Armed Train in the Apocalypse

The company’s highest authority currently consists of nine individuals: the president, two vice presidents, and the heads of the three main departments responsible for actual business operations, totaling six executives.

Currently, there are two vacancies: one vice president was ”cut” by the president, and the other is the former general manager recently sent into retirement by Wei Mountain.

However, even with seven people, they do not have absolute power; major personnel appointments and decisions still need to be discussed with the management team.

Everyone seated in this conference room is responsible for some business and holds substantial power within the company.

”Regarding the handling of Wei Mountain, let’s have a show of hands vote. Those in favor of relieving him of his duties, please raise your hand.”

President Fu Lanshan said and then raised his right hand.

A few confidants saw him raise his hand and raised their arms without hesitation.

Soon, the number exceeded two-thirds.

Wei Mountain officially stepped down.

But the matter wasn’t over yet. Fu Lanshan continued, ”Regarding the erroneous decisions of Wei Mountain, which severely damaged the company’s interests, resulting in the loss of a Genetic Primordial and a large amount of resources; one Tier Two Evolver severely injured, another disabled, and a third lightly injured. On the retention of his management’s retirement benefits, those in favor, please raise your hand.”

The so-called ”retirement benefits” mean the company supports you until death. If benefits are canceled to stop you from causing trouble, the company can only pre-arrange cremation.

Wei Mountain watched the life-and-death vote with a cold eye.

Deep Blue Data is not Black Kite, nor is he Mr. Shu. The four directors were unchallengeable in Black Kite, and even if they split off, they were still a local power, so even if they made mistakes, no one could touch them.

But he dared to come back and face this trial, showing confidence in his own value.

Fu Lanshan again was the first to raise his hand, but this time fewer people followed; people from other departments either bowed their heads to exchange opinions or looked towards their own bosses.

Fu Lanshan glanced at the general manager of the back-end functional departments, whose indifferent expression made his gaze cold.

Although he couldn’t figure out how Wei Mountain could be so brainless as to try to snatch a Genetic Primordial from a Tier Three Evolver in Zhijin, he had to let Wei Mountain survive.

If a general manager is killed off for failing in their duties, who would dare handle tasks seriously in the future?

Though punishment for mistakes is necessary, one cannot be truly pushed to a dead end.

So even if he hated Wei Mountain and wished to get rid of him, he had to protect him to the death.

The back-end general manager, seeing Fu Lanshan’s gaze, smiled slightly and raised his hand too.

Not immediately raising his hand was his own decision, but raising it now was a way to earn favor with Fu Lanshan.

Finally, the number exceeded two-thirds, and Fu Lanshan sighed with relief internally.

He continued, ”The last matter is regarding the armed train. Now that the armed train has become one of the five top forces, we have reached a consensus not to confront the train directly, as it would greatly deplete the company’s development potential. However, the company has suffered such huge losses; there must be a response. A concrete plan will be drawn up by the back-end department in three days, and the front-end department will be in charge of implementation.”

”Whoever successfully completes the task will be favorably considered in the upcoming general manager selection for the front-end.”

Everyone’s eyes flashed with interest; completing the plan almost guarantees being secured as the general manager.

But thinking of having to face off with the train master brings a chill to the heart.

”...”

Once everyone had spoken and quieted down, Fu Lanshan looked towards the end at Wei Mountain, ”The front-end management is temporarily vacant. As the former general manager familiar with the situation, do you have any recommendations?”

Wei Mountain raised his head and clearly articulated a name.

”Haywood.”

...

”October 16, the wind is calm.”

”During the last hour of leaving the Storm Zone, there was no sand, no fierce wind, as calm as being in a different world.”

Su Huan sat atop the train, his palm casting a faint shadow over the journal, as his pen flowed, recording these words.

