Armored train in the apocalypse

Chapter 308 I'm a coward
A small riot broke out among the zombie horde in Zhijin City, but the sound was muffled by layers of noise, and only Yu Yue could hear it.

Su Huan sat on the control panel at the front of the train, watching the surveillance cameras inside and outside the train, and exclaimed in surprise, "The Zhijin zombie horde has rioted?"

Yu Yue said softly, "It was a large-scale event, but it was quelled very quickly, taking only about a minute in total."

"Whatever they do, I'm not going." Su Huan said, pointing at a few people on the screen. "These few haven't written anything more than a few lines. Go check them out. If they're just filling in the numbers, drag them out and execute them."

The man with glasses standing nearby respectfully agreed.

……

As the wind subsided, the buildings along the roadside, ravaged by the sandstorm, gradually came into full view.

The mutated plant cautiously peeked out from the building, pushing aside the sand and dust piled up at the doorway, cleaning up the forgotten city like a master, pausing from time to time to carefully "observe" the massive convoy on the abandoned highway ahead.

Under Li Xinlong's anxious gaze, Hu Shuo led a group of people out.

Meeting his gaze calmly, she said, "A total of twelve people passed, and two of them will receive an additional sixty points for reaching the lecturer level. Shall we proceed with the redemption according to the previous plan?"

"One 12.7mm heavy sniper rifle, one Red Thunder-2 sniper grenade launcher, and replace all the rest with bullets. I don't want the Iron series heavy sniper rifle; I want the Dragon series, which is 30 years old."

Without even looking at the list, Hu Shuo shook his head decisively, "The Black Star team only provides 90 points for the personnel, while a heavy sniper rifle produced 30 years ago is worth 75 points. The value of the sniper grenade launcher is even higher than that of the heavy sniper rifle. This deal is impossible."

Li Xinlong and Pang Ke exchanged a glance, looking somewhat conflicted.

Hu Shuo reminded them, "If you two haven't decided yet, you can discuss it first. I've already noted down the points; come back later."

After saying that, he walked towards the Jinfeng Chamber of Commerce.

The Jin Feng Chamber of Commerce was the main contributor this time, with over sixty talents alone.

Fatty Ke yelled at the group of people who had been sent back, "You're all useless at fighting and studying, what are you good for?!"

The crowd remained silent, feeling resentful.

Li Xinlong waved his hand impatiently, and the others retreated with a sigh of relief.

The Armored Train has too many good things, and he wants them all, but what Black Star lacks most right now is this kind of long-range deterrent firepower.

Black Star does have sniper rifles; they've seized quite a few from law enforcement agencies over the past six months.

However, the Night Owl sniper rifles equipped by law enforcement officers are too weak. Let alone the large size of the mutated beasts, they are now having a hard time even shooting people.

Without long-range, deterrent firepower, the only way to deal with high-level zombies and mutated beasts is to sacrifice human lives.

Take the heavy machine gun on his roof, for example. It has been operated by six different machine gunners, one of whom was a "Defender" who was close to Tier 1.

It's not that the firepower is insufficient, it's that the level of evolution is too high.

They can't hit accurately from a distance, but when they get close, whether it's a Night Demon or any evolved beast, they can trade one for one before they die. This is because the Black Star Caravan's weapons are weak and they can't form a layered firepower attack.

The situation is exactly the opposite for armed trains.

Before zombies generally evolved, trains could easily crush them with their hard shells and rifles.

As the number of Tier 1 zombies increased, heavy machine guns, anti-aircraft machine guns, grenades, rocket launchers, and other weapons became the train's standard means of attack.

Most people could only see He Jie firing his guns high, arrogant and domineering, but above him were dozens of drones, and beside him were armored personnel carriers carrying anti-aircraft trains and heavy machine guns, with hundreds of thousands of rounds of ammunition and soldiers loading them for him. Behind him were Qu Hang, Yu Yue, and more than a dozen heavy snipers, and in front of him was Liang Kuan, who was holding off the killer with an iron shield, plus a large group of well-trained veterans like Goat.

By the time the zombies reach Tier 2, the combat radius of the armed train has evolved from thousands of meters to tens of kilometers in radius.

As the zombies charged into the train amidst gunfire, they were met by a more evolved train conductor...

Therefore, the train suffered very few major casualties along its journey, even when facing evolved beasts and hordes of zombies.

This is the meaning of weapons.

"How about we sell some more supplies?"

"That's what Fatty suggested," Pang Ke proposed.

