Armed Train in the Apocalypse

Qin Mian’s gaze was firm, ”We’ve already lost the commander, but we absolutely cannot lose the instructor.”

Seeing that their minds were made up, Su Huan didn’t say more. Once everyone was ready, they hurriedly headed back to the battlefield.

On the way, Su Huan sought information from Qin Mian, Gangdan, and others about the situation.

The latter patted his chest in assurance, promising to tell all he knew without reservation.

”Do you know how the apocalypse began?”

Qin Mian opened his mouth, ”...I don’t know.”

”Then do you know about your enemies? The ones resembling ancient soldiers?”

Qin Mian turned to Gangdan, who replied frankly.

”Not too clear.”

”Do you know how to escape from the Eternal Night?”

Feeling awkward, Qin Mian looked at Gangdan, who turned to the people behind them. They all responded in unison like cat calls.

”Don’t know...”

Su Huan frowned. Though it was certain the soldiers didn’t know much, how could they know nothing at all?

”How long have you been in the Eternal Night Zone? What have you been doing?”

Qin Mian perked up at this question, ”It’s been two years; we arrived before the blackout, back when night still fell normally, then suddenly in December, it never brightened again...”

Then Qin Mian began detailing the intense ”construction site battles” of the past two years. After listening for a while, Su Huan felt as if there was a mechanical sound ringing in his mind.

”Shooting Trench/Frontline Trench (Beginner)”

”Communication Trench (Beginner)”

”Support Trench (Beginner)”

”Zigzag Trench (Beginner)”

”Simple Prone Scattered Pit (Beginner)”

”Protective Trench...”

Feeling that listening any longer might make him a ”combat engineer,” Su Huan quickly interrupted him, asking for less critical peripheral information.

”Speaking of two years, have you seen outsiders here?”

Qin Mian shook his head.

Gangdan hesitated, ”Never seen with my own eyes, but overheard the captain and battalion commander mention them during card games, just a few words, not very sure.”

Su Huan understood. It must have been forces from various factions who came into the Eternal Night Zone earlier. However, after discovering there was no way out, they ceased sending people. That’s why the zone periphery had a small base that ended up being wiped out by Evil Anomalies.

Thinking of this, Su Huan asked again, ”By the way, are you aware of Evil Anomalies?”

Upon this mention, all the soldiers became animated, explaining the horrors of the Evil Anomalies to Su Huan.

Such creatures have appeared on a large scale only twice: once at the onset of the apocalypse, and the second time around December of ’37, about a year later, there was another outbreak.

Before the Anomalies erupted, the troops began large-scale mobilization. Many around the company haven’t returned.

This also answered Su Huan’s question about why such large construction sites had only a small company to guard them.

It’s as if the Ghost Gate opened, and across the wasteland emerged those eerie things—ghost weddings, phantom armies crossing, ghost villages, undead inns... they all came out. Even Qin Mian’s team had encountered them a few times, but strict orders kept them sheltering in the camp, and except for a few unfortunate souls, most survived.

Very soon, after three days, most of the demons and ghosts will disappear en masse. Yet, some continue to roam and stay in the wasteland, forming forbidden zones.

”There was a regimental commander who defied the odds, still pushing for construction. They ended up digging up a mass of bones, densely piled like a mass grave. That night, he disappeared. When the regiment commissioner went looking for him, he couldn’t find him. So, everyone was called up to search and report upward.”

”The higher-ups sent an Evolver expert like you. We don’t know the specifics; what we heard was cannons fired all night, so much that the barrels smoked, and a third of the regiment was lost.”

”The next day, when they dug, everyone was in the pit, piled on top of each other, squeezed and deformed...”

Qin Mian recalled with trepidation.

Upon hearing this information, Su Huan’s eyes merely darkened. A regiment of at least a thousand people lost several hundred in one night. Given the situation, it seemed normal; Evil Anomalies aren’t mere mythical beings but creatures capable of wielding certain rules.

He couldn’t even kill those things, let alone ordinary troops.

If they encountered them, they were meant for slaughter.

”How much do you know about Evolvers?”

Su Huan changed the topic.

Qin Mian scratched his head, ”When I evolved, the captain sighed, saying I joined too late, missed the good days, and then he gave me double the bullet quota, then nothing else.”

Then Gangdan and others each added a few words.

Su Huan more or less understood their backgrounds. Qin Mian joined the army right after high school, enlisted in March ’35, and was sent to the Eternal Night Zone right out of boot camp, digging trenches for half a year till the apocalypse. He’s only 20 years old now.

His service time in the Eternal Night Zone is longer than outside.

If the apocalypse hadn’t come, he would have been discharged by March this year.

Su Huan pushed aside this useless information and sorted through it.

The military must have known of the apocalypse beforehand, meaning they likely screened talented individuals for evolution before the end times, hence the comment about Qin Mian joining too late.

Yet, even being an Evolver, the military didn’t prioritize much, leaving two possibilities: either there were too many Evolvers, making them commonplace, or resources were so limited they could only support some people’s evolution.

Su Huan immediately discarded the first possibility. Aside from uncertainties, once he unfolded the ”Pan-energy Perception,” he could discern the military’s core.

Even in an area near the core battlefield, Pan-energy reactions were scant.

Not to mention the Tier One Evolvers appearing outside in large numbers; there weren’t even many Awakened individuals, and the proportion of military Evolvers was likely less than that outside in a small camp!

This definitely wasn’t a problem of personal quality; no matter how harsh the outside elimination process, how could ordinary retirees be healthier than these soldiers?

Here, the coarseness and difficulty of absorbing the ”primitive Pan-energy” might be one factor.

As he walked, he continuously observed the energy flow. The trajectory of these primitive energies mirrored those outside but seemed less ”welcoming,” barely acknowledging Qin Mian and the others, showing enthusiasm only towards Su Huan.

Passing through Gangdan and a wild plant or stone made no difference.

Even if a little entered the body, soon it would dissipate—except for Qin Mian, the other soldiers lacked means to retain energy.

”Ahead lies the main battlefield.”

Qin Mian lowered his voice.

Without needing his reminder, the smell of gunpowder was already noticeable. In the windless Eternal Night, thick gunpowder, the stench of intestines torn open, and the rancid smell of excrement before death mingled, enough to knock someone down.

The battlefield was eerily silent, self-propelled artillery lay slanted on the ground; some appeared to have been struck by meteors, with twisted steel. The warriors guarding it laid nearby or melded with the metal.

Nearby on the machine gun post lay a black stallion, muscular and robust with broad shoulders and long legs, standing over two meters and a half tall. Beside it was a Black Armored Cavalry with an open chest cavity; together, they exceeded three meters. Such a cavalryman in ancient times would surely be hailed a saintly warrior in historical records.

And on this battlefield, such warriors covered the ground.

They lay piled on the wasteland in front of machine-gun positions or within trenches, each bearing massive wounds, having nearly bled dry before collapsing.

Their opponents, camouflaged warriors, were evenly scattered over every inch of land.

Due to the light emanating from Su Huan, Qin Mian and the others couldn’t see far, but they sensed something amiss.

”Perhaps the battle’s over; the instructor calls them over to clean up the battlefield. Before leaving, I saw we had the upper hand...”

Qin Mian mumbled to himself.

Unclear whether he was speaking to Su Huan or to himself.