Armed Train in the Apocalypse

Chapter 458: Chapter 292: Pingqiao Village (Part 2)

Su Huan deployed ”Pan Energy Perception,” instantly covering this small, modernized village.

He bypassed those with Tier One or lower energy, quickly locking onto a presence in a nearby two-story house, raised his handgun, and pointed in that direction.

Everyone immediately understood, and followed the train conductor towards the house.

The equipment for this test mainly consisted of three items: two guns and one bulletproof vest.

Su Huan held the handgun freshly crafted by the Boss, a silver matte piece that resembled a Desert Eagle at first glance, but with sharper, cleaner lines, named ”Ming Lion” to align with the Black Lion naming system.

The name symbolizes a bright sound.

It uses custom handgun rounds with power comparable to a rifle.

The other is called Battle Lion, an assault rifle modeled after an Iron Curtain.

The other parameters remain unchanged, except for bullet caliber, which increases its firing power.

Given the current warfare intensity of the armored train, standard assault rifles can no longer keep up, and handguns have become purely decorative. Before Pan Energy weapons become fully widespread, upgrading high-power firearms is imperative.

The bulletproof vest is made from previous Sand Armor leather, undergoing war testing today.

Dividing into combat groups and Armed Corps is to observe the equipment’s impact on various operations.

The isolation zone swiftly envelops the two-story building ahead.

Before the apocalypse, household conditions in the small building were affluent, with entire outer walls tiled in ceramics; despite being battered by wind and sand, they hadn’t peeled. However, all windows on the first floor were shattered; only the front double anti-theft door remained intact.

Su Huan marched straight to the anti-theft door.

Lao San and Qu Hang exchanged glances, led the combat group past the train conductor, tossed several grenades inside the window, and charged in as the explosion blew open the anti-theft door.

Violent gunfire and terrifying screams immediately erupted inside.

Qu Hang wielded his sniper rifle, calmly issuing orders.

”The target is wounded; Mongoose, escort the pilot and medic to circle around the back and block escape routes. Xiaoba, frontal assault.”

”Yes!”

Almost instantly, Mongoose sprang out, not circling around from the side but leaping onto the second-floor balcony, flipping over the roof, while the other two circled left and right.

This time, Xiaoba charged directly at the building’s main entrance without a wheelchair.

More chilling wails emerged from inside the room.

When the gunfire ceased, Su Huan ascended the steps outside the door.

Excluding the train conductor and accompanying personnel who didn’t engage, the combat group plus Armed Corps comprised six Tier Ones, not to mention killing a Tier One; even a Tier One zombie horde would be worth confronting.

Just as he was about to enter, Su Huan paused, glanced at the rolling sandstorm, having just sensed a Tier One Pan Energy fluctuation passing by, reminiscent of something passing from the train head.

Its size and energy intensity exceeded that of humans, likely some sort of Evolution Beast.

The aura was weak, wounded.

Su Huan’s curious gaze shifted back inside the room.

Who’s the poor wretch in there?

...

Outside Pingqiao Village, a small convoy burst forth from the sandstorm.

The convoy was far inferior to Li Xinlong’s; only two off-road vehicles coated with dust approached, and the original paint was barely discernible.

Sweating profusely, the driver said, ”Boss, the storm is too severe; I’ve been driving blind. At this rate, we might flip the car!”

”Shut up!” The stout man in the passenger seat, holding a handgun, had a gloomy expression, staring fixatedly at Pingqiao Village ahead, ”Big Goose, check where we are?”

A long-necked man in the rear crawled between two seats, glanced for ages without discerning any shapes, opened the sunroof, peeked out to survey, then quickly ducked back in, saying apprehensively, ”Pingqiao Village! How did we end up here?”

Upon hearing this name, both the driver and the others in the back paled.

The stout man smashed the car door and cursed, ”Damn it, this beast! It escaped with injuries; had I known, I wouldn’t have saved those bullets, just shot it dead to avoid all this trouble.”

Big Goose shook his head, sand cascading down.

