40 kilograms of weight while marching, and the maximum weight would not exceed 45 kilograms.

However, since the armed soldiers are all evolved beings, each soldier carries a load of up to 60 kilograms. Each branch of the military carries different supplies. For example, assault soldiers must carry at least 20 magazines.

Marksmen carry less, but they need to carry ammunition belts or disassembled heavy machine guns for machine gunners.

A minimum group consists of five people, ensuring that each person carries a weight of around sixty kilograms.

But the post-apocalyptic environment presents new challenges for soldiers.

The team also needs "gatherers" to collect high-value materials. If they hunt down mutated beasts in the wild, these high-value materials must be brought back.

Those mutated beasts or mutated plants are also large in size.

Therefore, it is common for individual soldiers to carry loads exceeding 80 kilograms.

Under such circumstances, having to carry hundreds of kilograms of logs for dozens of kilometers of armed training is simply unbearable.

The person who had fainted was woken up, but fainted again after hearing the mission.

But how could He Jie possibly let them go?

If one person in a group faints, the other four people not only have to carry the log, but also have to add another teammate on top of the log.

Watching his four teammates bravely endure the pain, leaving bloody marks with each step, even if he was really dizzy, he would grit his teeth and follow them down.

Of the five hundred soldiers, only three were eventually carried on the log.

One of them is a meerkat.

Although her wounds were treated simply, the internal injuries caused by He Jie would not heal for a while.

He lost consciousness.

However, since their group was next to Fat Rabbit, He Jie wasn't worried about the meerkats dying.

Before evolving, Fat Rabbit had already learned Level 2 Battlefield First Aid.

He can handle the level of a frontline ambulance all by himself, including amputation, blood transfusion, and infection control.

As for Level 3 and above, they need to be able to perform open-chest and open-abdomen surgeries, specialized surgeries, and organ transplants, but that's the job of field hospitals and rear hospitals, and soldiers don't need to learn that much.

By this time, it was already bright outside, and a cold wind was blowing.

The soldiers, still sleepy and drowsy, had tears streaming down their faces from the wind.

"The seven-day intensive training officially begins!" He Jie shouted from the boulder, looking at the prepared crowd.

The soldiers below turned to advance when they heard He Jie sneer, "Just thinking about running away? Aren't you going to keep an eye on your commander?"

The soldiers looked at He Jie, who was standing on the rock, and exchanged bewildered glances.

One minute later.

Five hundred soldiers began to advance eastward.

He Jie crossed his arms over his chest, with a huge rock beneath his feet, and below him were armed soldiers whose jaws would have been crushed.

……

Just as He Jie was harassing the soldiers, Su Huan brought Shu Wei to carriage number 11.

Before I could even go inside, I was stopped by a beautiful figure.

Her silver hair flowed past her waist and draped over her white silk dress.

As the girl personally rescued by the train conductor, Lin Xi, Lin Jin's younger sister, was practically the only person on the train wearing a skirt.

Because of her lifespan, Yu Yue and the others felt sorry for her and almost never assigned her any tasks.

Su Huan raised an eyebrow. "What is it?"

I've been quite busy lately, and given Lin Xi's special abilities, I haven't figured out how to use her.

Lin Xi nodded.

Su Huan waved, and Shu Wei withdrew her gaze from the girl and entered carriage number 12.

Su Huan led Lin Xi back a step and came to the second floor of Yu Jing's carriage number 10.

At this moment, Yu Jing should be busy with train maintenance outside, as the entire second-floor carriage is empty.

"Why are you here if you're not going to make dumplings?"

Su Huan knew the girl wasn't as innocent and shy as she appeared, so he simply asked her directly.

Lin Xi raised her delicate face, a sweet smile on her face, "Train conductor, may I ask for a job?"

"Work?" Su Huan was taken aback. He had thought of many reasons, but he had never thought of this one.

"Any job is fine."

Su Huan leaned against the car window, his tall body stretched out, a hint of amusement playing on his lips. "Trying to pull strings and get in here empty-handed?"

As she sensed the filth flashing through Su Huan's mind, the girl's sweet smile stiffened.

