Armed Train in the Apocalypse

Su Huan looked at the towering mountain peaks in the distance, which were now lush and green, as the mutant plants seemed to have grown a whole circle larger.

”Bring along the communication device improved by Professor Ma later, and then go up the mountain to find a Crown Pear tree.”

”Pear tree?” He Jie was momentarily confused.

He had just learned about the specific mission.

Traveling such a distance and mobilizing so many people just to find a pear tree?

”It’s a Crown Pear tree,” Su Huan corrected seriously.

He Jie scratched his head, ”In such a big mountain, which one exactly?”

”I don’t know, but it should be the biggest one, like over twenty meters high now...”

Su Huan wasn’t quite sure either.

In his past life, he only saw it from a distance at the periphery. A hundred-meter-tall giant tree was quite striking, but that was four years after the apocalypse; this is just the third month. He’s not sure what that Crown Pear tree looks like now.

He Jie clicked his tongue, ”What if we can’t find it?”

Su Huan raised his eyebrows, a faint blood-red appeared in his black eyes, and he spoke gently, ”We will find it.”

He Jie could tell that Su Huan’s attitude towards this was even more serious than when facing the great battle with the Steel Council.

He trembled internally and didn’t ask why they needed to find that pear tree.

Just lit up a cigarette against the wind and rain, smoked it to the end, and said, ”You’re the train conductor, you call the shots!”

...

Half an hour later, the train abandoned the tracks and switched to track driving.

After all, Wangjiang Peak belonged to the scenic area, without direct tracks leading to it.

Another half an hour later, the armed train arrived at the foot of the mountain. The traces of humanity were thoroughly buried under layers of scarlet vines, and the facilities built around the scenic spot of Wangjiang Peak were even more severely eroded than the inner city buildings.

Most were collapsed and buried, like tombs of human civilization.

The boundary stone at the entrance of the scenic area, which had the three big characters ”Wangjiang Peak” emblazoned on it, was submerged by a kind of blue-purple wildflower. This was as far as the armed train could advance.

Going further, although some concrete roads remained, they were sloped; the train simply couldn’t climb them.

Even if it could, it would be pointless, as the mountain was steep and only had human-carved bluestone steps. Even if the train entered the scenic area, it would remain at the foot of the mountain.

The Armed Corps, led by He Jie, had already begun their ascent.

Xiaoba stayed behind, while Lin Jin followed them up the mountain.

Because there’s no room for Xiaoba to exert his abilities on the mountain.

As soon as they landed, He Jie demonstrated his highly aggressive combat style. Several flames spewed out, creating a path up the mountain amidst the twisting and screaming of the vines.

Watching the Corps members disappear into the mountain, Su Huan turned back and re-entered the train.

He was almost unable to suppress his advancement speed.

Due to the ”Circulating Vortex,” the pan-energy flowed within him, not only growing stronger but also slowly attracting nearby energy.

Constantly supplementing his internal ”Energy Storage Core,” expanding its reserves.

Previously, he tested the train and exhausted the energy in just two attempts. Even today, when he released pan-energy to intimidate soldiers, it was to restrain energy growth.

Now, with his evolution speed suppressed at the peak of Tier One, he could live for about another year.

He had a premonition that if he allowed himself to advance to Tier Two, the more powerful force would devour his life force even faster.

He might not even last three months.

The armed train had stopped, but that didn’t mean those on board could rest.

While the Armed Corps fought on the mountain, the crew below worked overtime and went all out.

Su Huan, dealing with train affairs in the carriage, could hear the gunfire and beastly howls from the mountain.

The chaotic noises persisted until nightfall.

He Jie and the others hadn’t returned.

Pang Tu came back carrying a box of pears, which fell onto the floor, and the acid rain wet the carpet of carriage No. 1.

”Where’s He Jie?”

Su Huan felt things weren’t so simple and stepped forward to open the box.

One by one, the golden pears appeared before him, emitting strong pan-energy fluctuations.

But...

The effect was much weaker than he expected!

