Armed Train in the Apocalypse

The woman looked at Su Huan with a somewhat dazed gaze.

Even though she knew he was the legendary train conductor, she found it hard to feel any resistance towards him.

She even subconsciously thought that He Jie and the others were deceitful scoundrels working behind his back.

Biting her tongue, the woman snapped out of that peculiar attraction and stubbornly asked, ”How high?”

Su Huan rubbed his chin and pondered, ”Colonel, perhaps.”

He Jie raised his eyebrows to the side, realizing he was being used as a benchmark.

Next, it was time to determine everyone else’s rank based on his own.

”Does that mean if I become a general, he’ll have to apologize to me?”

”Of course!”

”As long as you’re stronger than him, I won’t intervene even if you whip him with an electric rod every day.”

The woman said earnestly, ”Alright, I want to participate in the assessment.”

Su Huan stood up, ”But whether you can pass depends on him.”

Then, he walked past He Jie, put a hand beside his mouth, and whispered, ”Just between us, he’s ruthless, won’t show any mercy, but I’m different; I’m soft-hearted. If you really can’t beat him, come to my carriage at night, and I’ll help you beat him up.”

The woman was first startled by his demeanor, then her pupils widened into a bewildered round shape upon hearing his words.

Why say such things...?

Is he gentle?

Wait a minute...

Why at night?

Scoundrel!

He’s so bad.

Besides her, He Jie was also baffled, his eyes widening like copper bells.

You can talk bad about me to my face, fine.

But what on earth was all that nonsense after?

You think I’m a fool, Old He?

No, you must be out of your mind again!

Qu Hang and the others also had faces twitching with laughter they dared not express.

”Speed up the selection process; you’ll need to rotate with Yu Yue in an hour to complete the clearing task.” Su Huan patted He Jie on the shoulder, ”Anyone who wants to participate should be given a chance, regardless of gender or age.”

Then he turned and walked towards the train.

Leaving behind the body of a mutant beast and a group of increasingly zealous women.

Power is the best stimulant, regardless of gender.

He’s certainly not supervising He Jie’s trivial task of selecting recruits on purpose.

He had just finished chasing down that spine hound, returned through a door, and happened to overhear some crude language about ”riding on one’s neck to shit,” then decided to watch the spectacle.

Once the system was established, he felt slightly relieved.

But in truth, there was even more to be done.

During the time they repaired the station, he planned to finalize the ranks as soon as possible.

Then, they would take over the high-speed rail manufacturing base to avoid prolonged delays and uncertainties.

...

”January 16, Heavy Rain”

”It’s a pity she didn’t seize the opportunity.”

...

”January 19, Light Rain”

”Only when people find their place can they settle down.”

Another exhilarating all-nighter was endured.

Relying on the points system, the crewmate and Armed Corps systems were also hastily launched.

The conductor finally solved the structural issues of the train. He couldn’t remember how many times he had adjusted the personnel framework.

According to He Jie, the crewmate and Armed Corps were split internally and externally.

The crewmate dealt with internal matters, and the Armed Corps with external matters, mainly through points for promotion, with some seniority and testing requirements.

Su Huan also considered adding a combat power requirement.

For example, lieutenants must be Tier One or above, and senior officers must be Tier Two or above.

But since everyone’s evolution level was still low, it was something to discuss later.

Transfers were allowed between the crewmate and Armed Corps, but one would have to start from scratch.

Lao San became the head of the combat crew, with Lao Er transitioning to a supporting role.

Professor Ma, Director Xu, Yu Jing, Wan Xing, and Huang Sea were treated as equivalent to crewmates but did not participate in actual management, leaving daily affairs to the current crewmates.

In other words, there were ten crewmates for the Armed Train, with eight positions filled and three still open.

Needless to say, Xiaowang and Zhang Kai each returned to their categories.

Lu Xiao and Jiang Rong became lieutenants, while Tong Zizhan and Gao Yuan were promoted due to merit, one to lieutenant, the other to second lieutenant.

Their subordinates were uniformly classified as privates.