Li Xinlong sighed, "The goods for trade are all on the market. Besides, given the train's abundance, what goods do you think we have that can impress them?"

Pang Ke thought about it and realized it made sense, his eyes darting around.

"How about we forgo the sniper grenade launcher and just get two heavy sniper rifles with the 'Iron' designation? They're a bit old, but military equipment is sturdy and durable. The two of them together only cost 80 points, and we can use the rest for bullets."

"It's a bit of a waste to change the bullets. We still have quite a few 12.7mm×99mm bullets. Train points are much more valuable than bullets."

Li Xinlong said in a deep voice, "This is the only way."

Just as Pang Ke was about to call Hu Shuo, she suddenly slapped her forehead, "I almost forgot, isn't that idiot a teacher too?"

Li Xinlong was taken aback. "Which idiot?"

"I'll go find it for you."

……

"Brother Wei, you've struck it rich! Boss Rong wants to see you and that idiot."

A man strode over and kicked the pickup truck, saying something.

A dark figure quickly emerged from under the car, its entire body covered only in white, with only the whites of its eyes showing.

"Master Rong wants to see me?"

The man curled his lip. "Master Ke said it himself, how could it be false? Take that idiot and hurry over, don't keep Master Rong waiting."

Yuan Wei quickly climbed out of the car and looked ahead at the convoy. There were only vehicles stretching as far as the eye could see, a jumbled mess that blocked his view, but could not hide the seven or eight-meter-tall steel monster.

More than an hour has passed since they were stopped.

More than twenty people were called out from the convoy, but they haven't returned yet.

Given the moral standards of the apocalypse, who knows what the armed train would want these people for?
Yuan Wei's expression shifted between light and dark.

Suddenly, Yuan Wei felt his foot being pulled. He looked down and saw that his silly neighbor had used his foot as a foothold to crawl out from under the car.

"Look, I just dug this up, it's sweet!"

The silly neighbor spread out his hand, revealing a white root in his dark palm.

Yuan Wei glanced at it, his expression changed drastically, and he slapped the white root in the man's hand away. Without saying a word, he kicked the fool in the stomach. The fool fell down next to the vehicle, clutching his abdomen and gagging painfully. After vomiting for a long time, he finally spat out a little bit of white foam.

Yuan Wei grabbed him by the collar and slapped him several times across the face, snarling, "Don't eat random things! Don't eat random things! Do you want to die?!"

The fool trembled with fear, stammering for a long time, unable to utter a complete sentence.

Hearing the urging voices from afar and looking at his neighbor who was like a child, Yuan Wei's eyes turned bloodshot, and he gripped the wrench in his hand tighter and tighter.

Rather than suffer in this world, I'd rather end his life myself!
Yuan Wei hardened his heart and raised his arm, his whole hand trembling from the force.

"I just wanted to... give you something to eat, your stomach is rumbling..."

"boom!"

The wrench smashed a dent into the pickup truck, and the fool was so frightened that he swallowed his words.

Yuan Wei felt as if all his bones had been removed, and the overwhelming exhaustion made it difficult for him to stand.

She turned and walked forward in despair. Covering her face, she sobbed, "Yuan Wei, you're a fucking coward!"

……

"An additional test?"

Su Huan sat in the chair and spun around once, his gold and silver earrings floating with the centrifugal force.

Hu Shuo respectfully replied, "Yes, after the transaction was completed, some smaller factions and scavengers who came from afar wanted to have another test."

"Oh, so what brings you here?"

Su Huan looked curiously at Professor Ma and the others behind him. Instead of grading papers, the old men had all come to him.

Professor Ma said slowly, "We've discovered a very talented scholar, but something seems off about him..."

Su Huan was greatly surprised, "Bring me here to see how something is wrong."

The door opened, and the giraffe led in a disheveled person.

The man was in his forties, but he lacked any adult composure. He curiously examined the various facilities inside the car, even touching the lights on the floor.

Su Huan was shocked. "Is this guy an idiot?"

Upon hearing Su Huan's voice, the man looked up at the crowd on the command platform.

His black pupils were slightly centered, carrying a pure sense of bewilderment.

"Are you calling me?"

Damn, it's safe now!

Su Huan looked speechlessly at the refined old scholar beside him.

Professor Ma sighed, "His name is Chen Ziliang. He was a rising star in the field of mathematics, with a promising future ahead of him. But something damaged his brain tissue, and now he seems a bit mentally impaired..."

Su Huan frowned. "What level is this newcomer at? An academician?"

Professor Ma was immediately speechless.

