Armed Train in the Apocalypse

Completely ignoring the light machine gun behind him.

The muzzle slightly jittered, and 7.62mm armor-piercing bullets streamed out, interspersed with the crisp sound characteristic of handguns amidst the dense tat-tat-tat noise.

In just a few breaths, the newly changed ammo belt of the light machine gun was once again spent.

The assault rifles on the two mechanical arms fired simultaneously.

He Jie couldn’t help but touch his pocket, took out a cigarette and lit it. Through the cold blue smoke, he could see the mongoose starting to shoot with the rifle.

The tactical movements were very standard; the skills he taught had been thoroughly mastered by her, and even she was faster in the rapid reload and fire with a handgun.

The mongoose is a ”Defender”, said to be a rare type of mutation evolution according to the train conductor.

Its characteristic is that part of the body’s organs become beast-like. Essentially, it’s not much different from those of us who go with firearms, just a different evolutionary path.

During training, he found that the mongoose’s reflexes were sharper, and her combat movements were closer to animal instincts.

Like when she falls from a high place, she can instinctively adjust her body posture.

However, other ”Defenders”, without high-altitude jumping experience, their high-speed neural responses only made them more flustered, leading to incorrect actions.

This difference is only in their reaction to the environment.

In combat, both are similar; ordinary ”Defenders” have combat instincts, just their maneuvers aren’t as crafty as the mongoose’s.

But what truly caught He Jie’s eye was the mongoose’s never-give-up spirit.

When evolution brings everyone’s physical qualities to the same starting line, what determines superiority is not gender but strong will.

Under his pressure, the mongoose progressed rapidly, ranking in the top three among the two hundred members of the Armed Corps.

And in firearms shooting, she ranks first!

Even surpassing most elite soldiers in the combat team.

This was the reason for sending her into the fray.

”Ka-ka—”

He Jie’s ears twitched; this was the sound of an empty magazine.

He pressed the timer in his hand.

Yu Jing on the left had already exhausted two hundred rounds of ammo belt, one hundred and sixty rifle rounds, and ninety pistol rounds.

Meanwhile, on the mongoose’s side, only one-third of the rounds had been used.

In terms of fire suppression, the outcome was clear at a glance.

”What about the hit rate?”

He Jie shouted.

The soldiers in front emerged from both sides, took a glance, and shouted loudly, ”All hit the target!”

He Jie’s eyes lit up, and he said to the approaching train conductor, ”Conductor, can we get a hundred sets of this exoskeleton for our corps?”

Su Huan’s long narrowed eyes held a devilish charm, and the words turned into a smile, ”How many points do you have?”

He Jie opened his mouth and laughed awkwardly, ”Borrow! Loan me a hundred sets first.”

”Get lost!” Su Huan cursed at him, raised his head to look at Yu Jing, who was caressing the handgun, and smiled, ”What’s the production of this exoskeleton; can I get two hundred sets first?”

Yu Jing said speechlessly, ”There are only twenty units of the enhanced exoskeleton, and once they’re used up, they need to be redeveloped—this isn’t something that can be done in a day or two.”

”Oh, I see.”

Su Huan understood.

”By the way, why doesn’t this exoskeleton have armor? Many mechanical components are exposed...”

He Jie asked curiously.

Yu Jing sighed at the two idiots.

”This is an engineer exoskeleton used for equipment maintenance and mechanical upkeep. The firepower suppression displayed earlier is just an auxiliary function; its main role isn’t combat.”

”After all, the ’Maker’s’ physique isn’t as robust as your ’Defenders’. With this thing, transport and repairs become much easier, avoiding bothering Xiaoba with everything.”

Su Huan understood the principle of sharpening one’s tools before using them effectively.

The initial advantage of the armed train was from his prophetic edge in the apocalypse. For continued superiority, Yu Jing and the others had to convert this prophetic advantage into tangible materials and research achievements.

The real barrier between major forces and Wilderness Scavengers isn’t just one or two high-level Evolvers.

It’s a complete and comprehensive research and manufacturing system.

So even if it’s the same Tier One Evolver, a major force’s team can crush Wilderness Evolvers.

The root of this lies in these details.

Energy, vehicles, weapons, medical services, advancement systems, exchange systems, etc.

Even if a mission fails, a major force’s team would just slink back to headquarters, getting demoted and scolded, but at least they’d survive.

But if Wilderness Evolvers fail, it costs them their lives.

There’s essentially no retreat for them.

Of course, the Steel Council is an exception; they were hit hard by Su Huan when they were just starting. Not only did he crush their armed forces, but he also led a massive horde of Corpse Tide to obliterate their headquarters, sweeping away their researchers and equipment.

This essentially extinguished their future potential.

If he had managed to achieve their new city plan and developed smoothly for a few more years, losing a couple more battles wouldn’t have left them so miserable.

The armed train is now akin to the Steel Council before the new city plan.

It has potential and a bit of foundation, a dimensional reduction attack against ordinary survivors.

As long as they develop steadily, the future world will surely have a place for the armed train!

After concluding this small episode of exoskeleton testing, it was time for the second activity of the day, the Armed Corps inspection.

Previously, it was only screening through new recruits who hadn’t passed training. Now that the corps has formed, there needs to be some sense of ceremony.

Coincidentally, it was a cloudy day today, with just slight drizzles, so the entire Armed Corps gathered on the middle deck.

The armed train consists of two levels, as tall as the locomotive, about 7.6 meters in height.

After removing the height from the ground to the bottom of the train, as well as space reserved for pipes, wiring, and interlayers, each level has an average height of three meters.

The ironwood deck connecting the two trains in the middle has an internal height of only five meters.

The top level is slightly lower than the side trains, creating a wider platform.

The armed train swiftly glided at 120km/h. Besides the unique fishy and rusty smell of acid rain, there was also a fierce wind that made it impossible to open one’s eyes. An ordinary person would fall off without grabbing onto something.

Yet five hundred soldiers stood rooted in the center of the deck like steel nails.

Even Xiaoba managed to stand up with the help of the exoskeleton.

Raindrops slid down the water-repellent coating of their sand-colored combat uniforms, pooling around the edges of their combat boots into a layer of water, which the wind then blew off the deck.

Their eyes were all fixed on the figure at the forefront.

Su Huan stood, hands in pockets, in front of everyone, the hem of his black shirt flapping loudly in the wind.

Yu Yue’s freshly groomed long hair was tossed by the strong wind, but the black hair’s tips were tied with a red ribbon. No matter how her hair danced wildly, the overall shape remained intact.

Like tying a red ribbon to the tail of a hungry wolf, taming its wildness with an unexplainable cuteness.

The red ribbon and the hem formed the only bright embellishments in this world.