Armed Train in the Apocalypse

”September 17th, the wind suddenly picks up.”

”An ability is not a gift, but a whip urging us to evolve.”

The factory manager died a natural death, but it was not so natural after all.

The awakening of the ability further consumed what little Life Force he had, and the remaining time was not enough for him to advance to Tier One.

When the manager got on board, he was already quite old, but there weren’t enough people everywhere on the train, so the old man had to step up for the management position.

In a recent meeting, Su Huan could clearly feel the manager’s declining Life Force.

So he transferred the manager’s work to Zhou Qing and Wang Duoyu.

The manager’s funeral was very quiet, without a memorial hall, without relatives, and without any of the ceremonies a funeral should have to show mourning.

By the time Su Huan arrived, Lin Jin’s fire had already spread over the old man’s tranquil face.

Qu Hang lifted his hand slightly, and the burning ashes were swept up by the gusts, mingling with the wind and sand, flying to wherever they wished.

Professor Ma sighed lightly, ”How did it end so suddenly...”

Su Huan remained calm and composed.

This was the second member Zhijin had lost.

The previous one was Old Liu.

Death isn’t a farewell that can hold a grand public send-off.

Yu Yue stared fixedly at the ashes gradually dissipating into the sky, her eyes moist, pondering something. But when she lowered her gaze, she saw Vice President Deng rummaging through the blackened soil with a stick, but unfortunately Lin Jin’s fire burned too thoroughly. The old man didn’t find what he wanted and muttered to himself.

”What are you looking for?”

Su Huan asked casually.

Vice President Deng mumbled, ”The old guy told me he had once undergone a surgery, with a steel pin implanted in his leg bone. He was afraid his children would squander it, so he made one gold, thinking of passing it on to his child after his death. But who knows where his son has gone. I might as well keep it for him in case I have a son in the future...”

”To continue the manager’s bloodline?”

Yu Yue asked, her eyes moist.

”No way!” Vice President Deng refused outright, righteous and assured, ”My son must bear the Deng surname; at most, I’ll give him two extra candies with the gold.”

Yu Yue: ”...”

Everyone: ”...”

Su Huan turned and left, and the others silently followed, leaving Vice President Deng alone squatting there with a small stick, sketching and muttering complaints.

”You clearly promised back then, the manager let me there, sat for over a decade, and the factory’s gone now...”

”My hair’s turned white waiting.”

”What was the point of hoarding so much money, just to suddenly pass?”

”Not even leaving me a memento.”

Vice President Deng’s voice abruptly halted, suddenly spotting a photograph in front of him, with ink still fresh.

The photo clearly taken inside the train, the outside was dark, probably early morning with little dust, the top of the train still lit with dim emergency lights. The manager wore a gray sweater, sitting by the window, slightly turned toward the lens, possibly aware of the photo being taken, seemingly a bit stiff, yet a gentle smile on his lips.

Tears splattered o the photo.

”This was taken by the old manager a few days ago. He said if you cry too hideously, forget it, but if you’re too happy, take a look.”

Xiaozhao handed over the photo, quietly leaving, giving space to the old friends.

After a while, a hoarse thank you emerged from behind, but the voice was so faint, quickly drowned in the wind.

...

Ever since the factory manager’s death, time seemed to hit fast-forward, swiftly arriving at early October.

Apart from Zhijin and the train’s construction progress, external news also gradually flowed into Zhijin.

Half a month ago, the Genetic Primordial of Deep Blue Data ran amok, destroying their ”headquarters” in the Storm Zone, now it’s being hunted worldwide.

A month ago, Donghuang Heavy Industry officially captured the capital of Yuchuan Province, establishing a large post-apocalyptic human settlement.

Various forces sprung up like mushrooms after a rain, claiming to have established some gathering place, some camp, then grandly began recruiting.

But soon they were brought back to reality by an announcement from Donghuang Heavy Industry, which publicly disclosed all large forces within Donghuang territory.

This was somewhat unexpected for Su Huan. In the past life, they never did this, even four years into the apocalypse, these bastards were still hiding.

There were a total of five top-level forces and thirteen large forces.

The Armed Train boldly took a top-level force slot.

The old friend Steel Council disappeared, replaced by a force called Chuanto at the end of the large forces.

Surprisingly, Black Kite was listed as only a large force in Donghuang Heavy Industry’s list, causing those in the know to blink rapidly.

Besides this, there was another explosive news.

Two months ago, a massive tide of corpses surged from the high-temperature zone, but was blocked by one person leading a beast tide, the battle lasting a week, leaving millions dead at the edge of the high-temperature zone. According to Deep Blue Data confirmation, that person was a Tier Three Evolver, occupation unknown.

The second publicly known human Tier Three Evolver after Su Huan.

King of Beasts.

If Donghuang Heavy Industry’s disclosure on force information surprised Su Huan, this King of Beasts news downright shocked him.

In the previous life, he hadn’t heard of such a person.

There was a large-scale tide of corpses, ultimately resolved by the Steel Council’s ”Fire Wall Plan”, and He Jie became famous in that battle, but wasn’t the tide a bit too early?

People, timing... none of it aligned.

Su Huan was a bit bewildered; he knew he might cause some small impact as a butterfly, but he hadn’t thought it would deviate this much.