Armed Train in the Apocalypse

Su Huan nodded thoughtfully, ”Delivery to the door?”

”Not just to the door, with Xiang Liu’s height, it can reach the windows. By the way, is there anything you need on your train? I can exchange something for you.”

The young man’s expression was lively, easily gaining others’ trust.

Su Huan rested his arms on the car window and contemplated, ”The consumption on the train is indeed quite large, but you won’t be able to meet the demand for ordinary supplies. By the way, is there something you need?”

”Water, the entire Shun’an is suffering from a lack of clean drinking water. Acid rain came from somewhere and polluted the city’s water sources, causing a water shortage everywhere.” The young man looked bitter.

”I can fill a whole tank with purified water, all up to pre-apocalyptic drinking standards, but I only need some rare and in-demand items.”

Su Huan squinted slightly, showing a sincere smile.

The young man looked distressed, ”Right now, the most in-demand commodities are survival goods, but if you don’t lack those... what exactly are you looking for?”

”Medicine?”

”Cigarettes and alcohol?”

”Or firearms?”

Seeing that Su Huan’s expression showed no fluctuation, the young man hesitated for a moment before adding the last option.

Su Huan raised an eyebrow, ”You can even get firearms?”

”Not in large quantities, but if you have plenty of purified water, I can trade them for you.”

”Hmm, but I also don’t need firearms.” Su Huan stopped him from guessing aimlessly, pulling out a Pan-energy Crystal, ”Have you seen this before?”

The young man looked enlightened, ”You’re talking about the Energy Crystal, right? This thing can turn people into Evolvers, quite in demand indeed.”

Su Huan wasn’t surprised that the other party knew about it, as Shun’an has a substantial population, and it’s normal for someone to unexpectedly awaken as a Gatherer and extract Pan-energy Crystals.

”I want not only Pan-energy Crystals but also materials collected from various zombies and Mutant Beasts, including the Iron-Eating Tree under your feet. The payment would be purified water, medicine, food, cigarettes, alcohol, luxury goods, and various living supplies. However, I’m not currently selling firearms, only 5.56mm and 7.62mm standard rounds.”

By collecting tickets, the train has already stored a large amount of ordinary supplies, with excess left without any place to store them.

Stuff like whole cartons of cigarettes, high-end red wine, and betel nuts are stored by the ton as common supplies by the train conductor.

Though these are also hard currency, they are far from as important as Evolution materials.

Using such large space to cater to smokers like He Jie and Lao San seems too wasteful.

Perhaps feeling the altered gaze of Su Huan, the Iron-Eating Tree under the young man waved its branches menacingly, trying to intimidate the train conductor.

And the young man’s gaze toward Su Huan also showed some change.

This was no refugee; it was clearly a mobile war mogul!

His small operation must appear insignificant in the other’s eyes, just like a little shrimp.

After hesitating for a moment, the young man took out a palm-sized metal ingot from the tree’s canopy, ”See if this thing works for you?”

Su Huan took the metal ingot with interest, sensing a familiar Pan-energy fluctuation from it.

Judging by the fluctuation level, the thing had already reached Tier One standard.

Since Mutant Plants don’t follow the same patterns as zombies and Evolution Beasts, people haven’t found a way to clearly differentiate plant mutation levels, only Evolvers can judge them through their peculiar abilities.

The Iron-Eating Tree under the young man’s feet had reached Tier One standard.

”This isn’t ordinary metal, is it?”

Su Huan closely observed the metal in his hand, which was very light with a wood grain. Getting closer, he could smell a faint herbal freshness.

Using force, the metal ingot in his hand was indented with several finger marks as if it were made of cork.

The hardness was surprisingly close to green steel!

As pressure was released, the indentations slowly rebounded.

A clear look of surprise appeared in Su Huan’s eyes.

And a look of horror emerged in the young man’s eyes.

He had tested this metal ingot; it was almost like regular metal, yet this long-haired young man in front of him had effortlessly deformed it as if he were modeling clay.

What terrifying fingertip strength was this?!

He had never seen even the strongest Evolver exhibit such power as Su Huan.

”This was expelled after Xiang Liu ate some metal. I don’t know what it is, but I’ve always collected them, totaling over thirty pieces, all carried with me.”

The young man explained.

”How much of this material do you have? I’ll take it all!”

Su Huan decisively declared.

This thing might not be as hard as green steel—unsuitable for armor—but its properties are entirely different. There’s bound to be other applications for him to exploit; collecting it is undoubtedly the right choice.

Moreover, he never knew in his last life that the Iron-Eating Tree could produce such a material.

Clearly, this is a monopoly of trade goods by major powers.

Definitely good stuff.

In the end, Su Huan traded a tank of purified water and twenty rounds of 9mm pistol ammunition for the young man’s metal ingot, named ”Ironwood.”

Before leaving, the young man gave him a reminder, ”If you want to trade goods, try contacting scattered households in the city; those people ahead of you might not be too friendly.”

’Not friendly?’

Su Huan raised the corners of his mouth and waved goodbye to the young man.

He intended to keep heading north, to trace the roots of the apocalypse. Perhaps this lifetime would only see this moment; a heartfelt farewell seemed meaningful.

The train conductor, in a good mood, turned around, and two elite soldiers, like bodyguards, immediately stepped forward, awaiting orders.

”How far is it to the train manufacturing base?”

”About ten kilometers away; we’ll stop at the platform a kilometer outside the base, waiting for the convergence with Captain Yu and Captain He.”

The demolitions expert on the left said.