Armored train in the apocalypse

Chapter 280 Dowry
"—The military has produced a true evolved being."

Su Huan's eyes darkened. "What rank?"

"An unranked 'Manipulator' can control flames."

"So there were already classifications back then?"

"Do not."

Mr. Shu's straightforward denial left Su Huan slightly stunned.

"When they introduced us, they were called elemental ability users, but after many years of research, it was found that there were too many types of elements, so the categories needed to be redefined. The current five-category classification is a new standard developed by the military and the heads of more than a dozen forces, including Black Kite, Deep Blue Data, and Donghuang Heavy Industry."

Mr. Shu said.

With Mr. Shu's detailed explanations and combined with some information from his previous life, Su Huan's exploration of the mist became increasingly in-depth.

No wonder the naming of various professional lineages is so chaotic, but the basic categories are surprisingly consistent.

It turns out that it was planned long before the end of the world.

"How did the apocalypse happen?"

Mr. Shu had anticipated this question and shook his head directly, "I don't know, and you don't need to waste your time. We don't know anything about any of the major forces, including Deep Blue Data."

"At that time, the military only told our headquarters about the natural disasters we would face, namely the storm zone. Then we signed a confidentiality agreement and began a five-year-long accumulation process with the issued materials..."

Su Huan glanced at Lin Xi, and the little girl tilted her head, indicating that nothing had happened.

After thinking for a moment, his eyes suddenly became dull and lifeless.

Mr. Shu, who was about to end the conversation, seemed to have been opened up and had an inexhaustible urge to express himself.

"But we weren't completely unaware. Besides personnel transfers, the military also had a large amount of supplies involved, and we were the ones who helped coordinate that..."

Shu Wei and the others listened attentively. Even if she asked, Mr. Shu wouldn't tell her so many details.

No one is not curious about the ultimate secrets of the apocalypse; they just haven't had the chance to before.

The growing pains of evolution are an insurmountable chasm for everyone, and everyone wants to know where their pain comes from.

"You mean, the military is waging a war?"

The wind blew through his black hair, strands falling across his forehead, and a cold glint appeared in his narrow eyes.

"It's just a guess. We've tried everything but haven't been able to find out where the war is taking place. The supplies seem to have vanished into thin air." Mr. Shu said, his brow furrowed with doubt.

"The army's movement trajectory is northward, and there are indeed signs of large-scale construction in Changbai Province. However, according to our investigation, the army is not there, and there are no traces of military movements from the Russians further north. After leaving Changbai Province, all traces mysteriously disappeared."

Su Huan: "After the apocalypse, what changes have occurred in Changbai Province?"

Mr. Shu said, "That is an extremely cold region, like the flood zone, which is a severely natural disaster zone. No forces are developing there, and our current influence only extends to the spore zone."

This is roughly the same as Su Huan's guess: each faction has a limited area to cross; to be precise, the range of human activity after the apocalypse is limited.

The original ability to roam freely across the entire map has been replaced by being confined to specific "points" for movement.

Even powerful forces can only barely connect these points into a line.

But they still have to fight against the endless stream of new mutated beasts and mutated plants.

Su Huan's primary task during his time in the Steel Council was routine cleaning up within his sphere of influence.

He knew that Deep Blue Data had the most extensive regional reach, but that was four years later; Deep Blue Data hadn't even expanded its operations yet.

"Um……"

'Why did I say so much?'

Mr. Shu felt a moment of disorientation, then frowned.

Mingming should just answer whatever is asked. A lot of things are just speculation, so it's fine if you don't say anything.

Seeing that the old fox had realized what was happening, Su Huan had no intention of asking any further questions.

These powerful forces seem to know a lot, but in reality, they are all confused.

The clues ultimately led back to the military.

"If you can find Yang Cunyi, you might get the answer you're looking for."

Mr. Shu was not annoyed by the attempt to extract information from him; instead, he gave a rather meaningful explanation.

"Yang Cunyi".

Su Huan repeated the name, then asked softly.

"Do you have anything to add?"

This question was posed to everyone, including Shu Wei and Yu Jing.

Yu Yue looked around. Her daughter was staring at the corpse at Su Huan's feet, deep in thought. The goat was busy replicating. Lin Jin was hanging his head, seemingly lost in thought. To prevent Su Huan's words from falling to the ground, she hesitated for a moment and asked in a low voice.

"How are other countries doing? Do they know about the end of the world?"

