Armed Train in the Apocalypse

Zhong You cast a deep glance at the back of Su Huan and quickly caught up.

As a Tier Two ”Manipulator,” it was a bit difficult to jump twenty meters on the spot, but a sprint was still possible.

The three of them quickly passed through the zombie horde and reached the edge of Weinan District.

This place was tricky; a bit northwards would mean crossing the river into the city, going south would hit the frontline of the war outbreak.

Three hundred meters away stood a large shopping mall. Beneath their feet was the tallest building nearby, an office building over twenty stories high, sealed externally with a glass curtain wall, making it hard to count the exact number of floors.

Just as they landed on the rooftop, an electronic voice sounded on the roof.

”You let down Cao Yong.”

Upon hearing this voice, Zhong You’s body suddenly stiffened, his pale skin visibly reddened, and his eyes filled with blood streaks.

”I’ll kill you!”

Su Huan looked at Yu Yue in his arms, who flipped over and leaped down, feeling around in the corner to find an electronic device. The thing was quite rudimentary, its main parts being a large loudspeaker and a battery. There were Pan-energy fluctuations inside, likely from a Pan-energy Crystal.

Su Huan took it, ”Hello, is this Director No. 1?”

The loudspeaker was silent for a moment. Just as Su Huan thought it didn’t have voice reception, Director No. 1’s response came through.

”How was the experience of advancing to Tier Three?”

Su Huan squinted his eyes, ”Great, we’re here for no other reason, just to thank you for the gift last night. Today I plan to return the favor.”

After saying that, he crushed the small device. After sweeping his senses and finding no other Pan-energy fluctuations around, he turned and asked,

”Are you sure he didn’t cross the river?”

”I can only confirm he’s in a few nearby blocks, not his precise location, with more than three Tier Two Evolvers with him.” Zhong You’s voice was icy, yet he restrained himself.

”I don’t have search abilities, and he will definitely isolate sound; three of us, how do we find his exact location?”

Su Huan glanced at the zombie horde below, shaking his head, ”No need for that much trouble.”

”Where is it quietest, where are the fewest zombies?”

Yu Yue thought for a moment, pointing out five locations, not far apart, all within a kilometer.

”Then let’s not waste time.”

Su Huan extended his right hand and snapped his fingers under the puzzled gazes of the other two.

Under the cover of the shirt, peculiar patterns reappeared. The energy previously suppressed in his body slowly started moving along the energy circulation path shaped during Tier Two. The energy surged faster, the path more intricate, and amidst this movement, the Pan-energy in the air seemingly frantically rushed into him.

Then it got driven by the Pan-energy within, instantly breaking through the blockade left by the Lady of the House, injected into the most intricate pattern, the heart, which was the ”Energy Storage Core.”

Under Zhong You’s grave gaze, three seconds slowly passed, but nothing happened...

While Su Huan had already taken Yu Yue and turned to run.

Although Zhong You was puzzled, he also followed suit, and just several dozen meters after running out, a rumbling vibration sounded from underground, and he turned back abruptly.

The entire block seemed to be lifted by the back of a giant beast, with concrete and steel breaking and rolling like a fragile eggshell. The asphalt road twisted into waves, cars thrown into the air like toys, disintegrating amidst blazing whites, buildings began to collapse in succession.

Fire dragons burst out of the crevices, licking the glass curtain walls of tall buildings, painting millions of glass panes blood red.

An impact wave swept through like a transparent giant wall, and wherever it passed, the office building’s glass curtain wall peeled off in sheets, turning into a rain of sharp diamonds.

The roof of the shopping center three hundred meters away was lifted in one piece, its steel frame snapped like dry twigs, the smiling face of a star on the billboard twisted into a scream in the flames.

This horrifying explosion undoubtedly had a blast radius exceeding a kilometer!

”Is this even human?!”

The icy expression on Zhong You’s face cracked inch by inch. He knew Su Huan had become Tier Three and had witnessed that battle from the shadows. But that explosion was stopped by the Lady of the House, only affecting a mere hundred-meter radius, barely toppling a few surrounding buildings.

