Armed Train in the Apocalypse

Right now, Su Huan was confident he could defeat any energy-type Tier Three Evolver who hadn’t grasped a Rule.

The two types, ”Manipulator” and ”Power Supplier,” were completely hard-countered by him.

Of course, if a Tier Three ”Defender” had good enough luck and managed to cross the optimal Fusion distance to get right in front of the conductor, he’d despair to find that the conductor’s fists were even more ferocious than his ranged state.

He was very curious now—did the stone wrapped inside the Fungus Carpet also represent a Rule?

...

Though there’d just been a small incident, the battle outside the train was still raging. Every ten minutes a batch of soldiers, drained of energy, came into the carriage to rotate out, and a fresh batch of vigorous soldiers charged onto the battlefield howling, hefting big axes.

The train had already traveled dozens of kilometers through the mushroom forest.

Aside from the corpse-cap mushrooms at the start, two more kinds of special mushrooms had appeared. One could spit corrosive acid, and another hid among the normal mushrooms like a man-eating flower, waiting for the train to pass so it could gulp down the soldiers on top in one bite.

Fortunately, every suit of Power Armor had an energy barrier; in this strange and eerie environment, they’d fought until now without losing a single soldier.

Meanwhile, sitting in Director Xu’s lab, Zhong You would rather go out now and fight those creepy mushrooms than stay here any longer.

As the train’s core laboratory, every strange thing and every Evolver would be stuffed in here, then kept until Director Xu finished his research and decided whether to keep or discard them. Like the two priests who’d boarded back in the Flood Zone—they were still living in the lab.

To make room for these people, they’d specially added a carriage to the lab, turned into a two-level, vertically connected high-security prison. The bullet workshop had been forced to move back one carriage, and the two garages at the end had both been moved to the front.

Although Zhong You wasn’t an inmate, as one of the very few Tier Two wardens, he spent most of his time here.

To be fair, the environment here was much more comfortable than when he’d been wandering the wilds. Food was delivered on time, and in unlimited quantity, with extra vegetables and side dishes; it was even more cushy than his days with Black Kite.

But cram in here, in this narrow carriage, a former leader of a top force plus a Tier Two dual-class madwoman, and the vibe was anything but pleasant.

Ma Hongyu smiled. ”You actually don’t need to be so tense. There’s nothing I can do to you, at most trick a few words out of you. Besides, you’re one of the Armed Train’s people now. What’s the big deal about telling me a bit more about Black Kite? In their hearts you’re already a traitor anyway.”

Sitting opposite, Zhong You kept silent, just tightening the two short spears in his hands, producing a crisp click.

Mirror silently emerged from Zhong You’s shadow, but couldn’t move a step forward, because Zhong You’s short spear tips were already pressed to her throat.

”Huh, how did you spot her? Are ’Manipulators’’ senses that sharp, or are you special?”

Ma Hongyu asked with interest.

Zhong You responded with the same icy attitude, not giving him any chance to analyze him. But that made no difference to Ma Hongyu at all. After a year of solitary life, he could talk to himself for half a day; let alone now, when there were actually two people here.

Suddenly, all three people in the room froze mid-action and mid-sentence, and turned their gaze to the doorway at the same time.

A tall figure walked over from the end of the carriage. As he passed, the lights grew brighter, as if all the illumination gathered around him, making the surroundings dim. The simple black shirt and pants on his body seemed like a forbidden spell, pressing down on people’s hearts.

His long, narrow eyes carried a hint of a smile. He didn’t release any aura; just walking over like that was enough to cow three Tier Two Evolvers.

An elegant, low voice said mildly, ”Seeing you get along so well, I’m very pleased.”

Mirror, who had been standing behind Zhong You, suddenly charged forward with her Long-handled Axe held reversed, stopping it three centimeters before Su Huan’s chest. She tilted her head up and took a deep breath; her cold, vacant expression cracked inch by inch. ”This dangerous feeling is really intoxicating. Can you let me go out and have a proper kill later, my master?”

Su Huan lazily pulled his hand out of his pocket, clamped it over Mirror’s face, lifted this madwoman along with the two-hundred-jin Long-handled Axe, and set her aside.

”We’ll be going out in a bit. You can tag along.”

Disappointment in Mirror’s eyes instantly turned into a bright gleam. The corners of her mouth curled up crazily as she stuck out her tongue and licked Su Huan’s palm.

Su Huan’s mouth twitched. He shook his hand hard, glaring. ”Do that again and you can be mute for the rest of your life.”

The woman licked the corner of her mouth, a sickly frenzy and obsession surfacing in her eyes. ”As long as you take me with you when you kill, forget being mute—even if you treat me like a () I’m willing.”

Seeing Su Huan pick up his pace, a trace of genuine, unrestrained amusement finally appeared on Zhong You’s cold, handsome face.

’So you have days like this too.’

The two of them stood up. A fervent smile spread across Ma Hongyu’s face. ”We’re almost at the base, right? Don’t worry, the abundance of supplies there will definitely satisfy you.”

Su Huan patted Zhong You’s shoulder. ”Not bad. When this is over, you can have a few days off.”

Then he turned his head to look at Ma Hongyu, speaking calmly. ”You’d better pray that secret is useful enough. Worth me making this trip.”

Ma Hongyu said solemnly, ”It’s the most fundamental secret of this world. You definitely won’t have come in vain.”

Thinking of the Energy Rules from earlier, Su Huan’s eyes narrowed slightly. ”Let’s hope so. We’ll reach your base in about twenty minutes. Anything else you need to tell me?”