Armed Train in the Apocalypse

Chapter 148: Chapter 135: Interlude

Yu Jing pulled up several interfaces on the screen, then pointed out to Su Huan, ”The 7.62 rifle rounds were the most consumed in this battle. However, the combat duration was short, and only about two thousand rounds were used. According to the ammunition monitoring system that Professor Ma and his team created, it tracks exactly who took the ammunition. For instance, these 14.5 anti-aircraft machine gun rounds were all used by He Jie, a total of five boxes, five hundred rounds.”

Beyond what Yu Jing described, there were also records of pickup times, photographs, and short video clips automatically captured by surveillance cameras.

Alongside, the remaining ammunition stock was displayed.

However, the interface was currently very rudimentary, just stacking various data together. It looked like a system parameter written by a third-rate web novel writer, a massive clump making one’s scalp tingle.

”In addition, we lost four drones, and twelve train windows were damaged, with three pieces of armor suffering extensive damage awaiting repair.”

”Regular passenger casualties are 214, leaving 1403.”

Su Huan raised a hand to interrupt, ”Wait a moment, wasn’t it more than fifteen hundred people before? How did we lose over two hundred and have only fourteen hundred left?”

Yu Jing’s Danfeng eyes slightly upturned, with a hint of peculiarity, ”The Servant Soldiers of the Steel Council infiltrated, clamoring to surrender. Some were claiming captives as their own to exchange for points.”

After saying this, she swiped away all the images, switching to the surveillance footage inside carriage 19.

As it transitioned, they saw Lao San holding a gun stock, fiercely knocking a man to the ground and scolding, ”The train conductor said ’soldiers’! ’Soldiers!’ Not these ragtag Servant Soldiers. You’ve never even seen the regular troops of the other side and you’re thinking about exchanging for points? Exchange for nothing!”

Lao San and his group had witnessed many major events alongside Su Huan, growing quickly.

After He Jie’s guidance, he might have been just a trivial role in the previous monster carriages, but among ordinary people, he was a wolf among the flock!

His ferocious aura stood out like a crane among chickens.

The man looked at Lao San, noticing Zhang Kai and others standing behind him with guns, smirking, and yet his companions who had earlier demanded explanations had almost retreated to carriage 20. Instantly, his heart sank, and his tone weakened.

”...This, this isn’t fair. We also got off the train to fight, it’s just we didn’t see the other side’s ’soldiers’.”

Lao San sneered, ”Haven’t seen ’soldiers’ but seen Lu Xiao, right?”

The man hesitated and nodded, not knowing his implications.

Lao San pointed earnestly to the front carriage, ”You should be thankful. Lu Xiao, along with his entire team, went to capture a seriously injured ’soldier’ and ended up with two dead, including himself, and two severely injured, who are still receiving treatment and won’t be able to get out of bed for another three days.”

A flash of shock passed through the eyes of the people nearby.

The tactical squad carriage was quite close to them, and they had witnessed Lu Xiao being carried up.

Initially, they thought they were engaged in a fierce firefight and were besieged, never imagining it was a group siege on an already severely injured man.

”Joking... surely, Brother Xiao is an Evolver.”

Someone muttered in disbelief.

If a critically injured ’soldier’ could be this vicious, then how were they defeated at all?

What kind of enemies was the armed train really facing?

And the mysterious train conductor, whom many newcomers hadn’t even seen — just how powerful was he?

Behind, the passengers had very limited information.

Lu Xiao was the strongest they could reach, with immense strength, speed, and fierce Evolver subordinates.

Some even believed Lu Xiao was a strong contender for the position of train conductor.

But the scant words revealed by Lao San suggested that wasn’t the case at all.

Lao San sneered, ”Bullshit! I’m an Evolver too. While I can’t defeat Lu Xiao in a one-on-one fight, I can annihilate his eight-gun squad with my four guns! At our level, even encountering a single ’soldier’ from the Steel Council would lead to total annihilation!”

...

”At least he knows his limits.”

Su Huan laughed softly from behind the surveillance.

Yu Jing continued, ”According to the nonsense statistics, a total of 47 Servant Soldiers came aboard, three of whom are Evolvers. They’re suspected to be spies from the Steel Council, so they haven’t been allowed into the crew. Should we deal with them?”

”No, let them be.”

Su Huan decisively refused.

Yu Jing wasn’t surprised in the slightest; the train conductor was known for three things — lying, backstabbing, and harboring moles.

Uncertain if it was mere whimsical mischief or a case of utilizing everything to its fullest potential.

But she felt it was a bit of both.

Su Huan wouldn’t dispose of them unless absolutely necessary.

”As for the remaining passengers, they hope the train can fully open up point exchanges, and from observation, the rear passengers are forming new groups.”

”Finally, the spoils. In this battle, we didn’t gain much, just a few sets of equipment and two armored personnel carriers capable of transporting eight people. They can defend against 7.62 armor-piercing rounds, but unfortunately, they got penetrated by He Jie’s machine gun, requiring repairs, and lack onboard weapons.”

Su Huan rubbed his chin, unconcerned about the spoils; the two personnel carriers were a pleasant surprise.

The real gain was Qu Hang and Mountain Goat.

They were good seedlings certified by the apocalypse, and with cultivation, they would definitely deliver.

The key detail was that these were seized from the enemy.

The gain by taking from the enemy exceeded the mere spoils of battle.

As for fully opening point exchanges on the train, for now, it’s not feasible.

This was a deliberate constraint imposed by Su Huan; violence was the current major means to maintain stability on the train.

Before Xiaoba and other core members reached the Tier One stage, Su Huan absolutely couldn’t allow over a thousand Evolvers to emerge behind.

The core members formed the head - the crew, construction team, and tactical squad formed the middle - and the other passengers formed the rear. This three-tier structure was well-thought-out by Su Huan, layer upon layer, without short-term changes.

Even if changes were necessary, it would only occur after the gaps among different levels stabilized.

Before stability, Su Huan preferred to leave the thousand rear passengers unattended, regardless of whether they formed new groups or ended up mutually destructive.

Whenever necessary, he only needed to plow the ground once thoroughly.

Even now, he preferred to have Lao San and others work harder rather than drawing passengers from the back to form a train guard unit.

Because it would lead to a large number of people ”leapfrogging,” making the tactical squad’s role awkward.

Su Huan wanted to sustain the delicate balance within.

He could easily transform ordinary passengers from ”0” to ”1” and forcefully take tactical squads and crew from ”1” to ”2,” but he couldn’t make Xiaoba and others shift from ”2” to ”3.” So, until Xiaoba and others underwent a qualitative change, passengers would be firmly repressed behind.

Even if over a thousand Evolvers emerged, advancing the train as a whole, he wouldn’t do it.

This was hierarchy, even more significant than the whole.

So, no matter how anxious the rear passengers were, it was useless, leaving them only to sulk internally.

And, of course, they could just be anxious to die; Su Huan wouldn’t intervene.