Mr. Shu glanced at Yu Yue's position, then at Yu Jing and his daughter, and said thoughtfully, "Other countries don't seem to be very aware of the doomsday news, and their preparations are quite rushed. However, the intensity of their doomsday is also very low, and their evolution speed is far lower than that of our Donghuang."

"Three second-order units, is that considered slow?"

Lin Jin asked in confusion.

"The entire nation's strength."

Mr. Shu said calmly.

Yuri, amidst gunfire, did not deny these words.

Having finalized the main takeaways for the evening, Su Huan turned his attention to the two people from Donghuang Heavy Industry.

"Tell me, what is your ransom?"

The woman pointed to her nose in surprise, "But we're not here to oppose you."

Su Huan said calmly, "Then can you run away?"

"You can't run away, you're just a prisoner."

The woman quickly said, "We're here to invite you to join the Eastern Empire Alliance."

"I reject the alliance, say something useful."

Su Huan said coldly.

Shu Wei, who was standing behind him, changed her expression slightly and whispered a few words in the train conductor's ear.

Donghuang Heavy Industry had a much stronger background than Black Kite, so after the organization disappeared, it also took on the responsibility of connecting the major forces.

The so-called Eastern Huang Alliance is not a union of forces.

It is not a list of forces.

Only major powers are qualified to be included on this list, achieving a shared recognition effect and preventing two major powers from rashly forming animosity due to a lack of understanding of each other's background, thus avoiding a real fight.

Of course, when there is a real conflict of interest, we should still fight.

With its current strength, the Armed Train is more than capable of being included in this list.

So, after being pressured by Su Huan, they wanted to take the opportunity to invite Su Huan to join the alliance.

Su Huan's expression softened slightly. "I see. But it will be difficult for me to do this without offering some real money. You should think about it first."

The woman's face fell as she looked at her companion.

Before Su Huan could ask, the trio of gunfighters said cheerfully, "We're just here to make a deal. As long as you give us evolution materials, universal energy crystals, weapons, food, clean water, women, vodka... we have everything, and we're willing to trade it all."

Shu Wei whispered, "Their apocalyptic strength is low, and correspondingly, they have very few evolution materials. So they are known for their love of trading. They would even sell their daughter for money."

Su Huan remained noncommittal.

Because his family is from the north, he knows a lot about Russian bears.

They weren't cheerful; it was just that the weather was so cold that half their brains were frozen like ice balls, while the other half was swaying with vodka.

He didn't feel any ill will towards them, but he didn't feel any goodwill either. If things were really as clean as they claimed, how could they have sent three second-tier beings all the way to the Eastern Empire?

“I don’t need basic supplies, I want your complete evolutionary lineage of guns.”

"Friend, this is not for sale."

Yuri crossed his arms and frowned as he spoke.

Su Huan bent down, "It's not selling, it's exchanging. I'll exchange the three of you for it."

"You don't even know where our Gunfire headquarters is."

Yuri said nonchalantly.

"I know!"

The woman from Donghuang Heavy Industry quickly pulled a piece of paper from her bosom and jogged over to hand it to him.

"This shows the approximate sphere of influence of the major powers, with their headquarters roughly located in the center."

Su Huan picked up the paper with two fingers, glanced at it, and then shook it at Yuri.

He smiled and said, "I'll drive the train to your headquarters for a visit then."

Yuri's face stiffened. He was a bit reckless, but not stupid. He knew better than anyone what would happen if he let such a terrifying guy as Su Huan into headquarters.

That was a complete disaster.

"The full set might not be possible, but we can discuss it..."

……

Five minutes ago, when the armed train launched its final encirclement and annihilation of the Black Kite Special Forces on the front line, it was met with a desperate counterattack, which tore open a gap in the enemy lines, resulting in heavy losses of soldiers.

After all, war is not a comparison of data on paper.

Ultimately, it all comes down to the struggle for each trench and the tug-of-war between each work team.

He Jie's injury and Xiao Ba's departure gave Hei Yuan a much-needed breather, and the opposing team seized this hard-won opportunity to launch a fierce counterattack.

"There is a surviving target at the four o'clock position!"

"Armored vehicles, advance!"

"Spread out! Spread out!"

A jumble of shouts mixed with the rumbling engines of armored vehicles filled my ears.

Qi Zhenbang felt as if his ears were deaf, and he had to repeat any sound two or three times.