The buildings on both sides of the train no longer appeared as gray and dismal as those in the Storm Zone. Although they also exhibited dilapidation from years of neglect, there was a burgeoning vitality to them. In the sunlight, vegetation peeked out from a world dominated by steel and concrete, and enormous insects flitted by in a flash, while mutant animals lurked in the shadows spying on the train.

Though they were dangerous, one could not deny their significance to the existence of this world.

”Over seventy kilometers left...”

Su Huan glanced at the map on his tablet, feeling a vague sense of unease.

The High Priest’s prophecy and Lian Jin’s cryptic warning about mushrooms floated to mind.

Su Huan squinted and directly used the tablet to dial into the command console.

A respectful voice from a bespectacled individual came from the other end, ”Train Master.”

”I have a feeling something’s off. Be cautious.”

”Understood.”

The moment the bespectacled individual’s voice fell, the train’s front transformed like a Transformer, revealing a massive hive. Dozens of drones of varying sizes buzzed into the air, flying in all directions. As the train moved forward, some metal spheres were ejected, which, upon landing, turned into palm-sized metal spiders. Moving swiftly, they leaped and vanished into the grass.

Most of these scouting spiders are powered by electricity, with only a few being pan-energy-driven. The former doesn’t easily attract predators’ attention, while the latter has longer endurance and adapts to more extreme terrains.

This was not the end. The middle section of the train suddenly disconnected, with left and right carriages separating, followed by four to five SUVs and a dozen motorcycles roaring out, splitting into two groups and charging towards both sides of the train. The train’s rear-end engine activated, dragging along the massive cultivation pod as it quickly caught up to the front train and locked in place, the engine then slowly shutting down.

All situations were immediately fed back to Su Huan’s tablet. As the control terminal, Su Huan could switch all the cameras with the tablet, with two additional icons representing Yu Yue and Lu Xiao’s squads.

Thanks to Professor Ma’s multiple breakthroughs in communication devices, he can now directly issue commands to any member in the combat groups.

In the entire year since the apocalypse, the armed train finally has a semblance of modern warfare.

Su Huan deployed ”pan-energy perception,” and various pan-energy fluctuations entered his ”sight,” prompting him to direct the nearest drone towards a high-energy reaction. Moments later, he calmly spoke, ”Yu Yue, ten o’clock direction, about one kilometer away, share the sound from there with me.”

”Yes.”

A sound of heavy breathing and the crunching of bones being chewed entered his ears as the drone flew into position.

The tablet displayed the scene of a Gluttonous Pig gnawing at something in a courtyard. Upon hearing the drone, the Gluttonous Pig shuddered violently, spun around, and clawed threateningly at the ground, but after searching for a lengthy time, it found no enemy, its black, beady eyes malevolently looking upwards.

The lens zoomed in slightly, nearly revealing the bristles on the pig’s ears.

Su Huan felt as if he was watching Animal World or perhaps more like playing a sandbox game creating the world.

With the ”pan-energy perception” + sound sharing, combined with the pervasive monitoring equipment, Su Huan might not be omnipotent at this moment, but he has achieved omniscience.

”A pig nearing Tier Two; deal with it. That’s over a thousand pounds of meat.”

Su Huan gave the command.

A moment later, a dark blue arc appeared from an SUV, crossing the one-kilometer distance to the courtyard.

On the screen, the Gluttonous Pig, still staring at the drone overhead, got its head blown off with a shot.

With a thud, it fell to the ground.

Moments later, an SUV violently rammed the gate aside, parking in the courtyard, while Yu Yue stood in the courtyard making a mission-accomplished gesture towards the drone hovering in mid-air.

Regrettably, Su Huan did not see it.

He was directing Lu Xiao to clear out a Tier Two Mutant Beast hiding by the roadside.

As the train advanced, each high-energy reaction posing a threat to the train was highlighted by Su Huan.

First, dispatch a drone or scouting spider to survey. If the target is frail, drop a bomb via the drone; if challenging, send Lu Xiao’s team to eliminate it.

There were no surprises, nor any injuries, with every battle being crushed precisely.