Those in the know would see it as an Evolutionary Ability, yet those who don’t might think a Little Boy bomb had been thrown down!

”Is Tier Three really that much stronger than Tier Two?”

”If I had reached Tier Two, Uncle Yong probably wouldn’t have...”

A trace of gloom appeared on Zhong You’s shocked face.

...

Inside the underground laboratory.

The red alarm blared crazily, illuminating a face so calm it lacked any trace of humanity.

No. 1 sat naked on a chair, various data lines connecting him with it. In front of him was a giant monitor, watching the screens black out one after another. Data streams flashed furiously in his eyes and were then transmitted out through the chair’s sending device.

The lab was a temporary setup with very low fortitude, only basic defensive measures done.

It naturally couldn’t withstand such an explosion.

Walls cracked with massive openings, white light shooting through the fissures, destroying everything inside the room.

Sitting on the chair, No. 1, like a melting candle, had most of his body, including the head, vanish instantly, exposing various intricate mechanical and electronic components.

The transmission indicator light on the chair completely ceased functioning at this moment.

Earth surged in, and the entire lab was physically obliterated.

...

Su Huan, in full sprint, halted, standing on a building on the edge of the explosion zone, admiring his work.

Although its power didn’t match a nuclear bomb, or even an atomic bomb, Su Huan was quite satisfied with the lethality.

Yet this wasn’t the most significant release extent.

The further away, the harder it was to trigger this ”Fusion,” like squeezing two repelling magnets; the farther apart, the harder to force together; conversely, the closer, the easier to trigger, and the easiest place to trigger—was within the body.

This was the true meaning of the ”Fusion Furnace.”

The ”Energy Storage Core” was his heart, the ”Circulating Vortex” was within his body, and he himself was the ”Fusion Furnace”!

This was what a ”Power Supplier” relied on!

It’s certainly not some damn power bank.

Su Huan looked down, suddenly noticing Yu Yue’s pale face, ”What’s wrong with you?”

Supporting herself on his chest, Yu Yue left her ear slightly away, hesitantly eying Su Huan’s increasingly eerie face, ”The sound from your body... kind of scares me.”

Su Huan glanced at his wrist, the number there had stayed fixed at ”0000,” either the battle damaged it, or it exceeded its limit.

In any case, it had malfunctioned.

However, currently, his magnetic field could even affect Tier One Yu Yue, which was indeed a problem.

Wherever he went, there would be mass panic.

Such instinctual fear couldn’t easily be overcome.

Zhong You caught up, covered in a thin water shield, his tone complex, ”I didn’t expect the gap between Tier Three and Tier Two to be so large.”

Su Huan, recalling some past life information, remarked, ”Tier Three is a threshold, the limit a human can reach.”

Zhong You’s mouth twitched, looking at the city behind like it had been bombed, struggling to suppress his urge to make a snarky comment.

”Aside from looking like human, what else resembles one?”

”Could it be that only you’re a bit special?”

Zhong You asked.

”The transaction is already completed; this is another cost.”

Su Huan stated blandly.

Zhong You took a deep breath, suppressing his curiosity and desire for power, and kept silent.

Su Huan continued, ”We can strike a new deal.”

Zhong You’s eyes lit up, ”What do you mean?”

”You can tell me where the Black Kite headquarters is.”

Zhong You sighed, shaking his head, ”If I knew, you wouldn’t have to ask. The thing is, I don’t know either. We usually enter different branches, and only under exceptional circumstances are we perceptually blinded and sent to the headquarters. Perhaps Shu Wei by your side might know.”

Su Huan let out a regretful ”tsk,” realizing he should’ve asked Mr. Shu more.

As Director No. 3, he could definitely know.

Then, just as Zhong You was about to turn, Su Huan asked, ”Want to join the Armed Train?”

(Really sorry, ate some local snacks yesterday, I said, ”It’s sour,” the old man said, ”It’s characteristic,” I was skeptical, had a few more bites, yeah, it was sour. Suddenly my stomach hurt for over two hours tonight, not sharp pain, but persistent, just eased up by early morning.)