Apocalypse, then transforming into a magical girl

Chapter 180 An Unexpected Gain on the Railway

Xiao Lü and Xia Zhaozhao hovered on one side of the railway track, examining the boxcar in front of them marked "H8848".

Here lies an ordinary railway track between two tunnels. The two people have just emerged from one tunnel, and not far ahead is the entrance to another tunnel.

If we drive a little further ahead, we should reach the Longshan area.

At their feet, a lot of dark, sticky liquid was slowly seeping into the gaps in the sleepers.

Just now, they had cleared out a group of monsters that had been attracted by the train.

A few minutes earlier, Xiao Lv was driving with some fatigue and even wanted to take a nap because it was so boring.

However, Xia Zhaozhao forcibly woke her up. Otherwise, she probably would have missed the station.

Then, to her excitement, she discovered that the carriage marked H8848 was right there in front of her.

After a sudden stop, before the train had even come to a complete stop, Xiao Lü jumped off and landed right where she was.

After confirming that there were no monsters around her, Xiao Lü still didn't rush to open the car.

She first walked around the abandoned train to make sure there were no other threats nearby.

Then, he glanced into the driver's cab again; it was empty. The driver had probably long since become part of the monster.

After doing all that, she returned to the boxcar.

Even without the eye-catching black lettering "H8848", this carriage is conspicuous enough.

The vehicle was marked with several prominent hazard signs, and next to them were large, eye-catching words such as "No Smoking" and "Flammable Solids".

The carriage was completely enclosed, with no windows, only a few small ventilation openings, and the general air vents were covered with wire mesh.

In addition, the doors look much thicker than those of ordinary boxcars.

Xia Zhaozhao used all her strength, trying to force open the car door with the power of a magical girl.

As a result, the car door only made a few creaking noises and deformed slightly.

The lead seal on the door, meant to indicate that the goods were intact, snapped off with a snap.

However, that thing didn't have any protective properties; its purpose was simply to prove that the carriage hadn't been opened.

"Wow, this door panel is amazing!"

Xia Zhaozhao gave up, rubbing her wrist and complaining unhappily.

"That's natural."

"Although it contains medicine, not weapons, this stuff is a potential explosive. I guess its control level is probably similar to that of morphine."

"But it's just a treatment for athlete's foot," Xia Zhaozhao complained.

"So, it's time for your chainsaw to make its appearance!"

"Great! But I have to correct you, that's a chainsaw."

Xia Zhaozhao flew back to the train and quickly returned with the chainsaw.

She activated it and enhanced it with magic, then began sawing wildly at the heavy car door.

Sparks flew everywhere.

However, just as she made a small hole in the door, an alarm suddenly sounded inside the carriage!

"—So meticulous?" Xiao Lü was somewhat speechless.

If this alarm continues, it will attract monsters, Little Green thought.

An ice spike instantly formed and shot precisely at the location from which the alarm sounded, after which the sound abruptly stopped.

Then, many monsters around them heard the sound and rushed towards them.

Fortunately, they were all small fry.

Little Green dealt with them, but found that the monsters' roars were still audible.

Very close.

Moreover, it was coming from inside the train carriage!

"Holy crap, this place is sealed so tightly, it's practically a coffin. How could there be a monster inside?"

Xia Zhaozhao's hands moved a little faster. She was somewhat surprised.

"Little Green, Little Green, did this monster eat all the athlete's foot powder in the truck? We'll have to send it then."

"I don't know."

Little Green approached the hole and peeked inside.

Instead of seeing any monster, I saw a pile of neatly stacked cardboard boxes.

"The medicine doesn't seem to have been touched. At least most of it is intact."

So Xia Zhaozhao stopped talking nonsense and increased her magic output.

The enhanced chainsaw slowly cut through the steel plate, gradually revealing a gap large enough for a person to crawl through.

The two leaned inside.

The carriage was dark, and the roar came from a small, separate compartment on the inside.

Escort officer's room.

A black silhouette, which still seemed to retain a slight human shape.

It couldn't find a way to break into the guard's room, so it just yelled at the two men through the glass.

"————" Little Green sighed.

One ice spear shot, and it was over.

Then, Xiao Lü opened the door to the guard's room.

There were many miscellaneous items inside the door.

She tidied up a bit, picking out a few novels, half a pack of cigarettes, and a photograph, and placed them next to the puddle of slime.

They were probably buried with the deceased.

And what remains is an unexpected surprise.

"There's a gun!" Xia Zhaozhao's voice was somewhat excited.

Indeed. Here, Little Green found two pistols and a submachine gun, as well as some ammunition.

Xiao Lü couldn't identify the specific model, but she figured Bai Shuyuan would be quite satisfied. Her opinion on these kinds of things was always that the more the merrier.