Pang Tu took a breath and said, ”Major General He is still on the mountain; he said the target wasn’t found and asked me to bring these back to see if they’re the ones.”

Su Huan picked up a pear and examined it for a moment before taking a bite.

The sweet juice burst in his mouth.

This pear was even sweeter than before the apocalypse, with a crucial hint of energy moving down his throat, swirling into his stomach, and spreading throughout his limbs, even beyond the perception of pan-energy.

Su Huan’s expression shifted, and he picked up another pear to devour.

It took an entire box of pears before he sensed a slight increase in his life force.

”Any more?”

Su Huan’s eyes gleamed.

Pang Tu instinctively swallowed; these pears were too tempting, especially with the conductor devouring them hungrily, clearly indicating they were good stuff.

”Yes, there are many pear trees on the mountain, but they’re hard to pick due to the many mutant beasts and plants around. It took half a day to gather one box.”

Su Huan calmed himself, looked at the darkening sky outside, and pondered, ”Gather one more box and then retreat; continue tomorrow!”

”Understood!”

That night, He Jie brought back two more boxes of pears.

Besides giving a small portion to Director Xu and Wan Xing for experiments, the rest were all devoured by Su Huan.

On the following misty, drizzly morning, thick fog enveloped the entire Wangjiang Peak.

Taking advantage of the mild acid rain, He Jie led the team up the mountain again.

With the experience from the previous day, they managed to bring down three boxes of pears by noon, and even two pear trees were dug out.

The pear trees weren’t tall, only about six meters high, with a canopy diameter of four meters, similar to traditional autumn pears.

Su Huan took one look and knew they weren’t the Crown Pear tree he sought.

He tossed them to Huang Sea, who accepted them like treasures.

Whether it’s the Crown Pear tree they were looking for, Su Huan wasn’t sure either; the last life’s plan was called the ”Crown Pear Plan,” and a tree over a hundred meters tall, even if it’s a Crown Pear tree, couldn’t be recognized now.

Later in the afternoon, He Jie sent back a message.

The entire Wangjiang Peak had been searched, and no exceptionally tall pear tree was found.

Not even any particularly unusual fruits.

The air pressure in the dining car suddenly dropped, and Yu Yue, busy with cooking, quietly gathered the sounds around herself.

Standing behind Su Huan, Hu Shuo, holding a file, was silent like a cicada in cold weather, slightly bent over, his face increasingly respectful.

Su Huan lightly tapped the file in hand with his index finger. It contained data collected from the armed train during this period, analyzed by the factory director, Vice President Deng, and other experts before being handed to him.

”Proceed with improvements according to their predicted outcomes. As for... Have He Jie and the others come back first.”

”Understood.”

Hu Shuo responded respectfully.

Soon, He Jie on the mountain received the conductor’s order, gathered the team, and began to descend.

As if fulfilling an age-old saying, descending felt harder than climbing.

Mountain rain was approaching, and it felt heavy on the heart.

...

All the upper echelons gathered in the dining car, including the crew chiefs, except for the Armed Corps.

Su Huan openly informed everyone about the existence of the Crown Pear, especially highlighting its effect on replenishing life force.

After two days of searching, everyone vaguely guessed Su Huan’s goal.

Director Xu had the biggest reaction upon hearing the news, muttering, ”Life force...”

Professor Ma looked at Director Xu and asked, ”What’s the matter?”

Director Xu lifted his head with a sudden realization, excitement in his voice, ”I finally understand the barrier of evolution!”

Everyone turned to look at the meticulously dressed old man.

Director Xu gathered his thoughts and said, ”Before, we tried using a large number of Pan-energy Crystals to accumulate for high-tier Evolvers, also spending significant fundamental agents to enhance that person’s basic attributes, but in the end, he still died. It wasn’t genetic collapse; it was an abrupt, unannounced death!”

Su Huan’s eyes flickered.

He had considered this problem before. In the early days, the major forces had guns and cannons, and could easily acquire a large number of Pan-energy Crystals to build a high-tier Evolver.

But in reality, even among the major forces, high-tier Evolvers were very rare.

(4k, kept the promise)