The stout man gave him a backhanded slap, ”Stop shaking your dog head around, it’s full of sand; clean up the car tonight.”

Big Goose cradled his head and groaned.

The driver asked, ”This is Hu Tieche’s territory; should we proceed?”

The stout man’s eyes gleamed fiercely, ”Enter—why not? That’s an injured Evolution Beast; killing it means we can eat for a month, exchange the resources at Xiaohe Black Market, and acquire some good gear, then we won’t need to fear Li Xinlong, that bastard, anymore.”

”Even if Optimus Prime lives here, I’d still enter!”

The others understood the Boss was furious and stopped pleading.

”Understood, go beat Hu Tieche; then we can claim Dragon Rider took food from a big convoy.”

”Boss, you’re awesome!”

”Damn him!”

Accompanied by the roaring engines, the off-road vehicles rumbled into Pingqiao Village.

Due to differing angles and the heavy sandstorm, none noticed the thousand-meter-long armored train on the other side.

...

The first floor of the small building was a mess, with a large hole in the wall mended with a piece of metal.

Black-clad combat group soldiers were vigilantly eyeing the window exterior.

The flooring was crushed beneath their feet, while a jet-black Tier One Slaughterer lay in the center, its head hidden in its chest cavity, arms bound in a rope with a massive sledgehammer.

Truly the unlucky wretch.

However, there was another misfortunate sitting nearby after this battle.

Lao San’s sole unprotected arm was injured, and the medic in Qu Hang’s team was treating his wounds.

The medic formerly belonged to the combat group but was later transferred to the Armed Corps, promoted to Tier One.

Qu Hang disliked complications, so he gave simple codenames based on combat duties for the two.

Listening to Lao San’s painful moans, Su Huan picked up the photo frame on the corner cabinet, the room’s sole intact piece of furniture.

In the picture was a young couple, with average looks, photographed by a small river.

Likely the river that Xiaohe City was named after.

They didn’t see it coming; it’s likely dried up now.

According to the principle of Slaughterers pursuing their obsessions, one of the people in the photo would probably be the subject; behind it could be a touching or mundane story.

Unfortunately, Su Huan had no interest in finding out.

After the apocalypse, such stories will be abundant.

Endless and unceasing.

Placing the photo frame on the fallen Slaughterer’s body, he coldly said, ”Extract the crystals and burn it.”

The nearby medic paused momentarily, refraining from preparing materials.

Everyone swiftly withdrew.

With the ensuing blaze, untold stories disappeared within the flames.

Su Huan walked along the village roads; thanks to the economic growth, even rural roads in Donghuang were constructed exceptionally smooth, unable to sustain sand atop, accumulating instead at the wall base, squeezed out by tenacious mutant plants.

Su Huan headed to the Pan Energy fluctuation’s location.

Qu Hang’s team maneuvered around both sides, eliminating potential threats.

Nonetheless, Pingqiao Village was clean, with minimal ordinary zombies, only a few entry-level Evolution Beasts.

Su Huan cocked the gun, casually pulled the trigger at his side.

Bright flames blossomed at the muzzle, akin to a lion’s resounding roar.

The head of a starving wild dog exploded like a blooming rose.

Qu Hang behind furrowed his brows, stepped a few paces forward, filling in a missed defensive line.

Perhaps the Ming Lion’s resonant gunfire deterred the other Evolution Beasts.

No threats were encountered for a while afterwards.

Mongoose at the front abruptly crouched on the rooftop, his pair of clear golden eyes fixed intensely on the village’s opposite end.

”There’s movement.”

Qu Hang ascended to the high ground, aimed at the disturbed wind node, decisively fired, the bullet vanishing into the swirling sandstorm, echoing silence.

”Just a few small fry. If they’re living, bring them back; otherwise, kill them all.”

Su Huan’s calm voice faded within a flat house.

Mongoose glanced at Qu Hang.

The latter pressed his palm forward.

Mongoose instantly disappeared into the wind.

Xiaoba followed closely behind on the ground.