In addition, there were explosion-proof spray and stun guns here—though now, both are basically obsolete.

But the bulletproof helmet and vest are good stuff; they can be taken back to arm the survivors. Although they're a bit dirty from the slime, they can still be used after washing.

Then, he put away what looked like surveillance and communication equipment. Bai Shuyuan might like these.

After doing all that, Xiao Lü turned her attention to the real goal of this trip.

Neatly stacked cardboard boxes, each printed with "Dongbaiyu Athlete's Foot Powder".

She casually opened a cardboard box, and the packaging inside left her speechless.

The bright red packaging features a woman with a buzz cut who looks exceptionally strong, confidently extending her size 45 feet in front of the camera.

Next to it, in a font that would infuriate designers, were a bunch of flamboyant slogans.

Xiao Lü opened the instruction manual. At the beginning was a long list of Chinese herbal medicine names that she couldn't understand. She scrolled to the end and finally saw the words "urotropine".

She silently activated her ability, using ice blocks to lift the box, and Xia Zhaozhao came over to help.

The two carried the items back to their train.

After all the unloading was completed, they also checked the other carriages of the freight train.

There's nothing noteworthy about it.

The remaining carriages were mostly filled with industrial raw materials such as timber, gravel, and steel plates, as well as a few carriages of coal that were of little use to them.

Xia Zhaozhao was somewhat disappointed.

"Is that all? And you've made such a haphazard mix?"

"—It's impossible to arrange a whole train just for this little bit of athlete's foot powder, is it?"

"Grouping goods destined for the same direction or with similar stops along the route together for unified transportation minimizes costs."

"This batch of medicine powder was just a side trip; the real bulk of railway freight is still coal and steel plates that we don't need."

"It's easy to figure out, isn't it?"

"Okay, okay, I know you're the smartest!"

Having confirmed there was no more profit to be made here, Xiao Lü walked back to her train, found the metal box containing the clay communications soldier, and gently tapped it.

She then prepared her speech and briefly explained the situation in English: the target item has been found, and we are preparing to head to our final destination, Longshan Mining.

A moment later, a piece of paper the size of a fingernail came out of the delivery slot on the side of the box.

"Wow, Xiaobai is so efficient, she replied so quickly." Xia Zhaozhao came over.

Little Green picked up the piece of paper, which only had a single symbol drawn on it.

"?"

'

Little Green: "...

Xia Zhaozhao burst out laughing.

"Got it, the clay figure thinks my English is terrible and can't understand me," Little Green concluded expressionlessly.

She was about to give up struggling and communicate in Morse code, but then she discovered that the metal box in front of her had been opened from the inside.

Two clay messengers and a man who looked somewhat like a translator stood at the door of the box.

The clay translator's face was somewhat strange, unlike the other clay soldiers. Little Green noticed that he seemed to be of East Asian descent?

He waved to Xiao Lü, signaling her to come closer.

"Comrade, please, there will be no problem if you speak Chinese."

"Your English is really hard for me to understand."

'

She repeated her meaning in Chinese, word by word, through gritted teeth.

The translator nodded, indicating that he fully understood.

Then, he saluted along with the two clay messengers, and turned to close the box door.

Xia Zhaozhao next to her was laughing so hard she couldn't stand up straight.

"Hahahaha—Xiaobai—Xiaobai is so thoughtful! He even provided Chinese translators for them!"

It doesn't matter at all.

However, isn't the evolution speed of these clay soldiers a bit too fast? This surprised Little Green.

Not long after, another slip of paper came out of the delivery slot. It was in Morse code, which Xiao Lü recognized. The meaning was simple: the message had been received.

Next up is the second one.

A rough plan of Longshan Mining.

Although the paper was still small, I tried my best to make it as big as possible so that Xiao Lü could see it easily.

So, after collecting all the urotropin here, the train slowly started moving.

However, just as they were about to head towards Longshan Mining, they got stuck at a fork in the road.

Xia Zhaozhao suppressed a laugh as she looked at Xiao Lü in the driver's seat from outside.

Bai Shuyuan provided a simple map. However, the routes on the simple map differed significantly from the intricate network of railways in reality—

The matching of tracks gave Xiao Lü a bit of a headache.

She looked at the left turn on the map, then at the tangled railway tracks in front of her, and felt lost.

"—Which path should I take?"

"How would I possibly know! Why don't you try them one by one?"

Alright, that's the only way.

Finally, after repeatedly switching lanes and reversing, and running back and forth in this area many times, the two finally found the right direction.

The train entered the last tunnel.

After passing through the darkness, a factory and blast furnace finally came into view before the two.

"It's so quiet," Xia Zhaozhao complained.

Indeed, there was no sound of any machines, nor any sign of life.

The train slowly came to a stop here.

>