The division of soldiers similarly used the current military rank system: reserves, privates, topmen, corporals, sergeants, senior sergeants.

The NCO tier was directly eliminated.

When one had enough points combined with a successful test, a senior sergeant could be promoted to second lieutenant without additional barriers.

The entire promotion channel was opened up.

Even Lu Xiao and others were directly incorporated into the Armed Corps, and they could advance step by step to the top, on par with He Jie and the others, or even transfer to the crewmate squad.

However, the captain title was an extra benefit, giving it up meant losing the right to organize a team to take on tasks.

To take on tasks again, one had to reach the major level.

In the Armed Train, besides He Jie who was made a colonel, there were only Yu Yue and Qu Hang as majors.

The rest were all capped at the lieutenant tier.

This was to avoid being unable to rise further and preventing the ranks from simply being ornamental.

The twelve-meter-high Iron-Eating Tree He Jie brought back had already been dismantled, and Yu Jing, along with the manufacturing and logistics teams, had transported the wood back onto the train.

In recent days, the manufacturing team hadn’t begun train renovations but were stockpiling new materials.

Especially important materials for making armor like Tier One Cyan Steel and Tier One gel glass.

When checking train data, Director Xu’s team of researchers found multiple damages that needed comprehensive repairs.

For the moment, only Xiaoba patched up the largest cracks.

A full inspection would have to wait until they reached the high-speed rail manufacturing base.

Construction of the station was already completed.

They brought over water purifiers from the water plant and transplanted some of the train’s mutant plants into the station, solving both food and water supply issues there.

The station was equipped to support normal life for two hundred people.

Including weapons, vehicles, tools, and reserves...

In emergencies, it could cram a few thousand people, though there would be food shortages.

Su Huan could provide them with seeds, but he could not fill their warehouse with supplies from the train’s reserves.

Iron-Eating Trees were planted around the station, and after rounds of clearing by Yu Yue and He Jie, a three-kilometer radius was now even cleaner than before the end times.

He Jie’s recruitment had also come to a close.

From three thousand people, he selected two hundred, using twenty-four accidental death slots to prove their quality.

The woman who wanted He Jie to apologize also persevered.

Notably, among these two hundred people, there were sixteen women and five young boys.

He Jie also managed to chop down over eighty Iron-Eating Trees and acquired more than a thousand units of ironwood.

During this time, a young man completed two more exchanges, adding five hundred units of ironwood for Su Huan.

However, there was still a significant material shortfall.

Su Huan fiddled the ends of his hair between his fingertips, making a rustling sound, and stretched lazily as he headed towards the dining area.

He must have bullied Yu Yue too hard a couple of days ago, considering she no longer asked him about breakfast.

As soon as he reached the sofa, he saw Lin Xi sitting on his orange cat sofa. Her unbound silver hair cascaded down, covering even the orange cat on the sofa.

A light yellow hair clip hung on her temple, quite eye-catching.

She was holding a rabbit plushie, staring intently at Yu Yue.

Lin Xi was not part of the new system; she was Lin Jin’s family member, without fixed tasks, simply eating, drinking, and tending to her health daily.

Of course, all of this was at her brother’s expense.

Su Huan walked to her side, and the girl glanced at him, scooting over a bit.

He picked up her long hair to sit down.

The two of them squeezed into the small sofa side by side.

”Why don’t you tie up your hair?”

”I think Xiaoxi’s hair is beautiful like this, no need to tie it.”

Yu Yue approached with a bowl of something like white fungus and lotus seed soup, handing it to Lin Xi beside her.

The latter looked up with a sweet ”thank you.”

Su Huan tapped the table with dissatisfaction, ”What about mine?”

”Xiaoxi said she was hungry early on, so I made her something to eat first; yours will be done soon.”

Su Huan squinted at her, ”Make it quick.”

Rarely did Yu Yue stand firm in front of Su Huan, turning away lightly, her apron edge flipping in a jubilant arc.

(Yesterday’s update was a bit late, four thousand added)