Vice President Deng explained with a wry smile, "There are no academicians left outside. They were all taken away by the organization long ago. Chen Ziliang's teacher was a leading figure in the international mathematics community. He solved many problems at a young age, such as...&*%￥#@（&&***&&）... After returning to China, he taught at Zhijin University. Although I have never met him, I have heard friends mention this rising star. I just never expected it. Alas, fate is cruel."

Su Huan skipped over the messy section of proper nouns in the middle.

The greatest despair for someone who struggles with science isn't being unable to solve a problem, but rather not knowing what the question is.

But he could tell that these old men really admired the fool below.

"Alright, since we know each other, let's keep it. As for the test, let's not do it for now. Open the way and let them go to Zhijin. We'll go straight to the Scavenger Market."

Su Huan gave the instructions.

Anyway, the train company is well-off now, so it doesn't matter if it employs a couple more idle people. Maybe this fool can create some surprises for them.

As the train conductor gave the order, the train was cut in two to make way for the road.

After being stuck for an hour, the convoy was finally able to move forward again.

However, the large crowd was divided into two parts.

One group continued towards Zhijin with the convoy, while the other group followed the armed train to Neutral Town.

This train added 210 people, covering various academic, military, and medical experts. Apart from a small number of purely academic talents, most of them were practical people who could be used immediately.

This greatly filled the gap in the number of personnel in the armed train industry.

Upon arriving in Zhongli Town, the train began its second test.

The number of people admitted through this exam was much smaller, only forty-odd, but word had already spread about the abundant supplies and generous treatment offered by the armed train.

Everyone has forgotten the dozen or so people who were executed on the spot for cheating.

This attracted more scavengers to Neutral Town.

The area around Zhijin originally had nearly 200,000 scavengers, who were supposed to slowly move towards Zhijin according to Black Kite's plan. However, due to the talent test for the armed train, nearly 30,000 to 50,000 people have chosen to stay in the neutral town.

Over the next three days, the train quickly underwent its third, fourth, and fifth additional tests.

But each time, the number of talented people recruited decreased, while the number of people executed on the spot increased.

The number of people eliminated in the last three matches combined has exceeded one hundred.

But the flow of visitors continues unabated.

……

"June 17th, the wind was gentle."

"The apocalypse doesn't need people who aren't good at studying."

The wind and sand howled and lashed against the windows. Su Huan stood on the second floor of the dining car, using a telescope that looked like a cannon barrel to look at the convoys coming and going on the highway outside.

He made a series of surprised clicking sounds.

"What's the principle behind this? How can it see through sand and wind?"

The deputy general manager, Deng, explained with a smile, "This is a byproduct of our research on universal energy weapons. You can simply understand it as us receiving the scene after a sandstorm through the medium of universal energy, and then replicating it through some means."

Su Huan stood up and said with satisfaction, "The product is good, but it feels a bit choppy, like it's shaking around."

"This is just a preliminary result and still needs further improvement, but this work represents a major breakthrough in our research in the field of general energy..."

Seeing Su Huan's brows gradually furrow, Vice President Deng quickly switched back to his normal way of speaking.

"Professor Ma's proposed 'radar' device can be built ahead of schedule."

Su Huan raised an eyebrow. Was this an unintentional success?
"Where has the Phase III renovation plan progressed?"

"The basic framework for the renovation has been finalized, and they are discussing the specific details in the mechanical testing lab."

Su Huan immediately became interested. "Let's go take a look, and talk as we go."

Following behind Su Huan, Deputy General Manager Deng said, "We call the first phase of the armed train's transformation the basic transformation phase, which meets basic survival needs. The second phase is the reinforcement transformation, which fills in the gaps and improves the original structure. As for the third phase, after discussion, we believe that the current goal of the train is to create a three-dimensional offensive and defensive network."

"Although the train has many functions, such as amphibious, electromagnetic attack and defense, and carriage farms, etc., all the functions are too scattered and not systematic. At the very least, our attack and defense methods cannot be effectively linked."

Su Huan listened intently. Although Vice President Deng kept bringing up guns and cannons, he was right about the point that the system was "unsystematic".

Because the rebirth period was too short and there was no time to prepare, the initial modifications to the train were entirely his brainstorming ideas.

Often, it's about filling in the gaps in your body.

Later, with the addition of Yu Jing, things became a little more systematic, but each design still started from practicality and lacked an overall design.

Only at the Shun'an train manufacturing base, through the efforts of the factory director and others, was a relatively complete framework established.

But at that time, the factory director and others were forced into the task and were not very clear about the future development direction of the train.

(End of this chapter)