Armed Train in the Apocalypse

That night, two small gangs were visited by Mountain Goat.

They received a warm reception from the gangs, making it difficult for the surrounding residents to sleep.

However, it didn’t cause much panic. For the seasoned Scavengers who had endured the apocalypse, the day when gangs stopped fighting, Mutant Beasts didn’t lurk in corners, and leapers didn’t fall from the sky, that would be the real cause for Fear.

By the next day, there were over two hundred less-than-agile live targets in the new recruit camp.

The train leader just glanced at the losses and handed the detailed report to Shu Wei.

Getting presumptuous without understanding the train leader’s preferences by forcing women on him.

It can only be said to be a courtship of death.

The impact of the whole event was confined to a very small range, but news that the train leader had gained a goddaughter soon spread throughout the train.

But—

Everything remained normal.

Su Han naturally blended into the train, just like a drop of water into the ocean.

Her current job was to help Yu Yue handle ingredients in the dining car.

The appetite of an Evolver is much larger than that of ordinary people. Even just taking care of Su Huan and occasional meeting banquets, Yu Yue had to handle a massive amount of ingredients every day.

However, after Su Huan advanced to Tier Three, it seemed like his body obtained some sort of energy substitute, resulting in a reduced appetite rather than an increase, with three meals a day only to satisfy the taste buds.

This obedient and sensible girl earned all of Yu Yue’s affection.

No wonder, there were just too few normal people on the train.

The time quickly moved to the end of August. Eight thousand new recruits were grouped, and the zombies congesting the north of Iron Wall thinned significantly.

It is worth mentioning that the first school since the apocalypse, Zhijin Armed Academy, officially started classes.

In Zhijin, all children under ten were required to enroll, regardless of whether they had parents or not. The school provided meals and accommodation and offered age-appropriate jobs.

Working privately, skipping school would lead to execution, as would employing children under ten, hiding their age to work, obstructing enrollment—but poor academic performance was not an issue.

In short, Zhijin had no laws; the train leader’s will was the Truth.

There was no punishment for violating the Truth, only death penalty or execution by firing squad.

Zhou Qing was somewhat unsettled by these harsh methods but was soon overwhelmed by a flood of children.

By the end of August, Zhijin’s permanent population reached 120,000, but children under ten only accounted for 2%, just over two thousand. Subtracting those with parents, those still in infancy unable to walk or talk, there were just over 1,400.

After all, with meals and accommodation covered, any parent with normal reasoning would want to send their children.

Even after a visit from Mountain Goat, a few holdouts chose to support the new policy.

Those still stubborn were personally invited by He Jie to tour the firing range of the new recruit camp.

With sufficient support from the Armed Corps, Zhou Qing gathered over a hundred teachers from all academic levels, facilitating a successful school opening.

The school was directly under the municipal hall’s administration, with it providing initial support, transitioning to self-sufficiency later on.

This transition period was set at one month, aligning with the growth scale of coarse-grained grass being able to support the consumption of all staff and students.

[Coarse-grained Grass] had a very short growth cycle of just one week, but the large consumption of regional Pan Energy and soil fertility required suitable planting of [Fertilized Heart of the Earth] and corpse fertilizers, while the train’s method of directly embedding Pan-energy Crystals to expedite maturity was deemed overly extravagant for a school.

Aside from teaching pre-apocalypse knowledge, the rest of the time at school was spent learning about evolution.

Pan-energy cognition, Basic Attributes, Life Force, skill matching, career system, material collection, mechanical manufacturing, firearm use, computer skills, wilderness survival, Mutant Beast identification, combat...

What they needed to learn not only didn’t decrease but, with the changing environment, increased in quantity and density.

”How to gain power” would become their lifelong research topic.

These children under the age of ten might not have much impact now, but they are seeds planted by the train leader for the world ten, twenty years down the line.

Perhaps calling it ”hope” is more fitting.

...

By mid-September, Professor Ma’s miniaturized communication device was successfully developed, reduced to the size of a smartphone. However, its communication range was limited, comparable to a civilian license-free walkie-talkie, allowing free conversation within 3 kilometers, but with extremely poor stability. A Tier Three strongman like Su Huan wouldn’t necessarily be able to intercept communications, but could definitely disrupt them.

If the ”Energy Amplifier” obtained at Tide Watching Island were activated, even within ten kilometers, Su Huan couldn’t disrupt it.

Only Evolvers specializing in Pan-energy manipulation could intercept it.

The breakthrough in communication technology accelerated the progress of two ongoing projects, especially the [Hive] full-domain micro-unmanned combat platform.

As a project long in preparation, the biggest challenge wasn’t the platform or the drones, but communication.

To achieve real scouting and combat effects for the ”Hive,” the drones must be free from the tether of control lines.

Because of Pan Energy’s involvement, all basic logic regarding communication had to be rewritten, which was the most frustrating part. Fortunately, the breakthrough in communication technology gave everyone hope.

Design projects that were previously almost stagnant rapidly improved over the next ten days.

All members transferred into Professor Ma’s electronics laboratory, aiming to further miniaturize the communication device.

Though the current communication device could already do many things, like aiding Yu Jing’s Power Armor research, the [Guardian-2] model finally freed itself from reliance on Black Kite by equipping its own train communication device, allowing Power Armor users to rely on built-in communication for tactical arrangements amid chaotic battlefields.