He had just been hit by a grenade. If a soldier hadn't shielded him, he would be dead by now. When he finally managed to drag the guy back, he found that the shrapnel had pierced through his brain and he was beyond saving.

He was holding an assault rifle, wearing a heavy bulletproof vest, and hiding in a muddy trench. The wounds on his shoulders and thighs were constantly drawing away the heat from his body.

It was called a trench, but it was actually a drainage ditch in the park that had been washed out by rainwater and then bombarded by artillery shells, turning it into a crater more than a meter deep.

The torrential rain poured down beneath his feet, making him feel like a rat in a sewer.

Perhaps his brain was damaged by that explosion.

His thoughts are now very scattered.

For some inexplicable reason, he began to feel grateful to the old squad leader who always promoted him. Thinking back to those days of anxiety and hardship, the drainage ditch he was in now didn't seem so unbearable.

At least it's much better than eating swill and frozen potatoes, digging through manure, or doing it barehanded...

Logically speaking, he shouldn't have had to suffer so much.

But Old Man Tie was afraid that he wouldn't get enough training, so he put him in the most remote company and trained him intensively for two years, hiding all his family background. This made him extremely resistant to joining the army. Even though Old Man Tie repeatedly asked him to stay, he was determined to run home.

He became the person in the family with the shortest service period.

As if it were destiny, the eldest brother stayed behind at the shelter, the second brother stayed behind at Guanchao Island, and he was inexplicably left on the train by the old man Tie. As a private in the armed corps, he naturally had to participate in the Black Kite operation.

I could hear the rumble of wheels and tracks approaching from behind.

Qi Zhenbang smiled bitterly to himself.

'Dad, oh Dad... you've finally screwed me over this time.'

"Not really, it's mainly because I had terrible luck. Even when things were going well, I ended up on the kill list."

'I wonder how far the train can go in this chaotic world.'

He wasn't sure if it was just his imagination, but he heard a particularly heavy footstep.

It drowned out the gunfire and the roar of the engine.

It was like stepping on a war drum, stomping hard on everyone's hearts.

"It takes so much effort to even beat a drowning dog, He Jie, tsk tsk..."

Accompanied by a flippant voice, terrifying lightning bolts appeared from afar in an instant, engulfing the entire park.

Whether it was an armored vehicle on the move or the Black Kite Special Forces cautiously advancing behind the trees, they were all imprisoned in the lightning like specimens.

Qi Zhenbang patted the water in confusion and found that the lightning had flowed away with the water and had not caused him any harm.

He propped himself up from the ditch.

I looked up and saw a group of people walking down from the mountaintop theater.

The leader had his hands in his pockets, his black hair wrapped in strands of lightning, his face strangely handsome, and his deep blue eyes gazing at him from afar.

Like two cold flames in the darkness!

"Train conductor!"

Qi Zhenbang was momentarily lost in thought.

The moment he appeared, all the previous annoyances and grudges were forgotten.

A strange sense of security seeped into my bones.

When there is no danger, the train conductor is the greatest danger; but when there is danger, the train conductor is the greatest guarantee!

"Pshaw, with your skills, I can't guarantee I can deliver you safely."

Even from a distance, Su Huan's harsh words reached my ears.

Qi Zhenbang climbed out of the ditch to show off his bravery, but discovered that the war had already quietly ended at the same time Su Huan appeared.

When facing an evolved being of Su Huan's caliber, numbers become meaningless.

Not to mention them, even the group of second-tier beings in the theater couldn't cause Su Huan any trouble.

The second-tier "Energy Storage Core" + the second-tier "Fighting Expert" represent the ultimate in energy and physical strength.

All these extremes combined together created a terrifying monster like Su Huan.

Moreover, his "energy storage core" is close to the third level.

Therefore, Mr. Shu honestly accepted the war reparations.

……

"If you give him this resource, your position on the board will be in jeopardy."

Wang Yi said coldly.

Mr. Shu stood outside the theater, gazing at the rolling lightning below.

He glanced at his ex-wife's face, which was bathed in the pale blue light of the sunlight, and suddenly laughed. "Even if he waived 10%, I might not survive the backlash from within the company."

Wang Yi was stunned for a moment, then said coldly, "You can still laugh when you're about to die?"

Mr. Shu gently shook his head, his voice as gentle as when he made his vow to Wang Yi in the auditorium.

"Consider it a dowry for Little Tail."

(End of this chapter)