Armed Train in the Apocalypse

Whenever the train conductor is in a good mood, the sky always clears.

The wind and snow would avoid the path where children walk to school, their tiny footprints accompanied by giggles chasing each other in the snow, with the conductor laughing and smiling as he walks behind, occasionally exchanging greetings with the passing soldiers.

Everyone sees him daily, whether it’s at work, picking up or dropping off kids, or shopping for groceries; although he doesn’t pay, his activities are similar to everyone else’s.

Many privately think the conductor is quite approachable, but whether it’s the Armed Corps veterans or the crew management, they all sneer at this, and whenever someone asks them about the conductor, they remain tight-lipped.

Su Huan is not oblivious to the improved perception of him; he is long past being the madman tainted to the core by the apocalypse of five generations.

He has a wife, a lover, a secretary, a sister-in-law, a mistress… as well as children and family; loyal friends, experienced elders, and subordinates surrounding him; ample resources and respect.

He cherishes this kind of life.

Even just squatting on the rooftop, daydreaming, watching the night gradually descend, is immensely beautiful.

All changes in this world, for someone like him who has walked in Eternal Night for three years, are wonderful, imbued with infinite gravity.

As night deepens, the laughter of children and Su Han’s gentle rebuke can still be heard from the side chamber.

Lying flat on the heated bed, Su Huan gazes absentmindedly at the falling snow outside the window, piece by piece, like a looping animation, piling steadily in the courtyard under the moonlight.

Yu Yue lies beside him, slightly raising her head, her eyes glimmering in the darkness, “What’s up?”

“Do you like the current life?”

The woman rests her head on his shoulder, her hair fluttering and spreading the scent of chestnuts in the air between them, her voice gentle, “As long as you and the kids are beside me, I like it. Of course, it’d be better without natural disasters and danger.”

“Hmm.”

Su Huan responded softly, pinching the woman’s plump waist, “Sleep.”

…

There was no grand retirement ceremony for the train, everyone just gathered together and drank a few cups of coffee.

For the first time, Su Huan sat with Director Xu without discussing evolution or experiments, instead reminiscing about their youthful recklessness, love affairs, and friendships, talking about the people and events they once encountered.

This retirement ceremony was quite dignified, perfectly fitting Director Xu’s intentions.

“Although I’m retired, if there’s anything unresolved, you can still talk to me.”

Director Xu walked to Su Huan’s side, sipping his coffee, speaking casually.

Su Huan lazily glanced at him, “Why say that?”

Director Xu twirled the cup in his hand, speaking thoughtfully, “Are you worried there are those who don’t support your decision?”

“That’s quite funny.”

Su Huan pulled at the corner of his mouth.

“Then why don’t you dare to voice what’s hidden in your heart?”

“Is it fear that major powers are unwilling to let the Donghuang Military retreat from there, or is it fear that you can’t achieve it?”

“Or… fear of losing everything you have now?”

Su Huan’s eyes fixed, like a lifelike sculpture.

Has he become cowardly?

Su Huan watched the snowstorm outside the window, squinting his eyes, “Do you think they don’t want all this to end?”

Immediately tugging at his mouth, “Then I must ask them fervently.”

…

No one noticed when the train conductor quietly left the stage.

At the moment he stepped out of the Eternal Night Zone, unless he wished, no one could detect his presence, all biological fields and killing intent would blend into the world, like passing clouds, like the breeze, no one would notice anything amiss.

Although he is not yet an “Eternal Motion Mechanism,” with the skills “Entropy Dominator” and “Threshold Annihilation,” he doesn’t need to expand a domain; the energy range he can sense is his domain, just a single thought makes all energy in a specific area erupt in that instant.

Not merely a point or a few grams of matter, but an entire area directly annihilated.

The land, mountains, rivers, air… even the underlying rules that construct the world, everything, everything gets destroyed in that moment.

Matter turns into the most chaotic energy, and when the energy dissipates, all returns to nothingness.

And the size of this area solely depends on Su Huan’s range of perception, not even requiring Pan Energy in that space, it’s a rules-based skill, permanently effective as long as the [energy] rule isn’t suppressed.

Previously, at Tier Four, Su Huan could only be regarded as a moving natural disaster, according to Professor Ma and their classification, termed ecological level, capable of altering regional ecosystems, like the arrival of glaciers, the tearing of continental shelves.

But this only describes Xiaoba and other powers’ Tier Four; the train conductor at Tier Four was slightly stronger than ecological level, he could change weather phenomena at will, control sunshine and rain, temperature.

But back then Su Huan didn’t possess the power to destroy planets, so all experts established a special rank between ecological level and planet level named after the conductor’s domain, called Wanxiang.

Ecological-Wanxiang-Planet, a division based on environmental impact for Evolvers above Tier Four.

And now, infinitely close to Tier Five, Su Huan’s combat power has undoubtedly reached the evolution peak envisioned by Director Xu—planet level.

It’s not that higher levels don’t exist, it’s just that Director Xu and others can’t conceive them.

For an ordinary man, pushing the evolution framework to this stage already counts as reaching its zenith.