Given the current gap between the two, as long as Su Huan doesn't show it to her, she would never be able to guess what he's thinking. Clearly, he's intentionally teasing her.

Lin Xi was somewhat shocked, "It's just an ordinary job, do I really need to go through back channels?"

Seeing that she was serious, Su Huan also toned down his playful attitude.

Tell me, what do you want to do?

Lin Xi grabbed a strand of silver hair, pondered for a moment, and said, "I'm not quite sure, but I don't want to interrogate the criminals..."

Seeing how smoothly she played with the hair, Su Huan became curious about its texture and grabbed a strand, wrapping it around his fingertips and kneading it.

It feels cool and refreshing, like silver threads, and the texture is indeed quite nice.

Lin Xi opened her eyes slightly, and considering that she was going to use the back door, she pouted and endured it.

What specific abilities do you currently possess?

"The 'Collector' is currently a first-order 'Mapper,' and the 'Manipulator' is currently a first-order 'Perceptual Synchronizer.'"

Lin Xi talked about her profession.

Su Huan had indeed heard of both of these professions.

This maneuverability is a bit strange.

Unlike other manipulators, he has precise control over something.

"Perceptual harmony" is somewhat similar to "seeds of hatred," and is the ability to grasp abstract concepts.

She can control her own perceptions, such as reducing her own pain or enhancing certain senses. Similarly, she can enhance the senses of others.

We often have this feeling that we know our own joys and sorrows, and no one else can truly empathize with us.

However, this ability can adjust the perceptions of two different people, bringing them into sync.

This ability is not weak, but it doesn't directly boost combat power much.

"Is the next stage of 'sensory harmony' 'sympathetic web weaving'?"

Su Huan asked uncertainly.

Lin Xi nodded in surprise, "I haven't even fully developed the abilities of this profession, how did you know?"

Su Huan kept his heart closed off, giving her a profound and unfathomable look.

He not only knew the name of the second stage of this profession, but also knew that the third stage was called "collective consciousness resonance".

Unfortunately, it's still the same as before; there's no fourth-order version.

"What is your 'surveyor'? How is it different from Su Leiya's profile?"

“She deduces past events, while I profile the mind. I have fully evolved the second-tier ability of this skill, but I haven’t reached the standard for advancing to the second tier yet. What do you think would be a good name for it?”

Because there was no one around, Lin Xi spoke a lot in one breath.

"Mind profiling? Telepathy...the singer?"

Su Huan casually mentioned a few things while calculating what Lin Xi could do.

Lin Xi's eyes lit up slightly. "Let's call it 'The Singer of the Soul.' Brother Su Huan is amazing! Director Xu couldn't come up with a name for a long time, but Brother Su Huan came up with it right away."

"laugh!"

Su Huan tugged at her hair, watching her longing gaze turn into a subtle look of disdain.

Perhaps it was her experience as a test subject that made this girl so good at hiding things.

However, because they are both genetic prototypes, Lin Xi always shows his true self in front of him.

"That's going too far. You've already gotten a good deal and provided emotional value, so asking for a small job isn't unreasonable, is it?"

Su Huan pinched her plump, collagen-filled face, squinted his eyes and said lightly, "I'll talk to Yu Jing about it and give you an assistant job or something. But since you asked for the job yourself, you have to show me the right attitude. If you do less work, I'll throw you into Director Xu's lab to fry bones and make oil."

Because of their special genetic attraction, Lin Xi could sense that Su Huan was serious when he said those words.

For him, exchange is a fundamental rule.

Once you're in the designated area, you should complete the task diligently.

Lin Xi nodded, "Could you please let go of my face first?"

……

Car No. 12.

Professor Ma and his students cleared out a large space in the crowded train carriage.

In the very center was a stone with an earthy smell, about one meter square.

Professor Ma's latest research findings, including a communication device connecting the two trains, were displayed around the area.

Professor Ma fiddled with the equipment while explaining it to the students, and Xiao Zhao took notes on the side.

Shu Wei briefly recorded the results on the tablet.

Suddenly, an unexpected message popped up on the tablet.