This power may not breach that unknown Martial Arts World, but in Donghuang, he can walk unchallenged.

The snowstorm shrouded the world like a white veil, causing the train’s ladder to sway, evidently the train conductor’s mood wasn’t good today.

Su Huan casually tied his hair into a long ponytail with a bracelet, flicking it behind.

He wore a long black coat with a Mickey-colored collar, embroidered inside the collar with three small handprints, alongside a small grass and a flamboyantly written “Su” character.

The pattern is hand-embroidered by Yu Yue, representing the three little ones, Ya, and Su Han.

Suddenly, Su Huan turned his head back, from height, a man as strong as a bear made the ladder creak, sitting at the end, arms crossed over his mouth and nose, gazing down at the train conductor.

“You’re not picking up the kids today?”

“They haven’t been dismissed from school yet.”

“Then why are you coming down here? This isn’t the direction to your home, is it?”

“Just came down for some fresh air.”

He Jie persisted, with a cold expression, “The ventilation system on the bus is constantly improved by someone every day.”

“Maybe it’s fresher down here?”

Su Huan scratched his head.

He Jie sneered coldly, “I think you’re planning to bail on us and do something big again, aren’t you?”

Su Huan smiled helplessly, “Looks like you caught me, that place… hey, how should I put it, even if you threw in ten or twenty thousand people, you wouldn’t hear a sound.”

He Jie suddenly stood up, eyes wide open, “So you just want to run away by yourself?”

“So you just want to ignore everything, leave all of us behind, and play hero by yourself?”

Su Huan was silent, “It’s always better if two more people survive…”

His words were interrupted by He Jie’s cold laughter.

“Jiang Rong, Jinfeng People, 42 years old in the year 35, served in the Armed Corps for one year, meticulous, responsible, likes to eat pasta.”

“Lu Xiao, Shihuai People, 25 years old in the year 35, served in the corps for one year, decisive, strong execution, likes meat.”

“Miao Qi, Qingchuan People, 26 years old in the year 35, served for one year, keen, perceptive, likes cherries and fruits.”

“Licking Rabbit, original name Tianbei, Black Water People, deceased at 25, strong logic, likes spicy food.”

“Kang Ruiqi, Wei Ran, Dong Jingwei…”

He Jie called out names one by one, detailing each person’s personality and preferences. At first, Su Huan was puzzled, but when he listened, he realized these were all soldiers who had fought in the Armed Corps, seldom got off the bus, and most of them were killed.

He hadn’t expected He Jie to remember so clearly.

He pounded on his chest, “Every single one, I keep them in my heart.”

“Do you know who they all are?”

Su Huan became even more silent.

Does he remember?

“You don’t remember, you don’t even know!”

“You don’t know their names. You don’t even know what they liked, loved, how they got hurt, how they died, how much pain they were in at the end!”

“But I know!”

He Jie grew more emotional, the wind and snow couldn’t hide his angry roar.

“But I know!!”

“Each one of them is my soldier! Whether alive or dead, I know every single one! They’re not just numbers, they’re warriors I personally trained! They had parents; they’re living people!”

“Now you’re realizing it, you’re finally seeing the value in loving soldiers, realizing their lives matter, feeling the pain for them…”

“And it’s just me, He Jie, who doesn’t know?!”

“And it’s just me, He Jie, who doesn’t know they’ll die, they’ll hurt?!”

“And it’s just me, He Jie, who was born but didn’t grow up with love, as if I’m a beast?! Huh?!”

He Jie jumped down, grabbed Su Huan’s collar with reddened eyes, “You promised to take us to the far north, to eliminate the source of all this evil. I believed you, and not only did I believe, but many others took your words as their purpose, as the full meaning of their lives.”

“Some lost parents in the apocalypse, some lost wives or husbands, some lost children, lost all family, lost everything, like stray dogs, yet because of your words, they found a goal to survive, which is damn well to bite back at those who caused all this!”

“What are you telling me now?”

“Not planning to take us?”

“You tell me, how the hell are these people supposed to live?!”

“How are Yu Yue and the kids supposed to live?!”

“Answer me!”

He Jie smashed a fist onto Su Huan’s face, causing a metallic explosion sound; his palm instantly fractured, flesh and blood scattered, while Su Huan merely tilted his head.

Only He Jie’s heavy breathing remained in the snowy winds, like a fierce beast cornered to the end of its path.

Staring at the train captain whom countless people respected.

“Sorry.”

Those two clear words left He Jie completely stunned.

Because he had never heard any apology from Su Huan before, and now this one came so easily, easily enough he felt he must be hallucinating.

“What did you say?”

Su Huan wiped the blood from his face, seriously said, “I said, sorry, I heard your suggestion.”

“I will leave for a while, but I’ll return soon, and then, join me for another battle.”

Then he turned around, allowing the fierce wind to lift his hem.

He Jie stood frozen in place, blankly watching Su Huan walk away without reacting.

The train captain just left like that, leaving behind orders for full war preparations.

The news of the train captain’s participation in the battle spread even faster than the news of the alliance formation, like a rocket, known to the entire world.